How to Determine Horizontal Body Type
By mati. Filed in Create Your Own Clothing Style, Fashion |Tags: Body Type, Clothing Style, Create Your Own Clothing Style, How Do I Determine My Body Type
Hopefully, you have figured out what your vertical body type is, so you know if you are long legged, short waisted, or perfectly balanced. If you haven’t, you might want to CLICK HERE.
Determining horizontal body type is easy. Measure around the bust, waist (around the narrowest part) and hips (around the widest part).
If your bust and waist measurements are bigger than your hips, your shape is like an apple.
If your hip measurement is bigger than your bust, your shape is like a pear.
If your bust, waist and hips are fairly equal, your shape is like a rectangle.
If your bust is almost the same size as your hips, and your waist is 7-10″ smaller, give or take a few inches, your shape is like an hourglass.
Dressing an apple
Promise me to NEVER, EVER wear a big, loose, boxy t-shirt over tights or skinny pants!!! For some very strange reason, women with this type of figure love this combination, but unfortunately, tights and a loose, baggy t-shirt looks way too boxy and actually accentuates your proportions in the wrong way. I know it is tempting, because this type of figure often has skinny legs, but skinny legs and a heavy top can easily look top heavy. So forget leggings and skinny pants. What you need to do is to add fullness to the hips while minimizing the bust.
The best way to do this is by using dark colored tops in crisp, somewhat fitted fabrics. NO BAGGY T-SHIRTS! Also, stay away from short sleeves, which add weight to your bust. Long or 3/4 sleeves are more flattering.
Pants should be light colored (since light colors will add fullness), with straight or wide legs (NO TAPERED LEGS). This will make your body look more proportionate.
Dressing a pear:
When dressing a pear, we want to minimize the hips, and add fullness to the bust. For some odd reason, women with this kind of body shape love wearing pants that are baggy around the hips and tapered on the bottom. TERRIBLE! I call these “frumpy mommy pants!” This will only make your hips look bigger and more disproportionate! What you need is nicely fitted pants with straight or wide legs in a dark color. Dark colored pants are a must for this type of figure. If you love jeans, get the darkest color you can find, and make sure they fit snugly around the hips.
To add fullness to the bust, think bright or light colors, patterns, horizontal stripes at the top (not at the hips), shoulder pads and short sleeves. The goal is to try to even out the proportions so that the hips and shoulders look more equal.
Dressing a rectangle:
Here, the main purpose is to divert attention away from the waist line. The easiest way to do this is use the same color on top as on the bottom, preferably a dark color. Avoid belts or pockets in this area. Use long scarfs that create strong vertical lines. Try tops with princess seams or baby doll styles that don’t cling.
Dressing an hourglass:
The more extreme the hourglass shape is, the more tailored and fitted the clothing has to be. Baggy clothing doesn’t fit this type of figure at all. If your waist line is tiny, you can wear narrow belts to show it off. If your proportions are balanced, you can even get away with tights and skinny pants if you wish. This type of body can get away with wearing a bit more extreme fashions than the other types.
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