Body shape
Hourglass or inverted triangle?
This is your palette
The difference is the balance of shoulder and hip. In an hourglass the two sit close in width, with a marked waist between them; in an inverted triangle the shoulder reads wider than the hip.
How to tell them apart
- Stand at a mirror in fitted clothes and find the widest point of your outline: across the shoulders, across the hips, or the same at both.
- Hold a book upright against the outside of one shoulder. If your hip stays inside its edge, your shoulders lead; if the hip pushes past it, your hips do; if it brushes both, they are even.
- Think of how clothes fit. Tops tight across the back while trousers fit point to the shoulders; trousers tight at the hip while tops fit point to the hips.
Side by side
Hourglass
The rule
Keep the waist visible and let everything else follow the line of the body without gripping it.
What to skip
Boxy, unshaped outerwear and drop-waist cuts, which move the line down from where it naturally sits.
Inverted triangle
The rule
Volume below the waist, simplicity above it.
What to skip
Shoulder pads, boat necks, puff sleeves and heavy epaulettes – anything that adds where there is already width.
How to find your body shape
Stand in front of a mirror and compare three widths: shoulders, waist and hips. The quiz shows four outlines and asks which is closest to yours, then your height and size, so the advice fits your build as well as your line.