A great wardrobe starts with a perfect fit. Trends change fast, and it’s not always easy to know how to adapt them for our unique (and beautiful!) body shapes. Fashion is about feeling great in the looks we love and feeling great in who we are, it is about CONFIDENCE.
This is a handy guide to help decide how to dress each body shape and play up your most favorite features with styles you already have in your closet, or ones you might want to get.
But first things first, do you know your body shape?
#1 PEAR or TRIANGLE:
Those who have large hips should seek to draw attention to the top fall into this type.
Your features:
Your waist is wider than your bust.
You consider yourself to have fuller hips.
You have narrower shoulders in comparison to your hips.
You have a fuller rear.
Your clothing styles:
Wear detail-rich sweaters and flashy necklaces. Japanese mango, bell or tulip help to enhance the upper part and divert attention from the hips.
A vest also looks good for this body type. Wear straight skirts or evasé.
Prefer straight pants or flare. Pants and skirts of dark colors like black, navy blue or dark green help lengthen and disguise the hips.
Dresses in plain colored tube or small prints look good. Avoid using leagues or skinning pants to keep your body looking like a top.
#2 HOURGLASS:
Privileged Body, as it has proportional measures.
Your features:
You’d describe your body as curvy.
You have a well-defined waist.
Your bust and hip measurements are roughly even.
You may have fuller bust, hips, and thighs.
Your clothing styles:
This type looks good on almost all types of clothing, but should use pieces that value the body.
Abuse of dresses and blouses, which value the curves. Use pencil skirt, straight or evasé skirt.
Abuse skinny pants, flare or tailoring.
Avoid wearing loose, formless clothes that hide the curves or too short and too close to the body that vulgarize the look and are not elegant.
#3 APPLE or OVAL:
In this type of body the volume is concentrated in the waist.
Your features:
You are generally well-proportioned.
You are not necessarily as curvy through your hips.
You don’t have a well-defined waistline.
Your clothing styles:
Wear evasé or soft godé skirts of dark colors and high waist.
Wear flare pants, or high waist straight, tailoring type.
Try to wear blazers, cardigans or open dark coats, at the most with a single button.
The blouses should have less detail to avoid increasing the volume. The "V" neckline lengthens and sharpens the silhouette, because it draws attention to the lap, disguising the belly. Wear shirts or blouses, but not too tight or too wide.
Tubed dresses with cutouts on the sides lengthens and softens the belly.
#4 RECTANGLE TYPE:
Those who have this type of body have narrow hips and have no waist.
Your features:
You’re not particularly curvy.
Your shoulders and hip measurements are nearly the same.
Your waist isn’t very small or well-defined, but rather straight up and down.
Your weight is fairly evenly distributed throughout your body.
Your clothing styles:
Wear skinny pants and leggings that give an illusion of having larger hips.
Prefer the tighter and more graceful blouses. Models with ruffled peplum in the hips region look good on this type.
Wear evasé skirts, ruffled with peplum and godê help to increase hip and balance the silhouette.
You can abuse the prints. Prefer one-button blazers and well-tapered, because they sharpen the waist. Wear them with dresses with thin belts, with wide skirts, pleated or evasé, to mark the waist.
#5 INVERTED TRIANGLE:
Those who have this type of body have broad shoulders.
Your features:
Your shoulders are broader than your hips.
You are not necessarily as curvy through your hips.
Your clothing styles:
To increase the hips and balance the shoulders, wear godê skirt, evasé, with pleats or ruffled peplum. Dresses accented, sleeveless and with evasé skirt, godê and folds balance the silhouette.
Skirts, shorts, slacks, white or stronger colors increase the hips.
In the upper body, prefer more neutral or dark colors. Wear blouses with small or tight sleeves and racing.
Wear blazers and frilly peplum blouses, accented.
Legging pants help increase hips.
You might also want to consider if you are short, skinny or plus size type as well.
SHORT or PETIT:
Prefer dresses of one color.
One-piece models, without belts. Use "V" neckline, cutouts and vertical lists.
Dresses above the knee, flare or straight pants, pencil or straight skirts all elongate the body.
Prefer styles composed of two pieces, tailleur (pants), straight pants or leggings.
Pieces with contrasting colors from the top to the bottom.
Wear wide belts, dressed in evasé or godê skirt.
THIN:
Your clothing styles:
Choose light or patterned colors.
Abuse of large collars, ties, scarves.
Horizontal cuts and stripes help increase the volume.
Prefer godé skirt or evasé and straight cut pants.
PLUS:
Your clothing styles:
Prefer dresses in tube or envelope.
Dresses with cutouts on the sides in two colors (darker on the sides and clear in the middle) help to sharpen the silhouette.
Dark or sober colors, small prints and vertical stripes also sharpen the silhouette.
Wear straight pants or flare and loose in the bottom, large prints, sleeves either too wide or too tight. Prefer blouses and shirts, without much detail. Do not wear clothes that are too tight so as not to overtighten the unwanted fat, and not too wide to increase the silhouette.
ONE LAST THOUGHT ON BODY SHAPES
Everybody and every body is different. If you’re not one of these shapes—that’s ok! These dressing guidelines are best used as a starting point to understand the basics. And, most women are a combination of several! It’s all about mixing & matching until you find what’s best for you!
Dress for success, because you deserve it!