The good news is that pinstripes can, in fact, make you look thinner. Pinstripes provide a classic, businesslike look to any outfit, and are a great wardrobe staple to have. In addition to making you look thinner, pinstripes can also make you look taller.
It is important to remember that simply wearing a pinstriped suit, or even just pinstriped pants, is not automatically going to make you look thinner. One important tip to remember is that the pinstripes must always be vertical -- horizontal stripes have the opposite effect, and will in fact make you look heavier. In general, thinner stripes are better than thicker ones, which can also accentuate every curve rather than camouflaging them.
The other, most important thing to remember is to buy clothes that fit, even if that means purchasing a larger size than you would like. Clothes that fit well and are tailored to your body will always make you look thinner than clothes that are too tight or clothes that are too large. Oversized clothes do not do as good of a job camouflaging things as you might think -- in fact, they just tend to make you look bigger overall.
If you do choose to wear pinstripes, they can elongate the body and make you look taller and thinner. A formal pinstriped suit worn with a blouse or a button-down shirt in a solid color will look very nice. Alternatively, you could just wear pinstriped pants with a blouse. It is a good idea to avoid dressing completely in pinstripes, though. Pinstriped pants that have a wide, straight leg and accentuate your waist are especially flattering. Avoid pants that taper at the ankle.
Wearing heels or pointed-toe shoes with pinstriped pants will also make your legs look longer, which translates to making you look slimmer. Choosing a pinstriped suit in a darker color, such as dark gray, navy or black, is also slimming. This type of suit looks nice worn with a white or light colored shirt. A pinstriped pencil skirt is also very slimming when fitted properly.
Keep in mind that you will probably need to try on a lot of clothes before you find the perfect ones. Once you do find clothes that fit well and make you look thinner, see if you can figure out which particular details of the clothes work best on your body. You can then look for those details on other articles of clothing you purchase.
