Discover the different body shapes and how best to dress your body shape to flatter
Time and time again when I ask clients about what they’d like to highlight and camouflage on their body stomachs come up as a place that they dislike and want to make disappear. Most of the time these are normal stomachs. I see a lot of stomachs in my job as an image consultant and…
If you need to choose a new swim suit for this summer here are some options finding a pair of swimmers that flatters your body shape. If you want to hide your stomach look for a suit that is either darker over the stomach area than either the bottom or chest area, or find one…
Hi Imogen, I have just recently started reading your blog and am appreciating all the info. you have there! I’ve determined that I am type X. I have a long torso, defined, long waist and short legs. (at 5’6″, I sit as tall as my 6’1′ husband). I was wondering if you have any advice…
1. If you choose to wear anything that is boxy or baggy, without belting, it will overwhelm your figure. 2. Large scale clothes with no shaping will make you look like you’re dressing up in your parents clothes. 3. Very tailored shaping such as peplums that you just can’t fill out won’t work for your…
I was asked the other day by a reader where are the defining points to figure out body shape. How to Define Your Body Shape Is it bust, waist and hips, shoulders waist and hips and where are the hips defined from – the thigh or up on the buttock area? For me (and I’m sure there…
I get so many requests about how to dress 8 shape bodies, probably because they are so ignored by most image and style books. So I asked Aileen Lane of Nutri-Style in Singapore, who is an 8 shape if she’d share her experiences with you on how she dresses her shape. Here is her post:…
People always ask me where the best point is to end their tops and jackets. As the hem of a top creates a horizontal line, the best place is on a narrow point, rather than a wide point. If you are a body shape that has wider hips/thighs than waist, A, X, H, 8 (or…
I was recently asked by a reader how to minimize her broad square shoulders. Now this is a problem I’d love to have, but this is not about me. This post is for the women who feel their shoulders are too broad and make them feel masculine. Look for narrower necklines, so narrow V necks,…
I’ve finally got into the Mad Men rage, it’s not big here in Australia but as Deja Pseu and others have all talked about it being a great show, I decided to get it on DVD and watch – I’m now up to Series 3 and loving it! Recently I was emailed by a reader…
If you’re like me and like to wear a cardi when it’s a little nippy, how to choose one to flatter your figure? How to Choose a Flattering Cardigan Clockwise from top left The stripy cardigan is great for I shapes, the wide stripes will add curves as will the pocket detail which will add…
“Do you think certain body types/faces look better in certain styles of clothes – and what I mean here is either casual, classic, sporty, etc.I have an X shape (hourglass) and with it being spring going into summer here in Canada, everyone wears t-shirts and capris/shorts a lot, but I find I look dumpy/matronly in…
So finally to our Real Life O body shape. When I was looking at these photos I got out my Trinny and Susannah The Body Shape Bibleto see how they had photographed, and I noticed that their models didn’t have bras on! As I’ve repeatedly said, a well fitting bra can give you the illusion…
. Here is the lovely Jan Fisher, Image Coach again, we bought this dress (same shop as we bought the beads) on Monday. It’s a versatile colour and can be teamed with blue, red, purple, chartreuse amongst others. Jan wanted me to cut off her head, but I just couldn’t do it to her. What…
Basic Question – Do body shapes change as we grow older / fatter / slimmer? Post pregnancy, my hips are definitely wider than my chest, but it wasn’t always so…. To answer – YES they do. Body shapes: As noted an 8 shape when carrying extra weight may turn more H shape, or may just…
I was lucky enough to spend the day yesterday with Jan Fisher, AICI FLC a New Zealand based image consultant who you have met before here and here with her ideas for dressing women of a certain age. We went out for lunch and dropped into a local boutique and discovered this great necklace, which…
Yes, body shapes can be confusing, we are all unique, so there is no exact standard for body shapes, but these are guidelines. You can be a mix of body shapes, though you will probably find that you fall more into one shape than another. If you have the top half of an A and…
The I body shape is characterised by a long lean body, shoulders are similar to hips, though sometimes marginally wider, (but never linebacker). There isn’t a particularly defied waist, many describe themselves as boyish. Here are 3 examples. How to dress your I shape body: If you want to create more curves, look for volume…
Here we have one version of a V body shape (inverted triangle) body. You will notice that her shoulders are broader than hips, but there is not a lot of curve through the body either. Some Vs are significantly wider than their hips, others are just a bit wider (like this example). How to dress…
X body shapes (hourglass figures) have defined waists, but their shoulders and hips are the same width (unlike the A who has wider hips than shoulders). There is a longer straighter slope from waist to hips (unlike the high shelf-like curve of the 8 shape). You can see that the X shape has a much…
Today I have a couple of examples of A body shapes for you. You will notice that they can be more or less obvious, but that the low hip is where the widest point is (rather than the high hip of the 8 shape). Their shoulders are narrower than their hips (shoulders are taken from…
On to the next shape – today we have an H body shape (rectangle body shape). What you will notice is that there is not much definition between the shoulders, waist and hips, sure there is a little curve here and there, but not a really defined waist curve. Here is another H – you…
