Dress for your Shape - it's unique!

Dress for your shape! Sounds easy doesn't it but it can be complicated and frustrating!

Though millions of women wear the same size garment, your actual body measurements are unique to YOU! What fits one woman is wrong for another. Some parts of your body may conform to regular fit while others are completely different. 

The 5 basic body types are purely generic and based on the relationship between shoulders and hips. This decides whether your body is Straight or Curved and it's a great starting point! 

Dressing for YOUR OWN shape, however, means that you can address individual parts of your body to either disguise or improve the way YOU like to look.

We're not cut to a pattern

There are very few women who can buy clothes that actually fit perfectly. We're not cut to a pattern like a store-bought garment - we don't come in a mold to fit size 8, 10 or 12.

Up until the middle of the last century clothes were usually made at home or for the lucky few made to measure. It's only with the advent of cheap clothing that sizes have become an issue and given so many women a complex!

Don't blame your figure blame the garment!

So don't blame your figure - it's not necessary to change your body to fit the clothes, just change the clothes to fit the body!

Be prepared to make a few adjustments to get a perfect fit. Not only will your clothes look better and more expensive but you will look your best, feel more comfortable and much more like YOU! I've found a lovely dressmaker who can take a very ordinary pair of pants and make them fit me, she's worth her weight in gold. Yes it costs a little but far better to have fewer clothes that fit than a load that I cannot wear. 

And don't forget that tastes vary as to how we like to wear our clothes. One woman may enjoy having a large bust while another will want to minimize her assets - each necessitates a different fit! 

So how to dress for YOUR shape

1 Find your BODY TYPE

There are just 5 generic BODY TYPES - find the one you are closest to and take note of the Styling Tips for each specific figure type.

This will give you the basic shapes and styles to flatter your bone structure so you can dress for your shape.

2 Then address any area that bothers you...

• Measurements and size mean nothing. It's how you FEEL that counts

• You can influence the eye away from any figure challenge with different shapes and colors. 

• Choose the parts of your body you want to accentuate or camouflage

• You can look taller, shorter, slimmer etc. with a bit of visual cheating!

• There's no such thing as a 'problem' area only if it matters to YOU.

So.. is your 'challenge' Horizontal or Vertical?
Click the relevant image to find a solution..