The secret to dressing for your shape
Are you a square? Triangle? column? Or hourglass? Figuring it out – and dressing for your real shape – is the key to a happy-ever-after wardrobe, says Anna Murphy
a lot of us spend a lot of time thinking about clothes. I certainly always have done. But how often do we actually think about how those clothes relate to the body that will wear them? Our body. Sure, if we have big thighs we probably tend to steer clear of a miniskirt. And if we have our own in-person shoulder pads, we’ll rarely buy a jacket with an additional set.
But beyond the basics, many of us have very little idea as to what suits us. Of course we don’t. We never get taught this stuff. If we are even slightly tuned into a fashion wavelength we are bombarded with ‘in’ colours, hot cuts, this season’s skirt length or trouser cut. Yet none of this is anywhere near as important as what actually works for our body shape.
Even celebrities struggle. As the red-carpet stylist Rebecca Corbin-murray observed to me recently, ‘People come to me with very little idea of what they like, what suits them. We’re thrown trends all the time and, mostly, people just see what sticks, and then they don’t know what their style is.’
When you think about it, it’s not in the brands’ interests to bother us with what is the most important sartorial information out there. To quote Nora Ephron, it’s complicated, not to mention highly personal, the matter of what suits whom. Besides, the last thing they want is for us to nail what’s right once and for all. If we did that we might start shopping less.
But I do want you to shop better. I want everything you buy to work for you; more than that, to make you happy. That’s why I have written a book that is a fashion
toolkit, designed to help women ( you) find the clothes that really work for them ( you).
How Not To Wear Black is – as its title suggests – about self-expression through clothes; even, I would go as far as to say, about empowerment. But at least as importantly it is about the nitty gritty. About teaching you how properly to identify and then flatter your lines. About finding your style, not a version of someone else’s.
You need to get your head around your true body shape first. Forget about apples and pears. The more precise terminology of geometry is more helpful than that of the orchard. There are seven main shapes: full hourglass; neat hourglass; triangle; inverted triangle; column; rectangle; rounded. With the exception of the two hourglasses, all the others can co-exist. I am both a triangle and an inverted triangle, for example: big shoulders and big hips, but with a less defined waist and smaller bust (sigh) than an hourglass.
Looking your best means making the different elements of your figure look as in proportion as possible. For an hourglass, the work is done for you. You just need to wear clothes that follow your lines, not hide them, nor – in the case of a full hourglass – add bulk. Belting it is always going to work for you; I like Topshop’s skinny Dalmatian version.
The rest of us need to enact Operation Hourglass, trompe-l’oeiling our way to something that presents as similar. If you are a triangle or inverted triangle, identify your largest section. Skim it with well-fitted clothes, rather than making the common mistake of swamping it. Then draw attention elsewhere by wearing bright colour and/or pattern on your smaller section.
A triangle might go for Mango’s suede biker in red, yellow or pale blue with neutral trousers; an inverted triangle
should switch things around with a neat, plain knit on their top half and Ganni’s frill-trimmed silk leopard print trousers on their bottom, or John Lewis & Partners’ culottes in orange, cobalt or emerald. Emphasise your waist, because whatever variation on the theme of triangle you are, you will have one.
Columns, rectangles and roundeds don’t have waists. Columns – who are straight up and down, as the nomenclature suggests – can add the illusion of one, and of curves more generally, by way of a peplum jacket or top, a full skirt, a frill or two. (I like Zara’s check top.)
Rectangles and roundeds need to focus even more on that skim factor. A top or dress fitted to below the bust that then flares into a subtle A-line will probably be the best bet, like Marks & Spencer’s brown-on-blush floral chiffon frock, with on-trend asymmetric hemline. Diagonals can disguise lumps and bumps brilliantly. Try Warehouse’s honey-stripe mididress. Long-line single-breasted jackets are your friend, like Cefinn’s classic Jamie, in assorted colours. Flat-front trousers, and flashing your wrists or ankles – every woman’s skinniest parts – will flatter almost everyone. Me+em’s stitch-detail slim crop, in assorted colours, tick both boxes.
Seek out brands that work best for your lines. Often one that serves a country where lots of women share your physique will serve you well. If you are petite try French brands like Sandro and Spanish ones like Zara; if you are tall, Scandi brands like Arket and Ganni. If you are curvy, homegrown brands like the new John Lewis & Partners and Phase Eight are a good bet. If you want some expert help, recruit a personal stylist like Anna Berkeley. Spending £250 on her ‘ body mapping’ session will be one of the best sartorial investments you will ever make (annaberkeley.com).
Sure, you need to get your eye in. It might take a while. But dressing the real you will soon become second nature, and your clothes a second skin of the very best kind. Anna Murphy is fashion director of ‘ The Times’. Her book, ‘ How Not To Wear Black’, is published on 4 October (£16.99, DK)