Summer style : How to choose fabrics based on your body type

A summer friendly wardrobe is a must have to beat the heat. We have all faced those intense days where the fabric of our outfits make us feel extremely uncomfortable and this in turn messes the look of our ensemble. This is why we have put together a guideline for choosing the right fabric for your body shape.

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Lean Hourglass:  you appear similar in width in the shoulders and hips, with medium bust size and a small waist. Summer fabrics that work best for your body shape are chiffons, georgettes , batiste, linen, sateen, broadcloth or tissue linen. Just make sure you avoid stiffer fabrics, and choose clingier one’s like viscose or lycra only when you wish to flaunt your shape.

Full Hourglass: You are definitely blessed if you are an hourglass. Considering your professional image, it becomes necessary to reduce emphasis on your curves . Summer fabrics like batiste, sateen, voile, tissue linen, chiffon, georgette, gabardine, jersey knits, sailcloth, crepe, washed silk, can help emphasize the shoulder and neckline area, lending attention towards face , filling out waist slightly, with a smooth fit over entire figure. Avoid boxy, stiff or heavy fabrics like gingham, corduroy, tweed or madras plaid.

Inverted Triangle: You are usually heavier on the top and lighter on the bottom, you need fabrics to slim your curves like batiste, sateen, voile, chiffon and georgette to lighten the upper torso and heavier fabrics like seersucker, gingham, organza or a tweed on the bottom to emphasize your  lower torso, drawing attention inward at shoulders towards neck.

Triangular Body Shape: You are lighter at the top and heavier at the bottom. Focus on emphasizing your upper torso and filling out your shoulders with soft fullness and design details with summer fabrics like eyelet, gingham, organza, oxford cloth, poplin and tweed which also help give you an illusion of a little heavier bust,  and minimize your lower torso with polyester blends, viscose and cotton, broadcloth, chambray, chino, jersey knits, chiffon, or georgettes which are summer friendly too.

Rectangular body shape: When you have an athletic body shape, idea is to create a waistline as the width in the shoulders, waist and hips/thighs is same. You need fabrics that fill out at the shoulders, and fit smoothly over the entire figure. So for your rescue we have fabrics like jersey, cotton, crepe, batiste, voile , chiffon, organza , georgette, satin and silk that work best for your body shape during summer.

Oval body shape: When you are on the fuller side, you need to visually lengthen the entire figure, minimize the body width and weight. Sticky and clingy fabrics are an absolute NO. You need summer friendly fabrics  like eyelet, organdy, tissue linen, washed or sueded linen, gabardine, sailcloth or a taffeta. These fabrics create angles and are loosely fitted over the entire figure.

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