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Body Shapes... Guide to Styling Your Body Shape
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Why?
Because you need to figure out what proportions of your body you need to adjust to look your best. Each body figure has typical characteristics that often make you self-conscious of your body and can lower your self-esteem. (For example, the classic Pear body figure tends to hold more weight around the hip area)
On the flip side, there are positives to your shapes as well - and these are the body traits that we wish to accentuate.
Basically - knowing your body proportions helps you decide how to correct and camouflage parts of your body so you can achieve a balanced silhouette - with curves on all the right places!
"Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions"
- Coco Chanel (French fashion designer)
This personalized stylist program lets you know what clothes flatter all of your unique body parts.
But to get you started in looking your best, we'll mostly focus on analyzing your vertical and horizontal body type, height and body scale as well as your face shape.
However, if you want to determine and style your body shape the free (but time-consuming) way, then follow my guidelines below!
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Disclaimer: Sorry, but I can not guarantee that the celebrities I have selected in the examples have the exact body figure as presented.
The celebrity images are used as examples of how to dress for a specific body shape. Celebrities have their own fashion stylists to help them get dressed and this may visually alter their actual body figure.
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What's Your Body Shape?One simple way to determine your body shape is to visualize a dress form and how your body shape looks compared to it. Your body shape is basically dictated by the shape from your upper to lower body along with your waist, and does not always include "problem areas" such as a plush tummy. Click here to learn how to determine your Body Shape » Or explore the 5 different body shapes: |
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Vertical Body ShapeAnother factor to have in mind when you're dressing your body figure is your vertical body shape. In short, this is the proportion of the bottom half of your body compared to your top half. So are you short/long legged, short/long waisted or balanced? |
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How to Take Your Body MeasurementsThe fit of your clothes often conveys a message of how you are as a person whether it's true or not. How a clothing fits on you can give a "sloppy" or "tacky" look - or a polished and well-dressed impression. This page gives you a step-by-step guideline to taking your body measurements. |
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Golden "Rules" to Looking FabulousThere are 3 crucial factors to looking your best no matter what body figure you've got. This page focuses on other aspects of styling (besides your body shape) that help you look your best - so these "golden rules" apply to everyone! |
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Body Proportions' ImportanceIf one proportion is bigger/smaller/longer/shorter than the other, you will need to balance out this proportion or the opposite of it to visually change the apparent difference in size/length. This page helps you gain a clearer picture of why having balanced body proportions matter and how to achieve it using an 'Enhance & Minimize'-trick. |
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Improve Your Self ConfidenceConfidence is the secret ingredient to a fabulous style. Your attitude behind the clothes you wear can make or break your look. Showing that you are comfortable in your clothes makes disproportions and all the figure flaws you're insecure about less noticeable. |
With the right clothes you'll accentuate your best features and disguise the rest – you'll simply look your best!
Think of it as a puzzle - you need the right bits to complement each other :-)
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I know that saying that you should aim for an hourglass body shape sounds utterly shallow and 'shapist', but it IS the ideal body figure because it generally has the right curves on all the right places - which gives you more room to play up your best features such as a pretty face, great hair, great legs, etc.
But of course, if you're proud of your J.Lo booty then by all means make it your trademark and shine!
By wearing the right clothes for your body type, you'll 'fill out' and slim down areas of your body figure, creating a proportional body shape with no heavy or prominent point that 'interrupts' the eye. By simply choosing the right clothing you'll make a wide hips, full thighs, straight hips, wide hips or a full torso look less noticeable.
Your goal is to create a visually balanced yet feminine silhouette – making it look like your bust and shoulders are at the same width of your hips. This helps create curves on all the right places and minimize any prominent body areas that you're self-conscious about.
Here's an example of how balancing out your silhouette can help flatter it:
So for example if your hips are more prominent than the shoulder-line then you need to visually create more width and volume around your bust and shoulder area.
Or if you have a straight waist you're going to have to find clothes that will add more texture and interest to your bust/shoulder and hips area - which helps make your torso look narrower.
The key to looking fab and pulled together is to make your upper and lower body look in proportion with each other!
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Balance is the key. As long as your outfit makes your body figure look balanced you're on your way to looking fabulous. So yes, you can wear skinny jeans even if you have a wide lower bottom (pear body shape) as long as you fill out your upper body. Learn more about body proportions here.
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