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Since 2004, British men have got bigger in all kinds of ways, but one that you might not have expected is shoe size. In 2004 the average shoe size for men was 8 but in 2008 it became 9. Not only have average feet got bigger, but for the first time since shoe sizing was standardised, size 12 shoes are outselling size 7. And women’s feet have got both broader and longer too. This is partly happening because people are getting taller, but also because women used to tolerate quite a bit more foot pain than they do these days!
But if you’re a bigger person, can you dress to impress or do you have to settle for unfashionable shoes and Hawaiian shirts?
Not at all. The way to deal with being on the large end of the spectrum is to play it a little bit clever in the clothing you buy. The old trick of buying shirts in vertical stripes to slim you is largely true, although because everybody has heard of it by now, the first thing people tend to think when they see a striped shirt or blouse is that you must be hiding a bit of a Buddha belly. A better way to address size is to wear polo-shirts, loose, over a pair of well-fitting and neatly belted trousers – this means that the shirt hangs elegantly over any excess poundage and the impression given by a good pair of trousers that fit nicely is that the rest of you must be quite tailored too.
Hoodies can be slimming if you buy the kind with the front zip but no front pockets, wear them with the zip two-thirds undone and the effect of the big V shape on your front makes you look thinner. Front pockets on a hoodie make you look wider though. For women, a tailored shirt with the top two buttons undone, worn under a cardigan with just the bottom three buttons done up, will have the same effect.
The one fashion rule you should obey is that if you are larger and wish to appear smaller, wear light coloured T-shirts and darker coloured clothing on the lower half of your body. It’s immediately slimming.
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