BY now I trust that you have all invested in a full length mirror as it will enable you to look at your reflection and know your shape.

Knowledge is power after all. The art of dressing well lies in one’s ability to bring balance to their structure, enhancing your favourite bits and camouflaging the bits you are not fond of. This way you feel your best and if you feel your best you look your best. Beauty always begins on the inside and works its way outwards. 

Let us take a look at some ways you can dress to bring balance and make your shape extremely flattering.

i. Hourglass or X-Shape — the idea is to emphasize your curves and well defined waistline
What to wear:
• Soft, flowing fabrics that cling to your body and follow your shape highlighting it more
• Low to medium necklines. Because you have a large bust this will elongate your torso and neck
• Straight and gently flared shirts
• Fitted to semi-fitted clothes
• Dresses with defined waistlines seeing you actually have a waistline to show off
• Straight and gently flared trousers that maintain the balance of your frame

What not to wear:
• Baggy styles that hide your body
• Stiff, bulky fabrics as they do not show off your curves
• High necklines except in the case that you have a small bust
• Skirts with open pleats that make you look wider seeing you already have relatively wide hips
• Very tapered pants as they throw your body off balance. The hips are quite wide but you end up with disproportionately slim legs
ii. Pear or Triangle — because you are bottom heavy you need to widen your upper body to bring balance.

What to wear:
• Designs, patterns or prints that draw attention to your upper body
• Accessories like necklaces especially chunky ones or wearing several of them at the same time, also have the aforementioned effect

• Short-sleeved tops draw attention to your upper body as  the eye is drawn to where the sleeve ends
• Shoulder pads add volume to your shoulders.  However make sure they are not visible as you do not want to look like a blast from the ‘80s

• Medium-to-high necklines to add volume to your torso
• Straight or bootleg trousers. You do not want too much volume at the bottom seeing that you are bottom heavy

• Skirts and dresses that are straight or slightly flared for the same reasons as above
• Low rise pants that avoid gaping at the waist because your waist is quite narrow and your derriere is much wider resulting in the back of the jeans opening. You could also counter this problem by finding a tailor who can alter the waist for you resulting in pants that look like they were made to fit

What not to wear:
• Baggy garments or stiff fabrics as they are unflattering to your figure
• Clothing that adds volume to your hips

• Designs or patterns at the hipline as they only widen the hips and draw attention to them
• Open pleats on skirts and trousers.  Your bottom half does not need any more widening
• Tapered skirts or trousers as they will make your bottom half look disproportionately narrow
iii. Inverted Pear or Inverted Triangle — You want to create the illusion of the hourglass shape because you are top heavy so you need to broaden your hips in order to bring balance

What to wear:

• Flowing fabrics especially for dresses and skirts as they will add volume to the bottom half
• Tops and dresses that flow through the waist as they add volume below the waist
• Low to medium necklines which are the standard for fuller busted women. High necklines tend to make the bust look a lot fuller than it already is
• A good fitting bra is a must. Great support makes your bust look firmer and less droopy. A droopy bust will ruin any outfit you wear.
• A-line skirts are wider at the knees balancing out the bust and bottom half
• Flared trousers also balance out the narrow legs with the wide chest
What not to wear:
• Styles that bring emphasis to your shoulders.  Remember you are trying to draw attention away from your upper body in order to balance it out with your lower body
• High necklines and big collars. Your upper body is making a significant statement all on its own
• Stiff bulky fabrics especially up top

• Tapered skirts and pants will make your narrow legs look out of sync with your wide upper body

BY HEATHER R

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