Every time you walk into a dressing room or clothing store you are bound to hear the muttering of someone complaining about their shape and body size. As women, it rolls off our backs as easily as the cat-calls we’ve been taught to get used to. Yet, these comments aren’t helpful, not to the people around us and certainly not to ourselves. So what if you gained a little extra weight because you traveled and tried new foods? What if you lost some weight and you’ve got to adjust your new shape into some textiles? While you might feel particularly insecure about those five pounds in or out of your skin, the good news is that your body shape is more empowered than you think.

There are six common body types that most women have and apart from eating healthy, we should all learn about body types. Human bodies come in so many sizes and shapes, and this must be firmly noted. However, if we had to gather all these shapes and sizes into macro-categories, we’ve got six main groups. Once you understand how to dress for your body, your fear over a little bit of weight gain diminishes as does those dressing room bouts of panic because you’ll no longer be picking up garments that won’t look flattering on you. Perhaps this isn’t as easy as making a snide comment about yourself and can take a bit of time, but it is certainly worth it in the long run.

Triangle

When it comes to dressing a triangle body type, focus on adding more details to the top. This will give the illusion that your shoulders are closer to the measurements of your hips. To do this, think of items with ruffles, more defined collars, and puffed sleeves.

Inverted Triangle

When dressing an inverted triangle body shape, focus on adding elements to the hips and waist. This can be belts, garments that are cut asymmetrically, or even pants that have wider legs.

Hourglass

Other than an H shape (or rectangle, or pear) there is no figure that is more coveted in the Western world than the hourglass. While those that do have this figure are lucky since many things look good on them, there can be an issue that comes when trying to dress “modestly”. Still, I’d say if you have this shape it would be best to show off and stay away from items that drown your figure or take away from it.

O-shape

All of my friends that have O-shapes tend to be wrongfully insecure over their bodies. While having smaller legs and a little bit more in your stomach can seem like a reason to be insecure–it isn’t. Ever! First of all, this simply means you will be a little bit curvier, which is great. If you want to define your waist more, focus on peplum tops, belts, and tailored garments. Just don’t hide your own beautiful self!

H-shape

The shape of most models and athletes, the H body shape is straight up and down with the hips and shoulders around the same size and no defined waist. Since the waist is often the element people want to show off, think of adding belts and other garments that accentuate the waist. Along with this, try adding details on the shoulders and hips to create an optical illusion that will change how your proportions are viewed.