How to Dress for Your Body Shape
Trends come and go and sometimes it can be difficult to adapt new styles and pieces to accent our body shape. However, it is important to be aware of what pieces look best on you and what pieces to steer away from. Whether it’s a bodycon dress or palazzo pants, it’s always refreshing to up your style and expand your stylistic horizons. In order to be able to confidently dress for your body type, you have to be cognizant of what accentuates your best features. Whether you want to accentuate your curves, highlight your long legs, or create the illusion of a small waist, there are fashionable pieces to help you do so. Keep reading our guide to learn helpful fashion tips on how to dress for your body shape.
Inverted Triangle
Women with an inverted triangle shape, also commonly referred to as an “apple” shape, are generally well-proportioned, have shoulders broader than their hips and tend to have an ill-defined waistline. Apple or inverted triangle shapes, look best when playing up the bust-line, legs, and arms. Power pieces for this specific shape are A-line silhouettes, anything V-neck, boyfriend style button-ups, flowy tunics, and basically any strapless top. Go for skinny jeans or leggings to accentuate your body. If you have long legs, flares with heels are great for elongating your legs even more. A simple rule of thumb to remember is if your top is loose-fitting, grab a more fitted skinny pant to balance your look.
Rectangle/Straight
The rectangle or straight shape is sometimes called an athletic shape. A rectangle shape is not particularly curvy and your shoulder and hip measurements tend to be nearly the same. Your weight is distributed fairly evenly distributed throughout the entirety of your body. The key to dressing an athletic shape, is keeping the volume at either the top or bottom. Go-to pieces for a rectangle shape are anything strapless, scoop or rounded necklines, and halter styles. When picking a pant style, keep the volume rule in mind, if you’re wearing an oversized blouse, wear a tailored pant, and vice versa. For this specific body shape, high-waisted pants are your best friend as they will accentuate your shape and give the illusion of a curvier waistline.
Curvy
Curvy or hourglass figures have a well-defined waist, a roughly even bust to hip measurement, and usually have a fuller bust, hips, and thighs. The trick to dressing an hourglass shape is pretty much two-fold: first, define your waist and second, flaunt your curves. For a curvy shape, fitted anything is the way to go. It’s all about drawing attention to your waist and neckline so opt for wrap tops, V-neck, round or scoop neck, and boat neck tops. Bodycon skirts, hip-hugging jeans, and high-waisted trousers all look great on this shape and they all work in different ways to highlight all of the best features of an hourglass figure.
Triangle
A triangle shape, also known as a “pear” shape, is known for having full hips and an even fuller rear. This body shape also commonly has smaller shoulders in comparison to the waist. Playing with proportions is key to dressing for this shape. Pear shapes look amazing in silhouettes that draw the eye to the neckline and accent the waist and back. Must-have tops for a triangle shape are cowl, scoop, and V-neck shirts. Like a curvy shape, triangle shapes should also choose fitted styles to play up their best assets. Athletic leggings or bike shorts, bodycon dresses and skirts, and skinny ankle-length jeans are the best pant styles for a pear shape. Some of these styles work to elongate your frame while other slenderize the hips and thighs.
While we are all unique and come in different shapes and sizes, it’s helpful to have a starting point for learning how to dress for your specific body shape. From curvy to athletic, and everywhere in between, we should all feel our best. Here at Style Squad, we believe that everybody and every body is different and should be celebrated! We hope this styling guide inspired you to start or reinvent your style journey to look and feel your most confident! Be sure to download the Style Squad App below to share your style journey with others.
