This is continuation to our articles on how to dress for your body type. In this article we are going to look at the apple body shape.
As a quick reminder you have an apple body shape when:
- You have no defined waist
- Weight tends to form on the stomach
- Average bust size
This is a body shape that often develops after 40 when you start to experiences symptoms of (peri)menopause where many women experience the gain of weight around their waist.
To be honest this is not the easiest body shape to dress as many women with this shape will be well aware of. Some women tend to cover it all up with lose garments, which in most cases is not the right thing to do. But the fact is that you can look extremely good if you are wearing the right clothes! What you DO want to do is create the ilusion of a waist and a silhouette, highlight your cleavage and create nice vertical lines.
Below are some rough guidelines what will and will not work for many apple shaped women over 40.
What not to wear?
- Big puffa jackets
- Big shapeless garments that don’t show any waist
- Bulky trousers with lots of pockets and zippers at the front
- High necklines
- Tight clingy T-shirts
- Avoid wearing everything in one solid coloour. Better to mix colour with a texture
Which garments are good for an apple body shape?
Tops
- First of all, since a lot of attention is going to be drawn to the top part of your body, get yourself a good fitting bra.
- Tops that highlight your body at the slimmest point which is often just underneath your bust. They should have enough space for your belly but not be too wide.
- Buy t-shirts that are ruched in the middle. This will confuse the eye and you can’t tell that there’s a big tummy underneath.
- Get Tops with a V-neck to break up the size of your chest and create a lean line.
- Look for tops with a thicker texture that don’t cling so much. Woven tops can be great.
- Patterns tend to look very good on a apple shape body as they flatter and camouflage.
- Tops should cover the whole belly area and end just below the hip bone.
- Shirts look nicest when they are tight just onderneath the boobs and then go out. Also try to get the v shape with your shirts.
- Choose tailered jackets that have a nice v shape at the top.
- Having a tie at the waist is great as it highlights the waist and hides the belly.
- A straight duster coat that ends just above the knee will create a nice long silhouette.
- Make sure that the jacket fits the shoulder perfectly, so choose the size for your shoulders, not your belly. If you can’t close the jacket, you can always use a scarf to fill the gap if you like.
- Dresses should have their waistline just below the bust.
- It’s always good to have some detailing on the tummy area for camouflage.
Bottoms
- Get trousers that have zippers at the side to avoid adding extra bumps on the front.
- Trousers should be wide or straight and not cling to tummy or thighs.
- Also choose jeans that are tailored and wide legged.
- It’s best to get trousers with some stretch for extra comfort and a good fit.
- Choose skirts that have their zippers at the side.
- Make sure that any pleats of skirts start below the belly to avoid adding extra volume.
- Fron under the belly skirts should hang straight.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
My first time here. I love this site.
Great to have you here Lily. Hope to connect with you more on the site or style forum!
Love this site, just over 50 and still looking for tips on clothes…
Welcome Debbie and enjoy!
Cud you please use a model that actually has an apple shaped body?
Yes, of course I would like that too. But we are dependent on the images that clothing manufacturers sent out and they all tend to be young and thin. We don’t have the budget to create our own photo shoots with hired models.
I have always been an apple and these are THE most specific and helpful tips for dressing my body type. Thanks so much for the info.
Great Jennifer. Very happy to read that they were useful to you!
Dear Team
Greetings from India
Thx a zillionnnnnn for your useful tips.
A big bear hug.
Babita.
Thank you!
I’m an apple shape with big boobs, can you advise please?
Hi Jules, You will want to go for a lot of v-neck clothing in both your tops, blazers and cots. Go for empire style tops and dresses (with v-necks of course). Go for straight pants. If you have good legs, try to put the emphasis on those. For further questions or to look at your specifically you can also go to the style forum.
I wonder if I am a true apple shape. I have a belly and I am blessed up top. When I where comfortable empire waisted tops, I get asked when I’m due! Help, please!!!
Hi Sherri, There are few women who fit exactly in this category. It’s just too broad. In the body shape bible (found on my list of style books as a goblet (a guess as I don’t have details about the rest of your body). It’s important for you to choose empire waist tops and dresses but they need to be fitted (can’t be lose). Go for deep v necks, a fitted aline coat and fitted short jacket. Tops cannot be too long. Very slight a-line skirts or tight skirts with fluted hemline are good for you too. Hope that helps.
Thank you so much for your tips on dressing. I not only have the curse of gaining weight in the waist, (a lot of weight) but I have the most horrible hot flashes to boot. Trying to dress to hide my increased weight gain, and big belly has lead me to lots of layers, but with the hot flashes it’s unbearable. You’ve given me some ideas to play with.
Thanks, keep up the good work as there aren’t many out their addressing the issue of an aging body and how to dress fashionably.
Kim
thanks for the nice feedback Kim. Good luck in finding out what works for your new shape and coping with your hot flushes….
Hi Sylvia,
Thanks a lot for these tips. I presume I am apple shaped because I have very large bust,I wear 34E/F,bust is 40,waist is 34,hips is 42 and my bum is not raised so much. I tend to wear a lot of dresses that are gathered in at the waist and fall all the way down over the hips and below the knee a little and people always tell me I’m fatter when I wear such. I rarely wear straight dresses because it doesn’t fit me. I have knocking knees so I don’t like wearing above the knee dresses. I want to make a mermaid dress with prints/floral material,will this fit me?
Hi Tee, You actually have more the shape of an hourglass. It’s hard to give precise advice because I don’t have all your measurements but a mermaid dress is usually very good for this body shape. Have a look at some of my suggestions for the hourglass shape http://40plusstyle.com/how-to-dress-the-hourglass-shape/ and for further questions and feedback I actually recommend my style forum: http://40plusstyle.com/forum/
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