Understanding your body, and embracing your shape!

Understanding your body, and embracing your shape!

When determining your body shape keep in mind it truly has nothing, say it with me, NOTHING, to do with your weight or size. It has EVERYTHING to do with your PROPORTIONS!  So lets start off with defining these by identifying various body shapes.

INVERTED TRIANGLE (Cone):

A cone body shape is basically when your shoulders are the widest part of your body. To soften up the masculine lines of your shoulder, look for pieces that create curves and the illusion of “roundness”. The goal is to lead the eye inward, away from the shoulders; into the curve of the neckline and not outwards towards the shoulders.

HOURGLASS:

An hourglass body shape is when your shoulder and hips are proportional and your waist is small. For this shape, which in my opinion can do no wrong, we should look for pieces that skim over the body, avoiding pieces that are too tight or too lose. You can also pair a loser shirt with a fitted jacket or blazer.  If you are both busty and an hourglass it is important to find tops that complement your bust. V-neck, Scoop neck, or wrap tops are best.

APPLE:

Whether you are full figured or not, if you are pretty straight from top to bottom, meaning, that from your shoulders to you hips there aren’t much curves but more of a rectangular shape, than you are an apple.  An apple shape usually carries a bit more weight around the mid section with a less defined waist line. So your GOAL is to create said waistline. We can do this by wearing a wrap sweater, or dress that belts around the waist and gives the illusion of a waist, and a smaller wait at that by highlighting the smallest portion of your torso.  Another tip is to wear dark colors around the areas you don’t want to draw attention to, i.e. your waist and hips, and light or bright colors on the areas you want to enhance, i.e. sweater shirt, bust etc.

PEAR:

Now the most common of body shapes is the pear shape. This means that the widest part of your body is below your waist, and around your hips. Personally, I would Kill for this shape, though pear shaped women do have some challenges for finding items that offer a good fit and that flatter their figure. Your goal is to elongate your figure so that you look less bottom-heavy. In order to reach this goal you have to balance your hips and your shoulders while showing off your curves. The key is to accentuate your top half.  And if you are busty follow the rule under the hourglass for finding a shirt that flatters your bust without giving away the goodies (LOL, date night does not apply here!!) Also accessories are your friends! Think about it, if your eye is drawn to the gorgeous infinity scarf around your neck, the focus is off of your bottom half. And, same applies as for the apple, dark colors are your friends. Always wear smoothing darker and slimming on the bottom, and stick to A-line skirts that aren’t too clingy.  And, no, that doesn’t mean that you always have to wear black on the bottom, but make sure that the bottom is solid in color and darker than whatever you have on top.

*DO NOT HIDE YOUR CURVES THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!

If there are any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for contributions please feel free to contact me Jacky@urbansocialitesnj.com! Also follow me on Twitter @J__Walking

Picture credits go to Forever 21 and Torrid.

Just an FYI for our fuller figured women Torrid is having an online sale as we speak! Take Care! XOXO

Jacky O!