How to Dress For Your Body Type: Rectangular

In our second edition of How to Dress For Your Body Type, we continue our collaboration with stylist Ginger Martini on a quest to find the right clothes to fit various shapes. Like most women, the stock sizes of clothing are often a crap shoot. Whether you’re long and lean, muscular, or any number of other shapes that make trying on clothes a daunting task, finding the right clothes for unique female body types can be tricky.

The second part of our How to Dress For Your Body Type series is aimed at young girls and women who have trouble dressing their rectangular shape, those with a long torso. Ever wonder why you always have to pay more to hem your pants? Is it really fair when trends produce cropped shirts over ones that will sit in the proper place to create a flattering look? In this situation, you’re looking to add more equal proportions to your body.

Here are a few things we’ve found to be tried, tested and true:

• Necklines are critical here. Lower lines, such as V necks and scoop necks, will help make your torso appear shorter. Also, keep your tops in lighter colors to draw attention up to your face.

• To bring more balance to your shape, try tucking your tops into your bottoms. Visually it will make your torso appear shorter while giving more visual length to your legs.

• A problem you probably run into with tops is likely the length on the body. A quick fix is layering. Add a plain top underneath your outer shirt.

• Another key factor is your pant/skirt length. Anything that ends mid-calf will make your legs look shorter. (Sorry Ladies, but capris are a no go)

• Empire dresses (and long dresses in general) can be a good cheat. They can help hide the length of your torso while also disguising the length of your legs. That being said, empire tops will have the reverse effect, making your torso look even longer because the seam cuts so high across the body. So avoid empire tops and stick to empire dresses.

• In general, top length is important. Although many tops will likely sit too high on your body, hip sitting tops will actually be too long for you. With a top resting at your hips, your torso will appear even longer and your legs even shorter.

• High waisted skirts and pants will sit quite nicely on your body type.

• Matching your belt color to the color of your pants creates the illusion that your legs are longer than they look.

• Straight line skirts and pants are your friend. Wear them in darker colors to assist in making your legs look longer. When I say darker colors though, don’t limit yourself to blacks and navys. There is a whole range of darker tones for bottoms! Deep plums, hunter greens, chocolate browns, and charcoal greys are a few examples. You can still have fun with color while sticking to a darker palette. I would just recommend avoiding brighter colors on the bottom as on some people with this body type, brighter colors have a tendency to squash the length of your leg, making them appear even shorter

• Heels can be magic! (Not necessarily ones that take you from 5’2” to 5’8”, unless you can rock them, then go for it!). It’s amazing the difference just a simple kitten heel will make. They give a slight boost in height, but also help to create the illusion that your legs are a bit longer than they actually are. To further complete your illusion, wear pants that are slightly wider at the hem to hide your heels. (Heels also change the angle of your stance, which positively accentuates calves and bum)

Ginger Martini is a costume designer and also designs her own collection. Check out her work at gingermartini.com.