Body Types

What Is My Body Type?

Describing the shape of your body helps us personal stylists offer guidance on what type of clothing works WITH your shape

Whether we like it or not, our BODY TYPE has a huge part to play in defining our personal style.

We’re probably not going to wear sleeveless tops daily if we don’t like our arms, are we?

Benefits of Understanding The Shape of Your Body

Mind shift – identifying your ‘best bits’ helps see yourself positively rather than criticising areas
Increases body confidence, see examples here or follow client visual makeover here
Knowledge is power because clothes can help to highlight or conceal, you can use fashion wisely
Shortcuts you to the clothes & design details that flatter you saving time, energy & stress
Changes bad buying habits and avoids costly mistakes when buying clothes
Stop imitating your friends style who has a different body, but instead find YOUR version of it
Accepting that sometimes alterations are necessary
Aligning yourself with a similar sized celebrity or blogger for inspiration

Image from Fashionopolis via Pinterest

"I see lots of non-size 10 people looking awesome and I wanted to be that person, and now I am! I now know where to shop, what to look for, as well as what to avoid. This process was LIFE CHANGING"

"I had NO idea what to wear or where to shop. Within a few hours Kim had completely kitted me out with a new wardrobe full of my most flattering bright colours I love, that mixed and matched that would take me anywhere, I had no idea it could be that easy! I now know what brands to shop at that fit my PETITE FIGURE. THANK YOU!"

"After having 2 babies and gaining 30kgs I had no idea how to dress my new body and felt completely depressed – I couldn’t even bring myself to look in the the mirror. I was especially dreading going back to work after mat leave and having to look professional. Then along came Kim and it was COMPLETELY LIFE CHANGING"

"After I lost weight, i assumed I'd be able to wear anything but unfortunately that assumption was incorrect! Kim taught me about my new body shape but more importantly, that my proportions are 'out' so her guidelines have been revolutionary because my body proportions are something I CAN'T change"

"Why don't we learn this stuff in our 20's??? It would make shopping much more simple if we understood our body better? Thanks Kim, I'm recommending all my friends who are also 'stuck' book in for help"

How To Dress For Your Body Shape

Google ‘how to dress an apple body shape’ and the fashion advice is generic and they don’t take in to account body proportions (discussed below) or how round your bust & torso might be

In fact, a slimmer apple shape should wear quite different things to a rounder apple, hence why I’ve created a 6th body type of a SLIM APPLE and that’s why obtaining personal style guidance around what is right for YOU is vital

SO I’VE CREATED 6 BODY TYPE GUIDELINES YOU CAN PURCHASE & TAKE SHOPPING WITH YOU

Body Type Guides To Buy

"Find Your Fit"

I'VE PACKED SO MUCH IN TO THESE BODY SHAPE GUIDELINES, YOU'LL WONDER HOW YOU GOT DRESSED WITHOUT THEM, THEY CONTAIN:

Horizontal proportions = how we’re seen from a front ie. pear

Vertical proportions = difference in your torso & leg length and how to work out of you’re balanced or unbalanced

Detailed description of how to flatter your specific body type

What clothes styles to avoid

How colour & pattern effects your body type

Pinterest Board of flattering outfits to try

Female Body Types

All women fit in to these 6 body type categories but in my experience, many can straddle 2 and that’s when it gets very tricky when a client asks ‘what is my body type’ as it’s not so clear cut. I’ve worked with an ex-model (who’s assumed to have a ‘perfect’ physique) who struggled to dress well because she couldn’t work out what physique she had… until I told her she had a combination of 2!

I asses body type horizontally AND vertically

Read my descriptions below plus click on my PINTEREST boards for outfit inspiration including WHY these garments suit particular body types

Different Female Body Types

HOURGLASS Body Type

(8.5% of women)

When shoulders/bust and hips are similar in circumference and your waist is significantly smaller

Click HOURGLASS Pinterest board

INVERTED TRIANGLE Body Type

(14% of women)

When shoulders/bust are wider than hips so you can tend to look top heavy or broad

INVERTED TRIANGLE Pinterest board

ATHLETIC / RECTANGLE Body

(46% of women)

When shoulders, waist and hips measure similar creating a straighter torso

Click ATHLETIC Pinterest board

PEAR / TRIANGLE Body Type

(20% of women)

When hips are wider than shoulders so you can tend to look bottom heavy

Click PEAR Pinterest board

APPLE / OVAL Body Type

(11.5% of women)

Carry your weight over your bust & tummy area, with slim hips & legs

Click APPLE Pinterest board

SLIM APPLE Body Type

(this shape is unique to me, developed over years of dressing women because many didn’t fit in to the other 5 types)

You’re not round through the tummy like an Apple, you’re straighter through the torso, but not as lean as an Athletic

Click SLIM APPLE Pinterest board

How To Identify Your Body Type

So if you can’t identify yourself easily through the imagery, then you could always take a tape measure and note down your measurements to help categorise the shape of your body.

It’s about understanding the fullest part of your body, compared to your narrowest.

It’s also really interesting to do this as often it can yield different results than what you might think

Many clients wrongly self-diagnose their body type, they might hold on to childhood hang-ups or get confused due to weight change

Need help to understand YOUR body type? Then give me a call or book an online session

Vertical Body Proportions

Now, to throw a complete spanner in the works, body SHAPE is not the only factor, BODY PROPORTIONS is the other KEY driver of why you will look good in some styles versus others

This means comparing your torso leg to you leg length

This can include a long body or long neck/sloping shoulders which would mean that your physique is slightly out of proportion and would benefit from certain styles

Curve, Tall & Petite Body Types

We also need to address the following groups of ‘non-standard’ sizes – and I say that with a huge eye roll. I used to design clothes for these types of physiques hence why I’m an expert here!:

Petite : under 5ft 4″ – concerning as the average height of Australian women IS 5ft 4″ and under
Tall : over 5ft 8″
Curvy : over a size 18 – concerning as the average Australian dress size is 16, so categorising plus-size to start at size 18 isn’t representing a typical Aussie woman!!

So you can see that the subject of sizing and body types is fraught with inaccuracies and can get quite complicated for some. For others it’s more straight forward as they will look good in most styles and this is where the science stops and the art begins as personal style takes over in the decision making.

That’s why my bespoke body shape summary gives you the right guidelines for YOUR body type AND proportions, or you can buy comprehensive guidelines below