Dressing to Flatter Your Figure

We have a hard truth for you, ladies. Chances are, not every trend looks good on you. Wait -- what do you mean you're not shocked?

While many of us know we should be dressing to flatter the shape of our body, we don't always know where to start. Looking fabulous can be simple, but there are two rules to follow, Shabby Apple's Athelia Wooley told us. "First, you have to figure out your body type. If you don't know what it is, you can't dress for it!" she said. "And second, only buy clothes for that body type. Then you always look great."

Wooley should know a thing or two about this. As one of the founders of Shabby Apple, she is very familiar with the online store's "Fit to Flatter" tool, which uses three questions to figure out what dress will look best on you.

"Basically, we're trying to find out where you gain weight," she explained. For example, if you tend to pack the pounds on in the hip and thigh area, you're a pear, and if it all goes to the middle, you're an apple.

To figure out which dresses work best for certain body types, Wooley and her business partner Emily McCormick don't leave anything to chance. "We actually have fit models try on each dress," McCormick told us. "We bring in people with all body types. Some of what we find is really predictable -- an empire waist looks good on an apple shape, and a sleeveless dress really shows off the arms -- but others are more surprising. The Cleopatra dress (pictured above) is great for almost everyone!"

While this tool makes shopping at Shabby Apple a cinch, it doesn't necessarily help elsewhere. A few other online stores have helpful tools, like the "Shop by Body Type" option at the Nordstrom Dress Shop, but not everyone knows what their body type is. Perhaps you've recently slimmed down, or have started putting on weight in a previously fat-free area. Maybe you've got an athletic build, but also have curves. What's the best way to determine the shape of your body?

To find out, we turned to Sarah Shah, style expert, wardrobe consultant and author of "Dress Yourself Skinny: Dressing The Body You Have To Look Like The Body You Want." Even she admitted that determining your body type isn't easy. "Every expert and magazine has a different way of classifying body types," she said. "Some use fruit (apple, pear, banana), some use geometric shapes (circle, rectangle, triangles) and others use body parts. The bottom line is that every woman is comparing her figure to the ideal female figure -- the hourglass.

"The ideal figure has these proportions -- shoulders and hips about the same width, waist about 3/4 the width of your hips and shoulders, and the distance from the top of your head to hipbones is the same as the distance from the hipbones to your toes," Shah explained.

"The easiest way to determine your body type is to trace yourself and measure your proportions. Lay down on the back of a piece of wrapping paper wearing your underwear and have someone trace you. Measure the width of your shoulders, bust, waist and hips and the distances from the top of your head to your hip bones and from your hip bones to your toes." This allows you to compare your body to an ideal hourglass and determine what your true body type is.

Shah offered a few other pieces of advice that are important to note, regardless of your body shape.

On bras: "The wrong bra allows your breasts to sag and obscures your waistline making you look bigger than you are. A great bra will lift your breasts up and away from your waist. Differentiating your bustline from your waistline will make you look 10 to 20 pounds slimmer immediately."

On body shapers: "The wrong body shaper will make you look fatter. A lumpy body appears to be fat, while a smooth body appears to be lean and fit. If your body shaper creates any rolls or lumps by squeezing flesh out the top or bottom, it will actually make you look fatter. To look slim, buy your body shaper one size bigger than normal so it lays smoothly on your body, smooths out lumps and cellulite, and firms jiggles."

On skinny jeans: "Skinny jeans and leggings make everyone's butt look big. Wear them if you have a tiny butt and want it to look bigger. Otherwise, skip them."

On slimming colors: "Black isn't the only slimming color. Any dark color such as, chocolate brown, burgundy, navy blue, charcoal gray or eggplant will create the same slimming illusion as black."

On models in magazines: "If an outfit in a magazine makes the model look like a size 0 or 2, then it will probably look good on you. If the model looks like she's a size 8 or 10 in an outfit, that outfit will make you look twice as big as you are."

On baggy clothes: "The other common mistake is wearing clothing that is too big in an effort to camouflage imperfections. Women often wear over-sized shirts or jackets to try to cover up a pouchy tummy or heavy hips. The big shirt or boxy jacket does cover the rolls but it also adds volume to your body making you look 10, 20 or even 30 pounds heavier than you are. The most flatting clothing for any body type is clothing that is tight enough to skim the body and show off your silhouette and loose enough that it doesn't pull, gape or grab a roll."

Want more styles that will flatter your body? See how you can look cool while hiking.