How often have you tried on an outfit that looked gorgeous on the model but hung too loose on you or clung to your body in weird ways?
Here’s the thing — fashion trends will always keep changing, and not every outfit can flatter everyone. So, you need to dress according to what looks best on you!
Every one of us looks different and has a unique body shape and size. And finding the body shape that most closely resembles your own body shape will help you dress in ways that can accentuate your best features.
So, how do you go about finding your body shape?
Join us as we explore five basic body shapes and help you determine which one best describes you!
Importance of Understanding Your Body Shape
The way one looks is unique to them. There is no one body shape that’s “better” than another, despite what pop media would have you believe.
Besides, squeezing female bodies into different categories is difficult, to say the least. Female bodies are constantly changing. Along with pregnancy and lactation, weight loss or weight gain also affects the shape of the body. And if we’re being honest, there really is no “scientific” way of knowing your body shape; people vastly depend on suggestions from family and friends.
That being said, it’s also important to understand our body’s shape, proportions, and features so we can make the most of our looks as well as health!
Learning what your body shape is can help you clothing style that suits you best as you can choose the right fabrics, cuts, and styles that will flatter your body shape. Apart from this, when you know your body shape, you will also be able to make better lifestyle choices to maintain your health as different body shapes can benefit from different diets and exercises.
It’s thus a simple but effective way to not only find your own fashion aesthetic but also boost your confidence.
Different Types Of Body Shapes
There are various broad categories of body shapes and many variations in those categories as well. However, here we discuss only the five major categories.
1. Rectangle
Also referred to as a “straight” or “banana” body shape, this is a column-like shape in which the measurements of the waist, hips, bust, and shoulders are very close to each other. The waist in a rectangle body shape is usually no more than 7- 9 inches smaller than the hips or bust.
Since this body shape is quite uniform and has no distinct waistline, stylists often suggest tube dresses, off-shoulder tops, and belted waists to accentuate this type of body shape and create the illusion of curves.
2. Inverted Triangle
In the inverted triangle shape, the upper body is larger than the lower body. So, the person has broad shoulders, a slightly smaller waist, and very narrow hips. In this body type, weight changes will first be visible on the upper body. You are likely an inverted triangle if your shoulders and/or bust is wider than your waist and hips, usually by close to 1.5 to 2” or more.
Stylists recommend an open neckline to accentuate the broad shoulders and bring attention from the neck up. You need to avoid clothes that highlight your small hips; instead, choose clothes that define your thin waist and add volume to your hips. Loose, flared pants or flared skirts are perfect for this body shape.
3. Hourglass
If you have ever seen an hourglass, you can guess what an hourglass figure is. Considered the ideal female body shape by many, the hourglass body shape is also one of the rarest. In this body type, the bust and hips are larger and have similar proportions, while the waist is significantly smaller and well-defined, usually 8-9 inches smaller than the hips and shoulders.
This body shape is well-balanced with defined curves and thus dressing it is not very difficult. Focus on highlighting that tiny waist and focusing on your curves. High-rise bottoms, wrap dresses, etc. would be great choices.
4. Pear
In the pear body shape, the hips are the largest followed by the bust and the waist is the smallest. You may also carry some weight on your upper arms and thighs. The shape is also often considered a triangular or spoon shape. The hips are 1-2 inches larger than the shoulders or bust and larger than the waist.
For the pear shape, you need to dress to accentuate your lower body and add a little volume to your upper body. You also want to draw attention to your shoulders and make them look wider with boat-neck and scoop-neck tops.
5. Apple
The apple body shape, or oval, is when the bust and waist are larger than the hips, and the waist is undefined. The waist is often the same size or may even be larger than the bust. The arms and legs are thinner and the shoulders are rounded. So, the first place you gain weight is your upper body.
With the apple shape, you want to define your bust area. So, wear flowy designs below your bust line, and scoop tops and v-necks are better at defining the mid-section.
Easy and Effective Way To Determine Your Body Shape
Before you determine your body shape, know that there is a high possibility that you may have dimensions of more than one body shape, and that is also okay. Find the shape you most closely align with and work from there. Aging and the gaining of body fat will sometimes change your shape, but odds are you will still have a common silhouette. I’ve clearly always been a pear- even at a size 0 I had to have the waist of pants taken in if they fit my rear. My waist is not as small as it used to be, but it hasn’t taken over my shoulders or hips.
Bradley Bayou outlines 48 body shapes, but they all start with the basics. He goes further to add in average, plus size, height and a few other factors that make your body shape a bit different from someone else with the same basic body shape.
Your body shape or type is based on width. Two other factors play into dressing your body- proportion and scale. Proportion has to do with your height and torso-whether you are short waisted, long waisted, or average.
Now that we have that out of the way, here’s how you can figure out your body shape.
Measure Yourself
While you can decide your body shape by wearing a body-hugging dress and standing in front of a full-length mirror, a much more accurate way is to simply measure it. Grab a cloth tape measure.
To get accurate measurements, it’s best that you don’t have any clothes on or strip down to your bra and panties. Stand in front of a full-length mirror to correctly position the measuring tape.
Stand erect and measure the following body parts snuggly but not too tightly.
1. Shoulders
You want to measure the shoulders from one end to another. Make sure you measure the highest points of both ends. The measurement has to be done across your back, so having an extra pair of hands will help you get accurate shoulder measurements.
2. Bust
You must measure around yourself over the fullest point of your bust, which would be over your nipples. Wrap the tape snuggly but do not squish your breast.
3. Waist
Measure your waist at the area below your rib cage but just above your belly button. It’s the smallest part of your torso area, which is also where your upper body creases when you bend. Wrap the measuring tape like a belt and take the measurements with the tape hugging your waist. You are aiming to measure the smallest part of your natural waist.
4. Hips
This is probably where most people go wrong as some measure around the hip bone and others measure from a much lower point.
The correct way to measure your hips is to measure around the fullest part of your buttocks, just like how we did it for the bust. So, hold one end of the measuring tape in front of one of your thighs. Now, pass the tape around your buttocks, over the fullest part.
Find Your Body Shape
Once you have the measurements for specific body parts, you can move on to finding your body shape.
To figure out your body shape, you need to consider three measurements. It could be shoulder-waist-hips or bust-waist-hips. So, you can either use shoulder or bust measurements for the top part. However, these two measurements can vary significantly and you may find yourself falling into two different categories, especially if you have a big bust and small, round shoulders or a small bust and broad shoulders.
When you have the three measurements you have chosen, put them in an ascending or descending order.
Now you can visualize yourself. Depending on these measurements, you can determine yourself to be a pear, apple, inverted triangle, rectangle, or hourglass shape.
If all three measurements are almost the same or very close to each other, you probably have a rectangle-shaped body. If your hips are the widest, you may fall under the pear category. If your bust is the largest, you will be under the inverted triangle category, and so on.
If you are unsure of the right body shape, you can try to draw your measurements on a piece of paper and try to make a silhouette from the dots or lines that you have drawn to depict the measurements.
But you will have to downsize your measurements, which can get a bit tricky. You need to reduce all the measurements so that they fit on the paper. So, if you reduce your bust size by 1/10th, then you must do so for the other three measurements as well. Once you have three parallel lines, you can join their ends to determine your silhouette.
An even easier way to determine your shape is to plug your measurements into an online body shape calculator.
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Wrapping It Up
Finding your body shape can be a great advantage, especially if you’re struggling to find outfits that look good on you. But remember that every body shape is uniquely beautiful. Once you accept that, you can find the right clothes and styles that work with your body shape and will help you look and feel like a million bucks!
Don’t forget to take into account your proportions and the scale (size) of your body to get the most flattering looks for your body.
In the weeks to come we will dive in a little deeper with a discussion of each body shape.
