If you feel like your dress does not look good on you, then you may not be dressing up according to your body types.
Dressing up according to your body type is one of the crucial things one can do.
You may have seen Pinterest boards full of stunning pictures of dresses you want to pull off.
However, when you purchase them, it still does not work for you.
Let’s understand why that happens.
Every body is unique and beautiful and that does not mean that the type of dress one person easily pulls off will suit your body type as well.
But understanding your body type and shape can help you greatly when choosing the dresses and styles that look good on you.
How? Keep on reading to learn more.
Female Body Types
The female body depends on genetics and the skeletal structure, while you can change your body shape with exercises and hormone levels.
However, it is the predefined skeletal structure with already present fat and muscle distribution that determines your body shape.
Most often, experts divide female body shapes as:
- Inverted triangle
- Rectangle
- Regular triangle or pear shape
- Hourglass
- Round or apple shape
Let’s discuss them as follows:
Inverted Triangle: This is a body shape where you can wear a larger top half than the bottom and the shoulders tend to be broader than the hips.
However, in such body shapes, you will not have a lot of definition around your waist and hips.
Examples of this body type are Angelina Jolie, Demi Moore, and Rene Zellweger.
In such cases, you should avoid boat neck or Bardot, big straps, halter neck tops, big shawl collars, as well as large patterns.
You can wear something that concentrates more on your bottom halves like an A-line skirt or wide-leg trousers.
Rectangle Body Shape: With this shape, you can wear the same size in tops and bottoms.
While with such a body type, do not have a defined waistline.
Moreover, with a rectangular body shape, you will have straight shoulders and hips.
Experts often refer to it as an “Athletic” body shape.
Kate Hudson and Gweneth Paltrow have this type of body shape.
To dress with this body shape, you can create an illusion around your waist with the help of belts, mid-waited trousers, and jackets with belts.
However, make sure to avoid a silhouette that tends to be vertical like a straight jacket with straight trousers.
While soft fabrics like chiffon will help you look great as they will help draw attention to your waist.
You can also choose pants that are either loose or form-fitting to highlight your curves.
Mid-jeans to help highlight your waist are rather more appropriate and you can belt them to put more emphasis on your waist.
Rectangular Triangle or Pear Shape: If you have this body type, then you will have a wider lower half with wider hips and thighs, but narrower top half.
Kim Kardashian and JLo tend to have this body shape, though Kim K has an hourglass body shape.
In such a case, you will want to draw attention to your upper help, and you can.
Therefore, choose a fabric with prints or brighter color tops and dresses.
While wider necklines and sweetheart necklines can help you broaden your shoulder.
Moreover, you can also layer your tops to add more volume or layer you’re your dresses.
Make sure that your shirt just stays at the widest part of your hips.
However, avoid long shirts and crop tops.
Hourglass: With this body shape, you will have equal size hips and shoulders, while your waist will be well-defined.
Beyonce and Dita Vin Tesse are examples of this body type; however, Marilyn Monroe is a well-known hourglass figure.
To draw attention to the slimmest part of your body, you will want to wear clothes that focus there.
Make sure to avoid clothes that are shapeless or baggy as they can easily overwhelm your look.
Op for necklines like boatneck or scoop neck to have a more modest look and avoid wearing turtlenecks.
When choosing your bottoms, look for pants that tend to have pockets, as they do not tug across your hips.
While pocketless pants will help you achieve this look.
Round body Shape or Apple: With this body shape, you will have a larger body than a lower body with a non-defining waistline.
Also, this body shape will have a slim waist and great legs.
Though dressing up with this body shape can be a little difficult.
However, you can opt for tops and jackets that are more streamlined and simpler.
Don’t go for details on shoulders or embellishments as they will draw too much attention to your upper half.
Furthermore, avoid choosing bodycon and go ahead for a dress that is a slim fit that ends right above your knees.
Pencil skirts are a great option with a loose top if you have this body type.
How to find your Body Shape?
The body silhouette is the body type you have; however, it is important to know the measurements first.
Consider the following:
Shoulders: Measuring your shoulders all by yourself can be a little difficult with tape.
However, if you have someone around you, you can just do fine.
To measure your shoulder, start at the tip of one shoulder and then take it around to the other side till both ends meet.
However, make sure to remember that the tape should be close to your shoulder, as this way, you’ll get the measurement of the widest point.
Bust: Before you take measurement of the best, make sure to stand straight as you will need to measure the fullest part of your bust.
Start by placing one end of the tape and wrap it around from under your shoulders and bring it to the starting point.
However, make sure to never squish your breasts and stick to your chest end to end.
Waist: When taking measurements of your waist, make sure to neck slouch your stomach, just stand straight.
Start at the slimmest part of your waist often above the belly button and below the rib cage.
While another way to is beyond to one side and the point from where you bend will be your waistline.
Wrap the tape around your stomach and bring it back to the starting point.
However, if you wear clothes longer than your waist then take note of the number as well.
Hips: The circumference of the fullest part of your buttock is the measurement of your hips.
You will need to begin at one point of the hip and then take it around toward the rear of another.
Make sure to perform the process of taking measurements in front of the mirror as you will get the level size throughout.
Dressing up using the Proportional Dress Rule
Although your body shape and your individual style are pretty important.
Your overall proportions are also crucial to how you dress up.
The rule of thirds here is important to consider.
Experts believe that this rule is visually proportioned to how your dress up and style yourself.
Therefore, once you master this rule and evolve your style, you can even expand these proportions to sixths and beyond.
However, till the time you take yourself to the advanced rules, let’s take time to master this style.
Let’s discuss this rule as follows:
According to this rule, you will have one-third on top and two-thirds on the bottom.
Or you can have 2/3 on the top and 1/3 on the bottom.
Make sure to never cut the proportions of your body to half, as it will not look flattering on any body type.
As you get to understand your body shape with time you can also make changes in this ratio and explore it a bit more.
However, till you reach that time, make sure to always hit this golden rule for the most flattering look.
Style tips to Look Better
Let’s begin with some basics as the following are the fundamentals to get you on the right track:
Don’t buy something that doesn’t FIT you: You may be one of those people who love to go on a shopping spree when there is a huge sale going on at one of your favorite brands and end up buying a lot of dresses.
However, you may feel disheartened when you try them on and find that the size is either too small or too big that it does not sit well with your body type.
Therefore, make sure to avoid setting yourself up for failure, unless you have a tailor on speed dial.
Foundation Dress: One of the important things you can do is to have your wardrobe with basics that you can use as a foundation for different dresses.
Everyone loves to try out new trends and does not want to confine themselves to one style in particular.
However, experts recommend that you should have at least a set of basic pieces in your wardrobe that are timeless.
Don’t rush the Process: Another important thing to understand is that you should not rush to buy things during annual sales or discounts.
These are certain things that can lead you to lose your style and make rash decisions when deciding on your closet.
Don’t GIVE UP: Although it can be tiring when you try an outfit or a trend and in turn, it doesn’t suit your body type and shape.
However, it is important to understand that even those who are experts today become so after trying multiple times.
Therefore, the more you try, the more you can master your dressing style and in turn, you will have more authority in your style.
Shoes to Consider according to Body Types
Dressing up according to your body type is a huge success, however, another important aspect of your style and overall outlook is your shoes.
Learn more to know more about what type of shoes you can wear according to your body type and shape:
Apple Shape: With this body type you can try wearing wedges, calf-length boots, ballet flats, and strappy sandals.
These types of shoes will help you balance you’re your slim legs and highlight your curves.
Hourglass Body: With this type of body type you can wear peep-toe heels, round-toe shoes, and wedges, as these will help highlight your curves.
Pear Body: Open-toe wedges and knee or thigh-high boots with look good, as these will help detract attention from your thighs and help lengthen your legs.
Rectangle Body: Simple pumps in neutral shades, textured shoes, and ballet flats will look good with this body type it will help give an illusion of elongated legs.
Inverted Triangle Body: With this body type, you can choose shoes like ballet flats, or chunky sandals with straps up to the ankles.
And high heels with pointed tools highlight your thin legs and balance your upper and lower halves.
Summary
Understanding your body type and shape can help you understand the type of clothes and shoes you can wear to make your appearance look stunning and beautiful.
Dressing according to your body type can help you make feel invincible so take into consideration the above tips and rules to make sure you rock every outfit you wear.
Leave a Reply