If you have an hourglass body type, you are known for beautiful curves, i.e. big bust and full hips. On the other hand, since the hourglass is a fleshy body type, it is common for them to gain weight on the stomach. For the hourglass shaped with a tummy, it is critical to find the right clothing styles that can accentuate your assets and camouflage your muffin top. In this comprehensive guide, we will take a close look at your body traits and walk you through the most flattering clothes for your unique body type.
Characteristics
A typical hourglass-shaped woman would have the following characteristics:
- Fuller bust
- Hips and busts may have the same width
- Well-defined waistline
- Curvy silhouette
From this description, you can tell that the hourglass silhouette is all about having full curves in all the right places. However, despite how perfect this may look, you can still have a few problematic areas you would like to conceal. In this case, that would be a big stomach.
When you throw this into the mix, it can be difficult to balance your figure and play up your assets. But there’s a hack. With the right clothing choices, you can draw attention away from your midsection and emphasize your curvy silhouette.
Peplum tops
It’s super easy to hide your bigger stomach with a peplum top. All you need is the perfect fit under your bust and then it forms a gradual flare towards your waistline. With peplums formed around your waist, you can effectively hide your big stomach and ultimately make your waist appear smaller.
This works perfectly for the hourglass-shaped woman because you already have a defined waistline. however, having a bit of a tummy with this naturally defined waist is not a death sentence.
A peplum top will enhance your natural shape while the flared style will help to conceal your muffin top in a flattering way. This is a much better option than a completely oversized top that adds more volume to your upper body and creates a shapeless silhouette. Rather than hide your stomach, it throws your body off balance.
Fit and flare dresses
This is the longer version of the peplum top. A fit and flare dress is perfect for balancing your body silhouette and effectively concealing your muffin top.
Rather than wear a loose dress that draws more attention to your stomach and makes it appear bigger, wear a fit and flare dress that helps to create a more defined waistline.
The flared style at the bottom is perfect for slimming down your silhouette and hiding your stomach bulge.
This style of dress is naturally flattering for women with an hourglass body type because it emphasizes your slender arms and creates a more streamlined silhouette.
This works even better when the fit and flare dress has a plunging neckline that draws more attention towards your neck and shoulders.
Wrap tops
As a woman with an hourglass body type, you can always count on wrap tops to provide an insanely flattering level of class to your look. This is a favorite among many women, including me, due to its incredible versatility.
This classic style has a natural fit on the hourglass body type especially because of the wrapping feature. This wrap helps to create a slimming effect around your tummy area, which is just what you need to conceal tummy bulges.
With this, you don’t have to depend on big clothing to minimize your midsection. Wrap tops are super easy to style and don’t cling to the body tightly. Instead, they help to streamline your look and you can easily adjust this until you get the perfect fit. The wrap top brings your unique taste to life.
Avoid details around your tummy
As tempting as it is to wear tops with ruffles or bows around your tummy, you should completely resist this. These extra details don’t help to hide tummy bulges. Instead, they draw more attention to this part of your body and make your midsection appear bigger.
Rather than wear styles with obvious details around your tummy, stick to simpler pieces that don’t hug your stomach tightly. The key to minimizing your tummy bulge is to draw the eyes away from this part of your body as much as possible.
Since details around your tummy are attention-grabbing instead, it’s best to avoid this.
Ruched tops
Another highly effective way to hide your tummy bulges and make your stomach appear smaller is to wear ruched tops. Ruching refers to fabric gathered together to create a rippled style that reflects subtle class.
Wearing this detail around your midsection helps to create a more defined waistline while drawing attention away from your tummy. The result is a slimming effect that emphasizes your curves and gives more support to your midsection.
At first glance, it will be super difficult to tell that you have a muffin top and this is what you would love to achieve with your clothing choices as a hourglass woman with a stomach.
Remember to pay attention to the neckline style of your ruched top because you need to also increase the illusion by drawing the eyes upwards. Plunging necklines can do this right.
High-waist pants
Every hourglass woman with a stomach should know that high-waist pants are your best friends. This is one of the most stress-free ways to hide your tummy without experiencing any form of discomfort all day.
Apart from concealing your muffin top, high-waist pants are great for elongating your legs and making them look slimmer. So, you can effectively create the illusion of a taller figure with high-waist pants.
However, as stylish as it is to tuck in your tops with high-waist pants, you shouldn’t do this if you have a stomach. That will eliminate the great effect of your high-waist pants as it accentuates your midsection.
Rather than tuck in your tops, you can try a half-tuck where a little part of your top is tucked into your jeans. This is very comfortable and stylish, without revealing your muffin top.
Tops with thin vertical stripes
Any style that creates a slimmer silhouette while reducing the attention on your midsection is a win. Tops with thin vertical stripes are a great choice because they help to streamline your silhouette and draw the eyes downwards.
This is a better alternative to tops with bold prints as these will only draw focus towards your midsection. The thin stripes are subtle yet stylish enough to get the eyes more towards your bust and well-defined waistline.
While you stick with tops that have thin vertical stripes, remember to avoid any with horizontal stripes. They have a completely opposite effect on your body frame.
The horizontal stripes have a widening effect which makes you look larger, and that of course makes your stomach appear bigger.
V-neck dresses
As an hourglass body type with a stomach, your neckline choices are just as important as these have a great effect on your overall silhouette. Choosing V-neck dresses will help to draw attention towards your face and upper body.
With less focus downwards, you can easily downplay your midsection and voila, no visible tummy bulge! You don’t have to look for a dramatic way to draw attention away from your tummy as subtle details work best.
If you can incorporate an empire waist style into your v-neck dress, that works even better. It’s an effective way to hide your belly while emphasizing your flattering silhouette.
Plunging necklines work best for the hourglass body shape, as this is flattering enough to draw more attention to your curvy outlook.
Avoid wide belts
Avoiding details around your midsection also means staying away from wide belts. As much as you would like to create a waist-cinching effect with belts, the wrong belt style will cause more problems than solve them.
In this case, wide belts will only highlight your tummy bulk and make your muffin top more visible. Waist belts accentuate your tummy and leave some skin hanging around your hips because you’ll be trying to get a firm fit.
There’s no version of this that looks good on the hourglass shape. If you must try to create a waist cinching effect with a belt, stick to thinner ones that sit high on your waist.
If this belt sits underneath your belt, that’s so much better. It will make your waist appear slimmer, emphasize your curves and draw attention away from your midsection.
A-line skirts
The A-line skirt is a must-have for hourglass-shaped women with a muffin top. The gentle flare from your waist stylishly creates a balanced silhouette that showcases your beautiful curvy figure without drawing attention to your stomach.
The magic here is in how the a-line skirt hugs your waist as this flatters your curves and is comfortable on your body frame. Combine this with the right pair of heels or flats and you have a classy combo that’s elegant on the hourglass body.
You can take advantage of the feminine silhouette this skirt creates to play up your well-defined waist. You have a naturally slim waist that you should draw attention to as this is one of your best assets.
Dark shade clothing
A universal rule with dark shades is that they have a slimming effect on the body. You can use this to your advantage to downplay your stomach bulge. This is a strategy that’s as old as time itself.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to wear all black clothes to make your body look slimmer. Instead, a better way to do this is to wear darker shades around the part of your body you would love to minimize.
In this case, that would be your tummy area. You can invest in a little black dress or wear darker tops that creates the perfect contrast with the rest of your body. With darker shade clothing, you have more freedom to style things according to your preferences. So, be sure to have fun with this.
Long flowy layering
Layering with cardigans and jackets can be to your advantage as this helps to create a balanced look. Your inner wear should be a fabric that drapes nicely around your body such as silk or chiffon styles.
So, for your hourglass body with a stomach, you can try on a flowy blouse with a fitted jacket. While the flowy style skims over your midsection and draws attention away from this area, the fitted jacket helps to streamline your look to create a better fit on your body.
You can also layer with long, flowy cardigan over a fitted top. This pleasant contrast also creates a balanced look that conceals your tummy bulge.
Statement necklaces
In all things, never forget to accessorize. You should definitely consider including statement necklaces in your outfits as these are great for minimizing the appearance of your tummy bulge.
The secret is in how they highlight the area above your tummy. This might be subtle but the impact is so great that there’s less focus on the size of your stomach.
Choose popping statement necklaces on a top with an open neckline and you’ll be sure to make this area the focal point of your body.
Statement necklaces are also great when you’re putting on darker shade clothing as they add a necessary splash of color and interest to your upper body. It’s also okay to wear statement earrings as well and these will do all the talking for you. These bold accessories are classy and effective.
