"How To Never Look Fat Again" Book Review

"...I've become an expert at hiding the fat.  Not by dieting and exercise- though I'm a fervent believer in both- but by wearing the right clothes in flattering fabrics, colors, and shapes and styling them with distracting accessories; by having the best supportive bra that lifts me up and gives me a couple of extra inches of torso; by wearing the highest heels I can comfortably stand in; and by holding my head high, my shoulders back, and being aware of my posture."

This is one of the opening paragraphs of a book I have been contemplating called "How To Never Look Fat Again:  Over 1,000 Ways to Dress Thinner--Without Dieting!" by Carla Krupp.  This book first caught my eye in People magazine!  Of course, I would love a guide on how to never, ever look fat again! Who wouldn't? I really like her "can do" attitude!

Krupp is a former fashion editor for Glamour, InStyle and People magazines. This is her second publication along these same lines.  Her first book was "How Not To Look Old".

Certain types of clothes/fabrics, according to Krupp, are classified as "high fat, low-fat, or no-fat".  She provides a quiz for the reader to use to see how the current clothes in her closet fit into this rating system.  Also provided are "swap outs" in each chapter, suggesting that instead of one thing you should wear another similar, but slimming, piece instead.   For instance, trade a boat neck sweater for a scoop neck to elongate your neck.

High Fat Items:

• textured fabrics
• terry-cloth
• toile
• fur
• shiny metallics
• neon, white, bright, pastel, or primary colors  
• super-sized and bulky
• full of gathers and ruffles
• pieces that are too small to cover your frame, leaving too much exposed

Low-Fat Items:

• provide simple coverage
• plain/neutral items
• basic classics 
• comfortable fabric such as cotton or denim.

No-Fat Pieces:

• are the hardest workers
• enhance and streamline your figure
• hide fat and pull you up in the right places
• "they make you look better than you would look naked"  
• control camisoles
• pencil skirts
• trim v-neck sweaters
• flat-front trousers

Other interesting tidbits:

• Say no to sleeves that cut off at the widest part of your arm and colors that contrast starkly from your skin color.
• Say no to crew necks.
• Muffin top? Say no to tight, light-colored tops and low-rise jeans and yes to darker and looser.
• Say yes to high-waist-ed shape-wear and shapely pencil-skirt fashions.
• Say no to horizontal stripes, no matter how cute the item!  (This is one of my cardinal rules, too!)
• Say yes to ruching along the midsection to hide what Krupp terms as "Buddha Belly"!  LOL

"Yes" Fashion Trends:

• Safari (wear small animal prints)
• Military

"No" Fashion Trends: 

• Transparent Lingerie Look
• Little Girl/Babydoll Dresses

Handy eBay Selling Tips - Part 1

To Get Started You Need The Following Basic Items:

These are the very basic things you need to get started.  There are more things you can do to enhance your listings.  I'll write about these in another post.

1. Items to Sell - I sell clothing.  It started when my daughter was in kindergarten.  I had saved everything from her babyhood- just in case I had another baby!  Well, I did have another baby...but not until much later.  I decided that in the meantime, the clothes she had outgrown as a toddler would be moth-eaten and crumbly by the time her sibling would have a chance to use them... Besides, I wanted to turn her outgrown clothing into $$ in order to purchase the latest Kelly's Kids and Ragsland fashions to put on her! I needed to feed my habit of having a well-dressed child!  :)  This well-dressed child is on her way to college this fall!  (wiping away tears here.)
2. An eBay account - Free of charge for an account. A nominal fee is charged to list an item and a percentage of the final selling price is taken by eBay.  These fees vary.  Many times, eBay will run a "special" for sellers to list their items for free.  Easy.  (My tip:  Use an email address that is not your main one.  It needs to be one that you check often, but not one that you use to communicate important family and business matters.  If you don't have an extra email, get one!  Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail... all free.)
3. A PayPal Account -  Free of charge to open an account.  This is to keep, save and spend your millions!  There is a charge for sending & receiving money, usually a nominal percentage of the amount.
4. Digital Camera - Of course, you could list items on eBay without photos...but I don't think items like clothing, decor, etc. would sell.  Perhaps, if you are selling books or software, actual photos would not be necessary.  Most folks have a digital camera now.  When I first started on eBay, not many people did.  I currently use a Canon Powershot for my listings.  I like this camera because the quality of the images is very good, but the camera is small and can easily fit into my purse for everyday use!
5. Photo/Auction Hosting Site - This is a site that you use to upload and host your pictures.  It stores the photos online and makes them accessible online to appear on your eBay listings.  EBay has it's own photo-hosting server, which is free.  I have never used it.  It's kinda like the old saying, "You get what you pay for..." or, in this case, what you don't pay for.  I use and recommend a site called Seller Sourcebook.  This site hosts your photos, provides templates for your listings, saves your eBay seller information and automates a lot of stuff.  There is a monthly fee of $8.00, but I find it to be well worth this cost.

Sell Your Duds on eBay

I'm sure you have noticed that I sell a few items on eBay.  Basically, I try to always keep at least a handful of things up for sale... Do I make a fortune?  Hardly.  But, I must say that I keep a small (as in very) balance in my PayPal account that comes in quite handy when:

• I need to pay someone back a small amount of cash.  Simply use their email address and viola, it's "even, Steven!"  You can now call that friend up for another dinner out!  :)  Or pay your sister-in-law back for your part of the groceries during your recent vacation!

• Make a small purchase on eBay.  Hey, return the favor and keep the internet marketplace humming along.
• Make a quick purchase of a beautiful lipstick on Amazon.com without having to dig through your purse for your credit card information, thus giving you enough time to change your mind~

Besides the monetary benefit, selling on eBay can be kinda fun....and it is an excellent way for you to keep your closet cleaned-out, allowing room to organize the clothes that you wear frequently.  Every so often, when I'm hanging up a shirt or looking for something to wear, I will see an item that I simply DO NOT wear!  There is nothing specifically wrong with the item... in fact, I may have only worn it once, or not at all!  But, for some reason, the garment is just there, taking up space that could be used for other things!  When I see these clothes, I take them out and hang them in a special area reserved for "eBay items That I'm Going To Sell."

For the next couple of posts, I'm going to cover my eBay selling Tips!  I'm sure most of you are quite familiar with the How-To's of eBay.  But for kicks and giggles, I'm going to write My Handy How-To Guide.