How to Style a Stomach: To Tuck or Not To Tuck?

These style rules have been part of our DNA since childhood. These rules, like the best way to style a stomach, are designed to make our bodies look slimmer and longer. They only allow for curves in places society considers acceptable.

In one decade, it was hips and breasts; in another decade, it was just the rear. Another decade, and there is no acceptable curve. It is harder to keep up than eyebrow trends. We often regret looking back at our past self, just like eyebrow trends.

Women have been lied about all their lives. Dark colors will make you look slimmer. Horizontal stripes will make you appear wider. Bootcut pants balance large shoulders and make you appear more proportional. Untucked tops will conceal a round stomach and balance a shorter torso.

So we ask ourselves: How do we style a stomach?

While some style rules may be distracting or highlighting, no wrap dress or pair of Spanx will make you look different. You can take a look at your Facebook timeline, or browse through family albums. You can even search for a public figure using Google Images. Enter a year and the size of your device. Scroll through photos of that person.

What is the most striking? What is it about how slim they are in the black dress? It could be how proportionate their bodies look with the top that hits just at their hips. Do their shoulders appear narrower in the photo where they are wearing bootcut jeans, than in the one where they look like a linebacker? It’s not possible, we bet.

Color is what stands out. It’s cool details and silhouettes and fun prints. But it’s more than just a smile. Happiness and confidence are flattering than any fashion-rule-following garment.

How to Style a Stomach: Octavia’s Figure-Flattering Uniform

I adore Octavia Spencer. She is a gifted actress, both comedic and dramatic. She’s an activist, producer, and even a children’s book author. Octavia Spencer, 47, is 5’2″ tall and can probably relate to many of you.

Christian Siriano provided the gown in a sparkling blue for the 2019 Oscars. This traditional “flattering” style features a flare silhouette and off-the shoulder detail. The color column keeps the eyes moving and the sleeves drape to conceal the largest part of the upper arm of women’s arms.

Octavia is available in below-the-knee and full-length fits. Flare dresses also available. Octavia finds a silhouette that she likes and sticks with it, just as many others. Octavia wears the fit-and-flare silhouette in various lengths to red carpet events and casual events. She especially likes it when she knows she will need to sit down.

Spencer loves three styles of uniforms: a fitted dress with blazer and skinny pants with untucked top, a peplum top with straight skirt, and a blazer with sleeve.

Spencer wears a few silhouettes that she regularly wears to flatter her figure. She prefers longer jackets over untucked tops and skinny jeans or pants to hide curves. Blazers that are cut to fit at the waist to over fitted, but strategically gathered, dark-colored dresses. Peplum tops with straight or cigarette skirts create an hourglass shape that hides the stomach.

When we searched for her images, we found many articles about how to dress “flatter” when you are “heavy” or larger in a particular part of your body. Also, tips on how “look five-pounds thinner.”

Breaking the style norm: Spencer wears a buttoned up suit and a full skirt. However, when we searched for photos of her style over the past year or so, we came across a few outfits that she wore in a way that was not consistent with the style guidelines. The results were quite… flattering.

Instead of wearing a jacket open over a untucked top, she wears a suit with the jacket shut. She does not use a dark column, but rather breaks up her body’s lines. She wears a fitted top that she tucks into a skirt. Octavia Spencer shows that even though it is against every rule, the idea of a tucked in top with such a figure is still a great look… even when paired alongside rule-breaking horizontal stripes.

How to Style a Stomach: The Tummy Torture

Our stomachs are the most affected body part by hormones, diets, sleep, injury, position, and pregnancy. We have children, go through menopause, go through hysterectomies. We gain weight, lose weight, have a fitness program, then we get hurt.

Dear Nora Ephron: We don’t care about our necks. It is rarely about age or size. We cover it with control clothes, hide it under shift dresses and tunics, and we pick colors that will make it disappear.

It is important to not hide what you have, but to be stylish. You may have a waistline, but that doesn’t mean your belly button is where it should be. Take a look at the looks Octavia is wearing (check any of her pictures online).

Instead of trying to get a waist that is near her navel, she highlights her ribcage. This is where she goes in, and can create space between her bust, and her midsection.

These looks won’t make her appear five-pounds taller or five-inch shorter, but it’s hard to say that she doesn’t look good in them. The change from her uniform to something else is fun and refreshing. Her stomach isn’t even visible to you. You’re seeing the entire package.

Style Challenge: Try Tucking it In!

We challenge you to tuck your tops this month. These are some of the best ways to start slow.

Tie a t-shirt. You can place it in the middle or to the side. This can be done alone or under a jacket.

The French Tuck is a great option. The half-tuck is also known as the French Tuck. This trend has been around for some time, but Tan France made it more popular. This is when you tuck 2-3 inches in front of your lower body and leave the rest undue. Some prefer to tuck it in the middle. Some prefer it tucked in to the sides. Half-tucking is easy with a high-low tunic. The front can be tucked to the side, and the back left untucked.

A fitted top can be tucked into wide-leg trousers or a volume skirt. A looser bottom will not cling to your lower body, so you don’t need a long top that covers your midsection. Wide-leg pants are best for this purpose. A high waist will allow your waist to reach above your stomach and not be clingy at the waistband. A stiff denim can be worn as a corset, or you can go in the opposite direction and use a light non-stretchy fabric that has a drape.

Your belly is not as important as you think! Wearing what makes you happy will make it look 100 times better than any fashion rules.