When Margie Southworth looks in the mirror she barely recognizes herself. In the past year and a half, she has lost 120 pounds and 14 dress sizes.
The Loveland wife and mother of two gained weight gradually, then lost it by following a strict diet and exercise regimen.
“My problem is now finding things that feel like me and flatter my body,” Southworth wrote to The Denver Post in response to our makeover contest.
More than 300 people with compelling stories applied for this challenge and the five others we offered, but the judges felt Southworth, 30, deserved a figure analysis and shopping trip for losing so much weight and taking charge of her health.
Southworth’s lifestyle calls for casual clothes. She goes to the gym six days a week, spends a lot of time at home with her 3- and 5-year-old daughters and works twice a week at a preschool. Her goal isn’t to become a glamour queen, just “to appear pulled together and feminine,” she says.
Nancy Taylor Farel, a Boulder-based image and lifestyles consultant, met with Southworth for a figure analysis before they went shopping for new clothes.
Southworth, 5 feet 9 1/2 inches tall, has “a spectacular tall, well-toned figure,” Farel says, noting she’s a “T” shape.
Tall women might appear to have no figure problems, but Southworth has a long torso and shortish legs. For her and other women of similar proportions, Farel has a number of suggestions for maximizing her attributes and camouflaging irregularities. The goal is to minimize the torso length by creating horizontal styling, cuts and design elements, such as wearing:
A currently fashionable look that suits Southworth and others with long torsos is the overblouse, which covers the waist and disguises the rise of pants. Just be careful that the overblouse doesn’t cut the figure in half.
In dress silhouettes, Southworth can wear both high-waisted styles and sheaths because they don’t emphasize the waist. Calf- and ankle-length skirts worn with a jacket or tops that stop just above the hips are also good because they disguise the length of the legs and create the desired proportion.
After being prepped on the styles that were best for her, Southworth was ready to hit a couple of stores with Farel. They spent most of their time at Gap in Cherry Creek Shopping Center. The young mother likes the brand for its fashion appeal, durability and compatibility with her lifestyle.
Farel’s goal was to get Southworth thinking about color instead of the basic black and white neutrals she tended to wear.
“What about navy?” Southworth asked.
“You can do it, but I’d prefer to see you in warm tones, like brown and coral,” Farel replied.
For the next hour, Southworth tried on skirts and blouses, T-shirts and cropped pants. Farel demonstrated how to use belts to create the horizontal lines that would flatter Southworth and gave her tips on combining colors.
In the end, Southworth walked away with a corduroy jacket in blue, tops in green, coral and brown, and a coral short trench, all donated by the store.
And what kind of response did she get? “My husband cracked up that I was wearing color because he wasn’t used to it. And now I love it.”
The unexpected bonus of the consultation and shopping was that it streamlined this busy mom’s schedule. “It has saved me time when I’m getting ready because I know I have stuff to look great in.”
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
Expert advice
What’s your letter? Most figure silhouette types can be broken down to the following, says wardrobe consultant Nancy Taylor Farel:
A: Most common female shape, in which the hips are larger than the shoulders;
X: Balanced, or hourglass, figure;
H: Shoulders and hips are roughly equal width and the waist isn’t defined;
I: Straight-up-and-down figure, narrow and with no waist definition;
O: This figure can be slim or heavy and is characterized by rounded shoulders and hips, pronounced abdomen;
T: Most common post-pubescent male figure is wide at the shoulders, narrow at the hips and not filled out through the torso; athletic women also have this build;
Y: Most common mature male silhouette, with broad shoulders and torso.
– Suzanne S. Brown
