It seems like this year, everyone has a take on the best way to dress, based on body type. There obviously are the age-old general shapes that have been talked about for forever — hourglass, apple, rectangle — but now, there seems to be a million other ways to determine what “type” you are and how you should dress to flatter your body best. From the Kibbe test to endomorphs vs. ectomorphs, it seems like everyone has a hack to make you dress to look like your best self.Â
These can be helpful, even fun. Maybe you’ve had a weight fluctuation and need some help with dressing for your body after this change (after all, second puberty can hit some people pretty hard, and having these sorts of methods can help demystify the scary changes in your 20s), or maybe you just want to explore something new. Whether it’s balancing proportions, accentuating the best parts of yourself, or even finding ways to work with your insecurities, social media has made dressing for your body type easier than ever.Â
But despite the educational and entertaining content out there on this topic, it seems we’ve collectively lost the plot on how we should be using these tools. What started as an interesting way to spruce up your style and elevate your confidence seems to, all too frequently, encourage the opposite.
While there is plenty of advice guiding viewers in the direction of what to do for your body types, there’s also plenty of discourse on what not to do. These types of videos, with an authoritative tone, tell women that wearing certain pieces of clothing will make them look worse. Apple-shaped bodies are encouraged to veer away from anything that draws attention to their midsection. Angular Kibbe types are encouraged to avoid making themselves look too “harsh.” While this can be helpful advice if it’s what you’re looking for, the internet has (like always) taken it too far.Â
When celebrities and influencers hit the red carpet or are caught by paparazzi, comments now flood in with thoughts on the ways they should dress “better” for their body type. Whether it’s explaining why they look “frumpy” with a certain pair of jeans or “disproportionate” in a couture gown, people are far too comfortable giving their input on how public figures should flaunt or hide their bodies. Comments on bodies are being camouflaged as comments on style; and no matter how “helpful” the intentions are, it’s essentially a new form of body-shaming.Â
As a self-identified “inverted triangle,” I have seen plenty of videos about the importance of wearing bottoms that balance out my wider top. Again, this is helpful advice that I personally have taken, but I only came across it after sifting through countless videos that have encouraged hiding my body type, which is frustrating, if not downright damaging. When you want to follow trends or try to switch up your style, how do you navigate the advice to help you feel your best from the advice telling you to hide parts of yourself?Â
The other problem with these sorts of videos is their emphasis on a very particular ideal. Most inspiration videos that grace your feed are probably very thin, white women. Navigating dressing for your body type is difficult if anyone over a certain size is immediately taken out of the equation. It’s particularly disheartening when the body types trend can be a way to be inclusive — encouraging everyone to own the way they look and find what works best for them — but instead becomes exclusionary.Â
While these guidelines are super helpful, they are just that: guidelines. A way to elevate your look or switch things up, not rules to feel beholden to and especially not rules to enforce upon others.Â
Maybe the best style advice isn’t “dress for your body type” at all. Instead, it’s “dress for yourself.” Use the formulas if they serve you. Ignore them if they’re not. Put on the top that’s not recommended for your shape — if you love it, who cares? Fashion is supposed to be an outlet for self-expression, and if following the “rules” makes you feel less like yourself, then they probably aren’t serving you.Â