The Shape I'm In

This weekend, a friend and I went to a class at the local adult learning center to learn how to "dress our shape."  This consisted of the not-totally-humiliating experience of sharing our measurements in front of complete strangers to assess our shape:  pear, oval, straight, inverted triangle.  It was so much fun and I'm so glad that I did it.  Here are two interesting take-aways from the educator I'd like to share:

1. She recommended that you find a colorful scarf that you like and use that as a color pallette.  The designer has already done the work of finding the right shades that work with each other. All I have to do is find pieces that match and play with the dominant color.  If it is a mostly red scarf with some white and blue, for example, my look will be different if I pair that with a mostly red outfit versus a mostly blue outfit.
2. Find celebrities with your similar shape and model their styles.  (This is different from finding a celebrity whose style you like.)  I share a shape with the likes of Rihanna, Beyonce, and Kiera Knightley, the pear shape.  To balance our heavy bottoms, pear shapes are supposed to decorate our necks and shoulders.  The teacher recommended looking to how the celebrities (or, more specifically, their stylists!) manage these same challenges to get ideas.