Look thinner without setting foot in the gym

I was quoted in this month's West Shore Magazine about three ways to quickly dress thinner:

DO IT...when getting ready (5 minutes)

Look thinner without setting foot in the gym. Kristen Kaleal, a Cleveland-based wardrobe consultant, shares three ways to use your wardrobe to shed unwanted pounds.

Grab a long necklace. “Anything vertical will make you look thinner,” says Kaleal, who adds necklaces should hit right below the bust line. “The whole thing is you don’t want to accentuate the bigger part of your body. You don’t want any line to end up on the bigger part of your body.”

Slip on some nude shoes. “Those are really hot for spring. And they should be hot all the time because they really make the legs look longer and thinner,” she says. Unlike gladiator shoes that wrap around your leg and can make you look stumpy, nude shoes (heels preferably over flats) elongate your natural shape, making your legs look like they flow into the ground.

Accentuate your skinny bits. Your neck, forearms and calves are three of the thinnest parts of your body. So show them off and drop 10 to 15 pounds in the process, says Kaleal. Pull back your hair to accentuate your neckline. Highlight your forearms with a three-quarter-length-sleeve shirt. And thin your legs with a skirt that ends right below the thickest part of your calf.

- Beth Stallings

*Credit to Lynne Marks, AICI CIM for those "skinny bits!" I use them all the time!