Body Types and Dressing Your Strengths

When you get started with fashion, you're often afraid of doing it wrong. Finding your personal style shouldn't be that hard, because you get dressed every day! But when you're figuring stuff out in such a public way (after all, you have to wear this new look in front of people), fashion feels very high stakes.

This is one of the biggest reasons people start to learn about their "Body Types." They want to know what kinds of clothing will look good on them, and the Body Type system promises them just that.

But does learning your body type actually help you find a personal style? Or is it just another way to make people feel bad about themselves? I have some very specific ideas about the good and the bad of the Body Type system that will help you work through this. Keep reading to find out what I mean!

A Quick Guide to Body Types

I've read about as many as 12 different body types, but we're going to go over the classic four: Hourglass, Inverted Triangle, Triangle, Rectangle.

• Hourglass- Curvy on both the top and the bottom with a defined waist. Your hips and bust are proportional with almost equal measurements.

• Inverted Triangle- Wide shoulders, a full bust, and thinner legs, arms, and hips.

• Triangle- Defined waist, full hips, and narrow shoulders. More curvy with a fuller behind and muscular legs.

• Rectangle- Straight looking, without a noticeable curve in the waist.

Body Types

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Body Type System

The idea behind the body type system is to know and balance your proportions. For example, with Triangle shapes, you'll balance out your bottom heavy proportions by wearing ruffles or a dramatic shape on top. Inverted Triangles wear V-necks to break up your top heavy shape, and Hourglass figures will tuck in their shirts to emphasize their waist.

The real issue with dressing your body according to this system is that you're given rules without knowing exactly your goal. "Being Fashionable" has so many definitions, and it changes daily. For example, American women are experiencing an obsession with showing off our waists (50s dress, midriff shirts, ect).

But what if you have a visible belly, or some other part of your body that doesn't fit what's en vogue? In that case, your goal of being fashionable shifts to learning how to hide parts of yourself.

The Issue with Learning to Hide Your Body

Hiding parts of your body is incredibly detrimental to your confidence and mental health. Seriously, think about it: every time you pick out an outfit, you’re focusing on the things you don't like about yourself. Instead of enjoying the body you’re in, the body that helps you move, eat, laugh, cry, and be creative, you’re always thinking about what you don’t like about it.

This isn’t good for your confidence, nor is it good for your mental health.

When we can come to a place where we accept ourselves, even with bad body image days, we can use that time and energy and spend it on something worthwhile.

With that in mind, here's how you can flip the script.

Dressing Your Body by Dressing Your Strengths

"Dressing Your Strengths" is a way of approaching fashion that allows you to appreciate and celebrate your body. Instead of focusing on the things you want to hide, you pick the parts of your body that you like and dress to highlight those parts.

For example, I may not love my belly, but I love my waist. Instead of worrying about hiding my belly fat, I find silhouettes and pieces that show off my waist, even if it doesn't hide my belly. I also love my hands, so I always make sure to do my nails or wear rings.

Learning to appreciate your body and dress in a way that celebrates it is not going to happen overnight. It's a daily practice, and you're probably going to have your ups and downs. But if you combine dressing for your strengths with well-fitting clothes, you'll be able to change your entire approach to style.

Questions to Help You Get Started

Before you get started on this section, you need to get into a good headspace. If you're feeling bad about the world, you're going to be BRUTAL towards yourself. So before you figure out what your "strengths" are, try to get centered.

1. What can you do to put yourself in a good mood? Sing along to music? Dance in your living room? Watch funny videos? Drink your favorite cocktail? Write down a few options that you can try.

2. Once you're in a good frame of mind, find a full-length mirror, preferably one at home. Spend some time looking at yourself. What are the parts of your body that you like? That you're proud of? It can be a part of your body that you've learned to love, or a part of you that you've worked really hard on!

3. If you have a hard time doing this, ask your friends or family! You'll be surprised by what they say.

Ideas to Help You Dress Your Strengths

Once you have an idea of what you like, start doing some research. This is where the rules of the Body Types can come in handy, but the best way to do this is to try stuff on!

Get creative by using whatever you have on hand. Belts, big scarves you can drape, dresses you feel comfortable pulling on, roll up your sleeves or pants, are all ways to tweak your look. Some stuff is going to look silly, but you might stumble on something you really like. The only way to find out is to do it!

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

 This is not going to be a one and done process.

When I first tried this, I thought that my breasts were my strength and that I should wear things that drew attention to them. But I found that I was really uncomfortable with this way of dressing, so I backed off low cut shirts. Instead, I went for halter-ish tops to show off my strong shoulders, another feature on the top of my body that I love.

You won’t learn how to dress for your strengths overnight. There will still be days when you want to wear sleeves in 100* weather because you’re not feeling great about your arms. But the more you play around with your style, the less you’ll worry about what you lack. Instead, you’ll feel grateful for what you have.

Final Thoughts

I'm not against learning the rules of dressing for your body type. I argue that our goal needs to go beyond "being fashionable" into something more personal. When you can find parts of yourself that you like, it'll be easier for you to discover your personal style and tell the story you want to tell.

For more ideas on how to find your personal style, check out my post on finding colors you love!