Perfect dress for your body type [INFOGRAPHIC]

You asked us and we heard you. After we published a post about the perfect dress for your body shape, some of you asked us for an infographic version of it.

So... here it is!! We compiled all the stylists tips for all body shapes (pear, straight, hourglass, inverted triangle, oval and diamond) in one only infographic image for you to share away as you'd like. You can find the image here.

Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Best shorts for all body shapes

As summer is slowly going, it's time to buy your last pair of shorts to enjoy the last few days of sun. Here are six different types of shorts for all six body shapes: Straight, Pear, Hourglass, Inverted Triangle, Oval and Diamond. See which type of shorts you like and start shopping!!

Note: If you don’t know your body type, use this online shape calculator (insert your bust, waist and hip measurements in inches or cm)

Straight body shape

Hotpants from Missguided

The best feature on a straight body shape are your legs. To enhance this feature, wearing hot pant shorts will help give your legs length so you look taller. There are a variety of different types of hot pants that the straight body type can pull off. You have denim hot pants, disco hot pants or high waist hot pants. Denim hot pants are the most popular so I'm going to tell you a few styles with denim hot pants. With denim you can style it with anything you like, crop tops, blouses, t-shirts, baggy t-shirts and even jumpers if there's a chill in the evening. For the straight body shape, a crop top would look great with a pair of denim hot pants, paired with either boots if you want to look more of a urban or masculine feel or wear a pair of gladiator sandals if your hitting the beach or shops for the day.

Pear body shape

Denim Shorts from Missguided

There are so many denim shorts that are being sold in high street stores so why not go for something unusual that will go with anything. Acid wash denim shorts are a great statement that can be worn by the pear body shape with any coloured top or blouse. Add a pair of trainers and you have a casual sports look. If you don't fancy acid wash how about some print shorts, floral, block colour or even just a pair of bright coloured shorts to make your statement. No-one could miss you in the crowd with bright yellow, green, pink, blue, purple or orange shorts matched with a plain crop top and some gladiator sandals. Two great summer styles for denim shorts.

Hourglass body shape

Leather Shorts from Missguided

Even though summer is hot, a pair of leather shorts with a nice white crop top or blouse would create a great urban look for the hourglass body shape. It's an amazing look but it is all the range. Even when summer is over, leather shorts could be worn in the winter when you're heading out and about in the evening. Match your leather shorts with white to give you a monochrome style this summer. If you fancy something more rock chic, add boots, a baggy t-shirt and a hat to give you a diverse look.

Inverted Triangle body shape

High waist shorts from Missguided

High waisted shorts have been in fashion for years and this summer is no exception. For the inverted triangle body shape this will help to define your waist more and take your eyes off your broad shoulders. By matching the shorts with sleeveless tops and tank tops this will help to reduce your broad shoulders and focus more on your waist. There’s a variety of different types of high waisted denim shorts in different colours and patterns so team your shorts with your favour tops and shoes to create a great summer look.

Oval body shape

Floral Shorts from Missguided

For the oval body shape, flappy or loose shorts can help hide the lumps and bumps you don't like and bring out your confidence. These shorts are very comfortable as they are lose on your body so they won't hug your body too much except the waist band. The waistband can help to enhance your waist, add a belt and you can make your waist the main feature of your look. With the shorts add a fitted yet comfortable blouse that can be tucked into the shorts to complete the look. This look is ready for summer, day or night.

Diamond body shape

Denim short Dungarees from Missguided

As a diamond body shape your best features are your arms. We all remember wearing dungarees back in the 90's but now they have made a massive comeback and are more fashionable than ever. Dungarees can have a childish look to them but with the right style and look you can make it look casual chic. Short dungarees are a much better look than the long style dungarees. With the short style, pair it with a tank top or a sleeveless blouse to show off your best feature which is your arms. Add colour to the outfit by wearing a bright coloured tank top with the dungarees along with some flip flops or sandals so you can hit the beach or go out for the day. If you feel that you want to cover up more, pair the dungarees with a t-shirt that makes you feel more comfortable along with a statement necklace and some flats so that you don't look too childish in the dungarees but much more casual chic.

This post was written by Sabrina Woolley. Sabrina is a fashion stylist at Styling Up. She’s been working in editorial styling for 2 years and her style is mainly urban and creative chic.

Fresh Bank Holiday Offers for this Weekend

Ready for this weekend's Bank Holiday? So are we!! To celebrate this, we gathered a few discounts and freebies from our retail partners that you'll love to know about. These offers range from 10 to 20% off and are a great treat for this weekend.

What are you waiting for? Check out what our stylists recommend for your shape and size in our style shop and grab discounts with the codes below from the retailers below:

Allsole

Shoes, shoes, shoes.... even if someone has a wardrobe full of shoes, there is no such thing as too many shoes! To celebrate the extra day off, All Sole are extending their 20% off code until midnight on the 27th August.

20% off Allsole.com
Code: TREAT20
Valid until Midnight on the 27th August

Mybag

Handbags, shoulder bags, satchels, bowler bags, clutches, and so many other type of bags... Mybag is also offering a 20% off to celebrate this Bank Holiday Weekend. This promotion was extended until 27th August.

20% off Mybag.com
Code: 20TREAT
Valid until Midnight on the 27th August
* Excludes The Cambridge Satchel Company

Missguided

For this weekend, Missguided are offering a 10% off promotion over the Bank Holiday Weekend. To grab this discount, insert the code we mention below. Please note that this code cannot be used with any other discount, cannot be used on Sweet Deal. This is a UK only promotion (not available to other countries)!

10% off Missguided.co.uk
Code: HOL10
Valid until Midnight on the 26th August

Boden

For this special weekend, Boden is offering a 10% off promotion plus free delivery and free returns. Besides, new customers also get a free gift from them!!  To get this freebie, enter the code below at checkout.

10% off + free delivery + free returns Boden.co.uk
Code: W001
Valid until Wednesday, 28th August

Have a great weekend!

New brand at Styling Up: New Look

We're very happy to announce that we have another great brand in our website: New Look. Now, our fashion stylists will also recommend clothes from this awesome brand.

New Look is a well known British fashion brand with edgy clothes for women. They focus on translating the latest trends from the catwalk to the high street and their designs are stylish with a more urban style.

They opened their first store in Taunton in 1969 and, in the last year, they had more than 10 million women shopping for womenswear in their stores. New Look has over 1000 stores worldwide, including in several countries across Europe and the Middle East.

Check out our style shop to see clothes from this awesome brand and other fantastic high street brands as well.

How to wear a bodysuit

Well ladies… The bodysuits are back! You probably remember them from your mother’s wardrobe from the late 80’s or early 90’s, but in fact the good old bodysuit is back in style!

If you’re not familiar with them, you probably are wondering: Is it a one-piece bathing suit? A girdle? A leotard? Nope… a bodysuit can remind a bit of any of those, but is actually a fashionable and stylish wearable piece that can be very versatile. Just like any other fitted top.

Bodysuits left the Spring 2012 catwalks straight to most high street retail stores and they are not as difficult to style as it may seem. They can look stunning in skirts, trousers, shorts and they’re the perfect piece to “tuck in”.

We noticed that some of you are struggling on how to style them, so below, our fashion stylists will give you some ideas on how to wear a bodysuit. The below examples are related to skirts but please keep in mind that you can also pull them off with trousers and shorts:

Outfit 1 (stylist: Ria Johnson)- White Bodysuit, BOOHOO, £4 (SALE) | Skater Skirt, BOOHOO, £12 (SALE) | Sandals, CARVELA, £149 | Pink Clutch, MONSOON, £35 | Leather Cuff, ACCESSORIZE, £12 | Earrings, BOOHOO, £5
Outfit 2 (stylist: Gitte Eigner)- Bodysuit, MISSGUIDED, £14.99 | Pencil Skirt, M&S, £29.5 | Strap Wedges, AX PARIS, £36.99 | Tassel Bag, UGG AUSTRALIA, £345 | Hat, AX PARIS, £10
Outfit 3 (stylist: Louise Blaize)- Wrap Bodysuit, BOOHOO, £12 | Maxi Skirt, MISSGUIDED, £6.49 | Yellow Handbag, MISSGUIDED, £17.99 | Perspex Heel Boots, BOOHOO, £35 | Neon Yellow Necklace, BOOHOO, £2 (SALE)

But do let us know your thoughts on this. Will you embrace the bodysuit trend?

Shop for the perfect dress for your body shape

Bodycon, Skater, Peplum, Maxi, Midi and Mini. Dresses come in so many shapes and sizes that shopping for a dress that fits perfectly can be really time consuming and a real pain.

Frequently the search for the perfect dress ends in just wasting time, pure frustration or even worse a poor fit dress that will only walk around in the daylight once. Meaning that besides the whole frustration of getting that dress, you also wasted your money on something that doesn’t flatter you. Know the feeling?

Image credits: Wonderlane - Flickr

Whether you’re looking in several retail stores or searching online, this task can be really hard to get done successfully. However, once you figure out your body shape, finding the perfect dress can be fun and can really take the stress out of your shoulders.

 All women are different. We all have different tastes, styles, sizes, preferences and of course body shapes. If you still don’t know your shape, you can use this online body shape calculator and, through your measurements, you can have an idea on what to look for.

Please keep in mind that there are no good or bad shapes (we never get tired of mentioning this). Body shapes are just categories that aim to help women find the best clothes for them. Every shape is equally beautiful, you just have to figure out what works or doesn’t work for your figure. Embrace your shape and dress it wisely!

Pear body shape

Pear shapes are described as having their hips wider than their bust / shoulders with a really defined waist, which means that this figure naturally carries more weight in the hip zone.

Though this is the most common body type, we often see women struggling in finding dresses for this shape. But, let’s carefully look at this shape again: smaller bust and shoulders and wider hips. In other words, this means that you have to find a dress that shows off your smaller half (in this case the shoulders or bust area) while disguising your lower half, or one that adds volume to your bust/shoulders area while disguising your hips, but always enhancing your defined waist. You don’t want to look like you’re wearing a groceries bag.

The trick is to find a skater dress or a-line dress that disguises the hips without adding too much volume where you naturally already have it. Empire waist dresses will also look great on you. Here are some ideas on what kind of dresses you should be looking for:

Left to Right: French Connection; Fever; Monsoon

Inverted Triangle body shape

This body type is completely the opposite of the Pear shape, as it carries more weight on the upper half. This shape has a wider bust / shoulder area and the hips are generally smaller, meaning that the perfect dress for this shape will have to have more volume on the bottom half, disguising the upper half to visually create the right balance.

If you’re an inverted triangle shape you should be looking for dresses like skater dresses, full or a-line dresses or with details like flat pockets or embellishments on the hip zone. The upper halves of the dresses need to draw the attention away from the bust, defining your waist. To draw the attention away from that area choose narrow v-necklines, for example and darker colours. Please keep in mind that by darker and solid colours.  Wrap style dresses with narrow v-necks are perfect for this body type. Here are some examples:

Left to Right: Boohoo; Dorothy Perkins; Savoir

Straight body shape

Straight shapes are really balanced shapes that have bust and hips practically the same size. Their waist however, though it’s there, it isn’t as defined as the hourglass shape and that’s why they are called straight. Of course, though the name of the shape is straight doesn’t mean that you don’t have a waist… it just means that is not as defined as the hourglass figure shape.

The best way to find the perfect  dress for the straight shape is to look for dresses that emphasize your waist, whether with a belt or dresses with some structure and a defined waist. You can also look for dresses that add a bit volume to the bust/shoulders area and also in the hip zone, but always enhancing the waist. Another tip: You can also wear some shapeless (kind of “boxy”) dresses and pull them off by adding the perfect belt and accessories to it. Some dress ideas below:

Left to Right: French Connection; Koko; Exclusives

Hourglass body shape

Hourglass shapes are the lucky curvaceous ones. They are called hourglass because their shape resembles an hourglass, meaning that the shoulders/bust are as wide as the hips with a tiny waist. This was the shape of the iconic Marilyn Monroe and this is often the shape that most women wish they had. But, we never get tired of saying this, if you’re not an hourglass, don’t worry, there are lots of gorgeous women that don’t have this shape and they also have gorgeous bodies.

Back to the tips… well, there aren’t many tips that we can give to this already curvaceous shape, except that embrace your shape and show it off. Bodycon dresses, wrap style dresses and dresses with pencil skirts are the perfect choice for showing of your curves. Other type of dresses will also look great on you, but keep in mind this tip: when you add volume to your top half, balance it below in your lower half, as this body shape already has the perfect proportions and doesn’t need any visual tricks to add or remove volume.

Remember this: don’t hide your womanly curves behind “baggy” or “boxy” dresses… show them off! Here are some dresses that will look great on you:

Left to Right: So Fabulous; Missguided; French Connection

Oval body shape

Also called “apple” body type, the oval shape has a full tummy and a not so defined waist. The bust is wider than the hip zone and the legs are really slender.

To look stunning on a dress, the oval shaped woman should look for dresses that create a waist and disguise the midsection, while also giving some volume to the hips. Since your legs are slender, you will look great with mini dresses, but you can wear whatever length you feel comfortable with… an advice: for your best, shop for mini or midi dresses.

 Aside from the length of the dress and back to structure: wrap style dresses with a-line skirts or empire waist dresses will look perfect on this body type and will help in disguising the midsection (tummy). Here are some examples of what you should be looking for:

Left to Right: Monsoon; French Connection; French Connection

Diamond body shape

This shape can be really hard to dress up and we understand that women with this shape can have lots of difficulty in finding the perfect dress from them.

The diamond shape has their hips wider than the bust zone and a full midsection (stomach area). Regarding the ratio between bust and hips, this body shape is similar to the pear shape, however the pear shape has a much defined waist and the diamond shape has a full midsection and doesn’t have a defined waist.

The challenge for this shape is to disguise the hip zone as well as creating a waist. The dresses that look best on this body shape are mainly empire waist dresses, with wide necklines (v or u) and details around the shoulders and bust area. You can also look for off the shoulder or one shoulder dresses, also with empire waists or high belted waists. Here are a few ideas on what will look perfect on the diamond body type:

Left to Right: Boohoo; Monsoon; Boohoo

Please note that, though these tips can be very important, these are just guidelines. Sometimes, when a body shape runs near more than one shape (eg: if you’re a pear tending to be hourglass, for example) it’s often that some tips from other shapes can also look good on your body type too. However, once you know the basics, it can really be much easier to find clothes for you.

And finally, remember this: it’s not about the size you wear it’s about the shape of your body.

But do tell us your experience on this. What is your shape and what kind of dresses do you love to wear?