Shapes That Help Your Shape

Let’s first acknowledge that no one - at least no one I’ve ever met - is fully satisfied with her body. That’s not hard to understand. We’re endlessly bombarded with images of “perfect” bodies.

If you knew all of the fiddling that’s done to make images of good bodies look flawless, you’d be amazed. Breasts are lifted, enhanced or reduced. Waists are whittled. Hips and butts are shaped and lifted. Legs and even arms are lengthened, shaded and shaped.

All of this is done to images of young women with naturally near ideal bodies. No wonder you sometimes feel so crummy. And I’m not even going to get into what they do to already beautiful hair and faces!

So, back here in Body-Reality World, what can we do to maximize our assets and de-emphasize the areas we’re not so happy about? The answer is—a lot.

Last week I suggested that you do a realistic self-assessment. You probably do some of that every time you step out of the shower, but you might be going a little hard on yourself. Your breasts probably do not look like bee-stings or watermelons and your legs definitely do not look like they’re cut off at the knees! So, as I said, be realistic.

Here are some shapes that can help your shape:

Dresses:

There are two basic types of Dresses - those with clearly defined waists, whether at the natural waist, raised or dropped, and those with a column silhouette.

Here are some specific dress styles:

The Standard Dress Silhouette has a fitted or semi-fitted bodice and a Slender, Gathered or A-Line skirt. This is what most people have in mind when they refer to a “Dress.”

The Sheath. This style follows your body contours from neck to hem. You don’t have to have a perfect figure to wear this silhouette. It’s surprisingly forgiving of a few extra pounds or the opposite, minimal curves, but if you’re too far out of balance in any one area, you’d do better to look elsewhere.

The Straight Column Dress, or Chemise is a slender silhouette that falls from neck to hem in an unbroken line. Almost everyone can wear this style, but remember, it’s supposed to fall from neck to hem. If it’s worn too tight, it can look like a sausage casing instead of the elegant style it is meant to be.

The Empire (pronounced ohm-peer) is defined by a raised waistline, located from just under the bust to no lower than halfway to the natural waist. The empire style is flattering to most body types. Women with big breasts can wear it, but it is not kind to women with big breasts and broad shoulders.

The Straight Dropped Waist is exactly as it sounds. The waistline is located anywhere between the upper and lower hip. (Think of the classic “Flapper Dress”}. This is a difficult style for most women to wear. It requires a slender, small-breasted body. It appears, briefly, every twenty years or so. It looks beautiful on the models, but is quickly boo-ed out of the stores by women in Body-Reality World.

Finally, the Trapeze or A-Line Dress has a triangular silhouette with no waistline, although designers often show it belted. It works well for most body types, as it’s wonderful for hiding flaws. The downside is that it doesn’t emphasize assets either. One exception would be the Trapeze Mini, for women with great legs.

How these styles work for you:

If you have a slim upper body and wide, round hips, try a dress with a slender top and a dirndl or gathered skirt. If you’re carrying extra weight in your lower hip and upper thighs, wear a dress with a slim top and an A-line skirt.

Women with disproportionately large shoulders and/or breasts actually have a harder time than women with big bottoms. But don’t despair. 

You’d actually be better off in sportswear, but if you really love dresses, try a straight column dress with a soft, hip-length jacket. Or dazzle the crowd with a display of cleavage (a classic distraction maneuver). 

You can also balance out with a flowing maxi-dress, unless you have fabulous legs, in which case, use the jacket gambit with a short column dress.

If you have big arms and shoulders, need I say, avoid tight sleeves and go for raglan, dolman or poet sleeves (not to be confused with balloon sleeves, which you should avoid. Poet sleeves have a smooth or slightly gathered shoulder cap and grow fuller toward the wrist).

We’re lucky to live in a time when all dress lengths are happening all at once. Dealing with Inelegant Legs, whether too big, too thin, somewhat short or just not shapely, is dead easy. Wear midi-dresses and if ankles are the problem, maxi-dresses. Problem solved.

Suits and Sportswear:

I’m including suits with sportswear because the major pieces have the same silhouettes and the guidance applies to both. 

Sportswear is kind, it’s easy to wear and it works hard in your wardrobe. It includes blazers, skirts, tailored and casual pants and all types of sweaters, shirts and other tops. It’s pretty much everything that isn’t a dress. Most of the guidance I gave for dresses applies to sportswear, but there are a few extra issues - like pants.

In previous times, bottom-heavy women could simply avoid pants, but our way of life no longer allows it. So, my advice to women with wide, round hips is to avoid pleated pants and skinny legs. Wear a smooth hip and straight, full-length legs. If you carry weight in your lower hip and upper thigh, do wear pleats, to draw the eye upward, and wide, full-length legs.

Ladies who have hip issues can wear short jackets over sweaters and shirts or long, A-line jackets, but avoid boxy or long, straight jackets which conceal your slender upper body.

Top heavy women, this is your element! Long Blazers and Jackets with just a suggestion of a waist and slim or straight legged pants will work magic with your body type. The same goes for slender skirts. Avoid “Pussy-Bows” and other fussy blouses. Tailored shirts and tunics are your best friends. Wear them untucked or untucked and belted under a jacket. 

You might want me to address the issue of height (too tall or too short). Much has been written about this matter, how petite women should avoid certain styles and tall women should avoid certain others. But tall and short women have, basically, the same body-type issues. My belief is that if you’re wearing clothes that bring your figure into proportion, your height doesn’t really enter into it.

So far, I’ve been discussing minor body issues, but if you’re significantly overweight or have a really big belly, you’re dealing with a whole different set of problems. I’m not going to harangue you about getting in shape—you’ll do it if and when you’re ready. In the meantime, you can still look fabulous.

There’s a whole style of dressing that looks beautiful on all body types, but it’s made in heaven for you. It’s called Bohemian or Boho and we touched on it last week. It’s cut from Silks, Velvets, Chiffons, Georgettes, Voiles and other soft fabrics in flowing silhouettes, When it’s properly layered with long tunics, maxi-skirts, dusters and shawls, it barely touches your body. Go there.

Last week I said that this week I was going to discuss Prints and Patterns. After I’d already published, I realized that that should come after Shapes. So, OK, now that I’ve done Shapes, Next week we’ll look at Prints and Patterns.

- Gabrielle