Did you just find out your silhouette and want to find the Perfect Trousers for your Apple Body Shape? Well, today is your lucky day because I want to share with you all the tips and tricks to choose the best pair of pants! Before we start I want to say that this is not a precise science.
I’ll share with you the most flattering trousers for your shape based on the “standards” and I’ll also attach some drawings so you can make the final decision about what you like the most! We’re all unique, so follow your uniqueness.
Apple Body shape
The Apple body shape is defined by the width of the hips being similar to the width of your shoulders. There is not much definition around the waist and the apples are normally top heavy (with wider back or bigger bust).
To find the Perfect Trousers for your Apple Body Shape, is by balancing the heavy top and adding definition around the waist. Your trousers should do the following:
- Giving the illusion that you waist is narrower than it actually is
- Take attention away from your waist
- Balance the top by adding volume to the leg-lines
Having said that, don’t forget about body proportions, they will also play a big role in finding the best fitting trousers, in this case you might have a shorter torso because of the little waist definition. Let’s look into the perfect trousers for the apple body shape.
Trousers Anatomy
Before we start, let’s look into some theory. I divided the trousers into 6 parts, and combined you can make a million designs:
- Foundation: The foundation is defined by the crotch level and will have minor effect on changing your body shape.
- Waistline: The Waistline will help balance your body proportions and in most cases, give you more or less comfort.
- Length: Changing the length of the trousers can be either seasonal, or related to your body proportions.
- Leg-lines: The Leg-lines will help change your body figure and add volume where needed.
- Details: The details, if chosen right, can help draw attention to certain areas of your body and change the perception of it.
- Fabrics and colours: The last two characteristics will help balance the design. They can soften and slimmer your curves.
Now, let’s look into all these parts separately and see how they can change your body shape/proportions.
Apple Shape – Foundations
The foundation refers to the top part of your trouser pattern. It defines how much ease and comfort there is around your crotch and upper thigh and will also have an effect on how wide the leg-lines can be. There are four trouser Foundations: the Culottes, the Trousers, the Slacks and the Jeans.
The Culottes will have the most amount of ease and the jeans the least amount. These foundations are drawn for woven fabrics (no elasticity) but you can modify them to create a foundation for elastic fabrics. The elastic foundation is perfect for activewear and sportswear.
As I said before, the foundations are about comfort and will have very little effect on your body shape, so I will not explain them in this article. For more information on what they are and how to draft them, go here.
Apple Shape – Waistbands
Let’s talk about waistbands. They are the “magic” part of the trousers that will tell our eyes where the waist is, this means they will mainly have an effect on our body proportions. A side from the proportions, they can be important for the body shape and comfort.
In theory, there’re 3 main waistlines: the high waisted, the mid-rise and the low waisted.
The theory says that as an apple, you should lean towards mid to low-rise waistlines to make your top less heavy. In my opinion, the waistband normally has more to do with body proportions and in this case, for me, I actually prefer the high rise waistline.
- High waisted trousers: It should sit under your bust although back in the day “high waisted” meant the trousers were sitting on your natural waistline. This waistband will shorten your torso and elongate your legs. Play around with the trouser length to find the right balance.
- Mid-rise trousers: This waistline should sit on the natural waist and if you have a proportionate body, this is your best option.
- Low waisted trousers: You can make this waistband as low as you want but the theory says it’s 5cm below the waist. This option will do the opposite than the high-waisted and also will draw attention to your hips.
There’s some information out there saying that the apple shape should lean towards wide waistbands. I think the width of the waistband has more to do with balancing the outfit than changing the body shape.
Apple Shape – Leg-lines
The leg-lines will play the biggest role in finding the Perfect Trousers for your Apple Body Shape. They will help add or remove volume when needed, so let’s see what the best options are for your figure.
There’s 6 main leg-lines: the slim, the tapered, the straight, the boot cut, the bell bottoms and finally the wide legs.
- Slim: The leg-line follows the silhouette of your legs
- Tapered: It’s wide at the hips and tight at the ankle
- Straight: Falls down from your hips or your knees
- Boot cut: Flares from below your knee
- Bell bottoms: Flares from above or at your knees
- Wide legs: Flare from your waistband
As an apple, you want to add volume to the lower part of your body without emphasising the hips. To do that, try to avoid slim fitting or tapered trousers, they will make you look unbalanced. The best fitting trousers for your body type are the ones that add volume to the lower body, like the boot cut or the bell bottoms. The straight and wide legs might make you look boxy and undefined.
If I look at the image, I have to agree with the “theory” this time. Remember to pick the silhouette you like the most!
Apple Shape – Length
The next trouser characteristic is the length of your trousers. You can change it because of the time of the year, or it can also help balance out your body proportions.
There are a couple of lengths that have a name (see image) but you can always make them as long or short as you want. Now let’s see how to change your body proportions:
- Short: By shortening the trousers you’re also shortening your leg appearance. You can use that if for example you have a shorter torso or if you chose a high waisted waistline.
- Long: If you make the trousers longer, you’re also lengthening your legs. This is useful if your torso is long or if your legs are short.
I know it sounds very obvious but just think about balancing your proportions! Play around with volume and length and see what you like the most.
Apple Shape – Details
The next chapter is about design details that can be added to draw attention. This part of the trousers will have some effect on changing your body shape and they’ll help make you look cool!
Some of the design details out there are: pockets, pleats, turn ups, and distress.
Something I haven’t said is that the apple body shapes are normally known to have a rounder belly (which I think happens for all body types). If this is the case, things like the fly, pleats or big pockets might make the area around your belly too voluminous.
If you have a flatter stomach, the details will help you emphasise the lower part of your body to look a bit more balanced. You probably already know how you feel about details, for example, do you normally stay away from pleats? Then trust your judgment!
Apple Shape – Fabric and Colours
The last thing we’re going to talk about today are fabrics and colours. These two characteristics will help soften your shape and balance the look.
When talking about fabrics, you can choose light weight or heavy weight (and in between). The lighter fabrics will soften your shape and are a great option for apple body shapes. The heavier fabrics will sharpen your figure.
For colours, they will help draw more or less attention to your lower body. Light colours make you look bigger and darker colours slim your figure. Can you see that illusion in the image?
Use these two things to balance the final look. If you want more volume, then darker colours will make them look narrower. If you want a slim leg-line, you can balance it out by choosing a lighter colour.
In your case, dark colours always work better than light ones because they hide the width of your hips and make your waist look narrower.
Choose your Trousers
And with all this information you’re ready to chose the Perfect Trousers for your Apple Body Shape. If you don’t know where to start, here you have a matrix with all the pants that have a name (you can make any combination, of course). On the horizontal line you have the leg-lines and the vertical line shows you the foundations.
Now it’s time to get crazy! Combine foundations, leg-lines, fabrics, add details or change the colours! You can make any trouser design you want.