Apple Shape
If you have an apple body type, you carry your weight in the mid-section. You’ll have broader shoulders, a larger bust, and a less defined waist. The best way to dress for this body type is to elongate the torso by drawing attention to your legs and create the illusion of a more defined waist. Pieces to invest in include wide necklines, empire cut tops and dresses, knee-length A-line skirts, and boot cut or straight leg jeans. Stylists suggest staying away from shapeless clothing, bodycon, tiered and gathered ruffle skirts, and heavy detailing around the waist.
Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah is a stunning apple shape, and she has a great style. When she wears something tight fitting, she wears something flowy that detracts from her midsection and focuses the eyes elsewhere. However, we can see that when she wears high-waisted pants, her body doesn't have the same flattering appearance.
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Queen Latifah is a stunning apple shape, and she knows how to dress for her shape. She tends to avoid tight clothing that accentuates her body in the perfect places. When she wears something tighter, she makes sure to wear something flowy on top of it, so attention isn’t drawn to her waist. When she wears something baggy, she wraps a belt around the top to accentuate her waist.
Melissa McCarthy
Melissa McCarthy is an apple shape AND a fashion designer. The clothing she wears tends to accentuate her waist while flaring out. When she wears a dress, the fabric is pulled in just under the bust, creating the illusion of body shape without much effort. That being said, we can see how skinny jeans and a frumpy jacket make her look shorter and really accentuate the weight carried in her midsection.
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Melissa McCarthy is an apple shape and a fashion designer. The clothing she wears tends to accentuate her waist while flaring out. When she wears a dress, the fabric is pulled in just under the bust, creating the illusion of body shape without much effort. She also loves wedges and heels, which elongates her legs.
Octavia Spencer
Octavia Spencer is the epitome of fashion. Like other apple-shaped fashionistas, she wears dresses and garments that gather right below her bust. That being said, she has been known to wear clothing that doesn't flatter her. This red dress is a fine example. It doesn't have any shape to it and she looks very top-heavy.
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Octavia Spencer is the epitome of fashion. While many designers say no to wearing skinny jeans or pants, she wears them without with shorter heels because they elongate her legs. Like other apple-shaped fashionistas, she wears dresses and garments that gather right below her bust. When she wears a maxi dress, she makes sure that it’s flowy and flares out slightly toward the end.
Pear Shape
Pear body shapes generally have narrow shoulders and a very well-defined waist thanks to larger hips and thighs. Most pear shapes have a rounded bottom, which is larger than their upper body. Women who are pear-shaped should aim to enhance the waistline and arms. Pear shapes should invest in high-waisted pants and skirts, A-line dresses and skirts, shrugs for layering, pillowing or ruched sleeves, and boat or V-necklines. Stay away from baggy tops and tunics, low-waisted skinny jeans, bias-cut dresses, pencil skirts, and tight tube skirts.
Pear body shapes generally have narrow shoulders and a very well-defined waist thanks to larger hips and thighs. Most pear shapes have a rounded bottom, which is larger than their upper body. Women that are pear-shaped should aim to enhance the waistline and arms. Pear shapes should invest in high-waisted pants and skirts, A-line dresses and skirts, shrugs for layering, pillowing or ruched sleeves, and boat or V-necklines. Stay away from baggy tops and tunics, low-waisted skinny jeans, bias-cut dresses, pencil skirts, and tight tube skirts.
Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling is a great pear shape, but you can only see it when she wears the right clothing—like everyone! She often wears clothing that accentuates and draws the eye upward, as we see in the first outfit. The second, we see that she wears something that doesn't have much shape. The busy print also makes the outfit unflattering. Should it have more solids shades to break up the pattern, it would look much better. That would also help give the dress shape.
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Rihanna may not be an obvious pear shape like others, but it’s certainly there. Her hips are wide compared to the top portion of her body. As fashion experts suggest, she wears larger tops with larger shoulders, which balance her out. When she wears tighter clothing, she wears statement necklaces for the same effect. Flowy dresses also make this body shape look stunning, especially if they have broader shoulders or collars.
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts has a larger bust, but her hips are pretty big. She perfectly dresses for a pear shape by wearing clothing that minimizes the size of her hips. While the dress she's wearing in the left picture has a large waist, the shoulders are also pretty wide and the long sleeves help balance everything out. When she was younger, she didn't wear clothing that flattered her, as we can see in the right photo.
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Julia Roberts has a larger bust, but her hips are pretty big. She perfectly dresses for a pear shape by wearing clothing that minimizes the size of her hips. We can see in one of the photos that she’s wearing high-waisted pants and a larger top. When she wears dresses, they accentuate her waist in the perfect spot to create a balanced look.
Kim Kardashian
Love her or hate her, Kim K has a great shape. Her hips and waist are huge compared to the top portion of her body. That’s why she tends to wear high-waisted jeans and clothing that accentuates her hips. When she does wear something tight fitting around her hips, she also wears a flowy top or draws attention to her shoulders in other ways. Whenever she wears something frumpy, her shape is gone, and it looks like she just rolled out of bed.
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Love her or hate her, Kim K has a great shape. Her hips and waist are huge compared to the top portion of her body. That’s why she tends to wear high-waisted jeans. Any time she accentuates her hips, she also wears a flowy top or draws attention to her shoulders in other ways. She isn’t afraid to wear a bias-cut, but she pairs it with statement earrings to bring the eyes upward.
Balanced Body Type
This is an up-and-coming body type that fits a group of people that were a little stuck in the middle between two shapes – hourglass and rectangle. This shape usually has hips and shoulders that match in width. They have a small waist, but it isn’t as extreme as an hourglass. Women with a balanced body type should invest in wrap tops and dresses, anything waist-defining, body cons, skinny jeans, and scoop necklines. They should avoid high necklines, straight or body tunics, and blouses that enhance volume on the shoulders.
Meryl Streep
We can see that Meryl Streep has a waist, but it isn’t that dramatic. Her dress has a deep V-neck, which is highly suggested by fashion experts, but her photo on the right shows her body without any shape. That's the opposite of what a balanced body type needs.
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We can see that Meryl Streep has a waist, but it isn’t that dramatic. When she wears skinny jeans, she wears heels to elongate her legs and a top that wraps around her waist to pull it in. Her dress has a deep V-neck, which is highly suggested by fashion experts. In the last photo, she’s also defining her waist with a statement belt.
Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson’s hips and shoulders are perfectly aligned despite having a larger bust. She tends to wear clothing that flares out at the waist, which creates a pear-like silhouette. Like many other balanced body types, she also wears a scoop or V-neck clothing. That being said, she has worn a bad outfit or two. We can see this bodycon dress would look stunning if she didn't have the cape. With the cape, the dress blends in and she looks shapeless. Her body disappears.
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Taraji P. Henson’s hips and shoulders are perfectly aligned despite having a larger bust. She tends to wear things that define her hips beautifully like a bodycon or high-waisted bottoms. She tends to wear clothing that flares out at the waist, which creates a pear-like silhouette. Like many other balanced body types, she also wears a scoop or V-neck clothing.
Helen Mirren
Few people are as fashionable as Helen Mirren. This woman would know how to dress in the apocalypse. She almost always defines her waist, but there are a few times she made a mistake. We see that the dress on the left has a bit of ruching, which helps define her waist perfectly. This wasn't done for the dress on the right. Mirren succeeded by defining her waist through the design, but the dress didn't hug her body. Instead, it made her look like she was wearing something frumpy, even though she was dressed up.
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Few people are as fashionable as Helen Mirren. This balanced beauty would know how to dress in the apocalypse. She almost always defines her waist, no matter what she’s wearing. Sometimes is ruching while other times, it’s a jacket that’s buttoned right at her hips. While her neck-lines are higher than others, she still wears them perfectly by drawing the eye elsewhere, like her hips.