12 Pieces To Try If You Have A Body Where Nothing Seems To Fit You Right
Isn’t it time we had a capsule wardrobe where every piece looks good on us?
Image: The Seven Year Itch | 20th Century Studios
If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission. Gifted items will be called out (gifted), and affiliate links will include an asterisk (*). We have to eat, after all.
by The Candidly Team
A girl can be curvy at any size. We know this. You know this. That means that for clothes to look incredible on us, they can’t just fit on our bodies, they have to accommodate all our many curves.
But here’s the thing.
After we turned about 40, we noticed our curves sort of … changing. We grew thicker in some places, flatter in others. We work harder for toning. Oh, and we absolutely refuse to not be comfortable in our clothes.
So all of that’s led us on a quest to find the finest pieces for curvy, over-40 ladies like ourselves, and by god, we think we’ve done it. Here are 12 items that have made getting dressed a far more, relaxing, joyful, and chicer experience.
1. The Smoothing Wide-Leg Pants
WHAT: The Colette Full-Length Wide-Leg Pants by Maeve*
Why we love it: When you have a butt or thicker hips or thighs, a lot of pants can feel restrictive and weirdly bumpy, sucking you in in one spot and pushing you out in another. And if a pair happens to glide perfectly over your hips/butt/thighs, they often leave a huge pouch at the waist. On the other hand, if you have a rounder belly, pants that button seamlessly can leave a sad sack at the butt. The point of lamenting all of this is to say that we found the sort of magic pants that solves both problems. They’re stretchy enough to smooth over bellies, butts, hips, and thighs and keep this perfect, chic, tailored shape that makes us look longer and leaner. No puckering, no suctioning. Plus, they’re so comfortable we’d practically sleep in them. They come in tons of colors, many of which we own. They also come in cropped which we’ve written about a BUNCH of times. And finally, they have an incredible size range: plus, tall, petite - the lot of it.
Price: $130
2. The Oversized Cashmere Cardi
WHAT: Quince Mongolian Cashmere Oversized Boyfriend Cardigan Sweater*
Why we love it: Nothing is more luxurious and lovely-looking than an oversized, ribbed, cashmere cardi. This one looks and feels just like the viral $500 one but costs a fraction of the price. The trick to making it work its visual magic is to layer it over more fitted tees or dresses and high-waist pants or skirts so you can still see your silhouette peeking out. We’ve also been know to tuck it and wear it as a top:
Wearing too many baggy layers can make us look shapeless and wider than we are, but this sweater is the perfect, spacious piece to drape on so we feel completely confident wearing more fitted things underneath.
Again, it comes in too many colors we want (*cough* own). And it sizes in plus.
Price: $140
* Gifted
3. The French Marinière
WHAT: Universal Standard Montauk Breton Stripe Bell Sleeve Top*
Why we love it: Ignore every dated thing anyone’s ever told you about stripes “making you look wide.” This striped tee is actually a cornerstone to the ultimate chic, French lady wardrobe. It’s called a marinière, and it singlehandedly turns outfits into “looks",” and it never goes out of style. This particular one with its drop-shoulder, slightly belled sleeve, and tuckable length can be thrown on with any jeans or trousers, and you’ll look like a million bucks. Add a tan belt and oof, you’re ready to board your yacht and sail to St. Tropez. Or to pick up the 8 things you forgot at the market last weekend. Either way, you’ll look marvelous.
Sizes up to 5X and comes in so many great color combinations, though classic blue and white is our fave.
Price: $98
4. The Crisp Jean Jacket
WHAT: Universal Standard Kelsey Denim Jacket*
Why we love it: Jean jackets have a secret. And it isn’t that they make everything look cool, and classic. We’ve already known that since the 90s when every “cool-girl,” sitcom character swept across our TV screen.
No, their real secret is that the right shape denim jacket is wildly flattering on a curvy girl. But they have to have two things: Clean lines and not too much length. This combo sort of nips the waist and makes our legs look inches longer.
This particular jean jacket is one of the GOATs. It has actual space in the arms and layers beautifully in colder months without looking bulky. And again, the size range is the stuff of dreams.
Price: $175
5. The Sculpting Leggings
WHAT: Beyond Yoga Spacedye Caught In The Midi High Waisted Legging*
Why we love it: There are so many leggings out there. Some make us look lumpy and naked, and some make us look like smooth, toned, cellulite-free versions of ourselves. These are the latter. They are the butteriest, most breathable leggings in the world. And they happen to size up to 3X.
Price: $97
6. The Pretty Polo Sweater
WHAT: The Jensen Cashmere Crop Polo Sweater by Pilcro*
Why we love it: We live in sweaters 72% of the time, but even we have to admit a polo adds a little something extra to the mix. The detailed collar just makes us look styled. This particular one is soft on a level that makes freshly hugged friends immediately ask where we got it. We tuck it into high-waist jeans over a smoothing bodysuit or cami, add our comfiest ankle boots and we look so cozy chic and autumnal, our reflection makes us set a reminder to watch You’ve Got Mail the minute we get home.
And yep, it comes in other colors and sizes in plus.
Price: $168
7. The Relaxed Coat That Layers Over Everything
WHAT: Marcella Elizabeth Coat*
Why we love it: A relaxed winter coat is timeless and adds a little whisper of drama. The right one skims without making us look like linebackers, while still giving us plenty of room to layer on our sweaters and scarves.
The issue is simply knowing which is the exact right one to invest in for life. This is the right one. It comes in every color you could want, is cut from rich, 100% Italian virgin wool, and sizes to XXXL. Yes, the black is perfection but we find ourselves longing for it in cream.
Price: $398
8. The Cropped White Tee That Makes You Look Taller
WHAT: Old Navy Vintage Crew-Neck Oversized Crop T-Shirt*
Why we love it: A mistake we make as ladies with thicker middles is thinking our t-shirts need to be long, long, long. The truth is cropped tees are much more flattering. They create the illusion of a narrower waistline and make our legs look like they start higher, so we look longer. This tee also has that blessed extra arm coverage, which means it doesn’t cut off at the thickest part of our arm and make us look bulgy. It’s the kind of fit (and price) that makes you buy it in most of the colors it comes in.
Price: $10
9. The Curve-Complementing Cropped Jeans
WHAT: The Colette Crop High-Rise Wide-Leg Jeans by Maeve*
Why we love it: You might recognize that this pair of jeans from Anthropologie is similar looking to the first pair of pants we showed you on this list, and yes, that is because it has the same magic fit that holds you in while giving you plenty of stretch and breathability. Honestly, if you’re curvy and don’t own a cropped jean in this sailor-ish shape you have been denying yourself one of the most complementing jean cuts around. It’s very French lady chic, so we of course wear it with the aforementioned marinière. It sizes in plus and comes in 3 washes. Not to send you scrolling up again, but you can see one of us wearing the light wash with #3 on this very list.
Price: $130
10. The Chic Button-Down
WHAT: The Shrunken Bennet Buttondown Shirt by Maeve*
Why we love it: We feel silly trying to tell you why a white, button-down is the most understated staple in a woman’s closet. We assume you already know this and perhaps, already own one or two or seven (like us). But if you don’t, this is surely the place to start. It’s spacious and versatile without being too long. Of course, the white is essential to making all our jeans and skirts carry a Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy level of elegance, but it also comes in stripe, which is a huge hack for looking put together with zero effort.
Price: $108
11. The Incredible-Fitting, Full-Length Jeans
WHAT: The Adi Regenerative Cotton Mid-Rise Flare Jeans by Pilcro*
Why we love it: When we tried on these jeans, which cost about $100 less than most designer, we felt a bit emotional because the fit is on the level of our best designer jeans. They give us so much, glorious, hourglassy shape. They accommodate our hips and thighs and butts in the most flattering way and from every angle. We’re slightly selfish in writing about them because we actively worry that Anthro will stop selling this style. Here’s a little photo of one of us trying them on recently. (She took them home FYI.)
Price: $148
12. The Fit-And-Flare Dress We Reach For All The Time
WHAT: The Tobie Shirt Dress by Exquise*
Why we love it: It’s very hard to find dresses that look good on our upper and lower halves, and it makes dress shopping a pretty hellish pursuit. A simple, elegant solution is the fit-and-flare dress. This is the one we feel like reaching for every time we want to wear a dress. We wear it with boots in the fall and sandals in summer, and we always feel our very best, which is a huge feat when wearing a dress.
Price: $198
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
We have to eat.
