Undress to Impress: Lingerie Styles to Flatter each Body Type

First, let’s get one thing straight. You can wear whatever your heart desires. There is no right or wrong style – as long as you feel confident in what you are wearing, it is sure to be a winning look!

However, we do get a lot of clients that want to find styles that will compliment their best assets and place the not so favourite features in the background. As much as we all want to have a model’s figure the truth of the matter is that most of us don’t and that is perfectly fine. The good news is that we can dress in a way to give the illusion of more harmonious body proportions.

If you are a bit lost as to what could be a good starting point to picking a stunning lingerie style to flatter your body shape the best, we got your back!

How do I determine my body shape?

Women come in all shapes and sizes and we are so glad to be able to help each one find their most loved style of lingerie and swimwear – and feel amazing in it!!

Undress yourself and look into a mirror. Are your hips wider than your shoulders? Are they the same width? If you still cannot determine your proportions, measure yourself at the shoulder, waist and hips and you should be able to tell which body type you are. We will cover each individual one below.

Rectangular

Rectangular body shapes have similar proportions to their shoulders, waist and hips creating an illusion of a straight line. To give you a curvier look it’s a great idea to wear items that have the following characteristics:
– elasticated waist,
– v-shaped designs at the waist (for an optical illusion of a thinner mid section),
– side cutouts,
– volume (such as ruffles or a-line skirts) at the hips.
These will draw attention to the waistline and make it not appear so long. Cinching your waistline with a corset will give you a definite curvier look.

Triangle (Pear)

This body type has bigger proportions at the bottom than the top. In this case you can wear almost any style that is not super figure hugging and go for styles that draw the attention to your bust and shoulders to balance out your proportions. Look for garments with the following:
– loose fitting at the hips,
– accents or embellishments at the top,
– volume at the bust or waist,
– no ruffles or embellishments at the hips.

It is advisable to not draw too much attention to the waistline as it will make your hips appear even more out of proportion with your waist.

Inverted Triangle

An inverted triangle body shape has hips and waist smaller than the bust and shoulders’ width. In this case we want to draw to attention to the hips and create volume in that area to make it appear to have similar proportions to the bust and shoulders. Look for lingerie styles with the following features:
– ruffle, skirts or embellishments at the hips,
– tops with minimal detailing,
– items that have volume from the midsection down.

Round (Apple)

An apple body type is known for a body with no defined waistline. Our goal is to give some definition to the midsection without “hugging” the waistline. We can do this by not drawing attention to the waistline (with waistbands and tapering) but creating a that is more flattering at the underbust. Opt for styles with the following attributes:
– loose fitting at the midsection,
– tapered underbust to create a waistline,
– longer styles to create an elongated look.

Hourglass

An hourglass shape is defined by a similar size in hips and shoulders with a waist that is well defined. With an hourglass shape, you want to avoid shapeless styles that will overwhelm your frame. With a beautiful waistline why not put it on display? If you’ve got it, flaunt it!
Look for lingerie with these qualities:
– open midsection,
– figure hugging fit,
– accents at the waistline.

The right lingerie can give you that extra boost of confidence, whether it’s for sleep, play or any day you want to make a little special. We hope this guide can help you find a lingerie style to accentuate your best features in the way you love most.

By Priscilla Olivier