Fashion is all about expressing yourself. It may not be fun, but knowing the basics of accentuating your body type can help anyone emphasize their personal style.

One of the challenges facing men and women is learning how to dress for their specific body shape. 

Though not always a fun thing to investigate, measuring your body’s dimensions and accurately pairing it with your body shape can improve your wardrobe more than any new item of clothing ever could.

Ladies, Shop Your Shape has a great body type calculator on their website. Using a tape measure one can measure their bust, waist and hips. Make sure the tape measure is snug but not tight. Take those measurements and plug them into the calculator to find your body shape.

For examples, those who measure as a straight body type with similarly sized bust and hips and a slightly-smaller waist can emphasize their waist by dressing proportionately. 

Those who measure as a diamond shape can add curves to the upper body and lengthen the lower as a traditional balancing technique.

Square or scoop neck button downs, wrap dresses and clothing with an empire waist cut can create the illusion of a defined waist while balancing your figure.

Men traditionally use a different body shape classification system.

Those with lean and long bodies can wear horizontal stripes to add a sexy bulk to their frames.

Those with fuller frames can wear vertical lines and single tones to make a bold, confident fashion statement. 

Double breasted jackets fit well for this body type, and trim, slightly tapered pants can make their legs look fabulous. 

Every size is beautiful. Outfits that fit well can raise your confidence and make you feel just as flawless as you truly are. Once you have the fit down, you can move on to all the fun parts of fashion.