Have you ever bought an outfit that you saw a friend looking so good in, but to your disappointment the dress did not look as good on you?
It could be that you are of a different body type from your friend, and a different design of the same dress would look good on you.
Here, we will classify body types in four categories.
We have the pear, the apple, the hourglass and the rectangle.
There are women who do not fit exactly into a particular body type, but these four shapes provide an almost accurate estimate of where you fall.
The Pear
A woman with this body type has wider hips than the shoulders and waistline.
This body type goes well will all types of clothes. A fitting dress, a peplum dress, fitting jeans, etc. Whatever a person with this body type wears ends up looking good on them.
However, this person could do better if they avoid free fitting trousers and skirts as they make the hips look larger, in turn making the upper torso looking smaller and the body imbalanced.
We would recommend loose fitting tops, and tight fitting trousers, skirts.
The Apple
Women with this body type have the shoulders, waist, and hips at about the same size.
More often, the shoulders are wider than the hip line, with the waistline wider than the shoulders.
Dressing this body type requires very careful selection of clothes because unfortunately many clothes are designed for the pear and other body types.
For dresses and blouses, go for belted ones. Dresses and blouses/shirts that have a predefined waistline give the body a defined feminine shape.
The Hourglass
This is the most envied body type because just like the pear, anything works for them.
Just like an hourglass, she has balanced proportions of the hips, to the bust to the shoulders.
Unlike the pear, however, the hourglass woman does not have to avoid any loose fitting bottoms. She can wear anything and pull it off.
Most clothes advertisers use this woman’s body type, and that is why women with other body types find the clothes looking differently on them.
The Rectangle
This woman has the shoulders, waistline, the hip line at exactly the same size. They are usually very slender, lean and athletic.
A woman with this body type can pull off most clothes, BUT, no loose fitting clothes. Why? They overdress the body. In Kiswahili, we say, ‘Nguo imekuvaa’. You wouldn’t want that.
Which body type do you now think you are?
Well, you don’t have to think about it, take a tape measure, and find out the size of your shoulders, in comparison to your hips, waist and bust size.
With these results, you can now safely conclude your body size.
