Discover how your body is proportioned and how to flatter your body proportions
In this video: Why do pants pull across the crotch? Is it possible to incorporate dark jeans and pants into outfits when you have a light palette? Can you love style but still subscribe to a minimalist wardrobe? Pants Fit P is for Pants Why It’s So Hard to Find Pants that Fit The Best…
So you’ve read the body shape guidelines and thought to yourself “but my body doesn’t really fit into just one shape … I’m more of a mix of a couple of shapes”. Fortunately, you are not unusual and you don’t have to worry that nothing works for you. All you have to do is understand…
Body shapes, body proportions, body variations. These all impact on what your individual figure flattery guidelines will be as each of the body shapes and body proportion guidelines are generic and don’t take into consideration aspects of the other. What Does Body Shape Tell You? Where to put verticals to slim or elongate. Where to…
It’s been a few years since I shared about my breast reduction surgery (in fact many who are newer to the blog won’t realise that I ever had this surgery back in 2014), and I was asked by a long-time reader who is thinking about going through the process to share an update! For me,…
Hi Imogen, Iād love to learn more about altering store-bought clothes for different body types. What are the alterations you may need to do based on your body shape? Firstly, it’s great to know what your body shape, body proportions and body variations are, so you can figure out which tips are most useful for…
Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I were asked to discuss how your body shape may change over your lifetime. We’ve discussed in the past how your colouring may change here. Considering transitions such as pregnancy, menopause and even just weight gain and loss. Will you shape stay the same or change? Body…
Where do you end your tops? Where they end because of how long they are when they come home from the store? Do you pull your tops down to hide your butt? Do you fiddle and adjust the length to find the perfect spot for you? The Horizontal Line Rule Because the hems of most…
How long are your shorts? How long or short should your shorts be? This is a question I’m frequently asked so I thought I should post an answer! Shorts are one of those clothing garments that are often rather tricky for many women past the age of 40 to wear. We may not be particularly…
Hi Imogen. I have always heard that tops for skirts should be a bit shorter than tops for pants. My question is, how do you make this work when trying to put a capsule wardrobe together since tops should be able to work with both pants and skirts. I know you can tuck them in,…
Say “Aye!” if you are frustrated by shopping because what looks great on a hanger doesn’t look great when you get it into the change rooms and try it on your body? We are led to believe that all women LOVE shopping. That all we want to do is shop til we drop, day after…
Just like with skirts, different shoe styles suit different trouser styles. When you think about how to choose a shoe and heel style to work with your pants, you will want to take into consideration a few aspects. 1. Trouser Shape and Shoe Selection From the widest palazzo pant to your skinny leg pant, there…
Dear Imogen, Thank you so much for creating Inside Out Style. Many of the style blogs I find are designed for models or teens, at least that’s how it seems to me. Most of your articles are for more mature women, with children. And you don’t pretend to have a perfect figure, you teach us…
Hey, Imogen, I’ve got a reader question for your data banks, perhaps you’ll have a slow month over the holiday season or something. š …I’ve searched your blog and found very little joy for the long-torsos amongst us. (though the blog’s fantastic, and I’ve really learned a ton!). Here’s the sitch: I’ve got a very…
I was asked by a reader who is petite but has long legs for tips on dressing. Now more often than not, petite (5’4″/162cm or under) women are petite because their legs are proportionally short. But not all petite’s have short legs so some advice needs to be altered to dress well for the long…
Hi Imogen, Ineed some guidelines on belts as Iād like to add some to my wardrobe but not sure if belt width should somehow relate to waist size, body shape/proportion or is it dependent on the outfit?? Thanks! Jenny There are a few factors that influence your choice of belts and I’m going to be…
Do you need shorter or longer hemlines on your skirts and dress, jackets, tops and sleeves? Are you better in shorter or longer necklaces? Discover the easy way to figure out whether you’re better in shorter or longer lengths. Which is the best shoe vamp for you? Which are the best proportions to flatter your…
More Inside Out Style readers nominate their favourite blog posts here. What would you add to this list? Please share in the comments! Lucie – I would nominate the Fibonacci blog post as my favourite – it was a real aha moment as to why some things ‘felt’ wrong and I had to get changed!…
If you wonder just how long your skirt or dress (or even a pair of longer shorts) should be, then you can take some inspiration from the Golden Ratio – which is a magical number for mathematicians, is used by architects and designers and even cosmetic dentists to create the ideal proportions. Because this ratio…
Imogen would you do a post, with illustrations, for golden mean proportions on petites for casual styles and for skirts and dress ensembles? I know you have done casual capsules, but I need more guidance. Firstly, I just want to stress that you shouldn’t get obsessed with following the golden meanexactly! It’s certainly harder for…
One of the common issues with many tops is that they are too long and end on an unflattering point, or just are not proportionally great for you. I talked about ruching up the sides in this blog post where you can sew or use shirring elastic to do so. Today I want to share…
Hey Imogen! I’ve read a lot about body shapes on your site and I’m already much wiser! But something still confuses me: I am petite (5’4”), very (!!!) short waisted and also a distinct A shape. And what I’ve learned about dressing these three characteristics seem to conflict. For example, a short waisted women should…
