Inverted Triangle Body Type Styling Do’s & Don’ts
If you’re an inverted triangle body type (sometimes called a carrot shape), I’m sharing some styling do’s and don’ts. If you haven’t figured out what your body shape or type is, then I recommend watching, “5 Body Types | Which One Are You?” which goes through the five main body types to figure out which shape you are.
My suggestions here are for women who are an inverted triangle body type and who are struggling with feeling great in their clothes, or they’re not sure how to style their body shape. Hopefully, these tips can help you embrace your body and feel confident in what you wear as an inverted triangle body type.
The inverted triangle body type tends to be more athletic. They tend to build muscle easily, but they could be tall, short, or any size. The defining characteristics of an inverted triangle body type are a wider shoulder area with more narrow waists and hip areas. It’s not actually about your size but instead, an inverted triangle body type is about the proportion of those three areas: the shoulders, the waist, and the hips.
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How To Style An Inverted Triangle Body Shape | Video
Inverted Triangle Celebrities
Look 1: Amal Clooney
One of my favorite inverted triangle celebrities is Amal Clooney. In this look her inverted triangle shape is accentuated but it may not be in the way that she wants it. Her top has more of a structured shoulder and it comes out to make her look wider even though she’s already wider on top. Her hips are more narrow, so wearing jeans that are fitted on the bottom is great for someone who is wider on the bottom like a pear shape, but it doesn’t always work on someone who is more narrow on the bottom.
Look 2: Amal Clooney
In contrast to look 1, in this outfit she’s wearing a pink dress, and her waist is defined. This is great for most of the body types, but it is key for an inverted triangle shape. Even though she has structure in her shoulders from the top of the dress, her bottom has more fabric to make it proportionate to her shoulders.
There are pleats in the bottom half of her dress to make the width of her hips look wider than they are and appear proportionate to her shoulders. This is the body type I recommend looking for that extra fabric on the bottom like pleats or ruffles because it will make that area appear wider. For example, someone who is narrow in the hips will want more fabric in the hip area if they want to appear wider there.
Look 3: Amal Clooney
This is another beautiful example of her style done impeccably. This dress is perfect because she’s showing her legs. An inverted triangle type tends to have long, slim, toned arms and legs, so showing those off is a great way to style your look. In this dress it’s shorter, so she’s showing her legs and there’s a defined waist which is great. There’s also extra fabric on the bottom to give the illusion of a wider hip area.
Look 4: Amal Clooney
Another example of Amal really knowing how to dress her body shape is this sleeveless dress, making her appear more narrow on the top. When you’re showing skin in the shoulders you’re lengthening the arms which are already slender and slim in an inverted triangle shape. There’s no extra fabric in the shoulders. It’s narrow, and streamlined to make her look smaller in the shoulder area. She beautifully accentuates the waist and the dress comes out at the bottom, which for this body type is key. It makes the bottom half look wider than it is to balance the proportions.
Look 5: Amal Clooney
In this look, she’s showing her legs again. It’s sleeveless on the top, the waist is drawn in, and the lower half of the dress comes out. This is more of an a-line style dress and is great for this body type. That shape of the a-line has that extra fabric on the bottom, which is what you want to go for if you’re an inverted triangle shape.
Look 6: Amal Clooney
In this outfit she has her waist cinched and she’s showing her legs. The shorts here have pleats, so there’s more fabric. Again this is the body shape that I recommend to have more fabric on the bottom. If you’re pear-shaped, you’d want to skip extra fabric in the hip area because it will make you look wider. But if your hips are more narrow than your shoulders, you’d want that extra fabric there to make you look more proportionate.
Look 1: Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is another super stylish inverted triangle type. She has really figured out how to make her outfits work for her body shape. In this first look, you’ll see she’s wearing this dress with her waist drawn in which is key. You can see her shoulders because there’s no extra fabric on the shoulder area. It doesn’t make her look wider on top because it’s more streamlined and fitted on the top to make her look more narrow. The skirt of the dress is super flowy, so there’s a lot of fabric and because she’s more narrow on the bottom half, it works beautifully with her body shape.
Look 2: Angelina Jolie
Here she’s wearing pleated pants, and she looks amazing. If you’re in an inverted triangle shape, extra fabric on the hips generally works beautifully for your body. Again she’s accentuating her waist so she doesn’t have her top out and she’s bringing the waist in which is important in styling this body shape. Angelina keeps the waist defined and the pleats on the pants make her bottom half look wider to help proportion her body.
Look 3: Angelina Jolie
In this last look, she’s wearing something sleeveless and sleek on the top. It’s not making her shoulders look wider than they are and her top hits at the hips. With an inverted body shape who has a narrow hip area, it’s perfectly fine to have your tops hit at your hips because you want attention drawn there. You want that area to appear wider than it is. That’s why this works so great on her body type.
Look 1: Jennifer Garner
The next inverted body shape is Jennifer Garner. This look doesn’t work for her because, on the shoulder area, she has a little bit of a poof. There’s more structure and more fabric which widens that area. Although her waist is defined by her skirt, the skirt is long and straight so there’s no extra fabric. It makes her look more narrow, but bringing the skirt up to show her legs would help. If the skirt part of the dress had more fabric and was a little bit more billowy, this dress would work better for her. Or if it were sleeveless, or if instead of a poof sleeve, it was a fitted tailored sleeve then this would work.
Look 2: Jennifer Garner
For this look, she is wearing a more fitted top and it’s a dark color. Anytime you’re wearing dark colors, it will make that area look smaller. Prints and colors on the other hand tend to make an area look bigger than it is. For her body type, she wants her bottom half to look bigger so having a colorful print on the bottom of this billowy A-line style skirt works. Her waist is being accentuated, her top is darker and well-fitted so it’s not making her look wider on top.
Look 3: Jennifer Garner
In this next look, there are certain things that work for her body type. The waist is accentuated in this outfit and she’s also showing off her legs. This look would work better on a pear-shaped body though, because the bottom half is fitted. There’s also more fabric up top, making this area look wider. For an inverted body shape, you don’t want the top half to appear wider, instead, you want your bottom half to appear wider while still accentuating your waist.
Look 4: Jennifer Garner
For the next look in comparison, we’re not seeing her legs but it’s okay because there’s so much extra billowy fabric for the skirt. It’s this feminine soft detail that balances out the width of her shoulders while drawing in her waist. Again, since her top is soft there’s not as much structure. It’s a knit that lays softly on her body. It’s more flattering in my opinion for an inverted triangle shape. This balances her out and makes this look work for her body.
Sometimes an inverted triangle shape might feel more masculine. For women who want to feel more feminine, this can be a struggle. If you want to feel more feminine and you’re an inverted triangle shape, you want to look for those softer fabrics on top. You don’t want to accentuate the shoulders because it will make you look wider.
Look 5: Jennifer Garner
In this next photo of Jennifer Garner, you’ll see this striped t-shirt. Although it’s just a plain T-shirt it does make her look more masculine. It’s wider in the shoulder area, so while this top would look great on a pear shape that’s more narrow in the shoulders, someone who has wider shoulders like Jennifer Garner may want something softer on top.
Look 6: Jennifer Garner
Same thing in this photo. There’s more fabric on the top and here I wish she tucked in her shirt and did a French Tuck because it would define her waist and make her look more proportionate. Again if you have this body shape and you want to appear more proportionate, avoid extra fabric on the shoulders and instead look for extra fabric on the hips.
Look 7: Jennifer Garner
Here she’s wearing a simple top with a pair of jeans but it works. She’s done that French tuck so her waist is accentuated, her t-shirt on the sleeve area is soft and there’s not as much structure. It falls naturally on her body and this style of jeans is more flattering because they’re a bit wider.
The jeans come in at the waist and they come out a bit wider which is more of a straight-leg jean and works great on this body type. A skinny pair of jeans will work great for a pear-shaped but for an inverted triangle shape it makes you look more narrow than you are. If you’re trying to look less narrow on the bottom, then something like this wide-leg jean that still brings the waist in is going to be the most flattering.
Look 8: Jennifer Garner
For this look, she’s wearing something softer on the top so it just gives a natural shape to the shoulders. It doesn’t make her look wide and her waist is still defined just by the natural drawing in of the sweater. She’s wearing a circle skirt which has that extra fabric and looks great because it balances out her shoulders. You can see her legs below the skirt which helps elongate the body and gives a feminine feel.
Look 9: Jennifer Garner
This outfit works for her because her waist is accentuated, the bottom half of the dress has a lot of extra fabric, and it flows more. This dress works to widen her hips, but her top is fitted to her body.
Look 1: Charlize Theron
The next celebrity with an inverted triangle shape is Charlize Theron. Here you’ll see her wearing a very structured blazer giving her a much more masculine look. While for some body shapes a structured blazer would work beautifully, for this shape it does make her look more masculine. If you are an inverted triangle with a personal style that’s more androgynous you may want more structure like a blazer to fit with your style.
Look 2: Charlize Theron
However, if you want to appear more feminine, I recommend wearing something softer like in this look where instead of a blazer she has a cardigan. It’s still fitted to her body, but it softens her shoulders and makes everything look more proportional.
Look 3: Charlize Theron
In this next look, she’s wearing this oversized denim boxy jacket. That extra fabric from the jacket on top makes her look wider. She’s wearing a dress or skirt underneath, and the bottom half comes above the knee to show her legs. Since there is more fabric from the oversized denim jacket, it isn’t a very flattering look.
Look 4: Charlize Theron
This next look is such a great look for an inverted triangle shape. Her top is made of a silk-like fabric so it lays beautifully on the body. It’s fitted and tailored to her body so there’s no extra fabric. There’s not a ton of structure, but her waist is drawn in and her pants are wider. For this body shape a wider leg pant or a straight leg jean works beautifully. That extra fabric on the bottom helps balance the width of the shoulders.
Looks 5: Charlize Theron
Here are two of my favorite Charlize Theron red carpet looks that work beautifully with her body shape. This first one is this red dress because it’s sleeveless, fitted on top, it also doesn’t make her shoulders look wider than they are, and it draws in her waist. Even though it’s fitted in the hip area, the skirt turns into a mermaid skirt so there’s extra fabric on the bottom. The skirt balances the width of her shoulders and she looks impeccable. This is a great dress style if you are someone with an inverted triangle body shape.
Look 6: Charlize Theron
Although this dress is different from the more fitted red dress above, this one also works well for an inverted triangle shape. It’s sleeveless, so you’re seeing her long slender arms. There’s no extra fabric in the shoulder area, there’s no structure on top; it’s a softer fabric, but her waist is still being drawn in. Charlize also has that poof detail on the hip area to help make her hips appear wider. Again this balances out her proportions and works beautifully for her.
Look 1: Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is another famous inverted triangle shape. In this look, there’s so much structure to her blazer that it’s adding more width to her shoulder area. Everything else is straight and streamlined, so the waist and pants are drawn in. While this look would be great for someone who’s wider in the hip area (such as a pear-shaped body type), for someone who’s an inverted triangle, it accentuates the width of the shoulders and the narrowness of the hip area. This look would have worked if the pants were wider while still accentuating the waist, and if the blazer was softer like a knit.
Look 2: Naomi Campbell
In this last look for Naomi Campbell, this outfit works for her. It’s a sleeveless dress where you can see her shoulders. The dress is more fitted in the top area, the waist is drawn in, and there’s more fabric in the hips to give the illusion of wider hips. The dress also comes above the knee which also works great for this body shape.
If you’re an inverted triangle shape and you struggle with finding clothes that you feel great in, think about looking for clothes that add curves to your bottom half while softening your shoulder area. In the bottom half consider something with more fabric like pleats, ruffles, more of a billowy bottom, or wider-leg pants. Accentuate your waist and for tops try to avoid pieces with more structure. Avoid more fabric, ruffles, or anything that’s going to accentuate the shoulder area. A lot of times it’s simple tops that work best with this body type.
How To Style An Inverted Triangle Body Shape | Video
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