For many women having broad shoulders is a hassle that they wish they could live without. If you too have broad shoulders and wish to downplay them there are several ways in which this can be accomplished simply by being aware of what you are wearing. This doesn’t mean you have to go fashionless either as there are many styles available today that make you look great without putting an emphasis on your broad shoulders.

While the fashion world offers many articles of clothing designed to draw attention to the shoulders and bolster their appearance, there are also equal opportunities to hide your broad shoulders. Here are some ways to downplay your broad shoulders:

•    Watch your neckline: Wearing tops that have a rounded neck or even a boat line neck will actually make your shoulders look bigger that they already are. Instead try wearing a nice v-neck top as this will give the appearance of your shoulders being narrower and thus smaller. The deeper the v-neck the better the appearance, just don’t go to risqué.

•    Watch your sleeves: Avoid sleeves that are poofy or frilly. The idea is to not draw attention to your shoulders. Wearing these types of sleeves will have the opposite effect of what you are trying to accomplish. Instead try tops that have normal sleeves such as raglan sleeves.

•    Watch your top patterns: Avoid shiny colors and horizontal stripes as these will have a widening effect on you and only make your situation worse. Instead try to stay with a darker colored top that is a solid clolor.

•    Mix and match: To draw attention from your shoulders you can also mix and match your outfits to out more emphasis on your hips. Try wearing a lighter colored bottom with your darker colored top. You can also go with horizontal stripes on the bottom in the form of a skirt as this will give a widening effect to your bottom half and thus look more proportionate to your shoulders.

•    No pads: Many business jackets come equipped with shoulder pads which is great for those who need a boost, but not for you. Most of the time, the shoulder pads can be removed, if not cut them out, but whatever you do, stay far, far away from shoulder pads unless you want to come off looking like a linebacker in the NFL.

•    Accessorize your lower half: Try wearing belts and sashes that are a little on the wild side. This will help take the attention off of your shoulders and throw it once again to your hips. The result will be a more balanced illusion.

•    Look longer: Make your body look longer by wearing dresses that are long. This will give off the impression of a softer, longer, and leaner body and will detract from the fact that you have broad shoulders.

Having broad shoulders isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but if you don’t want to show them to the world following any of these tips is a great way to conceal what you want to keep secret.