Q: What suggestions do you have for wearing oversized/loose/comfy items, given that I am short and petite?

A: Regardless of your stature or figure, it's always a good practice to balance volume with slimness. This means that an oversized top needs to be worn with a slim or tailored bottom, and vice versa. If you do loose, flowy garments on both top and bottom, you run the risk of masking your true shape. And on a petite frame, you might appear to be drowning in your clothes. Try a loose tunic with leggings, slouchy track pants with a fitted jacket, an oversized sweater with skinny jeans.

If you're also concerned about making yourself look shorter, you can dress to create a column of color, which will lengthen your silhouette. You don't have to wear the same color head-to-toe, but choose colors with similar values. A loose white tunic worn with black leggings will chop up your figure, but a loose white tunic worn with light gray leggings will create a softer break. Perceived height is all in the legs, so anything you can do to make your legs look longer while wearing oversized items will serve you well.

Q: I'd love to hear what you think about normcore. Most of what I've seen labeled normcore leads me to think "classic" and I'm wondering if this "trend" has any staying power?

A: Quick refresher: Normcore — a term coined by New York Times writer Fiona Duncan — describes the pervasive fashion attitude of the moment, one of comfort, plainness, sameness, even disinterest. We can thank normcore for the resurgence of Birkenstocks and New Balance sneakers, for deeming sweatshirts sexy and for making the dirty-hair-baseball-cap combo chic. Although the style is rooted in existing basics, I'd also credit normcore with creating and popularizing the fancy sweatpant, for which I will be forever grateful. This is a dressing practice rooted in comfort. And after decades of bodycon dresses and sky-high stilettos, people are delighted to find that what they've been wearing all along is suddenly stylish.

It's true that many normcore items are classics — Chuck Taylors, plain T-shirts, turtlenecks. But I'd also venture that normcore skews a bit sporty. Adidas slides, caps and track suits fold into this genre, too. And many items have a '90s bent to them in terms of fit and styling, so certain items may be classic (jeans) but in their normcore incarnations they're more specific (high-waisted stonewashed jeans).

Is this a passing fad? The nature of fashion is to force change, because the industry won't make money if we all just settle into normcore and don't refresh our wardrobes every season. Also, this style is somewhat anti-fashion, and most anti-fashion movements have limited staying power. But who knows? This could be the one that sticks. We'll all be a lot comfier if it does.

Q: I have a V-shaped body and I know my shoulders shouldn't be even more emphasized with wide collars. But with leather jackets I get lost. What style would work?

A: As a fellow broad-shouldered gal, I feel your pain. Biker or motorcycle-style jackets tend to be designed with structured shoulders, large collars and flaps that open into oversized "lapel" shapes, all of which will visually broaden your figure. And they're frequently made from heavy, stiff leather which creates a frustratingly boxy fit.

Collarless variations work better and designs featuring supple leathers won't feel as bulky, but moto-styles aren't the only options out there. Wing-collared zip-front jackets will look a bit dated and leather blazers feature the same wide, shoulder-emphasizing lapels as motos.

But Mandarin collar or collarless scuba jackets are a great alternative to traditional motos. They're form-fitting, made from thinner leathers, and feature a simple, straight zipper front. Many of them even include hardware and pocket placements reminiscent of biker styles, so you can feel just as edgy as your moto-wearing friends.

Sally McGraw is a Minneapolis-based personal stylist and creator of the Already Pretty (alreadypretty.com) blog. Her fashion advice appears on this page once a month. Send your questions to: tellus@startribune.com.