How To Dress For Your Body Type
Much is made about dressing for your body shape, but in my experience as a personal stylist, many women don’t actually know what their shape is. There are typically five main female body shapes. Some women fit neatly into one category, but many fall across two or even three, especially if weight fluctuates. This is why generic style advice often misses the mark. Women are not clones; they are nuanced and individual.
Learning how to dress for your body type is the key to feeling confident and always stylish. It’s never about changing your body. It’s about owning it and making style work for you. When you understand your proportions and what really flatters them, getting dressed becomes easy and even enjoyable. You stop second-guessing every outfit and start feeling confident in what you wear.
Using myself as an example, I fall into the rectangle shape, but even then there are nuances. Generic advice says I should create a waist with a belt, but belts look odd on me. My shoulders line up with my waist and hips, yet they curve rather than forming right angles. I have shoulder envy! I borrow tips from the pear shape, where shoulders are narrower than hips, to build up my shoulder line. Although I’m a rectangle, I’m not angular, and most online advice is geared towards angular rectangles, which is why belts don’t work for me.
I can create a waist with clothing shapes or details, not belts, but I’m equally happy looking straight up and down. The key is personalised body shape style advice that shows you how to look your very best.
Body shape analysis forms a core part of the wardrobe edit and can also be added to our personal shopping service.
If you are still left asking how to “dress for my body type?” Keep scrolling to see some of my top tips for achieving effortless and flattering looks for each body type.
Inverted Triangle
Characterised by broad shoulders and bust, not necessarily large, with narrower hips.
Rectangle
Characterised by the shoulders, waist and bust all aligning, typically with a small bust and little or no waist definition.
Finding dresses for the rectangle body type can sometimes be challenging. A top tip to make dresses even more flattering for this body type is to accessorise with a belt or to invest in a knot waist shirt dress, helping to break up your silhouette.
Hourglass
Characterised by shoulders and hips in line, with a waist that tapers in and is well defined.
Oval
haracterised by a large bust, narrow hips and a full midsection, often with slender legs.
pear/triangle
Characterised by larger hips that are wider than the shoulders and bust.
These are body shape guidelines and not rules set in stone and you can of course wear whatever you want. The key is personalised style information that gives you options.
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How I Can Support You
If you would like the support of a personal stylist to discover what really works for you, picture a wardrobe that not only makes you look great but also makes you feel amazing and of course Always Stylish. Please get in touch via the button below to schedule a complimentary virtual call.
Thank you for reading!
Lisa
