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Flatter Your Figure (Even if You’re Not at Your Ideal Weight)

Top Heavy (or Inverted Triangle)

Top: JC Penney | Skirt: J.Crew

Those lovely lady lumps might sound awesome when Fergie’s singing about them, but in reality, they can pose the same problems as a big booty—proportion. Your instinct might be to cover up your top half with something loose and show off your thinner bottom half with some super skinny jeans and some killer heels, but be careful; if not done correctly, this can be a perfect recipe for the dreaded ice-cream-cone effect.

Remember how I said pear shapes should wear clothes that skim their “problem” areas? Same goes for you; you want to look for tops that fit the larger areas, whether that’s your bust or your shoulders or your arms, but don’t pull or—heaven forbid—gape. V-neck shirts will help elongate your top half (which is a good thing!), while a boatneck style will widen your top (not a good thing).

On the bottom, you can definitely get away with pencil skirts and skinny jeans so long as your top isn’t too billowy. If you have a long, flowing top you’re dying to wear, try belting it (yes, this is good advice for pretty much all shapes) to see if it shaves off a few visual pounds. Think about it—something hanging straight down from your bust is going to make you look like you’re that size all the way down. If your waist is much smaller than that, why not show it off? Dresses and skirts with an A-line or fuller skirt will give the illusion of an hour-glass figure, so long as you make sure the waist nips in enough to truly create that line.

Oh, and boots are your ally in the fight against looking like an ice cream cone. Pairing them with those skinny jeans or leggings you can’t quit will help balance those proportions…so long as you don’t go with something totally oversized on the top. No matter how bad-ass the boots, there’s only so much they can do.

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