Perfect Outfits for Your Body Type
Do outfits simply not look the same on you as they do on other people? Everyone has a different body shape that makes you unique, and knowing your body type will help you immensely with building outfits that you love and feel confident in.
We want to provide you with the tools and knowledge to better understand what works for your body, and how to best highlight your features.
We’ll be focusing on the five most common body types: inverted triangle, pear (also called triangle), hourglass, round (also called apple), and rectangle. It’s important to note that these categories serve as helpful guidelines, and many of you may find that you are actually a mix of these body types.
How do you identify your body type?
To determine which body type you are, you’ll have to know these four measurements: shoulders, bust, waist, and hips. It’s important to take these measurements while standing up straight with your measuring tape parallel to the floor, making sure not to pull the tape too tight and cut into your skin! Let’s get started:
Shoulders: Place the tape at the tip of your shoulder and wrap it around yourself.
Bust: Measure around your back and the fullest part of your breasts.
Waist: Wrap the tape around the smallest part of your natural waist.
Hips: With the tape right below your hip bones, measure around the largest part of your backside.
With these measurements in mind, we can now identify which body shape you best fit into! It might also be helpful to take a full length picture of your entire body, wearing plain and body-hugging clothes, to get a visual sense of your body type.
Let’s go through each of these body types and discuss how to pick clothes that will balance your overall proportions and complement your features.
Inverted Triangle: You have an Inverted Triangle body type if your bust or shoulders are wider than your hips. You might not have a well-defined waistline, and your hips tend to be very narrow.
When choosing your outfits, you’ll most likely want to bring more volume to your hips and lower body to balance out your wider upper body, while also drawing attention to your waist. This can be done with pants that have a wide or flared cut, as well as skirts that flare out around the hips such as an a-line. You should avoid skinny pants and tops with strong shoulders, which will further unbalance your body proportions.
Pear: You have a Pear body type if your hips are wider than your shoulders.
For your outfits, you’ll want to create a strong shoulder to help balance out your wide hips, while adding emphasis to your waist. This can be done with wider necklines such as a boat neck or an off shoulder cut, as well as with tops that are more structured. You should avoid anything that adds too much volume around the hips, such as ruffles and frills.
Hourglass: You have an Hourglass body type if your shoulders and hips are about the same, while your waist is very defined.
With this body type, your proportions are already very balanced, and you’ll likely find there are many outfits that highlight your features. You’ll still want to accentuate your waist, which you can do by avoiding shapeless or oversized clothes, which can hide or overwhelm your frame.
Round: You have a Round body type if your waist is wider than your shoulders and hips. You generally have broad shoulders, narrow hips, and no defined waist.
For your outfits, you’ll want to aim for a balanced look in order to elongate your figure, which can be achieved with well-fitting tops and wide pants. You should avoid wearing tops and bottoms that are too tight, which will emphasise the lack of waist definition, but should also make sure not to dress in clothing that is too oversized either as it will drown your figure. You should also stay away from large prints and patterns, opting more for solid colours.
Rectangle: You have a Rectangle body type if your shoulders and hips are about the same, while your waist is less defined. Your weight is mostly evenly distributed across your entire body.
You’ll likely want to create the illusion of a more defined waist with your outfits, which can be done by adding more volume or width to both the upper and the lower body, or by visually pulling the waist in with items such as belts. You should avoid outfits with a very vertical silhouette without any waist definition, such as a loose jacket over straight-leg pants.
With an understanding on how to balance out your proportions and dress to accentuate your body type, you’re now able to choose the right outfits to make you feel your very best. Remember that these body type categories are just helpful guidelines, and you should choose whatever outfits make you confident!