How to Dress a Rectangle Shaped Body
Welcome to the last blog in the body shapes series! We’ve made it to the rectangle shape, which means we started looking at all the most common body shapes and what that actually means and then we looked at pear body shapes, hourglass figures, apple shapes and inverted triangle body shapes. If you’ve waited all this time for your rectangle blog, we’ve finally made it, this is all about you.
If this is your first peek at the blog shapes series, we’ve been talking about the fact that every woman’s body is unique and different. However, to work out which fashion pieces are going to flatter our shapes and make us feel our very best, we can look at the five most common body shapes, which aspects of them we relate to and this will help us to pick the best pieces when shopping.
Today, we’re going to focus on the rectangle body shape but first, if you’re not quite sure which shape you are, we’ll take a look at working that out to kick things off.
How to Know What Your Body Type Is
As we mentioned, in general, we talk about five most common body shapes; rectangle, inverted triangle, pear, apple, and hourglass.
All the different body shapes have different proportions and it’s these proportions that can affect the way different clothing fits and suits us. So, we’re not trying to put anyone in a box and give you strict fashion rules to follow, don’t worry. We’re simply looking at our proportions and how different fashion pieces flatter (and sometimes don’t flatter) our shapes.
If you’d like to read more about how to get your measurements and work out how your proportions relate to each type of body shape, grab the help of the pros at Who What Wear and their body shape calculator. If you’d like a quick summary instead, we’ve made it super easy below.
- When your shoulders measure larger than your hips, chances are you’re an inverted triangle.
- When your hips measure larger than your shoulders, chances are you’re a pear shape.
- When your shoulders and hips are very similar and your waist measures much smaller, chances are you’re an hourglass.
- If your waist and bust measure larger than your hips and shoulders, chances are you’re an apple shape.
- Finally, if your shoulder, rib cage, waist, and hip measurements are all very similar with no obvious waist definition, chances are you’re a rectangle body shape.
Once you’ve given yourself a quick measure and looked at how your proportions work with each other, you will be able to see which body shape your figure best relates to.
Am I A Rectangle Shape?
If you’ve done your measurements and looked at our summary above and feel that you’re a rectangle shape, you’ve probably always struggled a little to create the illusion of curves, also feeling a little bit straight up and down when it comes to your shape.
Your upper body is most likely not too much different in terms of measurements to your lower body and with an undefined waist and small bust, you sometimes don’t feel super feminine. However, we’re here to let you know that you definitely are feminine (if you want to be!) and that just changing your wardrobe up ever so slightly and introducing a few new shapes can make all the difference.
Top Tips for How to Dress a Rectangle Shape Figure
You’re pretty sure that you’re a rectangle shape, right? Ok, so now we’ll take a look into some of the top tips for how to choose the right pieces to flatter and style your shape. These come straight from our Shop It To Me stylists who have been helping women dress their very best for over a decade!
Draping Creates Curves
Draping is great for creating a softer, curvier overall effect. This can come in many forms and in tops, skirts, and dresses but maybe while you’re getting to grips with finding the right styles, it would be good to focus on just skirts or dresses with a drape.
Asymmetry also works well for a rectangle shape, creating a softer finish, so look out for asymmetric and draping skirts and dresses, whether that’s the use of the fabric or feminine wrap dresses.
Choose Instant-Curve Skirts
Skirts are a great choice for rectangle shapes but are the one thing that many rectangles tend to avoid. It’s just that choosing the perfect style is essential to create the right proportions.
Most rectangles have a short torso, so high waist and super tight pencil skirts often just accentuate the straighter shape and don’t flatter. However, a high waist that then creates volume does the opposite.
This could be in the form of A-line styles or ruffled skirts. As long as the detail comes from around the hip, you are bringing in the waist and creating the illusion of larger hips, which helps to create that hourglass shape.
Choose Blazers That Work for Your Shape & Wear Both Casually and Formally
Don’t save your blazers for the office, a blazer can really help to shape a figure and offer a smart stylish and ultimately chic alternative to many other jacket styles, perfect for most occasions. You can wear them with jeans, tailored trousers, shorter skirts, etc.
For rectangle shapes, choose blazers that have a softly defined waistline, using pleats or seams at the back and sides of the jacket. But avoid anything with a definite waistband or belt.
Pushing up the sleeves of the blazer also gives it a more casual look and at the same time adds curves by bringing the attention subtly to the waistline. Sharp shoulders also help to create the visual idea of curves.
Create Elegance with Trousers
Femininity doesn’t always have to mean skirts and A-line dresses. You can also create a feminine and elegant boss look with just the right trousers.
Although rectangle shapes can wear pretty much all shaped trousers, wide leg trousers are the ultimate when it comes to a chic look. Choose pants that sit mid-rise so that they’re not too high-waisted and choose a pair with some serious volume at the bottom, which is sure to add a certain fierceness to any look whether you wear them with a simple V-neck sweater or a crisp white button-down shirt.
Don’t Wear Head to Toe Form-Fitting Clothes
Whether that means a dress or a one-piece body and skirt or even jeans and t-shirts, try not to wear head to toe skin-tight clothing as this will simply emphasize your straighter shape and draw attention to your square shoulders and an undefined waist.
Instead, if you opt for tight bottom half pieces, such as skinny jeans or pencil skirts, opt for a top with added volume or ruffle details to create curves. If you opt for A-line skirts, then pair it with a form-fitting top to show your small shape up top and then add volume on the lower half.
If you’re a fan of wearing skinny jeans, and this body shape really can, then ensure you have some slouchy oversized tops and knits that you can semi-tuck into your jeans, which create more shape and curves to your overall look, rather than super tight top and bottom half.
You Don’t Always Have to Add Curves
This might seem like a slight contradiction, but bear with us! Lots of dressing for a rectangle shape is creating a waist and adding to the hips and bust to create more of an hourglass shape. However, although many women like to do this, being a rectangle shape tends to mean you’re on the slimmer side, which means often you can wear whatever you like and look great.
You don’t always have to focus on the waistline and straight shapes like shift dresses and t-shirt dresses also work beautifully because you don’t have the extra bust like other shapes which can start to make them look bigger than they are.
Experiment with shapes and don’t be afraid to opt for the waist-less look. Because actually, it’s very on-trend to be a little oversized and relaxed when it comes to casual dressing.
Key Pieces for a Rectangle Shape Wardrobe
So, we’ve gone through our top tips for how to dress a rectangle with the key shapes and styles that are going to flatter this shape the most, but now to the most fun bit. The shopping! There are definitely key pieces that work best for a straight body like a rectangular body shape and these top picks are going to be your brand-new best friend.
Every item picked out here come through Shop It To Me, which means that if it’s not already been seriously price dropped, you can keep an eye on it until it is.
Sound good?
A brand-new wardrobe that suits your body shape to a tee and all for reduced prices from both the high street and high-end designer labels? Yep, that’s Shop It To Me for you!
· Draping Skirts and Dresses
· A-Line or Ruffled Skirts
· Blazer with Softly Defined Waist
· Wide Leg or Straight Leg Trousers
· Slouchy Tops and Knits
· Casual T-Shirt Dresses
If you ever thought you couldn’t look super feminine because of your rectangle body shape and you’ve spent time wishing you had a few more curves like a typical hourglass body shape, we hope we (along with the likes of Cameron Diaz, who is also a rectangle shape) have proved otherwise.
Finding the perfect looks for your shape is the balance of finding things that flatter as well as things that exude your personal style and it’s all about trial and error and a bit of bravery.
Try out some of the top fashion tips our stylists have come up with for the rectangle figure and see how they make you feel. All the while, you can grab yourself high street and designer bargains better than anywhere else on the web with the help of Shop It To Me.
Sign up today to start saving money on your fashion purchases and creating the wardrobe of your dreams.