How to Dress For Your Body Type | The Body Matrix QUIZ

Dressing for your body type can be really confusing, which is why I have created this body matrix quiz. Over the past few years I have been working with women to dress for their figure, and through this process have developed this framework for dressing for your type. Dressing for your body type is as simple as width, length and shape and finding where you fall on the scale is the easiest way to flatter your figure.

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ABOUT ME:
🎀 My name is Ellie-Jean, a style analyst and content creator from Norfolk, UK. I make videos that make style systems easy, in order to help you curate a personalised AND flattering wardrobe.

⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 what is the body matrix
0:30 three core body elements
0:49 the body matrix
1:12 the body matrix quiz/table
2:18 the line drawing exercise
2:40 the 27 body types
3:01 how to dress of your body matrix type
3:59 example: wide + long + round
4:40 example: wide + short + straight
5:07 what makes the body matrix different
6:09 does your body type change with weight?
6:58 want my help?
7:20 the new style scholars community

SUBS 340,482

#BODYANDSTYLE #ELLIEJEAN #thebodymatrix #bodytypes

[hannahmaybury]

Wow Ellie, this is genuinely so helpful! I am that 5"8, curvy girl who has spent more time than I would like to admit agonising about whether I am Soft Dramatic or Flamboyant Natural. I feel so seen! Reframing my body type as Wide, Long and Curvy takes away all of the confusion - straightforward, simple and easy to implement. Thank you!

[ElliiiBlabla]

I like that you included that the shape CAN change when one looses or gains weight! I think it's very true and in the kibbe system it causes confusion.

[calliope]

I'm such a big fan of women like you coming up with practical, mathematical systems that we can use when we get sick of the illusive, breaks-his-own-rues, avoids-fat-women, male-gaze one.

[TinaB.-frhl]

You should patent this system because it makes perfect sense. It reminds me of the way David Zyla uses the natural colours that show up in our skin/eyes/hair to find our most flattering colours. It makes sense that we'd look to the lines of our bodies to find the perfect shapes! There's a book by Nancy Nix-Rice called Looking good everyday that touches a bit on this concept of matching body lines in our clothing, but with your attention to detail and creative imagination, you could flesh out the 27 possible combinations with tips on best items to dress them. This is an exciting concept and has so much potential. Great job!👍

[beatrizandreaortizfernande]

Girl, you have cracked the system! This is, at least for me, the most useful body typing system I have ever encountered! Incredible! Patent it! I am mind blown right now 🤯

[elizabethgaldamez]

I wish a system would mention side-view of body shapes as well… some people have a lot of roundness that isn’t visible from a perfectly straight straight angle in front of them

[halez]

Oh I am the 'wide, long, round' woman who is never sure if I am soft dramatic or flamboyant natural 😂. Love this, thankyou ❤

[teodorasavova]

Please make combinations with medium, I love your concept it seems to make a lot of sense, so far I figured out I may be narrow, medium and rounded.

[HarmonyLotus]

This is much simpler than the Kibbe body types. I am definitely short and round, but I have some parts of me that are wide and others narrow. I realise now why I look my best when I mix up both wide and narrow lines, especially when adding accessories and jewellery.

[kelliehorn]

This is so much simpler, more user-friendly, and more inclusive than Kibbe! I love it! Nicely done, Ellie Jean!

[philippalincoln]

This is actually the best body typing system I have come across, you must have had a flash of genius! I don’t fit any of the Kibbe body types and actively dislike that system. I knew immediately that I am short, narrow and curvy after years of trying wide silhouettes, chunky jewellery etc and always discarding them. It’s incredibly easy to remember and the bonus is there is still plenty of room to experiment with colours and styles within the general guidelines 🎉😊

[katherineandini]

I can see this system working for men too! Especially when deciding the cut of shirts & jeans 🙂 Probably even suit!

[EmL-kggn]

I really like how this lets you see the overall picture but also identify areas that might be an exception, for example someone might mostly be short but have a long torso they need to account for. Or be mostly narrow but have width in the shoulders that they might want to accommodate with their necklines. I feel very confused about what I am (other than round) but I think that’s mostly because of residual confusion caused by other systems and the difficulties of viewing myself objectively

[RexytheRexy]

The technique of taking a photo and breaking up the body helped SO much.
The way I perceived myself was wide, long, round - after taking a photo and outlining/circling, I turned out to be narrow/long/straight. Huge surprise.

It looks like I'm a 5'8" Kibbe Dramatic with some roundness in the hips and a smallish waist, but straight and narrow everywhere else.
My first clue should have been the fact that I dress like a Dramatic (with some flowy fabric here and there, but in classic Dramatic cuts), and get lots of compliments on it. This system you've come up with accounts for the natural variation in every body, and provides really good tips for accenting those features.
Seriously. Thank you.

[SatipatthanaSakuraDragona]

You're definitely onto something with this conception. When I learned about Kibbe, I went to stores, tried on a lot of random stuff, took pictures, then compared those pictures until I found the things that consistently worked or didn't work. It doesn't seem to mesh with any type from Kibbe's system. I need structured/tailored pieces, closely fitted, with stiffer fabric. That sounds like a dramatic, but I'm short and definitely have petite. I also seem to have some vertical. That would indicate FG, but prints and contrasting an oversized top versus bottom (or vis versa) does not look good on me, which is kind of the whole point of FG dressing. But dramatic and DC lines are too long for me (I start to resemble one of those inflatable floppy balloon stick figures and/or I look like a kid playing dress up in grown up clothes) and color blocking works well on me. I've been thinking of myself more as a petite dramatic (like some other FG women in the same boat).

My one criticism I'd have with your conception is that I think my issue is that my petite comes from my top half and my slight vertical comes from my bottom half. Adult hats, collars, lapels, and sleeve lengths are too big for me and generate that kid in grown up clothes look. On the other hand, I have a lot elongation in my rise, so I need a rise of 11" for jeans to hit me at my belly button (mid-rise). I'm 5' 3.5". That's... extreme. At the same time, my hips are so straight (upper and lower hip are the same measurement), so that also generates the teenagery/childish look to my frame, especially when paired with shorter arms. I look great in shorter shorts, but cropped jeans or trousers are not great on me. I've been looking at my FG contrast as cropped up top (short) paired with longer lengths below (long). As someone with Mountain - Mushroom - Stone roots, one of my most casual and relaxed looks is a cropped sleeveless stiff/thick t-shirt (short) paired with a thick pencil skirt (with a bit of stretch) that hits me around knee length (long) and narrow tennis shoes (like vans or adidas sambas). I've also found shirt dresses that are above the knee make my torso look very wide and my arms and legs look stick-like. But if I go for a maxi length shirt dress (long) and the waist and sleeve length hits me properly (short), gravity pulls down the fabric to fit me narrowly. So I'm cropped at the top half and have length in the lower half. It's just something I'm finding that consistently solves problems because it's just a function my how my frame is put together. Things look better when I mirror short up top and long below and narrow all over in my outfits.

I'm not sure how your system accounts for needing both, short and long, in different parts of your silhouette. It's something to think about because I think a lot of shorter women struggle with this, and I don't think it's as simple as "choose one". Choosing one would not work for me. I need to honor both.

[PunkRockerFairy]

I wish you would also talk about what to do of you are medium in these categories

[TiffanyandMor]

Kinda don’t understand the length column for some of the body parts. Can you explain how length would correspond to the hips, chest, and shoulders?

[ngaiosbrain]

I reached this same conclusion six months ago when I couldn't work out SN or SG! I realised I could take from each as long as my words were "short, wide, wobbly"

[robynmc]

So excited to try this out! Seems so much more straightforward and customisable compared to other systems.

[dawgcatcha]

ELLIE JEAN GURL ! Youre killin it out here. Leaving the style world way better than when you found it. I will buy your book one day!!!