Wearing the right clothes shouldn’t be about following the latest fashion trends; it should be about choosing what actually suits you and what makes you feel comfortable and confident. The clothes which will flatter you best will depend on your body shape.

Knowing your basic body shape and understanding the types of clothes that will accentuate your good features (and minimise your less- than perfect bits!), means you’ll be able to dress in a way that really suits you. Today there are so many options to choose from so you’ll always be able to find something that will complement your body shape, scale, proportions, colouring, personality and life style.

‘The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress.’Hubert de Givenchy

Before you know what clothes to buy and which styles look best on you, you’ll need to know which body shape you are. When choosing clothes, your aim is to create the illusion of having a balanced body- meaning your trying to create visual balance in your look! The neat hourglass is considered to be the most perfect and balanced body shape with:

• Shoulders and hips in line

• A defined bust

• A waist, even with a softy curved tummy

• A curved bottom

The problem with understanding your body shape is that most women focus on specific area (i.e. problems zones such as the tummy, arms, bottom, thighs etc), which can cloud your judgement when it comes to seeing the whole picture. It’s important to view yourself as a whole so that you can define your body shape.

To analyse your body shape, look at yourself in the mirror in your underwear. Stand with your legs together and your arms a bit away from your sides. Examine the area from under your arms, past your bust and ribcage, over your waist and hips to the fullest part of your thighs. Then look at the 7 body shape sketches above. Once you know your shape, you need to examine your proportion, scale and your features e.g. bust, tummy, arms, thighs. The key and importance in knowing your body shape and your body feature are that it will give you the solution and guidelines on which fashion trends to focus on in order to create visual balance in your look, so that you wear clothes that make and feel you the best rather wearing clothes that won’t fit or or emphasise features that make you look unbalance.

Please find below general rules for each body shape for further advice visit

http://www.joyofclothes.com/style-advice/shape-guides/body-shapes-overview.php

Inverted Triangle body shape

 On your bottom half you need to wear clothes that make your hips look broader.

• Keep details, fuss, anything that creates volume to your lower half and keep your top half clean and uncluttered
• Straight clothing lines are a natural extension to your body line
• Create the illusion of a waist with waist details such as a wider belt

Lean Column body shape

 You need to create the illusion of curves around hips and bust and of a waist

• Use layering to shorten your long top half
• Create roundness around your extremities e.g. sleeve, leg line, neckline
• Wear high or low waisted styles – broad shoulders; unfitted jackets, which slope to the waist; highlight your hips and bottom using pockets and pleats

 Rectangle body shape

You need to create the illusion of a waist

• Keep your silhouette uncluttered
• Unstructured jackets that gently shape the waist
• Hip and bottom details are good – as long they create gentle curves

Apple body shape

 Follow your bodyline – avoid details around bust, tummy and hips. Keep detail in top and lower thirds.

• Keep the clothing line straight to slightly fitted, but fabric soft so you avoid unnecessary bulk around the bosom, waist and tummy
• Keep details above the bust line and below the hip line – for everything in between keep it plain and simple
• The shoulders need attention so you should balance them from the front and side views
• Keep your silhouette fitted under bust and as well below your arms and along your waist
• Splits at waist works wonder