Another fashion trend that doesn’t go away this season. One can even say its fashion is even bolder than ever before. As much as we fall in love with the look of a leggings we need to stay focused and keep the fact in our mind that leggings fashion is only for the women who can show off their legs. It requires perfectly shaped legs- preferably skinny legs so they can deal and add all the drama to their legs, that will create the extra volume . In order to be able to show off designs and patterns one better have as well a long pair of legs.
A visually balanced body, regardless of weight or height, always looks most flattering. Legs and calves come in different sizes and shapes and each variation requires a different styling and dressing guide.
Dressing your legs and calves requires a strategy, because you need to have an understanding of your build, you need to put the size of your calves in context with your bust, body shape, height and proportion (ie do you have a balanced body? A longer body with shorter legs? A short body with longer legs?). By modifying the lines of your clothing you can create visual balance whether you have small or large calves.
Leggings are better for women who have either a balanced body or a shorter body and longer legs since leggings will shorten visually the legline. The stronger the pattern the better. Therefore women with a longer body and shorter legs should stay clear of this trend. It takes too much tweaking to make it work.
Any horizontal lines will shorten your leg line and add additional roundness to your legs and calves.
The rest should stay clear and focus on other fashion trends that are more suitable to your build. Opt for hoisery that tunes our leg line down rather than puts it on full display.
When dressing for your shape, colour and occasion you need as well “to dress yourself” from the inside in order to ensure that you feel good about yourself. Both aspects need to be addressed – none can co exist without the other. No clothes or make up will be able to cover up a lack of sleep, a bad diet that is lacking of the right nutrients to make you feel good and look energised. Also it will have the unpleasant side effect to add additional pounds to your shape and mostly when that happens you put it on where you don’t want it. It is not about wearing Size 0, which I do not support, but about feeling good about yourself- no matter the size- with no regrets. Looking and feeling as good from the outside as you feel on the inside can be influenced by the right diet for your shape but also by the right workout for your shape. Every shape has different criteria good and bad therefore it is only logical that when we workout we need to apply different sets of rules to address different parts of the body we like to keep build up, slim down or just keep in shape. Someone who is a for example a. pear- carrying the weight on hips, thighs and calves will need to choose a different regime in diet and work as someone who is e.g. an inverted triangle who have broader shoulders or/and upper body than in comparison to their bottom . So, it is natural that their diet and workout plan has to vary from each other.
Our guide will help you find the perfect regime for your shape choose the right diet for your body shape!
Inverted Triangle
Your build is characterised by:
Straight and squared shoulder line
Little definition between waist and hips
Flat hips and bottom
A bottom half that seems smaller than your top half
Advice
Doing a mixture of cardiovascular and resistance exercises will help. More resistance exercises on your lower body will be necessary, to obtain a balance between lower and upper.
Essential diet tips
Stick to foods that are moderate in unsaturated fat – to avoid piling on the pounds – and high in calcium.
Incorporate a balance of low G.I carbohydrates with lean proteins.
Essential exercise tips
Lower body exercises like squats and lunges.
Upper body toning exercise.
Incorporate moderate to high amounts of cardiovascular exercise
Lean Column
Your build is characterised by:
Narrow shoulders
Flat chest or small bust
Small and non-defined waist
Narrow hips and flat bottom
Advice
An exercise routine should include exercises to enhance gluteus and shoulder muscles. This will help curve out the shape of the body. Also do whole body
Essential diet tips
Make sure you include plenty of lean protein, like fish and turkey; complex carbs, such as wholegrain rice and pasta; and calcium-rich foods, like yoghurt and tofu in your diet.
Avoid carbonated soft drinks and cut down on starchy foods like white rice and potatoes.
Essential exercise tips
No activity is off limits for your shape, but abdominal and back exercises should be high priority.
Three days a week of formal exercise with lots of rest in between is ideal level.
It’s important to exercise intensely and really tax the muscles during each workout in order to achieve good muscle tone.
Rectangle
Your build is characterised by:
Straight shoulder line
Straight hips and bottom
Very little waist definition
Straight ribcage
Advice
Short fast bouts of cardiovascular exercises are recommended. High repetition resistance exercises may help tone and define shoulders, waist and hips.
Essential diet tips
Eat a high protein diet to help muscle development. i.e fish, chicken, eggs and dairy products.
Include RDA (recommended daily allowance) of omega 3 and 6, to help with joint suppleness during extra resistance training.
Essential exercise tips
Upper body cardiovascular exercises will help define shoulders. Boxing training may help this as well as helping definition of the waist.
Compound resistance training will help shape and strengthen of the middle part of the body.
Exercises such as squats, deadlifts and pressing movements will help.
Apple
Your build is characterised by:
Rounded shoulder line
Curved back
Fullness around the middle
Flattish bottom
Advice
Apples shapes should concentrate their exercise regimes on cardio activities to bring the body back to proportion by reducing upper body mass, while core- strengthening exercises will help to trim the waist further.
Essential diet tips
Eat a moderate amount of healthy fats found in grains and oils, as well as lots of fruit and vegetables.
Replace brown-coloured whole grain foods with smaller quantities of white.
Essential exercise tips
Do high reps with low resistance for the upper body and high reps with moderate resistance for the lower body.
Best exercises include step and spinning classes, racquet sports, abdominal crunches, kick-boxing and skipping.
Worst exercises include all upper body exercises that involve using heavy weights.
Pear
Your build is characterised by:
Full hips or thighs
A defined waist
Shoulders that may slope and are narrower than your hips
A top half that appears small
Advice
Doing cardiovascular exercises for quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteus for long durations will help. An example of this could be cycling or running. It would also help to do heavy resistance training on the upper body.
Essential diet tips
Stick to foods that are low in fat – to avoid piling on the pounds – and high in calcium.
Lower your salt intake to reduce water retention and cellulite in problem areas.
Essential exercise tips
Use aerobic activities to slim your lower half and then strengthen the upper body with weights and resistance training.
Best exercises include push-ups, chin-ups, leg lifts, jogging and dancing.
Worst exercises include rollerblading, stepping and high resistance weights.
Neat hourglass
Your build is characterised by:
A defined bust
A defined waist
A neat bottom
Neat hips
Advice
Doing moderate to high intensity cardiovascular exercise will help tone the whole body. Carrying out resistance training at high reps and low weight will also help.
Essential diet tips
Eat lean protein, such as skinless chicken breasts, and lots of leafy green vegetables, like spinach, broccoli and cabbage.
Avoid foods high in sugar and limit your intake of eggs, dairy products and nuts.
Essential exercise tips
Focus on losing weight and inches first with high reps and low resistance exercises, then slowly incorporate weights if you want.
Best exercises for your shape include fast walking and slow jogging with no incline, jumping jacks, swimming for distance and stationary cycling with light resistance.
Worst exercises include step and spin classes, leg presses and thigh machines on high resistance, weighted squats and lunges, and running or rollerblading on incline.
Full Hourglass
Your build is characterised by:
A full bust
A small waist
A rounded bottom
Rounded hips
Advice
To help fat burning do interval training or circuit training. This will help burn excess fat around the body.
Essential diet tips
Eat lean protein, such as skinless chicken breasts, and lots of leafy green vegetables, like spinach, broccoli and cabbage.
Include lots of antioxidants and minerals to help break down fats within the body.
Essential exercise tips
Use interval training and circuit training to help burn fats and tone up the whole body.
Include exercises that help strengthen both lower and upper back.
Include toning exercises like light resistance training for the whole body.
“The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress.”
Hubert de Givenchy
It’s party time! Glide effortlessly from desk to the dance floor by choosing day dresses that you can easily dress up by changing accessories. Or have a spare one in the office. Only women who choose appropriately for their body shape and body features will make most of the dress, will have the most fun at the party and will get all the compliments !
Tips for choosing your dresses:
Avoid mini dresses and above the knee length dresses when you have big calves. Also opt for plain thick tights and match them with shoes or boots that have a medium to big heel.
When having a big bust avoid high necklines or any clutter around it, but instead choose a longer neckline that will flatter your bust.
If you have big arms avoid any attention to them like big shoulders or short and tight sleeve lines. Instead choose from elbow onwards. Also sleeveless is a good option since you can over them up with a nice cover up such as capelets, shrugs or boleros.
Metallic’s have become a must in everyone’s wardrobe and it is a great way to lift one’s outfit or mood at day or night. You can add shine by choosing clothes in fabrics such as sequins, metallics, lurex, studs or jewels. Anything goes – even for the day.
The trick for the day is to keep it to a small amount where the purpose is more to lift’s ones complexion. It should be used more as an accent “colour” rather to make a “shining “impression.
The best way to wear “Glam” and “Flash” now is to wear just one shiny piece-small or big- at a time. Remember that metallics draw attention to whatever body part you wear it on, because the light reflection will grab attention. So, make sure you are highlighting a flattering part of your body otherwise you will just achieve the opposite of “Glam”.
It can be at times quite challenging to keep the choice appropriate for the occasion ,current and right for your body shape.
Here are the top 3 tips how to wear them:
Keep it current by accessorizing your metallic’s with the right clothing that will neutralise the shine, so nobody will have flash backs from “80ies” when seeing you. Metallic tops or trousers look great with knits, T-shirt and jeans- mix match your look rather going for matchy matchy! Click here for more info
Know your personal colouring when choosing between silver & gold metallics. It can badly clash when choosing the wrong metallics too close to your face. Click here for more info
Body shape! Don’t be fooled by the item because it looks so nice, or it is the latest or everyone wears and has it who is hip and in. Highlight body features that can take the lime light. Remember metallics need space to shine and breathe, but they will also add “volume” to the part in question. So, make sure it highlights the best of you where you can take the clutter, volume and glam. Click here for more info
“The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress”
Hubert de Givenchy
The festive season is imminent and the big questions we all face are what do I wear? Do I have anything to wear? So many engagements to attend, but not enough outfits and dresses to wear. Can I spend all money just on clothes? So, let’s do some black magic and cast a spell on it ” how to create more outfits out of one”.
Top 3 Black Magic Rules:
Think first of your body shape and then of your dress! It is all about virtual balance and something out of balance never looks good or flattering.
Only because you manage to fit into a dress size don’t mistake it for the right fit. Keep the overall look in mind e.g. if you have big thighs and calves don’t even try to go for a mini dress. Choose instead a dress at or above the knee . Only wear it with thick and dark tights only if you don’t opt for a maxi or full length dress.
A sexy look requires that you are comfortable in what you are wearing and you are accentuating what is the most flattering on you. Create a focus point e.g. bust, legs, back, waist, shoulders, arms or bottom.
There are so many fantastic styles out there for everyone’s budget. And it is a great way to express your own style by making the dress your own with your own signature look.
Michaela Jedinak is the founder of Joy of Clothes, the easy way to buy the clothes for you, your body shape and your colouring . She is also the founder of Joy of Colour one of the leading colour and style consultancies click here to read full bio
