If you’re pear-shaped... You have:
Smaller shoulders, bust and waist, with heavier hips, bottoms and thighs.
You want:
To balance your proportions by visually slimming your bottom half and playing up your top.
Some styles to try:
For the weekdays:
• Detailed, ruffled or colorful tops draw the eye up.
• A dark A-line skirt with no waistband is ideal.
• Sleek boot-cut or straight pants make hips look narrower.
• Heels are height inducing and leg slimming.
For the weekend:
• A striped boatneck’s horizontal line helps balance your top and bottom.
• Look for shirts that hit at your hip bone or lower.
• At-the-hip boot-cut jeans with biggish pockets are great on your posterior.
For night:
• Choose empire-waist dresses in flowery fabrics to skim and smooth your silhouette.
• Say yes to V-necks! They’re torso lengthening.
• A wide collar (on anything) gives a horizontal emphasis that helps balance you out.
If you’re curvy... You have:
A full bust and hips—and possibly a dress size of 14 or larger.
You want:
To minimize curves but not deny they’re there.
Some styles to try:
For the weekdays:
• An open neckline flatters your bust.
• The best tops and jackets are hip bone or wrist length, not shorter or longer.
• Look for fabrics that drape over curves.
• An A-line or not-skintight pencil skirt balances your top and bottom.
For the weekend:
• A scoopneck fitted tee shows shape without revealing too much.
• Boot-cut jeans help balance your hips.
• Low or mediumheels (not high ones for a look this casual) lengthen legs—and you.
For night:
• A wrapdress adjusts to tailor-fit
your hourglass.
• A narrow or self-tie belt is best.
• Fabrics with a bit of structure skim your curves without hugging them.
• A small-scale allover pattern can brilliantly flatter curves.
If you’re boy-shaped... You have:
A straight shape from top to bottom: narrow hips, a small bust and a not-so-curvy waist.
You want:
To look like you’ve got curves (without surgical intervention).
Some styles to try:
For the weekdays:
• A ruffled shirt and nipped waist are ***** builders on top.
• Skirts with a little swing are good for you—they create hips better than, say, a boxy mini.
For the weekend:
• Lucky you! Just about any kind of jeans look great on slim hips.
• A tailored, curvy jacket (not boy-cut) gives you a feminine shape.
If you’re petite… You have:
A proportioned body, with a height of 5'3" or under.
You want:
To dress with the same grown-up sophistication, sexiness and authority that your 5'7" friends do.
Some styles to try:
For the weekdays:
• A-line or pencil skirts are universally flattering.
• Your best hemline is a little above the knee, to lengthen legs.
• A hip-length top is torso lengthening.
• Open-toe shoes can elongate. Pass on all ankle-strap styles, though.
For the weekend:
• Long low-rise jeans work for you, but they shouldn’t be so low that they make a horizontal line across the widest part of your hips.
• Snug-fitting tops that show off the womanly shape you are trying to achieve are better than shapeless ones which will swallow you.
For night:
• A V-neckline is always a height-enhancing detail.
• A sleek-fitting, top-of-the-knee empire dress tends to lengthen you.
• An embellished bustline draws the eye up.
• Pointy-toe heels elongate legs.