For the apple shape, it’s typical to have a top-heavy silhouette with a full chest and narrow hips. However, some apple-shaped women have small bust. It is important for you to fully understand your body’s best assets and weaknesses, and dress accordingly. Let’s dive right in!
Characteristics
- Slender legs accompanied by slim arms
- Undefined waistline
- Small bust
- Rounder and wider shoulder line
- Weight gains are first noticed around the midsection
Your styling goal should be to draw attention to your lovely shoulders and collarbone, effectively creating fullness around your chest area without adding volume to your upper body.
Wrap dresses
What’s not to love about wrap dresses, especially on apple-shaped women with a small bust? This style of dress has an incredible look that adds more shape to the waistline and helps to enhance curves.
Whether it’s with a belt or a tie, you know that you would be looking great with a wrap dress. A huge factor here is the neckline style which is usually a v-neck. It’s no secret that the V-neckline is very flattering for the apple shape, and with this style, you can easily enhance your small bust.
Meanwhile, it sits firmly on your body without being too clingy on your body frame and enhancing areas that you would love to draw attention away. Since most apple-shaped women have a muffin top, you’ll be happy to know that wrap dresses can help you conceal this, so you can have a more defined structure.
Sounds like magic, right? But it’s not. A wrap dress that sits just right on your apple body can do wonders and all you need to do is look in the mirror to see it.
Skater dresses
Skater dresses can be categorized as fit and flare styles that accentuate your breast and shoulders, making them a top choice for the apple shape with small bust.
They have the amazing effect of instantly creating a more defined shape, playing up more flattering parts of your body and minimizing attention on areas that you would want concealed.
An example is how it stylishly sculpts your waist to balance your slim hips before moving into a gentle flare over your midsection. This flare is not too clingy, and that’s why your little tummy bulge will appear non-existent.
This way, you don’t have to worry about your tummy protruding underneath your dress. Overall, skater dresses have a flattering fit for the apple shape, and the best part is that this style of dress is incredibly versatile.
Accessorizing and the right shoes can transform this from a casual wear to the perfect dress for the office. So, feel free to infuse your style as much as you can.
Mid-calf dresses
This specifically refers to dresses that are as long as your calf. The length of your dress matters as too-short styles can shrink your appearance and draw attention to your unbalanced silhouette while too-long styles can be overwhelming on your body frame.
However, with mid-calf dresses, you can effectively pull off a taller look as your torso will appear longer as well. Mid-calf styles apply to a variety of dresses that are flattering for the apple shape with small bust.
These include wrap dresses, fit and flare styles, v-neck A-line dresses and empire waist dresses. The important thing to pay attention to here is the neckline. High and narrow necklines draw attention from your waist, making it appear wider in proportion to other parts of your body.
Therefore, you should avoid them and opt for styles that draw the eyes out, visually shrinking your waistline. Neckline styles like the wide v-neck, square and scopp are great choices.
Dresses with an empire waist
One of the best ways to get a flattering effect on your apple shape with small bust is to wear dresses that help to elongate your torso. This can have a balancing effect on both halves of your body, effectively transforming your apple shape to a curvier silhouette.
You can achieve this with dresses with an empire waist. This style of dress has a pretty waistline which is great for elongating the torso. When combined with the right pair of shoes, you can easily accentuate your favorite features and get a look that makes you feel more comfortable in your own skin.
Another great effect can be seen in how they accentuate your small bust. Since dresses with an empire waist cinch directly below your chest, this can create a higher waistline that makes your bust appear bigger.
This balances your hips with your small chest, creating an overall flattering silhouette.
Peplum tops
Whether it’s on a dress or a top, peplum styles have never been wrong on an apple-shaped body, especially when you have a small bust. The prominent effect you would notice on your body shape is how the top helps to create a more defined waistline.
The apple body shape naturally doesn’t have a defined waistline and that leads to the lack of prominent curves. However, with a stylish peplum top, you can transform this while hiding any tummy bulge you may have around your midsection.
Meanwhile, you have to pay extra attention to the length of the peplum top as the flounce of the top is what helps the camouflaging effect. If it’s too long or too short, you won’t get the results you love.
Be sure to choose a peplum top with a flounce that comfortably covers your midsection, preferably stopping at your mid-hip region. However, feel free to try out different lengths to see which one works for you best.
Off-the-shoulder dresses with ruffles
Yes, ruffles are girly and the results are always awesome. Rather than wear oversized tops that make your apple shape look more top-heavy and add unnecessary volume to your overall silhouette, wear an off-the-shoulder dress with ruffles around the edges to create the illusion of a fuller chest.
This is the perfect combo because off-the-shoulder styles are great for highlighting your shoulders and collarbone, both flattering features for your apple body shape. You can make this look even better by wearing an off-the-shoulder dress with thick straps.
This accentuates this part of your body, giving off a sophisticated and elegant look. Meanwhile, remember to stick to lengths of dresses that are just below the knee, so you can also show off your lovely slender legs.
Overall, this style of dress is one of the most amazing ways to create more balance on both halves of your body, while creating the illusion of a fuller chest area.
Bolero jackets
Petite apple shape women with small bust can easily rock a bolero jacket without worrying about creating an unflattering long vertical line on their body frame. This style of jacket is typically a crop one without collars.
The open style of the jacket with no buttons can sometimes create a v-neck shape at the top, depending on the type you buy. However, the biggest effect of the bolero jacket is that it visually creates the illusion of a full bust which is relevant for women with small busts.
It is perfect for layering as the open style helps to de-emphasize your stomach, great for concealing muffin tops as well. So, you can wear a top with a scoop neckline and make your outfit look even more awesome with a bolero jacket for your apple shape.
It’s common to see women style this for casual events, where you want to present a laid-back yet chic look.
Jackets with breast pocket
Add more dimension to your small bust by visually creating fullness when you wear a jacket with breast pockets. It’s quite a common fact that pockets add more volume to a specific area.
A good example is on pants or jeans with prominent back pockets that make the hips appear curvier. This is no different for the apple shape. You can use this to your advantage to play up your chest area, and create the illusion of curves on your overall body frame.
Therefore, this style should definitely not be missing from your wardrobe collection. Be sure to choose jackets that are structured with unnecessary details. Thicker styles are encouraged.
Note that this is different from baggy jacket styles. Thick fabrics are known to enhance this effect, but be sure to avoid those that cover up your body silhouette, as this is not the result you’re going for.
Tops with ruching
Since many apple-shaped women have a bigger body, it’s not a bad idea to wear tops with a slimming effect, especially if you fall into this category. Tops with ruching work wonders when it comes to portraying a slimming effect on the body.
This is a better alternative to fitted tops that squeeze uncomfortably on the body. Ruched tops, especially when the ruching is around the midsection, is one of the most effective ways for concealing tummy bulges.
For tops that extend a little beyond your hip, they also create a more defined waistline which is essential for a curvier outlook. Therefore, wearing a top that has ruching strategically placed below your bust area will create a better silhouette that’s slimmer and curvier.
With this, you can easily pull off a more feminine outlook and you don’t have to go over-the-top to achieve this. Remember that the neckline matters too. So, choose flattering styles like v-neck or scoop neck to further create the illusion of a fuller chest area.
Blazer dresses
Wear a blazer dress with a wrap V-neckline and a moderate length around your mid-calf to create a flattering look on your apple shape, even with a small bust. It works for both the plus-size apple shape and petite apple shape.
Thanks to the V-neckline, you can accentuate your assets and create more fullness around your chest area. Meanwhile, the shorter length is perfect for showing off your slender legs, making you feel like a superstar that you are.
While many apple shape women are not keen on wearing belts as it draws attention to the midsection area, it’s okay to find a slimmer belt that’s the same pattern as your dress.
Use this to create a cinching effect around your waistline and this will encourage a curvier body frame without drawing attention to your flaws.
Avoid stretchy fabrics
Stretchy fabric may seem like a good idea but that’s until you take a good long look at the mirror and watch as this style of top or dress overly constricts the top half of your body.
It’s not strange to want to have a fitted look on your body, in an attempt to slim down your silhouette. However, wearing stretchy fabric is the wrong way to go about this.
Rather than slimming your body frame, it draws attention to the exact proportion of the top half of your body, possibly creating unflattering folds that will look awkward. Stretchy fabric also creates shadows along your stomach line, making your tummy bulge appear more obvious.
Therefore, this will show the unbalance in your overall silhouette, further emphasizing the narrowness of your hips as well.