In fashion, finding your own unique style is an exciting journey and this becomes even more significant when you are a woman over 40. An essential part of this journey is understanding your body shape and in this post I will talk to you about the importance of knowing yours Body Shape and how this can be a powerful ally to enhance your beauty.
But let’s start from the beginning:
What is Body Shape?
Body Shape helps people find the points on their body to enhance . The concept of Body Shape refers to the shape of your body and the proportions between your upper and lower half.
For us women over 40 it is important to know the shape of our body to be able to choose clothes that highlight our strengths making us feel more confident and elegant on every occasion; knowing which points of the body need to be enhanced and which ones perhaps to hide, in order to be able to recognize ourselves, accept ourselves and love ourselves as we are. LET’S REMEMBER THAT PERFECTION DOES NOT EXIST! What Mother Nature has given us is unique and inimitable. Precisely for this reason it is important to be aware of our unique heritage and to be able to enhance it.
What are the points of the body to be enhanced and which ones perhaps to hide, in order to be able to recognize ourselves, accept ourselves and love ourselves as we are. Precisely for this reason it is important to be aware of our unique heritage and to be able to enhance it.
There is no ideal or perfect body shape, the important thing is to be able to feel beautiful and in balance with ourselves
Body shape is a question of proportions, measurements and not size or weight!
NO, YOU ARE NOT WRONG! Often, even without knowing it, we wear clothes that don’t flatter us. Let’s try to understand together what your Body Shape is
THE MAIN BODY SHAPES
The morphology of bodies has changed over the years, in fact today we recognize 4 types of body shape : apple, pear, hourglass and rectangle.
The APPLE woman
The MELA woman has wider shoulders, full breasts, a less defined waist and narrower hips.
USEFUL TIPS:
- Choose clothes that highlight your legs: knee-length or slightly above skirts, bootcut or palazzo trousers can help create balance.
- Enhance your décolleté: wear clothes with V-necks or U-necks to highlight your breasts and visually slim your figure
- The belt: an excellent ally to help you define your waist.
- Soft, flowing dresses: Dresses with flowing lines and empire lines help you hide an undefined waist
- NO to clothes that are too tight at the top: avoid too tight tops that highlight the waist
- High-waisted pants and skirts : Create the illusion of a slimmer waist.
- Play with accessories: use accessories to shift attention, wear statement necklaces and earrings to draw the eye towards your face.
- Use single-color or tone-on-tone shades: wearing similar colors will help make your look more harmonious.
The PEAR woman
The expression pear-shaped body means a thin waist and wide hips . The upper part of the body, including the breasts which are mostly small, is smaller and bonier than the lower part, from the hips down. But there are also pear-shaped bodies with a little more breasts. Unfortunately, the extra kilos will tend to be distributed unevenly and therefore on the hips, butt and often also on the thighs.
USEFUL TIPS:
- Enhance the upper part: highlight the upper part of the body to balance the figure. To draw attention to your bust, choose tops with eye-catching necklines, cool details and bright colors.
- Empire style dresses: this dress model emphasizes the narrowest part under the breast and is ideal for creating harmonious harmony between the narrower upper part and the more generous lower part.
- Yes to the high waist: high-waisted skirts and trousers help to lengthen the legs, but I recommend avoiding models that are tight on the hips.
- Wide Leg Pants: These pants are a smart choice for balancing the line between your hips and thighs.
- Flared Dresses: Dresses that are slightly flared from the waist down are ideal for hiding your stronger bottom half. NO to too tight skirts and dresses.
- Dark colors on the legs: Dark colors are ideal for visually reducing the lower part and creating a slimming effect.
- Accessorize the top: Use necklaces, earrings and scarves to draw the eye to the top area and thus balance the figure.
- Choose your shoes well: wear beautiful, quality footwear, they will help highlight your legs and create continuity between the upper and lower part making your body more harmonious
The HOURGLASS woman
The CLESSIDRA woman is characterized by balanced shoulders and hips and a well-defined waistline. This body shape is often considered ideal because it is more balanced, even legs and shoulders are always proportionate to the rest of the figure and they are also lucky because the extra pounds are distributed evenly between the various parts of the body.
Even if considered perfect, the hourglass woman can give her best by following some simple rules.
USEFUL TIPS:
- Highlight your waistline: Wear clothes that highlight your waist, use thin belts and wear fitted clothes that follow the shape of your body and highlight the beauty of your shape.
- High-waisted skirt: they are ideal for emphasizing your waist and creating an elegant look, to combine with tight-fitting tops or bustiers, which are very trendy this season.
- Bell-bottom trousers: whether they are jeans or trousers, the bell-bottom shape manages to balance your proportions and underlines your curvilinear figure.
- Crop tops: These crop tops above the belly button highlight your slim waist and look great paired with high-waisted pants.
- Belt: if you can, use a belt (wide or thin) to emphasize your waist and give a touch of style to your looks.
- Stretch fabrics: Stretch fabrics are comfortable, allow you to move freely and adapt to your perfect curves. If you don’t wear them…
- Pencil skirts: the same goes for pencil skirts, they highlight your waist and your femininity. They are a classic that can be perfect for an hourglass figure.
The RECTANGLE woman
The RECTANGLE woman has shoulders and hips of similar width and a less pronounced waist line . The slimmer rectangle women usually have a rather angular physique, but the rectangle figure is not necessarily always petite, we can also find more muscular physiques and more imposing physiques.
USEFUL TIPS:
- Recreate the waist: wear belts or dresses with waist details to define the central area of the body and give the illusion of a narrower waist.
- Flared dresses, skirts and pants: Add volume at the bottom to create a more feminine silhouette.
- High Waist: High-waisted skirts and trousers can help give the effect of a narrower waist and lengthen your legs.
- Shirts with vertical details: Vertical details, such as buttons or stitching, can help create a streamlined effect and shift the focus to the upper body.
- Asymmetric dresses: Asymmetric dresses and those with side cuts add dynamism to the figure and create curves you don’t have.
- Structured Shoulders: Structured shoulders help balance the figure by adding definition at the top.
- Plunging neckline : as well as boat neck tops, they create a horizontal line that breaks up the proportions and adds a touch of femininity.
- Create curves with accessories : for the rectangle woman accessories play an important role, wear belts, necklaces and scarves to create visual curves.
I think I’m a rectangular woman, I’m long-limbed and quite proportionate but I don’t have a marked waistline. Alas, with the advent of menopause, the extra kilos are distributed evenly and this makes it even more difficult to enhance the rectangle physique.
NB: the categories described above are general simplifications, obviously many people may have overlapping characteristics because each individual is unique. Many women may not completely fit into one category, the important thing is to understand your body proportions and choose clothes that enhance your unique beauty!
Precisely because the years pass and our bodies change, we need to understand which Body Shape we belong to in order to continue to be the best version of ourselves, despite menopause!
GENERAL TIPS FOR SLIMNING OR LONGENING YOUR FIGURE
How to slim your figure
First of all, if there are parts of the body that we want to make fuller, we will dedicate garments and fabrics that create volume to those. While, to thin, we will choose darker and opaque colors. The single color is the ideal choice to “tighten” the figure, because there are no gaps and, in this way, the figure appears taller and slimmer. Yes to the choice of garments made with soft fabrics that do not constrict the shape. Be careful if you want to slim down soft hips, a pencil skirt is not recommended!
Speaking of colors, yes to choosing the same color of the socks as the shoes. If you have large breasts and want to make them less visible, choose V-necks, not too deep, avoid boat ones. Choose three-quarter length sleeves and don’t wear woven sweaters or blouses with elaborate necklines.
Remember that garments that create vertical lines are ideal for slimming the figure.
How to lengthen the figure
Many women are looking for solutions to lengthen their figure and here are some “secrets”.
Vertical lines help, as do solid color dresses and suits, soft fabrics and empire-style shapes . If the problem is a slightly short bust, accessories can also help: long necklaces above the breast, for example. For the choice of dresses, low-waisted trousers and skirts, sweaters that reach the hips and mandarin collars for jackets and shirts, long cardigans and blazers are also excellent, but avoid crop tops and boleros.
If, however, the torso is too long, you should eliminate everything we have just mentioned and choose high-waisted trousers and skirts, trousers with a straight line, especially if worn with a bit of a heel, stockings and shoes in the same color as the skirts and short trousers and shirts, which shorten the torso. To shorten your torso, opt for short tops that end above your hips. Coordinating the color of your socks and shoes with skirts and pants can create a uniform, lengthening effect.
