As a personal shopper and stylist, I’ve discovered and created my fair share of clothing hacks. Some I find killer and use them daily in those situations and others were, to be blunt, just bad! I also see a TON of clothing hacks on TikTok and Instagram reels and some just make me cringe… Just because it looks good on a video doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll look great/work out in person. I’ve compiled a small list of my top clothing hacks for you in order to make your life easier (and hopefully blow your mind a bit, too!). These won’t be DIY hacks or turning a tank top into a skirt, but more along the lines of making your clothing work for you and not against you.
Clothing Hack #1: Fashion Tape
LADIES! If you don’t know how amazing fashion tape is, you are in for a TREAT. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I do have a larger chest and that’s all fine and dandy. However, I can’t begin to express the frustration that I feel when putting on a button down shirt and having that big old gap right in the middle of my chest. You can adjust your top to fix it, but it’s temporary and you’ll certainly be showing your bra to the world soon enough. This doesn’t mean we should either deal with it or steer clear of these types of tops. We just need fashion tape! These handy dandy little thin strips are essentially double sided tape that is meant for skin/garments. For a button down shirt, all I do is cut it in half, stick it in between the two problematic buttons, stick the garment together, and voilà ! You now have a perfect blouse with no peek-a-boo moments.
Fashion tape also works great for low cut, loose shirts that can easily result in an ‘oops’ moment if you make the wrong move. This is often a red carpet stylist’s secret weapon for those risky dresses we see on celebrities. Every woman should have in her closet because it’s only a matter of time until you’ll need to use it, I promise! The possibilities are truly endless.
Clothing Hack #2: Tiny Padded Socks
This next hack I came up with myself! I’m sure that it already existed, but this wasn’t one that I read online or was told about. I absolutely adore high heels, but man, they HURT. Not only that, but I love designer heels which I feel like is often on a different level of pain. You don’t know true pain until you’ve spent a day in Louboutin high heels (or my Versace’s below…). The biggest problem that I find with high heels is the lack of padding for the balls of my feet. Insert tiny socks. Do they look completely ridiculous? Yes. Will you potentially loose them in the wash? Also yes. Are they totally worth it? Absolutely! This hack only works with closed toe heels, which is great for me since my uncomfortable heels tend to be the closed ones as they rudely squish your toes together. Just slip the tiny socks on over your toes, put your heel on, and there you have it! An extra padded layer for all of your heel adventures.
I can’t tell you how much this hack has helped save my feet from extreme pain. They don’t make your heels super comfortable, (let’s be honest, heels are NOT comfy in general), but it makes them so much more bearable. They’re essentially no-show socks for heels. They also help secure your foot more which can help with comfort. There is nothing worse than having to deal with a painful heel that is slightly loose on top of it! I’ve also tried a sling-back version which I don’t recommend; it digs into your heel pretty badly. Which, to be honest, did distract me from the pain I had on the balls of my feet, but still…
Clothing Hack #3: Shorten a Dress With a Belt
This hack is great for those transitional months went we want to wear our longer dresses, but it’s a little too ‘fall/winter’ for it. Well, grab a belt (preferably a smaller waist belt if possible) and put it where you’d like the dress to be ‘cropped’ at. Then, start pulling the fabric up so that it starts to cover the belt. Keep tugging and adjusting the fabric over the belt until you’re satisfied with the final look. This should shorten your dress right up! This is especially great for a slip dress like I used. It marks the waist and makes it SO much more flattering. This trick also works if you want to crop a sweater over a dress/skirt.
Clothing Hack #4: Tying Oversized Tops
Out of all of my clothing hacks, this is the one that I’ve been using the longest! I was a high school cheerleader and sometimes, we wore jerseys for important game days. However, they’re meant for men with padding, so they aren’t flattering and are way too big! What I’d end up doing was taking a ponytail and gathering all of the extra fabric in the back, tying it, and then tucking it under the shirt. While that technique certainly works, the ‘tail’ does pop out a bit. A better way to do it? Take the fabric and twist it on the side and tie a knot. It will stick out, but a fabric knot is actually super stylish. I often see shirts for sale WITH a fabric knot already included! The shirt has to be fairly oversized for this to work. If it’s not, I’d use a clear elastic band instead of a normal ponytail so it’s a little less obvious if it peeps through. Finally, you can always do a front tie and tuck it into your bra strap if you really want a cropped look. 😉 That way, the tail won’t ever hang out since it’s being held down! I actually bought some of my more basic tops a couple sizes too big in order to do this hack. It’s one of my favorites.
Clothing Hack #5: Extra Loop For A Big Belt
Depending on your body type, you may struggle with this on the daily like I do. You own a beautiful belt for your pants and when you want to switch it over to a waist belt, it’s too big and the extra ‘belt flap’ just hangs awkwardly and you can’t move the belt loop over any more. Or perhaps you just bought a belt in a size too big, or maybe it just wasn’t created with a belt loop like my white one below! Well, all you need to do is slip a clear hair elastic on the belt and slide it on over to where you’d like the extra belt loop to be. Then, you can tuck the extra belt flap under the clear elastic and BOOM! No more flapping belt! Now this clothing hack won’t work for a belt that is super oversized since you’ll run into an issue with not having enough holes (you can always punch extra holes, though!). However, it’s great for a belt that is one or two sizes too big. You can also use fashion tape for this, but I quite like the elastic as it’s 100% secure.
Wrapping Up My Clothing Hacks
I absolutely love these five clothing hacks and I recommend them to my clients on the daily. Not only that, but these are hacks that I genuinely believe in and use myself. I truly hope you were able to learn a thing or two and that I’m able to help make your clothes work better for you! If you’re interested in working with me on a one-on-one basis, reach out to me on Dressed By Tess! I am a personal shopper/stylist and would love to help you out. 🙂 Also, check out my Styling Tips series (under the Fashion section of my blog) for more tips and tricks from a stylist’s point of view. This one in particular is about styling blazers.
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XO, Tess
