Style Fix Friday! Assessing Your Body Shape

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After 16 years of seeing hundreds of clients both male and female for Style Sessions, I have literally seen it all! The thing I love the most about what I do, is that each person's body is unique to them and no body apart from identical twins is the same. We are all different!

There is no set 'box' that each person fits into with their body shape and proportions. I was trained in the 'Letter' system (thank God!) to assess body shapes and proportions, and DO NOT compare my clients body shapes to objects, like fruit or an inanimate object, which I feel is very derogatory. 

So in short, some body shapes can be a blend of two body shapes or technically and visually are one shape. Proportionally each body is different in lengths going down their body, from head to bust, bust to hip, hip to knee and knee to feet. 

My Style and Line sessions are not a quick visual assessment of your body shape, (like some of those free 15 minute quickie assessments in malls) - you will not understand about your body shape or how to dress it in 15 minutes! In fact I have looked after clients that have been to those and have been incorrectly assessed, and were very confused about what they were told.

I provide a thorough technical and visual assessment of your body shape and proportions.(Do not fear the measuring tape only comes out to measure your bone structure around your wrist and the length of your neck). This will give you the real low down on why you prefer high waisted, mid hip or low rise pants, and why you put weight on first in a certain area (which is usually your shortest area). You will actually learn a lot about your beautiful body and understand it better too.

I take a holistic approach to teaching my clients about their uniqueness and how to embrace who they are right now. That no area of their body is negative, it is just their body. I show them how to dress for their shape and proportions and show them what their most flattering hem lengths are in sleeves, skirts, pants and coats. I give them the 'why' things do and don't work for fit on their body and what their 'challenge' areas are (and a challenge area is not a negative part of their body, it just means that it is an area on their body that will always be a challenge to fit, because they aren't average length or width in that area).

The fashion industry cut for an average height, and size generally, (this also totally depends on what a particular label use as their 'fit' model to cut their designs off). So basically if you don't fit into the average basket in all areas of your body (and trust me not many people do!) then those areas will be a challenge to find things to fit in the right length or width. So if you are shorter or taller than average height, then you will have a challenge finding things to fit you right in the length of garments.

Example: I have very long arms and it is always a challenge area for me to fit, because most jackets and shirts sleeves are way too short for me and if they don't have enough seam allowance on the bottom of the sleeve to let down, then there is no point in me actually trying that garment on! But I have found certain labels (these garments I find always go on sale because they are too long in the sleeves for the average length arm) that fit me perfectly!

There are always ways around fitting a challenge area ;) My last piece of advice is to PLEASE DO NOT ASSESS YOUR OWN BODY SHAPE! Leave that up to the professionals like myself.  I hear comments all the time like "Oh I am a Pear". I swear every woman in New Zealand thinks they are a Pear! They are not, and in actual fact a Pear, (or as I would term this shape an 'A' body shape), is one of the rarest body shapes in New Zealand! Women in particular tend to focus on what they perceive as their 'negative' area or the area of their body they are self conscious or tend to focus on. Because of this, they completely miss seeing their body shape as a whole. This in turn means that they incorrectly assess themselves as another body shape.

If you would like to find out what your body shape and proportions are and how to dress for them with confidence in an empowering way, then please contact me to book in for a 2 hour Style Session.

Yours in Style and Confidence

Hayley