Remember when our brilliant co-founder Hillary Kerr revealed 23 things she wished she’d known at age 23? Nestled among her nuggets of truth was one point that particularly stood out to us: Not every trend is for every body, and that’s okay. Her sentiment endorses the value of dressing for your particular shape and promises you’ll be more comfortable and confident if you embrace your silhouette rather than work against it.
So how do we put Kerr’s smart life lesson into practice? The first step is to ask, What body shape am I? Rather than compare your body to pictures of celebrities or fruit today, we’re using Oprah fashion expert Bradley Bayou’s foolproof technique. Bayou’s system uses math—it is a little intensive, but we’ll walk you through it—to double-check that you’ve found your real shape.
We’re limiting today’s article to the four major body types for simplicity’s sake, but for a more in-depth look at all the shapes and sizes Bayou covers, check out his book The Science of Sexy, wherein he gives tips on how to dress 48 different types of bodies. Also, keep in mind that you can have any of the below four body shapes no matter your size. It’s more about how your weight (whatever it may be) is distributed.
With that said, get out your tape measure and scroll down to find your real body shape.
