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As a personal stylist I’m always learning and I love sharing my newly discovered tips and knowledge with my readers.  So when I was approached by fantastic local photographer Andrew Jackson to come up with some styling hints and tips to feature on his blog and help his clients look their best for their Viva Boudoir portrait shoot, I couldn’t say no!

It's essential you wear the right underwear everyday as it ensures your clothes fit correctly, and are the most flattering they can be.  But when you’re being photographed in your underwear it’s even, more important that you look and feel you best!

Here's part one of a three part feature I pulled together for Andrews’s blog, to help his clients find the perfect underwear, best fit and most flattering style for their portrait shoot. 

Part 1

Choosing the right underwear.

Thanks to the likes of Gok and Trinny and Susannah, I’m sure you’ve all heard about dressing to suit your shape, and some of you will know how to do this, but if you’re not wearing the right underwear it all goes to waste.  You’re underwear forms the foundations of your outfit.  If you don’t get it right, your clothes will be ill fitting and unflattering.

Before you can start to address what underwear you should be wearing, you need to undress and take an honest look at your figure.  Don’t use this as an opportunity to point out all the parts of your body that you’re unhappy with, instead (and it’s not as hard as you might think) put on a more positive hat and acknowledge your best bits.  For example, you might have a great waist, or fabulous legs. 

Next, look at your proportions.  Are your shoulders narrower than your hips?  Do you have a long body or long legs?  What do you need to do to balance out your proportions and create the perfect hourglass shape?  Once you’re armed with this information, you can start to make an informed decision about what underwear is not only going to give you the support you need, but be flattering too.

I’ll be discussing what underwear is best suited to which shape in part 3, but for now here are some hints to help you determine your shape

Neat column shapeColumn figures are fairly straight up and down.  Shoulders are in proportion to the hips and they generally have a small bust.

Curvaceous hourglass shape Hourglass figures are curvaceous with a generous sized bust.  Shoulders are in proportion to the hips and they generally have a small waist.

Broad apple shape Apple shapes are broader on the top half than the bottom half.  The waist is less defined and they generally have fabulous legs.

Curvaceous Pear shape Pear shapes are smaller on the top half than the bottom half.  They will have a small bust and a tiny waist.

In Part 2, we’ll take this information and start to talk about the best fit and how to achieve it