Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

How to Dress a Middle Figure Body Type (Apple)

Introducing Cardigan Empire the Movie.
First Starring Role: The Middle Figure


Thanks to Float Away Films for filming, editing, and making these beautiful films

How to measure: waist/hip and waist/bust ratio is greater than .75
Grab your spectacles and click your mouse to read more here.

click to supersize the image

ashley mischief my dear
kelly clarkson
nina, momma go round (read her story here)
melissa mccarthy

Nominate your favorite middle figured beauties in the comments.

Not
Middle Figure (Soft Tummy)

Try
Hourglass (Curvy)
Lower Figure (Full Hip, Bottom)
Upper Figure (Ample Bust)
Linear (Straight, Athletic)

Measure (Get Started)

Want a professional opinion?  Purchase your own body type consultation below:

Comments

  1. So glad you asked! I read an article about how women feel about their bodies after viewing fashion blogs, and when I learned that women feel more positive about their bodies when viewing pictures of normal women, I knew that I needed to re-calibrate my expectations. I have made a point since then of collecting RSS feeds of bloggers who have noteworthy style and curvaceous figures. My favorite apple-figured bloggers include the lesser-known but lovely Katha, http://kathastrophal.de; Stephanie Zwicky, http://www.leblogdebigbeauty.com; queen of artful color, Nita, of http://pashteit.blogspot.com/, the ever-classy Rebecca at http://theplussideofme.com; Meg at http://fatshion-daily.tumblr.com has adorable fashion sense (but a language warning for sensitive folks). Enjoy!

  2. Where did you find the clothes featured in the video?

  5. I LOVED this video. I can’t wait to watch them all 🙂 Thank you for this awesomeness!

  6. Catherine Zeta Jones. Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Hudson. Examples of Apple body shape.

  8. I’m a center according to your math, and I have a poochy belly.

    The one thing I’ve learned about dressing myself is to stay away from tops that hang from the bust. It draws attention TO the stomach, not away from it, with the excess fabric over the belly. The second thing I’ve learned is belts are my enemy. Like the waistbands of pants, they tend to slip up or slip down on my belly, and the last thing I want to draw attention to is a contrasting belt in the wrong place.

    The best tops for me are softly hourglass shaped and flare at the hips. A hip flare and some detail at the neck give the illusion of an hourglass and draw attention away from the belly. Also, the top should hang from the belly, not from the bust. It should be fitted from the neck down to the belly button, and then hang down (or flare out) from there, so that one does not see the belly curving back under the body. This creates an illusion of a deeper waist. I also much prefer bootleg or flared pants, rather than straight or tapered, because they balance the bulk on my upper body. Tapered pants are the worst because it emphasizes that my upper body has bulk that tapers away to nothing at my feet. I don’t want to draw attention to that!

    • Thanks for the feedback, always appreciate hearing real life experience from readers.

  9. Can I be both Middle and Lower? My ratios were:

    1.12
    1.27
    0.89
    0.79

    Am I doing this right?

    • I’d have to see your original measurements to double check the math, but in this case I would lean towards lower figure. Your w/h ratio is slightly off, but your hip/waist ratio is clearly in the range. This is why I do both, to help solve mysteries like this 😉

  10. Would you possibly be able to help me with my measurements? I am still confused on which body type I am… I tend to gain most of my weight around the belly and my bust….

    Shoulders: 47
    Bust: 49……. I wear a DDD bra size
    Waist: 44
    Hips: 52

    • Initially I would lean towards middle figure, but it’s hard to respond confidently without all the information. If you’re interested I’d love to help you with a virtual body type analysis. There’s a link to purchase at the bottom of this post, above the comments. Thanks for reading and commenting.