Fashion -- 9 Easy Tricks to Look Thinner Right Now

9 Easy Tricks to Look Thinner Right Now
And You Won't Have to Move a Muscle

1. Find the right fit - Throwing on a shapeless sweatshirt or a pair of baggy bottoms won't make you look any thinner. In fact since people won't be able to see your shape they'll only assume that your body is taking up most of the space in your ensemble, making you appear larger than you are. Even the doing the reverse and wearing something skin tight will make even the lankiest body appear larger since you can see every little bulge. If you want to look thinner right now, be like Goldilocks and wear clothes that aren't too big or too little but just right. Your clothes should be tight enough to skim your body just so, but not to cut off your circulation or prevent you from moving around in them. If you're not sure about what size is right, go with the item of clothing that's one size larger and get it tailored to fit you.

2. Walk tall - Losing a pair of flats in favor of a heels will make everyone look thinner because you're elongating your body. The same thing goes for adopting better posture when you stand, sit, and walk.

3. Drink Up - If you want to look thinner and you know you're retaining water it seems almost ridiculous to drink more of it. But the best bloat fighter is water since it flushes out the salt in your system that making you retain the water. So if you want to look thinner in a certain outfit start guzzling down the H20 the day before so your body will have time to get rid of the salt.

4. Show off the waist - Anyone who watches TLC's What Not To Wear on a weekly basis will hear stylists Stacy London and Clinton Kelly emphasizing over and over again that the smallest area on a woman's body is right under her boobs. If you want to look thinner instantly, listen to their cry and wear tops that really fit tightly at this part and then skim lightly over the rest of your body. Empire waisted shirts are any easy example of this style.

5. Wear the right colors on the right places - While finding clothes that fit you correctly is the best way to look slimmer, it is true that colors can have a slimming effect. If you don't want to be banished to an all black wardrobe, just choose darker clothes to minimize your larger areas and wear lighter shades on your smaller body parts. For instance if you want to slim down your broader shoulders and make your hips appear more curvy to balance your body out, wear a navy colored top with white pants.

6. Skip drinks - Alcohol will only pack on the pounds in the long run and even if you have a drink occasionally you'll wake up bloated and with a puffy face, which isn't so slimming.

7. Practice the art of ruching - Ruching is a technique that designers employ in thousands of tops and dresses to create the illusion of tiny puckers in the fabric. Even though at first glance it seems as if these ripples will pack on the pounds, the truth is it will make your stomach look smaller because people won't be able to tell if it's the fabric or your body that's creating the extra curves.

8. Give some neck - If you want to look thinner fast throw on a top that exposes your neckline because it draws the attention upward. A v-neck top is especially flattering because it creates a vertical line in the center of your body which is elongating. If you really want to knock 'em dead throw on a fitted v-neck top with ruching throughout the abdomen of the shirt, it will make your boobs look larger while creating a teeny-tiny waist.

9. Lose all of those unflattering prints - Wearing prints that aren't proportional to your size can make you look heavy. The rules go that if you're of a larger stature you should wear larger prints, and if you're tiny you can pull off tiny prints. One of the most unflattering prints to wear is the horizontal stripe, even if you're the size of Nicole Richie, because it only draws attention to bulges. If you must wear a horizontally striped top make sure that the it isn't skin tight and in a cheap looking fabric. Also look to see that when you try it on the stripes still look like stripes and that they don't transform into squiggly lines on your frame. If it does just walk away from it and find a more flattering chevron or vertical striped ensemble which is more elongating.

Source: Lose 10 Pounds Tonight, Cosmopolitan Magazine, April 2002