Honoring the Waist

One rule covers almost everything: every outfit should acknowledge your waist somehow. That does not mean clamping down on it.

The same rule survives a lazy Sunday. Take one plain tee and a pair of jeans. Tuck the tee in and add a belt: your waist reappears and the outfit looks deliberate. Leave the same tee loose and untucked and your frame flattens into a rectangle. Nothing changed but a few inches of fabric, and the whole proportion flipped.