Dressing to Suit One's Body Shape

How Every Woman Can Look Fabulous by Selecting the Right Clothes.

Oct 23, 2008

Different Clothes Suit Different Body Shapes, freefoto.com

A woman's size is not important. But her shape is, and there are twelve distinct body shapes. Finding out which shape one is can enable anyone to look fantastic.

Many women feel that they never look attractive, no matter what they wear. Often they feel they are too tall, too short, too old or too fat. But a woman’s age and size are not important; it is her shape that makes all the difference. Women who learn to dress to suit their shapes can all look wonderful.

The Twelve Body Shapes

The traditional definitions of women’s body shapes – pear, apple, hourglass and triangle – are far too limiting, and many women’s bodies do not fit into these definitions. More recently, after some intensive study, twelve definitive female shapes were identified.

The Column has a shoulder width the same as her hip width, a slight waist, and long legs.
The Lollipop has a large bust, slight waist, slim hips, and long legs.
The Cornet has broad shoulders, a small bust, no waist, slim hips, and long legs.
The Vase has a big bust, hips the same size, a long waist, and slim thighs and legs.
The Hourglass has a big bust, small waist, big hips, and generous thighs.
The Cello has a big bust, short waist, big hips, big behind, big thighs, and slim lower legs.
The Goblet has broad shoulders, a big bust, no waist, narrow hips, and long legs.
The Skittle has an average bust, slim waist, big thighs and chunky calves.
The Brick has broad shoulders, no waist, a flat behind, chunky thighs, and chunky calves.
The Pear has a small bust, long waist, flat tummy and heavy legs.
The Apple has an average bust, big tummy, flat behind, and good legs.
The Bell has broad shoulders, a small bust, small waist, big thighs, and a big behind.

Finding Out What Shape One is

This is not about body size. An Hourglass can just as easily be a size 6 as a size 16. Every woman should look at herself carefully to try to identity her proportions, and therefore her shape. For those who are uncertain, it is best to take a photo of oneself in a leotard or swimsuit, then look at it carefully and objectively. No one shape is better than any other, but different shapes do need to dress differently.

Dressing to Suit One’s Shape

Basically each body shape should dress to accentuate her good points and conceal her bad ones. A few examples should give women the idea.

The Skittle’s problem is her large legs. Therefore she will look best in fitted tops and jackets, which draw attention to her trim upper half. But her skirts should be flared, and trousers will look best if they have wide legs.

The Goblet has great legs, but might want to disguise her large top half. She can do this by wearing V-necked tops and sweaters, which minimize the chest area. But since she has long legs, skinny jeans will look fabulous on this body shape.

This hopefully gives the general idea of how to dress to look great, and it is something which every woman can do.

Future articles will concentrate on each body shape in detail, explaining exactly how women with this shape should dress for casual, smart, and party occasions.

Source

The Body Shape Bible, Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 2007

The copyright of the article Dressing to Suit One's Body Shape in Women’s Fashion is owned by Helen Krasner. Permission to republish Dressing to Suit One's Body Shape in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.