Body Shapes - How to Dress For Your Unique Body

Our body shapes are all unique. Fortunately, there are simple ways to determine what ensembles of wardrobe that is the most flattering to women's body shapes. The bottom line is to first determine your proportions, and then utilize our wardrobe ensembles to accentuate the best features--and hide everything else! It's what I'd refer to as "Enhance & Minimize".
Women body shapes are defined by how the curves connect the bust, waist, and hips.
With that in mind, the four basic body types are as follows:

1. Apple body type are evident by a heavy top part of the body - 14% of women have this body shape. Generally the bust is three or more inches larger than hips. My advice is to emphasize the thighs, legs and butt in order to divert attention away from the waist and shoulders/arms. I recommend wearing long sleeves, and try to draw focus to the bust and neck by wearing, for example v-neck lines. Go with tops that "drape" over any love handles, like tunics and flowing tops with an empire waist (the waist begins just below the bust and flows outward). In the case of an endowed top (big breasts), go with dresses or tops that wrap around the waist and cross over the chest.
2. Rectangular body type can be identified by a fall from the waist to the hips in a straight line that resembles more like a cylinder. About 46% of women have this shape. Tips: "pinch" the waist by wearing a belt to offer an illusion of a waistline existence or try to stick with ensembles that offer some kind of waistline feature that gives an illusion of curves to avoid looking lanky or boyish. Choose ruffles and frills to add silhouette or volume to give an impression of femininity to the figure. Avoid baggy jeans and track clothes that look boyish.
3. Pear body type are determined by a heavy bottom with 20% of women having this shape. It is obvious that the hips are significantly larger than the bust for this body shape. The good news is there are ways to dress to create an illusion of a smaller hip and butt by drawing attention to the top part of the body such as a fuller blouse/top complimented by a properly fitted push-up bra.
4. Hourglass body type considered the ideal shape and there are about 8% of women with this body shape. This body shape has a balanced size of hips and bust with a narrow waist. Since it's an ideal women's body shape, the options are more forgiving and should focus on flattering instead of flattening the beautiful curves.

Stay tuned for my more tips on how to dress to enhance your body shape.