Discovering the Body Shape
We have always been educated to see beauty in a single set of harmonic proportions; the truth is that each shape has its charm.
Every body has its own style: clothes should adapt to your body shape - and not the other way around.
After the first chapter dedicated to the discovery of the colors that best enhance us thanks to Colour Analysis, the second stage of Malo Style Guide is in the world of body shapes.
Body shapes can be summarized in 6 forms,
they do not change with changes in weight or with time,
and each of them can be enhanced with very specific garments.
Triangle Body Shape
Typically Mediterranean shape, who belongs to this body shape has the upper part of the body smaller than the lower one, with rounded hips and narrow waist.
To enhance this figure women will choose soft and wide pants, preferably high-waisted to emphasize the small waist, and top with ruffles, ruffles or various applications to add volume to the shoulders and chest (wearing them inside the pants to enhance the fine waist).
Men will add volume on the upper body with double-breasted jackets instead.
Inverse Triangle Body Shape
The inverted triangle body shape features a wide chest with very tight hips and dry legs.
This figure, in the case of women, is enhanced to the maximum by slim or cigarette pants, which emphasize the narrow hips and legs tend to be long and slender; better if combined with simple and clean lines, with few ornaments, which emphasize the shoulders without adding volume.
For men it is instead advisable to emphasize the shoulders and chest with wide necklines and important patterns.
Hourglass Body Shape
It is a very sinuous and balanced figure, exclusively feminine.
Who has an hourglass shape has shoulders and pelvis aligned with each other and a visibly narrow and arched waist.
It is enhanced by the screwed cuts, high-waisted pants and belts, while the skinny pants prefer softer and slippier models.
Eight Body Shape
"Sister" of the hourglass, shares with the latter the unequivocally narrow life - and also in this case it is found almost exclusively in the female gender.
The perfect solutions to enhance this type of body shape are screwed, or marked with a belt that emphasizes the waist.Presenting a leg usually dry and linear will have a lot of freedom in the choice of pants, preferring the high waist.
Perfect also dresses with peplos and tight skirts that emphasize the curvilinear waist.
Rectangular Body Shape
It is the most widespread body shape, both among men and women, and has a perfect proportion between hips and shoulders. Its peculiarity lies in the straight, slightly arched waist, and in the abdomen always very dry: the garments that give more to this shape have extremely minimal and clean cuts.
Also in this case there are no limits to the choice of the most varied pants models, from skinny to palazzo. Those who want to emphasize the linearity of the figure will use straight sweaters worn out of the pants; those who want to give more softness will insert the same shirt inside the pants, perhaps carrying it slightly unbuttoned.
Those who want to optically enlarge the upper part of the body will prefer the striped pattern and darker tones for trousers and/ or skirts.
Oval Body Shape
It has the same characteristics as the rectangle, but in this case the figure has softer contours and a slightly pronounced abdomen.
Those who belong to this body shape will prefer garments with a loose fit, not adherent: excellent models with pleats and thick fabrics, which structure the figure more, but also everything that shows off calves and ankles, that usually in oval women are fine and elegant, like trousers with cuffs.
Men can play with overlays or special fantasies.
The Centre of Gravity: a game of proportions
An important aspect that is always considered
during the consultations of body shape, both feminine and male, is the center of gravity.
The center of gravity is the proportion between the length of the torso and that of the legs, and can be high, low or centered.
Knowing your own is useful to understand how to slender the figure or, on the contrary, resize it.
To identify it, just take a meter and measure the distance from the chin to the groin, and that from the groin to the malleolus.
Low Centre of Gravity
It is a very common characteristic both among women and men, typical of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries. In this case, the legs are shorter than the torso and tend to make the figure optically smaller. If you want to elongate it, it is advisable to wear high-waisted trousers and skirts, avoiding half sizes and preferring hems below the ankle or, on the contrary, above the knee, even better if combined with shoes with a slight heel or high sole of the same color of the bottom: for example, nude shoes with a light skirt or black boots with black trousers. Top and shirt will be worn inside trousers, possibly of the same colour.
HIgh Centre of Gravity
People with a high barycenter have legs longer than their torso. To reduce the length of the legs, it is recommended to use medium or medium-low waist trousers, with an ankle hem and flat shoes. Shirts, tops, and shirts worn out from skirts or pants help elongate the bust, as do long jackets and blazers. Strong chromatic contrasts between the garments will also help to optically "break" the figure.
Centered Centre of Gravity
In the case of the centered barycenter, the legs and torso are roughly the same length. In this case, to enhance the balanced proportions of the figure, it is advisable to prefer garments with hems that fall exactly on the lower ends of the bust and legs.