Perfecting your personal style: tips for broad shoulders

​Your own opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to your personal style. Your personal style should be one that allows you to be comfortable and confident. You know that you’ve reached the pinnacle of ‘dressing for self’ when you can’t wait to catch your reflection in a mirror or window. Yes, your fashion choices are about you, but that won’t stop us from sharing fashion tips and wardrobe hacks. I enjoy dressing in a way that highlights my favorite features and compliments my body type. In the Perfecting Your Personal Style series, I will share some of my tried and true wardrobe tips.  

​One part of perfecting your personal style involves understanding how to dress your most prominent features.  For me, it’s the boobs and broad shoulders. In this post, I will focus on how I dress to make my broad shoulders look their best. Let’s trash the notion that we have to hide or be ashamed of prominent features. I love my shoulders. I have learned how to accentuate them with style. Here are a few ways that I dress to show off and accentuate my broad shoulders. 

Show 'em off...
My shoulders are beautiful, so I want to show them, not hide them. I achieve this by wearing off-shoulder, cold shoulder, sleeveless, or halter tops and dresses.  

This spaghetti strap jumpsuit was a fun find during one of my thrifting excursions at my local Goodwill. The straps and flutter along the neckline are excellent ways to compliment broad shoulders.   

Off shoulder looks are my favorite...hands down. It's so sexy! An off shoulder dress or top will highlight your broad shoulders in a beautiful way. I purchased this off shoulder bodysuit from It's Fashion Metro in Sumter, SC. I have worn it with jeans, high waist trousers, and skirts.  

Accentuate!
Baring them isn't the only way to dress up your broad shoulders. It's not only the sleeve that matters in dressing for broad shoulders, but the type of neckline that you wear can play a part in creating your best look. Tops or dresses that accentuate my broad shoulders include scoop necks, v-necks, kimono sleeves and other sleeve types that have movement (like the kimono pictured above; from JC Penney, Sumter, SC).  

This three-quarter sleeve cowl neck top from JC Penney complimented the shape of my shoulders.  

I love how my shoulders look in this keyhole top with flutter sleeves.  Do you like the look?  People often think that this is a dress, but it's a 2-piece set.  

Avoid the linebacker look...
If you have broad shoulders, too much fabric on the shoulders can give you the ‘linebacker look’. That’s not the look that I’m going for, so I stay away from these looks: ruffle shoulders, puffed shoulders, shoulder pads, and layered looks that exaggerate the shoulders.  

When preparing for a photoshoot in Charlotte, I decided on a layered look. To avoid looking bulky around my shoulders, I opted for a spaghetti strap shell top and a shrug. I was sure to choose a shrug with no shoulder pads. How did I do?

I hope that these ideas for dressing broad shoulders are helplful to each of you. I am not a fashion stylist, but I am a woman who loves to get dressed up and I don't mind sharing the wardrobe tips that have worked for me. I hope that you will do the same. Comment and let us know how you are perfecting your personal style!  

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