The inverted triangle body shape is known for its broad and prominent shoulders, as well as slim and well-toned legs. If you are an inverted triangle-shaped lady, these are undeniably two of your best features that you should always accentuate!
But of course, just like any other body shape, the inverted triangle body shape isn’t without its flaws and minor imperfections. Along with your broad shoulders come less prominent narrow hips and very little waist definition, exactly as how you picture an inverted triangle shape to be!
Fret not, because the world of fashion has so many things to offer for you to achieve a more balanced silhouette and effortlessly work around your areas of concern. There are a few dressing rules you need to go by in order to get the best out of your inverted triangle body shape!
Wear deep necklines
Inverted triangle body shapes typically have a prominent and modelesque upper half thanks to their broad shoulders and beautiful, athletic decolletage. The size of your breasts can vary from small to big, but regardless of their size, they sit quite pleasingly on your well-defined upper body.
With these features mentioned, you definitely have to show them off and flaunt these great features of yours with superb confidence! Deep necklines can significantly help you with this by drawing attention to your decolletage and evenly distributing your visual strengths all throughout your figure.
They shift the focus from your lack of waist and hip definition while also slightly toning down the broadness of your shoulders to achieve a more balanced look. Deep or plunging necklines open up an abundant portion of space on your upper half to expose more skin and give your frame a leaner and more elongated appearance.
Wear asymmetrical necklines
The concept of asymmetrical necklines follows the styling goal of opening up space on your upper half to showcase your broad shoulders and sexy decolletage. Asymmetrical necklines like one-shoulder styles help neutralize the attention that your broad shoulders get by spreading the attention all throughout your neckline.
This visual distraction is also very beneficial when it comes to steering the gaze away from your less prominent areas such as your undefined waistline and narrow hips. If you want to spice things up a bit, you can also opt for asymmetrical necklines with statement details such as a bow or a subtle flounce of ruffle.
In addition to this, asymmetrical necklines break up the straight horizontal line that makes your relatively wider shoulder line overwhelming. This way, the obvious size difference between your shoulders and hips won’t be the focal point of your overall figure.
Wear peplum silhouettes
Inverted triangle body shapes tend to have a more athletic figure, which can sometimes lean towards a more masculine silhouette. Not that it’s a bad thing at all! But if you’d like to incorporate a touch of femininity into your outfit by going for dainty details, a peplum silhouette would look amazing on your inverted triangle shape.
The peplum silhouette in tops and dresses is characterized by a neat horizontal seam that sits right at the waistline, creating a distinct curve that separates your upper and lower body. This waist definition gets further enhanced by the flared overskirt attached to the seam because of the subtle volume boost it gives to your hips.
This flared fabric can do so much for your narrow hips to give your body a more balanced silhouette. By adding just the right amount of volume to your hips, your broad shoulders and hips will look more proportionate in an instant.
Go for raglan sleeves
Raglan sleeves feature a diagonal seam that runs from the underarm to the collarbone and this structure visually softens your prominent shoulder line. This will tone down the broadness of your shoulders in order to look more balanced and pleasingly symmetrical with the rest of your features.
Since your hips are narrower and less pronounced, they can be easily overpowered by the strong appearance of your broad shoulders. But by wearing tops with raglan sleeves, you can easily solve this without totally concealing the beauty and broadness of your shoulders.
Most inverted triangle body shapes have slim and very toned arms and with how raglan sleeves are constructed, you can still subtly show off the beautiful shape of your arms while still getting enough coverage. When choosing wardrobe pieces with raglan sleeves, just be mindful of the fit and try to stay away from those with a slouchy structure.
Wear wide lapel collars
Wide lapel collars on jackets and coats are not just edgy and stylish but are also very beneficial when it comes to balancing an inverted triangle body figure. Wide lapels fully extend from the neckline to the shoulder, which efficiently streamlines the shoulders without making it look wider.
This is a great option if you’re looking for details that can accentuate your broad shoulders without making it too overpowering for your narrower lower body. The width of the lapels can visually align the upper body with your hips, minimizing the emphasis on the fact that the width difference between your shoulders and hips is quite substantial.
Wide lapels go very well with long coats because the entire length of the coat’s silhouette adds structure and definition to your inverted triangle frame. This results in a bespoke-like fit and polished overall appearance.
Wear long coats
Yes, you guessed it right! Now that we have briefly discussed how wide lapels are great for your figure, let’s talk about how having them on long coats can enhance your modelesque figure even further!
Long coats seamlessly create the illusion of length by drawing invisible vertical lines that allow the eyes to look up and down without disruption. This optical illusion can effectively balance your proportions by making the width difference between your broad shoulders and narrow hips less noticeable.
Long coats also typically end at knee-level or slightly longer, and this length perfectly creates a sense of verticality that can also elongate your figure. As the coat skims through your lower body (way past your hips), the structure of the coat can significantly add volume to your less pronounced lower body.
Opt for Dark-colored Tops
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’re only limited to wearing dark colors for your tops. However, if you are keen on toning down your top-heavy figure, one of the easiest and most effective ways to visually slim your figure down is to wear dark colors.
Wearing dark-colored tops can help neutralize the broadness of your shoulders by absorbing light and canceling out shadows that contribute to your visual weight. To make this styling trick more effective, pair them with lighter bottoms and neutral-colored outerwear.
Wear fit and flare dresses
The silhouette of fit and flare dresses can be particularly flattering for women with inverted triangle figures due to their fitted bodice, waist cinch, and flared skirt. These three key features perfectly emphasize your body’s biggest strengths while also subtly downplaying your problematic areas.
The form-fitting top gives your prominent upper body a decent amount of attention that’s neutralized by the dress’ cinched waist. The gentle flare of the skirt that widens out towards the hem also helps add more volume to your narrow hips and flat rear for a beautifully proportioned silhouette.
This universally flattering dress silhouette is definitely a foolproof style option if you’re looking into bringing better balance to your figure while still maintaining an emphasis on your best features. You can also have your fit and flare dress in shorter lengths to showcase your gorgeous, well-toned legs!
Avoid tight-fitting bottoms
You have highly coveted slim and toned legs, so it’s quite understandable if you want to wear something tight to showcase their shape. However, tight-fitting bottoms should be something that you have to be careful with because they can further accentuate the stark contrast between your broader upper half and narrower bottom half.
Bottoms such as jeans or pants that cling too close to your legs have the tendency to exaggerate their slimness in a way that your broader upper body will overpower your entire figure. This effect will negatively influence your visual balance and may also draw attention to areas you actually want to conceal.
So instead of highlighting your beautiful legs through tight-fitting bottoms, just go for pants or jeans that offer more structure and slight volume. Some style examples are bootcut, wide-leg, or flared bottoms.
Avoid wide necklines
Unfortunately, wide necklines are not your inverted triangle body shape’s friend. I know how they can be very elegant-looking at times like off-the-shoulder and Sabrina necklines, but these wide necklines will only intensify the broadness of your shoulders and drown out your less prominent features.
Wide necklines draw a straight horizontal line that runs through where your shoulder line is, and this will instantly result in making your shoulder way broader than they already are. This will eliminate the opportunity for your other features to stand out such as your bust, waist, hips, and legs.
Its broad neckline can also divert attention away from your waistline (which is in great need of additional definition!), as it makes your broad shoulders the sole focal point of your entire frame. Yes, your broad shoulders are very much deserving of the spotlight, but to have all the attention on them will only bring your figure into a highly unflattering imbalance.
So instead of wide necklines, look for those that draw the eyes vertically and also more open, such as V-necklines, scoop necklines, or plunging necklines. These types of necklines will bring attention to your decolletage instead of just your shoulders.
Avoid padded jackets
Having an inverted triangle body shape means that you already have broad and prominent shoulders, so there’s absolutely no need to reinforce them at all! Padded jackets do exactly that by adding a significant amount of width and volume to your already broad shoulders.
Padded jackets will only make your shoulders look wider, and as a result, your undefined waist, narrow hips, and slim legs will all instantly get overshadowed by the bulk you have on your upper body. This will further intensify your top-heavy figure, making you look even more unbalanced.
As a style alternative to the warmth and insulation padded jackets give, you can instead go for structured coats made from thicker fabrics. You can also experiment with your layers as long as you strategically work around the specific designs and cuts of your clothing pieces.
Avoid voluminous details on your upper body
Voluminous ruffles, bulky buttons, and edgy epaulets – all of these are pretty stylish and it won’t be surprising if you’ll be drawn into getting some clothes with these details for yourself! However, if they are placed on the areas of your upper body that you’re supposed to downplay, then it may only make your top-heavy figure look more disproportionate.
Voluminous details on your shoulder line, neckline, or sleeves, can exaggerate the prominence of your upper body and therefore fully cancel out the attention on your lower body. In addition to this, these types of voluminous details can significantly add unnecessary bulk and disrupt your overall visual balance.
So to keep things neat-looking and well-balanced, opt for minimal details specifically on your shoulder line and sleeves. If you really want to add interesting details to your ensembles, have them strategically placed on areas that need more attention, such as your hips, buttocks, undefined waist, and thighs.
