Dress Whatcha Mama Gave YA!
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Dress To Flatter Your Body Shape
Step 1: Understand your shape.
There are about 5 common body shapes: Triangular, Pear Shaped, Square, Rectangular, Hour Glass.
If you're more of a numbers person, measure around your body using a measuring tape and analyze the proportions. Measure your shoulders, bust, waist, and hips.
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Step 2: Create Balance.
Easy Rule of Thumb: Wear wardrobe pieces to accent your assets.
Highlight the areas of your body that you want to bring attention to, do not highlight areas that you do not want to highlight.
Clothing has a funny way of creating an illusion. This can be good or bad depending on how you combine clothing with your body shape.
Clothing has architecture and structure.
When you combine the architecture of clothing to the organic shape of your body, you can create any look you desire.
HOW TO:
CREATE Balance For Each Body Type
Inverted Triangular: Shoulders and bust are more broad with narrow hips and legs.
Strength: Waist and Hips
Tip: Create a rectangular illusion by elongating and showing off your legs. For the same reason wear vertical stripes, long tops/tunics, flowy wide-legged pants, floor-length skirts.
To create balance, wear a lightweight blouse on top and a fuller skirt or wide-leg pants on the bottom. Thus creating an evenly distributed shape overall.
Pear-Shaped: Shoulders and bust are narrow while the hips and thighs are wider.
Strength: Waistline
Tip: Wear tops where the length lands at your waistline (sweaters/tops) to show it off.
Elongate your legs to offset the width of hips.
Wear a top that has an open neckline to show off shoulders and create the illusion that the shoulder width is more proportionate to the hips.
High-waisted pants/skirt highlight the smaller waist and flared or bell-bottoms to offset the width of your hips.
Square/Apple-Shaped: Shoulders, waist, and hips are relatively the same width.
Strength: Arms and Legs
Tip: Create an hourglass illusion, wear open necklines, fool the eye away from the midsection, and bring attention upwards towards cleavage and your face. (Hello statement necklace.)
Cinch under the bust line or waist to create an hourglass illusion. Show off them legs, girl!
Sleeveless dresses are great for you, too.
Rectangular: Shoulders, waist, and hips are relatively the same width, but torso if elongated.
Strength: You can pull off most clothes and choose your shape according to what you want to highlight on any given day, determined by your styling.
Tip: Try wearing black and white to break up your shape and create your desired shape for the day. Highlight your thin waist and build elsewhere to create an hourglass effect. A-shaped skirts will create the illusion of curvier hips.
Hour Glass: Shoulders and hips are relatively the same widths while the waist is smaller.
Strength: Your curves. You have the most historically desired body shape.
Tip: High waisted anything will show off your waistline. Wearing fitted clothing (like a mermaid dress) and an open neckline will reinforce your hourglass shape.
To deter attention from your body shape, wear more fabric over your waistline such as a boxy or loose-fitting top or sweater and create a rectangular shape.