Dress for your shape.

It doesn't matter if your a size 8 or a size 18, in order to work with what you've got, you have to understand your body shape and understand what sort of clothes will work best for you. 

To determine your body-shape the first thing to do is to get undressed, down to your underwear, then take a good look at yourself in a floor length mirror. Don't be critical, just notice your figure, identify the best part of your figure. (Yes you do have a best part?!) Then grab a tape measure and take some simple measurements. 
  • Shoulders
  • Bust
  • Waist
  • Hips
Now take a look at these measurements, are your shoulders wider than your hips, do you have a defined waist, do you have full hips or a small bust, and write all these things down. All these elements help you to identify which body-shape you will fall into. You may find that you identify with two body shapes so take tips from both to work to your advantage. Most people aren't one particular body-shape, but the descriptions are there to help you create balanced proportions for your shape. 

Current fashion trends tend to ignore the body-shape guidelines; tunic tops, floaty tops, fashion joggers, so it can be good to know ways to enhance your best bits! If you would like more information on dressing your shape book a consultation with me to learn all the tricks!

These are the five basic body shapes.

PEAR

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Key Features of a Pear;
  • A small top half as well as a small bust.
  • Shoulders that are narrower than your hips.
  • A defined waist.
  • Full hips or thighs, maybe saddle bags.
  • Think Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce.
  • You want to draw attention to your body from the waist up! Focus on slimming down the bottom half and creating a waist and drawing the eye towards your upper body with clever detailing, jackets or jewellery.

INVERTED TRIANGLE

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Key Features of an Inverted Triangle;
  • Your bottom half is smaller than your top.
  • Straight and squared shoulder line.
  • Little definition between waist and hips.
  • Flat hips and bottoms.
  • Think Renee Zellweger, Demi Moore and Naomi Campbell. 
  • You want to create an illusion of a waist and give yourself curves to distract from your wide shoulder line. 

RECTANGLE

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Key Features of a Rectangle;
  • Straight shoulder line and rib-cage.
  • Very little waist definition.
  • Average tummy.
  • Straight hips and bottom.​​
  • Think Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Hunter or Nicole Kidman. 
  • ​You have an enviable figure, but sometimes straight up/straight down can be boring, so add curves with cropped jackets, belts and add depth with jewellery.

HOURGLASS

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Key Features of an Hourglass;
  • A full bust.
  • A well defined narrow waist.
  • A good rounded bottom and shapely hips.
  • Think Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansen and Kim Kardashian. ​
This body-shape screams siren! The best way to show off this figure is to embrace the curves, enhance your waist, show off your bosom and bottom, as much as you are comfortable with! 

APPLE

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Key Features of an Apple;
  • ​Has an average to large bust.
  • Usually carries their weight around the middle.
  • A smaller bottom.
  • Has great legs.​​
  • Think Drew Barrymore and Melanie Griffiths. 
  • This can be a hard bodyshape to dress, but generally you have good legs so direct everyone's eye-line down to your legs!  
At the end of the day you know what you feel comfortable wearing, 
because an important part of looking stylish is having the confidence to pull an outfit off.