The label may say “one size fits all,” but that shouldn’t give you an automatic green light.
In other words, an OSFA garment may technically fit your body, but it might not flatter your shape.
TODAY’s Tamron Hall recently bought a dress as a maternity gift for a friend that claimed to fit everyone. For her Tuesday Trend, she wanted to put that claim to the test. Is one size fits all fact or fiction?
Hall turned to InStyle’s Dana Avidan Cohn for the dos and don’ts of wearing these pieces.
“One size fits all is tricky because it really depends on the piece,” said Cohn, the magazine’s executive style correspondent. “It’s not about the label. So I prefer one style fits all. It’s about the piece.”
With that, she gave us three great, size-free fall staples that can be styled to flatter your body.
Blanket triangle scarf
This oversized scarf, available from Express for $59.90, comes in a popular Southwestern print and in the shape of a triangle. You can wrap it around your shoulders like a shawl or tie it asymmetrically across the front of your body.
“It’s not a regular scarf,” Cohn said. “So you get a lot of versatility, just depending on how you want to wear it.”
The way you shape it around your body makes the difference between a hit or a miss.
“You have so many options with a piece like this because it reads much more like a cape,” she added.
Obi belt
This trend spotted on the fashion runways is a cinch to wear. The belt Cohn showed off comes from Anthropologie.com for $58.
The great thing about an obi belt is that it’s solid leather and has neither hardware nor holes, she said.
“You can customize this piece by wrapping it once around the back and tying it in the front and then you get to cinch your waist,” Cohn said.
Try Tamron’s tip to wrap one over coats and dresses. For a new look, Cohn suggests removing the belt that came with your coat and swapping in an obi.
The cape
This belted cape, comes from Ann Taylor for $129.99, looked fab on the three women who modeled it each in her own way.
“This is such a fantastic piece,” Cohn said. “It works, you can see, on all these different girls.”
It’s a blanket-style poncho that’s super comfortable, and great to wear while traveling or walking around on a fall weekend, she added.
“You can really customize it by leaving a bit of clothing showing underneath in a monochromatic color palette, you can wear it open, draped or you can cinch it tightly at the waist and that’s going to create a smaller frame.”
The choice is yours. So put that OSFA piece to work in the most flattering way for you.
TODAY.com contributor Lisa A. Flam is a news and lifestyles reporter in New York. Follow her on Twitter.