Plus Size Apples - Do you follow the rules?

Question for Plus Size Apple types - do you follow the guidelines for apples?

And I guess anyone can comment about following body type rules or not, and which rules just dont work for you, but I'm a chunky apple, so obviously I'm curious about others. I dont know many (any?) women with my body shape. I'm bigger, size 18/20, but my legs (esp calves) are much slimmer. I have a big tummy, most of my weight is in my midsection. My measurements are 45-38-48 (wearing a bra).

Just a year ago, I would just throw on anything. Over the past year, I've really gotten into my look, I'm less depressed, and I have a budding shopping problem. Its for the best. But one thing that I always see when it comes to apple shapes is that we should focus on volume below and avoid tapered pants...except skinny jeans are my life! I really do look better in skinny jeans. I'm just curious if others experience the same rebellion to the rules for the best of their look?

I do get self conscious in shorts though.

11 years ago

Debra

Veteran

I think Apples look great in skinny jeans with an artistic, stylish top, your legs are probably the feature you want to show off, add cute ballet flats and you are ready to roll

Suz

(website)

Angie calls them guidelines, not rules.

And they always have to be tweaked for individual preferences. Plus, figure flattery isn't always our first or only priority. We also want to have fun with fashion!

Most of us here break the "rules" for our body type from time to time. As long as you are doing it consciously, and you've actually experimented with those looks that are considered more flattering and decided they don't work for you, then why not?

Gabrielle

Active Member

Hi. I am aware of the rules and I don't follow them at all. For reasons that I cannot explain, I only feel comfortable in skinny jeans/pants. When I wear any type of flair, I feel like a "poser" and can't wait to take them off.

Joy

A plus sized apple at our church has made a long flowy tunic over leggings her signature look and she looks fabulous. I think Angie says women of any shape can wear skinnies.
ETA: not the post I was looking for, but check out this one
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....eans-oh-my

Thistle

Do what you love. Your body, you get to choose what you like best and how you want to dress it! You will always be happier in something you love than soemthing you bought because you "should". That happiness will show through.

As Angie says, these are guidelines, not rules.

Mochi

I adore skinny jeans. Will not give them up, and I'm as apple as they come (and borderline plus-sized).

Plus I'm short, so that complicates matters even more, and I'm not sure which rules would even work for me. I think everything is wrong on me! (Only partial LOL.)

Supposedly for these reasons, bootcut jeans would be balancing me out. I do like bootcuts, but in many cases prefer skinnies. And then I read recently about Charlotte Gainsbourg--very style-conscious younger actress--saying that she wears bootcuts almost exclusively because they balance HER out, because she's very tall and lanky and straight up-and-down. So the rules confuse me.

marit

You sound kind of edging to hourglass to me! After all your waist is 10 inches smaller than your hips and your bust is distinctly larger than your waist. =) My waist is only a couple inches smaller than my hips and an inch smaller than my bust. Anyway, when I was at my highest weight (after having kids) I was a 16/18 and although I used to prefer bootcut jeans I actually rock skinnies something awesome. I have nice legs, just all the weight at my waistline so I Iike to play up the slimness of my legs and wear tops that are loose around the waist.

I think the '80s style of tapered pants might not look good on an apple shape because they tended to be higher-rise, tighter to the waist then looser/wider over the hips and often pleated at the waist as well... I think maybe this is what "style rules" are thinking of when they advise against a tapered pant for apples - but skinnies are a more recent trend; body-con all the way through and usually low-rise.

I do well in longer shorts and capris that are also tight to the leg. I avoid cutting in at the waist and focus on either raising the waistline to my ribcage, surrendering the waistline completely, or wearing a structured jacket/open draped sweater over a tighter shirt to disguise the waist. In fact that is a "style rule" that bugs me - there's often an insistence on creating a waistline at the natural waist with a belt or something - it makes me feel like a sausage so I just ignore that one

Desmo April

I know the rules but I really just treat them as guidelines. I'm a plus size pearish apple and I don't like volume on the bottom for me at all.

Skinnies and straight leg bottoms are the basic core of my wardrobe. I guess with dresses I do prefer more volume because my choice is either an A-line or a fit and flare silhouette.

I do like bootcut jeans but I haven't reached for them in ages. A slimmer cut feels more modern right not. I've always hated flared or trouser cuts on me (always suggested for my body shape) combined with my height they make me feel like I have elephant legs.

Kelly O

I have to be honest, for myself I don't like the skinny jean or skinny pant. I feel very "round" when I catch glimpses of myself in a full-length mirror. I have one pair that I tuck into boots in the winter, but that's the extent of it.

I like a slight boot cut, but that works best for me. I've seen others wear skinnies or leggings with tunic style tops and look just fine. I also adore trouser jeans, and I also am a fan of a wider-legged pant when it's an option. (Right now I'm actually on the hunt for a pair of work-appropriate wider leg white pants. It should be a no-no for me, but it looks so right when I tried it on with a shirt I bought recently. The price tag was not quite where I needed it to be, so I'm stalking the pair for the first sale while looking for a comparable pair at a lower price.)

I like to layer - it's harder to do in Houston in the summer, but lighter layers help me. I tend to be a "guideline follower" anyway. It's comfortable for me, and I feel more put together. I know others don't, and I'm almost envious of that. I live in longer cardigans and shirts or structured styles that help either create the illusion of a more defined waist, or simply camouflage it.

Traci

I find the guidelines helpful, but I also have to trust my own eyes too. I don't know the science or math behind it, but I know that some items that are not "supposed" to work on my body type do work on me. There are all these secondary factors that come into play like neck length, shoulder line, torso length, leg shape, bust line, etc.

DonnaF

I quite agree with Traci! I tend to follow the guidelines for Pretty Pears, but in a lot of brands, I am a smaller size on the bottom than on top. Go figure.

I also agree that your secondary shape is Hourglass, or possibly you are a primary Hourglass and secondary Apple. At any rate, with your slender legs, you should show them off and not hide them under bootcuts, so I think your instincts are just fine. And wear those skinnies for me, as I can't even get that style up over my calves.

Caro in Oz

I'm not a plus size but I'm at least a size bigger on top. If I follow the guidelines I end up looking bigger than I am so rather than "balance" my top half with a wider bottom I minimise my top half with draping, jackets or tunics & then wear a slimmer bottom (nothing too tights though). It works for me

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