body shape "schemes" - YouLookFab Forum

The body shape bible thread showed the level of interest here in this issue, and just thought I'd report on another.

I have a book from 1995! called Presenting yourself A Personal Image Guide for women. by Mary Spillane from the Color Me beautiful Organisation.

In it she refers to a previous book The complete Style Guide where she talked about CMBs 7 body shapes. I haven't read that book and can't find any online mention of them. Anyone know?

Anyway in THIS book she has only 4 figure types and it is based on the curviness and angularity of the body
Anglular - kind of like a rectangle, but would also include say those who have wide hips but a flat bottom
Curvy - defined waist with rounded hips and bottom
Softened straight - very straight shoulders but definite waist and curvy bottom (this one is me hands down)
Full figured rounds bodied - fullest in the waist

I am not sure how much I agree with her advice - a lot seems to be that if you are "soft" go for flowy fabrics and if you are angular go for tightly woven fabric and sharp tailoring.

However one outfit she recommends for my body type - a structured jacket over a flowy skirt - does really work for me. I am currently wearing my pleather jacket over a ful black and white skirt and I love this look!

Just throwing this in for discussion.

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

I don't quite fit into any of those groups either! My bust is by far the most prominent part of my body and she doesn't address that at all. I guess I would be considered curvy but my hips and bottom are pretty unremarkable. Not slim and boyish and not exceptionally curvy either, just very average. The closest body type I have found to my own continues to be Imogen's H shape. Angie's is second best for me, though I am starting to question the apple modifier. I think there are lots of different body type definitions in place and everyone can find the best one for them.

rute

Maya .. I agree with you and all we have to do, is not follow religious any book but learn from all of them and testing on your body all the suggestions and see what works for you..
The description of T&S of an hourglass is perfect for me and the suggestions they give are true for me..I know that because, even before I read the book, I already knew that, hours in the dressing rooms testing everything with a critical eye teach us a lot of things.

Christie

Active Member

I'd say I'm also a softened straight (but my waist isn't real defined) or H. Interesting that the outfit you reference would also be one that I would wear.

Contrary to the advice, I think angular people also look good in flowing fabrics, like a banded top and softer people also look good in structured items.

Anonymous

I agree with what Cricket said that angular people look good in flowy fabrics, and softer people look good in structured clothing too.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks, Anne. That’s interesting.

I like my body type categorization best (*chuckle*). I’m SO conceited! But I have to 100% believe in what I put out there, and I think about it a lot, so bear with me :0). I like Kendal Farr’s next. It’s *almost* over simplified but I like that aspect. It’s like I said on another thread, fashion and style is not science – it’s art.

San and Cricket, I think EVERYONE looks stellar in the right structured clothing. Flowing stuff is harder. Hmmm. I think I like angular body shapes best in structured clothing too. But you also know that I am ALL for volume. Just not all the time :0)

malcontent

I would be curvy by that system and I'm an hourglass in most other systems. I defintely look best in structured clothing. Flowing is iffy on me.

I like the book The Science of Sexy by Bradley Bayou. It divides by shape, height, and weight. I'm either a tall average hourglass or a tall full hourglass depending on my current weight. There are three height classifications (short, medium, tall), four weight classifications (slim, average, full, plus) and four shape classifications (hourglass, inverted triangle, straight, and traingle/pear). Every combination gets its own set of advice, and he mentions the positives of each type.

anne

Malcontent - that book sounds interesting, I'll have a look at it.

Maya I think you would be a "curvy" under this book - It seems to be more about the type of lines you have in your body and I'd say yours is more curvy than straight. I agree that Imogen's "H" is a good fit for you.

It is a bit annoying that this book was obviously a follow on to or a cut down version of a much longerbook I haven't read! (It goes into colour stuff with way more detail than body type and I find it quite incomprehensible).

After her 4 body types she then talks about pear shapes, long and short waists, large and petite women. I guess those are her modifiers.

mummy2thea

I think I might be softened straight according to this - but I am not really sure. Thanks for posting info though.

shiny

I don't think I fall into any of those categories. I may have a straight shoulder line and undefined waist, but I consider my shape much more soft than angular. The only exception might be my hip bone - it sticks out and there's really no fat there to speak of. But my shoulder bones/collarbones don't really.

So I'm soft, but as for flowy vs structured, I do need structure. But you can have a structured item in a soft fabric, like a silk blouse with lots of strategically placed darts, so I don't like this either/or. I would instead say it's more of an "either soft fabrics or stiff fabrics" question.

To that end, I think there is some merit in the idea that I tend to feel more comfortable and confident in fabrics that are soft, rather than stiff. For example, I can wear a knit or polyester dress far better than I can a shirt dress made of stiff cotton.

For the first, I'm talking about a dress that is made of soft material, but still structured, with some darts here and there. That is different than volume. For the second, let's just say it took me forever to find a shirt dress that flattered me. The majority also felt uncomfortable and too stiff to wear. Even the one I settled upon feels stiff to me, and I find I tend to pass it up and reach instead for something softer for that reason.

Angie, being angular, wears such shirt dresses really really well. Another stiff item to me would be a classic button down shirt. Again, Angie wears these really well. I have finally found a few that fit me, but once again, I reach for them infrequently because even if they look nice, the stiffness feels weirdly uncomfortable to me. I'd rather have a knit or silk blouse.

Am I making any sense?

Kind of a little OT, but you know what I hate? I hate when "petite" is clumped into a category with the assumption is that all petite people have the same body type. We don't. We come in scaled-down versions of all body types.

Shiny,
That is a good point you raise. The book is actually talking more about types of fabric ie "soft" than volume.

The examples of clothing given are quite tailored (since the book is about work clothing)
OF course it screams mid-90's. Such a problem with any book - how set it is in the period it is written. Even books from just a couple of years ago start to look dated. It is nice to have Angie around to give us an updated viewpoint!

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