dressing for one's shape, how people formulize that, and how unhelpful that is, etc

Tiny little disc candy vs. thin bowling pin

Hmmmm I think the "dress for your body shape" thing is better framed as "wear clothes that fit you properly." Unfortunately--especially when it comes to suits--this is best accomplished by a really good tailor. My best suits have involved a jacket that fit well out of the box, then maybe just a little shaping to get it looking really ace. Pants: my strategy is buy on the big side and basically have them reconstructed to be comfortable and fit nicely. Good-quality materials are important in a suit. Fully lined pants are important. None of this stuff comes cheap.

I wish I had some "how to do a suit without spending hundreds of dollars" protips, because I could use them now that I am no longer a corporate whore with money to blow on suits.

actually I have spent more money on the tailoring in some cases then on the suit itself if I scored it from Filene's or a clearance rack or something.

I've held off on asking about the dress code for my upcoming internship and am secretly hoping that the answer is "scrubs." Which is not gonna be the case, so I have no idea what I am going to put on in the morning because I don't think my corporate whore suits are going to do the trick.

Wondering how long it takes to learn to do the tailoring oneself. Just getting into using a sewing machine & wanting to go in that direction.
Of course not everybody has the time or inclination to do that. &it is going to take an unspecified length of time and patience to reach that skill level.
Just thinking ideally it would be a skill everybody were taught since we're not a species of clones so shapes vary wildly.

I am by no means a seamstress nor do I even do the basics of sewing, but my mom is quite skilled. Her advice is that it is often more straightforward and satisfying to make up a basic pattern from scratch that fits you well from the get go (because of how you took the measurements, cut the pattern, tried on and pinned during the construction process, etc.) than to try to reverse-engineer something store-bought. That kind of tailoring is a specialty unto itself, and one she avoids (but will whip me up something with darts and pleats and linings and complicated patterns with no problem).

IIRC in orbit can weigh in on this sewing stuff.

She and I can both vouch for the "Very Easy Very Vogue" (Vogue) patterns for pretty simple sewing (her) that looks good made up (me).