Have you ever fallen prey to the beautiful pattern cover photo, only to find that you look ridiculous in that style? I wish I could say that's never happened to me. I wish I could say that hasn't happened to me recently. But it happens more than any of us want to admit.

Some of us are better at knowing what looks good on us than others. Part of that is life experience. But, some of it is just intuition or a better understanding of balance. I suck at all that stuff.

And worse, my favorite bloggers to follow look nothing like me! For example, I love reading Rebel and Malice. Her edgy style is just fun to read about. But, she's definitely more pear shaped and I'll never get there, even in my wildest dreams. So she may look super cute, while my top heavy self may just look unbalanced.

So, what's a seamstress to do? Definitely read the bloggers you love. Because they deserve your love and may inspire you in ways you hadn't considered. But, if you're trying to decide if a style will look good on you, look to a blogger that actually looks similar to your body type.

Step 1- Determine your body shape. The image below should be a good place to start. Chances are you won't find your exact body double, but having a few similar is a great place to start looking.

Image from Shoe Krave

Step 2- Look to see which designers they favor. Most often, seamstresses stick with those designers that get them the right fit with the fewest number of adjustments.

Step 3- Consider style lines. If your body double tends towards certain necklines it may be personal preference, but it very likely could also be that they find that shape flattering on their body. If they only wear short skirts (or maxis or knee length, etc) then they may have found a perfect spot for their golden ratio.

You obviously don't have to absolutely mimic what they do, but its a good place to start when considering your style.

Now to the good part. I've got a very detailed spreadsheet for you. You can sort by, "Petite, Average, Tall" OR the 7 body types above. There are links to each bloggers' blog so you can look and see if they're a shape that is similar to you. And of course, be sure to check back in with them often for inspiration. I'm sure you'll notice that there are 2 slots for body shape. You'll notice many bloggers don't fit exactly into one shape <raises hand>, so they are a good in between shape to consider.

Blogger Body Shapes

On to the details for me. I am 5'1" (petite) and my current measurements are 39 bust, 31 waist, 39 hips. Depending on the calculator that is either Neat Hourglass OR Rectangle. That is a HUGE change from my inverted triangle body shape from last year. I will say, I mentally lean more towards Neat Hourglass because of my large bust (it seems too large and shapely to be a rectangle) but feel my lower half definitely leans more towards rectangle.

Am I your body double? If so, don't forget to follow my facebook page and or blog, so you can stay inspired. If I'm not, check out any one of the super creative bloggers I have listed in the spreadsheet.