At some point in your fashion development years, a parent, school teacher, nun, or other member of the fashion police instilled in you certain rules about what you should and shouldn’t wear. And you believed them. But according to fashion design experts, most of these rules are just myths. Not only are they fake, but they can be detrimental to your wardrobe.

Here are some rules that you can finally start breaking!

Myth # 1: Don’t wear white after Labor Day.. All right, let’s put this on the bed right now. White is not only acceptable, it is actually quite impressive in the fall and winter. Remember that white comes in many shades, some warm and some cool. Warmer whites add drama to a post-Labor Day wardrobe, and when white comes in a cozy fabric like cashmere, it’s definitely a “fad.”

Myth # 2: horizontal stripes make you look fat.. Although people have blindly believed this myth for decades, it is scientifically proven wrong. A psychologist at the University of York recently showed that horizontal lines don’t make you look fatter; And if anything, it can make you look slimmer. He was confirming the findings of a 19th century physicist who first investigated the optical illusion that horizontal lines appear taller and narrower than vertical lines.

Myth No. # 3: don’t mix patterns and stripes. Whoever made this up obviously didn’t go to fashion school. The combination of patterns and stripes creates an absolutely fantastic look. Just keep proportions in mind, so if one pattern or stripe is bold, make the other more subdued. Contrast is quite fashionable.

Myth # 4: Your shoes should match your bag.. Let’s face it: if you match your shoes with your bag, you will look like the queen dressed you. He probably wants you to wear matching gloves as well. If you have to match your bag with something, it must be your clothes, but even that is not necessary.

Myth No. # 5: baggy clothing hides fat. People are not fooled by that muumuu. While baggy clothing can hide your figure, the result is a shapeless silhouette that can actually make you look bigger. Tight clothing that shows curves without being too tight is actually more flattering.

Myth No. 6: black looks good on everyone. Not necessarily. Color experts contend that only one in five people have the pale, cool skin tone that looks good with black. People with warmer skin tones look faded in black, as the color removes all the golden tones from their skin.

Myth No. 7: men’s shoes must match their belts. This is a tough one, as many men can face resistance from those who swear by this rule. But the shoes do not need to match, they must coordinate with the belt. Imagine if you had tan or white shoes. It would be difficult to find a brown or white belt that exactly matched. But you will find brown or black belts that coordinate with them.

The only true rule in fashion design, then, is that rules were made to be broken. You’ll find that debunking myths may be the best thing you’ve ever done to your wardrobe.