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Last week I had the honor of speaking to a group of women visiting Nashville for the EO Nerve conference. The insanely cool Peter Nappi studio hosted us while we talked fall fashion and how to shop smart. Then we actually went shopping together! My stylists and I took 30 women down one of Nashville's hippest streets, 12 South, and here's how it all went down.

Cute and trendy. But so wrong. The placement of the crochet inset creates a squared off chest, which is almost worse than a crew neck t-shirt. This top is also quite shapeless, just billowing down in clouds of fabric from the top of the boobs to around the tummy, and to the hips. You'd think it would camouflage in all the right places. Instead, it creates more fullness. A big blob. Pass.

Sooo much better. We're in Emerson Grace, a beautiful space with a well-edited selection of modern styles. See how the lines of this top draw the eye to the center of the body, creating a long vertical line as opposed to a wide horizontal plane across the body? And the fullness is not all the way around the hips; it is a bit more shaped at the hipline.

This open sweater is everything. So soft. So cuddly. But oh so FULL and almost out of control. It causes anyone who wears it to look more buxom, more hippy and just plain bigger. But not so fast.

All you have to do with these fuller waterfall and open sweaters is pull them in at the sides with a belt, or have a tailor remove some of the fullness.

Some of the vests out there can be a bit bulky as well. Easy fix. Grab a very narrow belt, and place it across where your natural waistline would be in a perfect world. Before you buy a vest, though, run it through this test: does the collar overwhelm your frame? If it does, see if you can draw in some of the collar inside the vest, essentially making it narrower. If it passes that test, move on and purchase!

Sometimes those narrow belts will have a lot of length at the end because they were made to go around your hips, not your waist. No problem. Just pull the belt as tight as you need it, and instead of running the prong through a hole, tuck it to the side. Then take the long tail of the belt and run it over and under the leather strap.

Ta da! Belting a vest can also make it a bit dressier, by the way.

You've probably seen these dresses with wings under the arms. They work under certain conditions: they are great for creating the illusion of a larger chest. But oddly enough, they are also great for more buxom women when the rest of the dress is more fitted, like this one is.

So gorgeous. What makes the winged dress work is the juxtaposition of volume under the arms paired with a slim silhouette. If there were volume everywhere, you'd lose the distinct design of a winged arm.

Emerson Grace was such a wonderful host to us - they had champagne, wine, spiced nuts and cookies waiting for us when we arrived!

One of our ladies had cute cuffed jeans on - but they were too short, too high above the ankles. So I uncuffed them and she instantly added 3 inches to her height!

Pocket placement on jeans and pants is one of my big soapboxes. They have to be in the right place. Jeans can be great until you turn around and see the bum. The pockets can destroy an otherwise good pair of jeans. These are too wide, and ever so slightly too long....keep reading.

The bottom point of the back pocket on a pair of jeans needs to hit just above the bottom of your, er, cheek back there. When that tip hits below the bottom of your bum, guess what? You look like you have a really long, read oversized, bum.

Look at our bums. Thanks. Ok so you can see that our jeans start at the same point on our hips, but the pockets of the jeans on the right extend waaaay lower than my pockets. So the result? The bum on the right looks a lot bigger simply because the pocket is bigger.

We're at Imogene and Willie. They're really famous for their jeans. These pockets hit at the perfect place. Right above the bottom of the cheek. They make your bum look taught and perky. Lower pockets make your bum look long and saggy.

Getting your jeans to fit in the legs is of paramount importance. This is a fit issue that can be fixed. Buy to fit the largest part of your body. If you buy to fit your bum, you may need to take in the waist so your jeans don't slide off. That may leave the legs slightly baggy, so...keep reading.

You've got to make sure your jeans are fitted through the hips and thighs. This is true whether or not they are skinny or bootcut. If there is extra fabric, it can be taken in so you get a slim leg, not a wrinkly, baggy leg.

These sleeves are too long on this leather jacket. You can't see it, but there are zippers at the wrists, so it can't be altered. No problem. All you have to do is be committed to cuffing the sleeve and pushing them up on your arm.

It's fine for the shirttail of a blouse or sweater to hang below your leather jacket. Keep the look modern and on-purpose, not sloppy, but pushing up those sleeves to show your wrists!

So much better - the jacket hits at her hips, is a nice shrunken fit (not like the leather jacket you bought on the streets of Italy in the '90's) and the sleeves are cuffed just so.

Just because a leather jacket won't close doesn't mean it has to. Don't pass on it because of this - you would rarely ever want to zip it anyway. It looks more casual and comfortable when left open. But it must be fitted to do so.

See how tight that armhole is? Leather needs to feel pretty tight when you try it on in the store. That's because it will warm up to your skin and stretch out slightly, and it will never go back to its original shape. Again, push up those sleeves.

I love a statement necklace. It's so chic. But you've got to make sure it hits at the right place. Not too high, and not too low.

This is where you don't want your necklace to hit, right smack-dab between your boobs. For obvious reasons, I hope. The dangling is basically a major distraction.

Bring it up a little higher, or go lower to right above your belly button. You can ask if the jeweler will adjust the length of the necklace for you - often they will at no charge.

Judith Bright will customize any piece for you - from the stone to the metal to the length. Her shop on 12 Ave. South is a destination for any jewelry lover.

When your necklace falls inside the v of your v-neck? That's probably my favorite look.