Last week I was invited to Westfield London for a few hours of shopping (hence the oh-so candid shots of me browsing French Connection’s latest offerings above). They’d got on board five UK bloggers with different body shapes to challenge us to pick out one key item that suited our figures, and in the meantime share tips about dressing for your body shape. I have to admit, I don’t really think specifically about body shape as such when I buy clothes, but I think that’s because at 22 I now have a pretty good idea about what cuts and shapes suit me, so I just naturally gravitate towards those.

I’d say I have a sort of elongated and squashed hourglass shape with a little pear thrown in there … if that makes sense! My shoulders and hips are both wide, and I have a little waist in between and slightly larger thighs and bum than the rest of me, which means I’m always balancing between two sizes. Gorgeous blogger Mademoiselle Robot, who was shopping with me on the night, told me that I have one of those body shapes that pretty much suits anything. While that was very sweet of her, I don’t quite believe it and there are things I like to wear to accentuate different parts of my body. For example, I love wearing skinny trousers, tiny shorts and high-waisted skirts as they draw attention to my legs and waist. However, one big problem I have with my body-shape is that I’m always conscious of erring on the small side. I’m naturally this shape (I think it’s my mum’s Chinese genes, she’s really tiny) but I do sometimes feel a bit conscious of it, so I like to fill myself out a bit with oversized tops. I tend to buy tees and jumpers one or two sizes larger than I am, as I like the boxy shape they give and they help hide the fact that I have really long, skinny monkey-arms.

So with this in mind, the key piece I picked out at Westfield was this really cute pair of culotte shorts. They’re perfect if you want to accentuate a small waist whilst also toning down the size of your hips, and I love how they look like a skirt from the front but are actually shorts, as it means you can show off maximum leg without being worried that maximum bum is showing too! In the photos below, I’ve styled the culottes with a sweatshirt from The Orphan’s Arms and long black socks (mainly because it was freezing out), but there’s loads of ways to wear a piece like this. It’d be great for work with a shirt tucked in and black tights.

jacket: Hollister, sweatshirt: The Orphan’s Arms, culottes: Zara (c/o Westfield London), socks: Topshop, Shoes: Topshop 

Here’s a link to Westfield’s feature – they’ve rounded up each blogger’s posts, so you can see tips and ideas on how to dress for other body shapes. If you haven’t been shopping there I’d definietly recommend a trip. Not only is parking for the first couple of hours just £2.50 (that’s cheaper than my home town!) it’s a gorgeous place – really bright and airy, and with an awesome set of shops.

I’d love to hear from you all as to whether you think dressing for your body shape is important and how you do it.