but in the day time i find it a bother to cover since i dont really wear much floaty stuff. i wear rather form fitting stuff or stuff which does show my bod, so yea.. thats the whole reason why i even care to lose the weight. lol, i’m embarrassed to admit fashion is my motive too..

I think I like fashion as much or more than the average woman, but I care more about living a healthy active lifestyle than I do whether I am a few pounds up or down. If my weight fluctuates by more than 5 pounds it is because of what I am choosing to eat and the duration and quality of exercise I am doing. If I were to blame fashion, I think I would be absolving myself of personal responsibility.

At almost 50 my body isn’t the same as it was in my younger years, and there are parts of it I like to camoflauge a bit, but I am certainly as fit as I was in my twenties, and that pleases me a great deal.

I also second Maya’s point that volume, worn correctly, is balanced. If your entire outfit is curve-concealing, you’re doin’ it wrong.

Finally, I don’t personally indulge in trends that don’t flatter my slightly finicky figure, so the volume trend never touched me. I look like a linebacker in anything that’s not tailored. But I certainly gain weight in winter, and find that when warm weather forces me to show some upper arm, I am quickly motivated to work it off. I know it’s a separate issue - seasonality versus trends - but just thought I’d mention …

Sit-ups are my solution. And, I hope waistbands at the waist won’t be coming back any time soon.

-if you’re wearing volume correctly, it means that it’s tailored somewhere. My H&M shirt is very fitted at the shoulders and then gradually floats away, but you can still get an idea of my size from the fit of the shoulders, and also my arms since it has a 3/4 sleeve. It’s not as though I look big or wide, and likewise a larger person will not look small.

-Also, if you’re wearing volume correctly, you’ll only wear one voluminous piece at at a time, as Angie has mentioned before. So I guess if you gain weight on your top half, you can wear a billowy shirt and tailored pants, or wide leg pants and a fitted top if you gain weight on the bottom, but again…they both have to fit somewhere.

-It’s easy to tell when someone wears baggy clothes out of self-consciousness because they tend to wear them everywhere.

-It also depends a lot on your face/neck, I would imagine.

I think volume will assuredly conceal lumps and bumps that we all have, regardless of size, but it won’t make you look bigger or smaller if worn correctly. Some weight fluctuation is normal, and that can probably be hidden by a voluminous garment, but if it’s really unusual or extreme, I think it would be more noticeable.

I can relate to what you are all saying here, and Shiny, yes, as I’ve invested in that better denim, it does help me to commit to maintaining a stable weight. I’ve discovered at menopause that my diet really has to be impeccable and now I don’t have a problem with the fifteen pound gain I once had. But I see women my age get discouraged with the weight gain as I once was…and then give up and start buying those elastic waist gathered pants that just end up making you feel dumpy…uh oh! And so I see the point the article is making…there’s nothing in your wardrobe “not stretchy” to give you a reality check!

Americans unfortunately eat large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (corn being subsidized by the government, isn’t it?) in many items and which I think is illegal in Europe?…it amounts to drinking liquid starch and packs on tremendous weight, in addition to those ridiculous portion sizes in restaurants.

Great subject, Angie…your blog continues to be favorite place for me to visit every morning!