Have you ever had the problem of some clothes just not looking good on you, even though you are fit as fiddle? Or maybe you are not fit, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to dress well either. The reason for this could be that you are not dressing for your body type. Certain clothes, cuts and silhouettes are made to flatter only some particular body types. The first step in dressing for your body type is to figure out exactly what your body shape is. Do not take into account the fact that you are overweight or too thin. Just look in the mirror and figure out what your body shape is according to its measurements. Also, notice that for most body types there are three things you should be doing while dressing up: find the parts you should be emphasizing, the parts you should be drawing attention towards and the parts you should be drawing attention away from.
When it comes to women, the common body shapes are: Apple, Straight/Rectangular, Pear and Hourglass.
Apple:
The simplest way to identify an apple body is that they are top heavy. They will have a bust that is significantly bigger and the waist will often be shapeless. These body shapes should try to draw attention towards their tight butt and shapely legs, draw attention away from their thicker waistline and arms. They should try to highlight their ample bust and neck.
Don’ts:
- Don’t go for low rise pants/shorts, high cut tops and cloths that cutoff at the middle.
- Avoid thicker belts that draw attention to your already wide waist.
- Avoid tops with flimsy materials that will highlight the problem area.
- Don’t wear tops that have flashy prints at the middle that could draw the eye to the middle.
- Don’t wear too much fabric at your middle portion i.e., say no to ruffles and frilled tops.
- Never go for shapeless clothes just to cover up your problem areas. This is the worst thing you can do.
- Avoid heavy boots, kitten heels; buckled boots etc. that will make your feet seem larger.
Do’s:
- Wear shorts, short skirts at the bottom. Go for bright colors as bottoms to draw attention to your bottom half.
- Wear high waist skirts/pants can give the illusion of a shapelier waist; so will tops that are wrap-around or have ties with it.
- The most flattering neckline on this body type is V-Neck. It will create a more lean line.
- A-Line dresses are also great for this body type since they can lengthen your body and draw attention to your best features.
- When it comes to wearing trousers, try and wear those with flat front to avoid adding volume to your heavy area.
- Wear solid colored topics on top to highlight your best feature-your ample bust.
- Get a perfect fitting for your bra, in order to make your chest look shapely and not droopy.
When wear ethnic wear, keep in mind:
- Wear A Line anarkalis with high waist and wide borders.
- Make sure to get the churis well fitted, so that they will draw the attention.
- Make sure that the upper part of the outfit is less embellished and the bottom hemline has more work.
- Try to pair dark kurtas with lighter churis to draw attention to them.
Straight/Rectangular Body:
- Avoid straight lines from top to bottom i.e., straight fit jacket and pants. Also avoid vertical stripes from top to bottom whether they are in dresses, tops or bottoms.
- Avoid boxy jackets, or boxy pleats which may make your body look ever more rectangular.
- Avoid shapeless or straight silhouettes that can make you look straight from top to bottom
Do’s:
- Wear scoop heart necklines and sweetheart neckline to make most of what you have.
- Invest in good push up bras and padded bras to create more curves.
- Wear ruffles, frills and details on upper and lower body to create more volume to the body.
- Try layering to add more dimension to your boyish figure.
- Shift dresses look the best on this body type.
- Dresses with ruching and cinched designs work well on this body type.
- You can wear colorful printed bottoms to add volume to your boxy shape.
In case of ethnic wear,
- Make sure to wear very feminine silhouettes like draped saree gowns that accentuate your waistline, or an anarkali with lots of frill and an emphasized waistline
- Try not to wear outfits that are completely vertical, like karachi models salwars with loose pants and loose tops.
- Always make sure that the outfit is well stitched to emphasize the curves you do have
Pear Shape:
This body type is bottom heavy. They have relatively smaller upper body, shapely waist and heavier hips and thighs.
Don’ts:
- Avoid skinny jeans that can make your legs and thighs look wider and unappealing.
- Stay away from Bright/Patterned bottom that draw attention to your problem area. Also avoid patterned details on bottoms.
- Avoid body hugging pencil/fishtail skirts that stick to your bottom half like cellophane and highlight your problem area.
- Avoid Shorter hemlines that finish at your heaviest section i.e., thighs/hips
- Stay away from high waist pants/shorts as they can make your bottom half look larger than it is.
- Stay away from tapered pants with pockets on the sides that add volume to your already wider hip.
- Avoid sling bags that sit at your hips.
Do’s:
- Wear tops with puff sleeves, and detailing on shoulder to make your upper body look balanced in consideration with your lower body.
- A-line or flared skirts work best on this body type since they help hide your thicker thighs.
- Go for low rise dark trousers or denims to make your bottom half look more toned.
- When wearing dresses, go for A-Line dresses, empire waists and wrap around dresses that flow over your hip and highlight your narrow waistline and shapely upper body.
- When considering necklines, wear scooped, rounded or squared. These can help draw attention to your upper body, neck and face.
- You can also sport strapless to highlight the shoulders and balance out your lower body.
- Wear tops with interesting patterns, colors and detailing to emphasize them.
When it comes to wearing ethnnic wear:
- Wear necklines and sleeve designs that can draw the eye to the upper half of the body, like wide necks, short sleeves
- Make sure the skirts are loose and skims over your bottom half, and is not too heavily embellished that it weighs down.
Hourglass Shape
This is the most gorgeous body shape in which women have same measurements for their bust and hip and a narrow waistline. This shape is womanly. This is the shape that all women try to achieve while dressing.
Don’ts:
- Avoid too much fabric and frills, which can add bulk to areas where you don’t want them.
- Avoid adding extra belts to define your waistline, instead let the clothes itself do that job.Adding extra belts can often cut off your body horizontally and make you look stout.
- Wear skinny fit with caution as they can make a short hour glassed beauty look stout. But if you have shapely legs, by all means wear them, but pair them with high heels so that they don’t cut you off.
- Avoid low rise pants that can make you look shorter and make your hips look wider.
- Avoid pants with too much detailing around the hips as this can add excessive bulk and make you lose your balanced look.
- Avoid high necks that cover up your gorgeous décolletage.
- Avoid straight shapes that will hide your narrow waistline.
Do’s:
- Wear well fitted tailored pieces rather than flowy pieces to highlight your curvaceous figure.
- Go for soft fabrics like knit and jersey that hug your curves. Stiff fabrics can stick out and make your look boxier than you are.
- The best skirts for this body type are pencil skirts that shape up your body.
- Do shop vintage or get things tailor made as modern readymade clothes are not made with curves in mind.
- Wear a supportive bra in your right size so that your chest doesn’t look unshapely in fitted clothes.
- Boot-cuts and flare legged pants are your best bet as they help balance out your hips.
- If you want to downplay your ample curves, wear dark colors and vertical stripes.
And when it comes to ethnic wear,
- You have no boundaries! Indian outfits were made for the likes of the hourglass shaped women and they can pull off almost any looks.
- Just make sure that you dont wear so much fabric that it stifles your body shape and makes you look like you are drowing in fabric.
So have a long and hard look at your body and learn to dress your body and love it for all that it is. But most of all, wear what you wear with confidence, and get up, dress up and show up! :)
