‘O’ Body Shape or Orange Body – What to wear for your body type?

Category | June 05, 2021

By Definition – This is a body type whose waist is wider than the rest of the body. This type of body type usually falls under the plus size category and general sizing in many brands, what happens is when they buy a product suiting for the waist area then the rest of the body falls loose or vice versa. You usually love to go with brands that offer plus size garments or you prefer to customize garments for your size. The other alternative is that (which is quite rare), you have an extremely petite upper body and lower body whereas your waist is more rounded. Do no get confused with yourself from an apple body shape here, measurements is the key and all the weight lie at the waist whereas in an apple body, the weight shifts to the hips.

The Idea Is –I can treat this category as a plus size even if you’re not as the principles be the same philosophies. The idea is to accentuate/lay emphasis to the smaller/leaner parts of your body to look bigger/wider/fuller and make the bigger/wider areas of your body look smaller or more petite.

I would not call this beautiful damsel an ‘O’ or Orange figure but she is quite petite at the bust and hips. This is part of my own collection collaboration shoots from Aphrodite by Nags which I did with this girl. This is purely a representation of how accentuating the right areas can take away the emphasis on the wrong areas. I am showing how padding of the bust or emphasis of the shoulder can help the wearer look more fuller and rounded. The slim fits or the parallel fits will also either emphasise your curves or hide the curves as well.

Best to work with – So, if there’s not much difference between your shoulder, hips and waist (measurement of shoulder or hips minus waist is less than minus 3 to 6 inches or plus 3 to 6 inches), then no need to panic. It is best to emphasize the hips and shoulders whilst keeping it simple at the waist. Go for those Jackets, blazers looks or any tops/dresses/gowns that accentuate your shoulders or bust area, like using surface embellishments/ padding techniques. Go for those fitted at hips slim fits or skin fits and other trousers such as bell bottoms, etc., even well fitted straight or tapered skirts will do the trick. But, if the difference is a lot more, then the ideology still stays the same but we need to target the line of sight through a lot of deviations. Such as accessorising heavily, especially the hands, legs and most importantly the neck. Go ahead and wear those big stones. In terms of the silhouette, volume is the key, excess volumes diverts the line of sight of the observer to the beauty of the garments or the smartness of accessorising or both. On the top, go ahead with those ruffles at the neck or flared tops at the waist. Do use push up brassieres or cupped and padded garments to add volume at the shoulders and bust area. Lower body can also be treated by adding volume – flared skirts till your knees or ankles, shorts till your knees or trousers which have excess volume such as palazzos, flared pants, culottes, parallels, sailor pants, pegged pants, etc. Avoid any garments that accentuate the lines of your figure as the observer might judge you based on your figure in clear sight. The idea is to hide the body volumes by adding more volume or to allow the onlookers line of sight on the right set of curves you wish to show off. Busy prints/surface embellishments will also compliment you along with volumes. Kitsch can work for you. Avoid carrying heavy bags like totes or satchels unless it is necessary, keep small accessories in your hands like a clutch or a wallet. Rings on your fingers, big ones and great eyewear will also compliment you (although the choice of eyewear will also depend on the shape of your face). You could also try pairing dresses/gowns with pretty jackets/blazers look as well.

I admit I have taken the images from the following sites purely for visualization and understanding purposes of the reader. The sites are: site 1 – https://styleangel.com/discover-your-body-shape/apple-body-shape/ site 2 – https://stylewithcurves.com/plus-size-gowns-weddings-black-tie-parties-prom/

Bibliography :Although whatever I have written is original, as well as the Body Shape Images I have used are original, created by me; I have made some references to grab on to the idea, using a lot of my visualization and representation techniques of body types and women. I admit I have taken imagery for visual purposes of the reader to visually understand the looks better from here and there, as well as some study material to refresh me from the below blogs and sites.

Continued from – What to wear (and possibly what not to wear) for your body type and what colours to wear for your skin colour? – For further reading about different body types and how you could understand your body type.