Apple? Pear? Share your clothing vs body shape secrets!

[elizat]

I am an hourglass, I'm curvy but have a small waist. I'm also really short! I need recommendations pls

I saw on your other posts that you have a chest too. So do I- I am a single d though! I am about 4 inches taller than you. I don't know if I am a pear or an hourglass! Maybe this will help- here 's what I try to do:

For skirts- A-line is your friend! I think A-lines work well for anyone w/ hips/butt. Boot cut jeans or on overall straight "wider" leg works well. For tops, I have a longer torso, but w/ a bigger chest and being short, I avoid short shirts- like those that hit right at the waist. It makes me look deformed. I also have always looked awful in shorts. I'm not sure why. I am bigger than I want to be now, but even when I was smaller in high school- like a size 7 or 8 (I've always had a butt, thighs and hips to deal w/) they still looked bad! Capris work better for me and minimize hips/thighs and the naturally short leg length due to height.

 

[i_wona]

Reese Witherspoon is also an apple. My body is very similar to hers but w/ bigger ta tas

Sheesh. I wish I looked like Reese Witherspoon but with bigger boobies! She really is an apple - her legs are gorgeous!

I've also heard that apples should NEVER, repeat NEVER, wear roll necks. It creates a huge expanse of material between your chin and bust and they're usually clingy, so your boobs look huge.

 

[i_wona]

I think I pretty roughly qualify as pear. I usually buy XS, S tops and 6-8 pants. I have very short legs and a "freaskishly long torso" (so says the BFF). It is nearly impossibly to find clothes. Tops are never long enough and jeans are always way, way too long. I'm 5'6" and the short pant sizes are always about an inch too shot.

I try to stick to bootcut jeans with pointy toe heels (gotta extend that line on the legs to make them look longer). I wish I had advice for tops but I basically just buy any that fit! Haha. I love the new tunic style tops that are out now though, because buying shirts in junior high and high school was such a nightmare! I tend to wear a pretty, funky necklace or earrings to draw attention from the large hip/booty region. And don't even get me started on buying bathing suits.... nearly impossible.

I have to wear dress clothes to school everyday and it's pretty nice because dress trousers and pants fit WAY better than jeans do. And sweaters/dress shirts are being made longer these days.

aaahhh boyfriends - i just love their little pearls of wisdom LOL

If you're brave enough, here is what works great with a long torso/shorts legs:

-Short, figure skimming dresses are great, because they hide lumps, bumps, and it is hard for a passer by to easily distinguish where your waist is. A dress that ends mid-thigh or shorter worn with heels (even a mid-height heel) also gives you plenty of leg showing out the bottom of your outfit; the "skirt" of the dress hides where your legs actually end, and it is natural for the eye to "regulate" where your legs should start and assume that they start higher up than they do. Does this make sense?

-The same effect can be acheived with short shorts. Pick some that are short (this should also give you more confidence - no risk of the wind blowing them up LOL) but not tight (we're going for tailored, not tarty here). Pintucked shorts are great, or those cute little safari shorts are good too.

-Wear them with heels or a kitten heel - try to find a pointed toe, as round toes tend to make legs look stumpy if they are already short/thick.

-wear a top in a light colour that falls to just below the button of the shorts. Depending on the shorts, though, just use your judgement in the mirror - you're trying to achieve a balanced look: are there miles of torso? If so, wear a shorter top that shows a bit more of the shorts. Again, a figure-hugging top is no good - try a slimline but figure-skimming top, as you are trying to disguise the lines where your torso ends and your legs begin. A bubble top or one like these are good:

 

[i_wona]

I am an hourglass, I'm curvy but have a small waist. I'm also really short! I need recommendations pls

Are you short but overall have quite good length proportions? If so, you could try wrap dresses - these look great on bigger boobs and the tie around is made for small waists. Have a look at designs by Diane Von Furstenberg to get some ideas!

To minimise big boobs, v-necks are good; stay away from high necks and roll necks. Also, plain darkish colours are good - horizontal stripes or loud patterns are bad. Small prints (like small flowers repeated over and over) are good.

Use the leg lengthening tips given above as well!

 

[i_wona]

Oh, and girls with big boobs: get a good bra - a really good one! You'll amazed at the shape... and good shape will affect how your clothes look as well!

 

[Swanky]

^WORD!!!!

 

[TreeDoc]

Sigh...I WISH I had that problem! But alas, my shoulders are the only "big" things on my upper body!

 

[HauteMama]

I was a ruler and now I am ... a thicker ruler! I cannot say that my hips are bigger than my shoulders/bust or vice versa, nor is my waist tiny like with hourglass figures. My legs are definitely thicker than I'd like. I do have a long waist and shorter legs. Overall I think I lost the genetic lottery!

I still wear a lot of dresses that fall just above the knee. Dresses help disguise my long torso and my thicker middle (they create no lines or bulges) and dark-colored tights and leggings do what can be done to slim my legs. I am not a big girl (5'3" and size 6) but I am not particularly petite in any part of my body, either, so I definitely think thick ruler is my body type!

 

[aliciamarie]

aaahhh boyfriends - i just love their little pearls of wisdom LOL

If you're brave enough, here is what works great with a long torso/shorts legs:

-Short, figure skimming dresses are great, because they hide lumps, bumps, and it is hard for a passer by to easily distinguish where your waist is. A dress that ends mid-thigh or shorter worn with heels (even a mid-height heel) also gives you plenty of leg showing out the bottom of your outfit; the "skirt" of the dress hides where your legs actually end, and it is natural for the eye to "regulate" where your legs should start and assume that they start higher up than they do. Does this make sense?

-The same effect can be acheived with short shorts. Pick some that are short (this should also give you more confidence - no risk of the wind blowing them up LOL) but not tight (we're going for tailored, not tarty here). Pintucked shorts are great, or those cute little safari shorts are good too.

-Wear them with heels or a kitten heel - try to find a pointed toe, as round toes tend to make legs look stumpy if they are already short/thick.

-wear a top in a light colour that falls to just below the button of the shorts. Depending on the shorts, though, just use your judgement in the mirror - you're trying to achieve a balanced look: are there miles of torso? If so, wear a shorter top that shows a bit more of the shorts. Again, a figure-hugging top is no good - try a slimline but figure-skimming top, as you are trying to disguise the lines where your torso ends and your legs begin. A bubble top or one like these are good:

My problem is that my legs are short, but kinda stumpy. I'm very pale and have bigger ankles. I don't do shorts or short dresses because of that. If my legs looked like those girls, better believe I'd be rockin' those shorts though, holy smokes! And the thing with wearing baggy tops is that it makes me look like I'm hiding a chubby waist under there and combined with my legs makes me look like all of me is a size 8, when it's really just my bottom half. I stick to figure hugging tops only because I feel like that's the skinniest/best part of me and I don't mind if people notice that part is thin. I just want to distract them from the significantly larger bottom part of my body. Empire waisted tops are nice, too because they make you look thin without really sreaming "hey, look at my super long torso and short stump legs!"

It always makes me feel good to buy dresses with A-line skirts though because then I can buy a 2 compared to the 8 I would have to buy if it had to sit snug on the hips!

 

[jellybebe]

I'm definitely an apple - long legs, relatively narrow hips, broad shoulders, short torso and big chest. When the drop-waist trend happened, it was a total godsend because it lengthened my torso but I had long enough legs to pull it off. I have also read that off-the-shoulder tops aren't flattering to us big-chested girls so although they are cute on others, I avoid them. I am really enjoying the loose top/tight bottom combo that is popular right now.

 

[Zophie]

I don't even have to read the descriptions because I know I'm a damn pear. Ugh. I hate it.

But anyway, this is what I find looks best on me:

Wide or straight leg jeans/pants. NO skinnies! Those just accentuate my huge behind and it's downright scary. In general, no pants that are tapered in the leg at all.

For work clothing, I usually wear suits or dresses from Ann Taylor. A lot of them are very figure flattering and tapered at the waist for me.

A-line or skirts that flare are best for me. I don't know what you call them, but the ones that are fitted and then flare at the bottom look good on me. Then I'll wear a fitted top or sweater to show my waist.

For work I almost always wear heels. It lengthens the leg, and also I'm short so I need all the help I can get.

 

[miss_ritz]

I am SUCH a pear! No boobs with a booty and momma thighs - for my size anyway. I am a size 0 (sometimes 0 is loose on me) and 24 in jeans, albeit I can't fit into Paige 24's sometimes Skinny jeans are my worst enemy, not to mention I am short so I just look like a stub. Most jeans, wait ok all jeans, I try on are fitted/tight around my thighs but are waaaay too lose around the waist. I really hate my shape sometimes because I have so many cute dresses but I do not like showing my legs because they are so ush: fat! in comparison to my upper body. Most of my friends hate on me because I call my legs fat while I am barely 100 lbs at 5'3, but it just doesn't look good when you have tiny arms and a itty bitty waist, with full fledged hips and thighs. Anyways, I would die without heels and I actually like baggy/voluminous tops/baby dolls/empires because they balance out my small upper body with my lower body by creating the illusion I'm not heavily disproportionate . Did I make sense? hehe

 

[seahorseinstripes]

my body shape is not resemble any fruits LOL but a twig. i don't reall have curves. i have no butts and small breasts. i'm 5'4" and only 40 kgs, i'm not an anorexic, i eat a lot but i never go beyond 42 kgs my whole life, i have very skinny bones
my upper body is shorter in proportion to my legs.
sooo :
1. i tend to wear low rise jeans or hipster to make my upper body looked longer
2. i wear skinny a lot because they don't really make me look like i have a spare space in the ass part of the pants
3. to make me look less like a skeleton, i usually wore looser tops, my fave is loose mini summer dress on top of tights or skinny jeans.

 

[Tangerine]

I am SUCH a pear! No boobs with a booty and momma thighs - for my size anyway. I am a size 0 (sometimes 0 is loose on me) and 24 in jeans, albeit I can't fit into Paige 24's sometimes Skinny jeans are my worst enemy, not to mention I am short so I just look like a stub. Most jeans, wait ok all jeans, I try on are fitted/tight around my thighs but are waaaay too lose around the waist. I really hate my shape sometimes because I have so many cute dresses but I do not like showing my legs because they are so ush: fat! in comparison to my upper body. Most of my friends hate on me because I call my legs fat while I am barely 100 lbs at 5'3, but it just doesn't look good when you have tiny arms and a itty bitty waist, with full fledged hips and thighs. Anyways, I would die without heels and I actually like baggy/voluminous tops/baby dolls/empires because they balance out my small upper body with my lower body by creating the illusion I'm not heavily disproportionate . Did I make sense? hehe

I am just like this. Its not that i really mind the size of my legs by themselves so much as i hate how UNEVEN i am! UGH. And it seems like EVERYONE everywhere I look is more even than me. I can't complain too much though. There are things i do like about my body. I dress like a total boy sometimes, and since I don't have a boyish figure it doesn't end up looking too butch.

I'm just saying as cheesy as it is, it good to hear someone say exactly what I am thinking about myself.

 

[i_wona]

My problem is that my legs are short, but kinda stumpy. I'm very pale and have bigger ankles. I don't do shorts or short dresses because of that. If my legs looked like those girls, better believe I'd be rockin' those shorts though, holy smokes! And the thing with wearing baggy tops is that it makes me look like I'm hiding a chubby waist under there and combined with my legs makes me look like all of me is a size 8, when it's really just my bottom half. I stick to figure hugging tops only because I feel like that's the skinniest/best part of me and I don't mind if people notice that part is thin. I just want to distract them from the significantly larger bottom part of my body. Empire waisted tops are nice, too because they make you look thin without really sreaming "hey, look at my super long torso and short stump legs!"

It always makes me feel good to buy dresses with A-line skirts though because then I can buy a 2 compared to the 8 I would have to buy if it had to sit snug on the hips!

OK, ok, so the pics probably weren't the best photos to post, considering we're talking about how to hide bits we don't like, when those girls obviously have no flaws LOL. I was just trying to illustrate the kind of top I meant :shame:

From your avatar, you have a beautiful face and gorgeous skin - I wish I had skin like yours! Mine is really dull and I often look like I'm sick, when I'm not - HA what a hot look that is!

I'll tell you something else, you have a great decolletage! You should work those classic v-necks, or those loose jumpers with deep v-necks and some bootcut jeans.

What about A-line wrap dresses?