I‘m starting “Urban Hobbit” due to requests for it. Especially direct requests from Susan & Kassandra that I share “my style” – which is a little eclectic. I never really thought how I dress to be a “style”- I take a whimsical take on the fashion trends with a conscious slant to have it be flattering to my “hobbit” frame.

My hobbit frame being short and very round; everything is proportional until you get to my hips and my bust. If it were not for those two areas, I could get away with buying children sized clothes. (I did in my twenties!) Even if I were to exercise most of the day and barely eat – my bust would still be a full 1/5 of my weight.  I prefer to be complementary when I label something; Missus SmartyPants (a website offering advice for dressing your body shape well) would call my curving frame “elegant” – I term my curvy short frame as Hobbit, in honor of Tolkien’s short, stout folke. (Of course, there are days I claim to be a fairy/pixie instead!)

There are many of you out there like me. And most sites do not address the specific needs of the folk both petite AND round …  or, as I call it, “lush”.

So this website is for woman like me who are either having trouble dressing for their  “hobbit” frame or want to have more fun dressing  their “hobbit frame.

Let’s face it, fellow hobbits, the average offerings of tall and thin don’t work for us. The details in the waist area tends to fall around the hips, resulting in that area looking wider than it is. Long sleeves fall a foot or more past the hands, unless you are lucky enough to  find 3/4 cut sleeves. You celebrate anytime you find the latest style of jeans IN capri cut because they will then be ankle length for you. Dresses tend to fall at that unflattering length of  below the knee-making you look even more stout! – or worse, puddle around the floor making the use of high heels very risky.

We are not going to wake up tall and thin .. and you shouldn’t want to! Trust me – tall and thin do not have the market on sexy and alluring! Men desire a diversity of shapes and sizes (as do women) and human develop their preferences and their fantasies throughout their adult life. Many men fantasize about petite women when they meet them. If you asked “my number” of lovers, I would honestly say in the triple digits – and surprisingly even now (at what I consider to be my least attractive) I still have some men actively pursuing me.  This is due partly to how I dress & present myself

So I hope to help you in finding the best cuts and designs and mixes for you to flatter your body and for you just to have fun with. Life is often too serious. We don’t have to be!

Bear with me; I’ve never done a “fashion” blog before. I’ve subscribed to a few (I highly recommend Miss Smarty Pants), , I browse Vogue’s season issues, but never considered myself an expert. I look at the looks and adapt them to my frame and preferences. But recently people have been insisting I am an expert at dressing the Hobbit Frame and that I should share how to others that have the similar shape.

The best way I know how to do this is visually – with pictures and then describing why I selected the pieces and sharing the thoughts behand coordinating them together. And then let this website organically develop.much like I witnessed Missus SmartyPants had.I do hope this will stay age – neautral; I have always added my own slant  to fashion and I believe in dressing for the age you feel – not necessarily the age you are. And some fashion cuts and fabrics I did wish someone told me about earlier.

Let’s step out the door and onto the road!

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Just because I feel unattractive (I’ve had health issues that caused me to gain weight, my age is starting to show, things are going wonky with some areas of my body) doesn’t mean I have to present myself as unattractive. Just as I concede that I have some detractors in my body, I also admit I have some strong attractive qualities as well – none the least being my mind, my optimism and my sense of whimsy. I have worked to keep my skin and body healthy; I don’t take them for granted. Furthermore – I have listened to what other people had expressed that attract them to me. My eyes! My very petite, very feminine frame. My soft spots. My curvy spots. My smile. And I work to have my clothes and their colors flatter MY body. If I have to choose between what is IN and what looks flattering – I choose what looks flattering! All the fashion mavericks DO.

Be a fashion maverick!

I don’t claim to be one. And while I may be able to channel a “diva” while on stage or when I am in pub
lic – my goal is only to be true to myself in the most supportive way possible. Honestly, while I may dress with care before heading out the door, what I am wearing isn’t on my mind when I am out & about. I’m not thinking about HOW I look or how others think of me. I’m thinking of making friends and supporting my friends.

As such, a important first consideration in an outfit for the day or for an event is “IS IT COMFORTABLE?”. Can I move freely in it? Can I count on it not causing pain in two or three hours? Will it stay buttoned/zipped/in place during the day? You need to feel comfortable to appear confident.

You will notice, as I post pictures of hobbit-friendly outfits, that I seldom wear any shoes with heels now. This is due to a back injury; wearing any elevated heel causes an increase in pain. Which means an increase in pain, leading to an increase in self-depreciation. I find “sexy/attractive” is an attitude – if you don’t think you are attractive … neither does anyone else. Do yourself a favor – don’t dress to look sexy, dress to feel sexy! Let your  body feel good about itself and it’s beauty will shine – don’t subject it to pain and make it feel it must “adapt to beauty”.

Let me share my very comfy Urban Hobbit outfit for today.

• Wallflower summer dress with fuchsia/sageprint
• No Boundaries Shawl sweater with waist buckle in sage
• Fuchsia leggings
• Black knee-high boots
• Infinity scarf
• Sage fedora
• Amethyst slipper scuffs
• Celtic pendant & earings

I selected a black summer dress featuring a fuchsia flower print with sage-colored leaves.  It is stretch cotton so lays smoothly over my décolletage & hips but nips in to show that I do have a tapered waist. i bought this dress in the summer last year, it had that hourglass cut along with a shorter hem (so it falls just above my knee, showing my legs are proportional ) and cap sleeves that elongate my short-ish arms. Also the neckline shows some cleavage – I find high-neck dresses can warp the lines of a well-endowed front, making the bust look even more out of proportion to the short frame.

It is well into fall here in Oregon. To transition this summer dress into colder weather and warmer layers, I have paired it with some fuchsia tights I bought to go with a handkerchief-hem tunic I bought. (Most of my clothes are purchased only if they can go with what is already in my wardrobe.)

With the fuchsia and the sage being “autumn leaves” colors, I have topped the dress with a  sage green sweater. This sweater has a shawl-neckline and short sleeves that are flattering to hobbit bustlines and shoulders; additionally it has a (mahogany) buckle detail at waist level. I want eyes drawn there and at the cleavage center of my bust-not at the width of my hips and bust; this sweater is effective in that misdirection.

For outside, I have added thick long socks and knee high black boots for wamth. Not sure the brand of these boots- I bought them last fall- but it did take some time to locate them. Boots that fall anywhere between the ankle or the knee tend to be unflattering for us Hobbits; they make our legs look stubby, as if we are a kid playing with mommy’s shoes. You want to avoid that! Most knee-high boots actually came about 6 inches above my knee – resulting in the same effect as shorter boots.  These have a buckle detail near the heel; it’s an elongating detail I wanted, to draw eyes down the length of the leg to claim the full measure of my petite frame.

I added an infinity scarf that matched the dress (came with a contrasting “wallflower” dress) and a nubby sage-green fedora I picked up on clearance years ago. I love this hat! It is “crushable” which means I can stuff it in a pocket or a bag & it will pop back in shape when pulled out!It cost me all of $5 dollars and it is my default “urban” accesssory Fall through Spring.

Inside, I really try to get away with as few layers as possible (I don’t like the extra weight and anything impeding movement) but I do like to be warm.

For the fireside, I traded the boots and socks for some comfortable slipper scuffs. The deep purple combines with the leggings to give me an elongating effect.

The scarf is replaced with a Celtic-patterned pendant, echoing the purple of the dress and accompanied with simple hanging Celtic knots. You will notice I favor silver jewelry over gold; it favors my skin tone better because gold tends to make me look slightly jaundiced. Pick the metal best for YOU!

I also tend to go more Old World with my jewelry, even on current fashion fads. I do self-identify as either a hobbit or a fairie (depending on the day) and I feel this honors that nature-bound folk. If I were to wear a leather bracelet with this – so IN this year! – I would wear my green leather bracelet with the embossed leaves stamped into it. I bought it from a local leather-artist. But I didn’t feel like snapping that on today.

That was the outfit today ..and yes, I wore it comfortably for all my chores and projects today.