Best Brands for Apple Shapes – Women Over 40, 50, 60

• By Tina-Boomerina+
• Clothing Over 40 Fashion Travel Wear
• 2 years ago
• 32

by Christina Gregoire (AKA Tina Boomerina)

Apple-shaped women are basically shafted by fashion designers, apparel styles, and clothing brands. I know this to be true because I'm an apple. So, here are some fashion tips for women who still look pregnant 20 years after the baby is born.

What should you wear to disguise an apple body?

Females with this natural body shape are the orphans of the design world. So, clothing tips for women like us (who have a body type similar to an apple on two toothpicks) come from all directions: Wear a sheath, an A-line dress, a fitted jacket, a straight-cut blouse, no complicated patterns, and all the other horrid, blatantly wrong ideas that can be found on various articles. (Granted, these suggestions must work for some.) Anyway, there are many very bad ideas floating around the internet to try to help marshmallow-tummied girls.

Best Clothing Brands for Apple Shapes

Most clothing styles are designed for stick-thin models or pear-shaped women. Yet, a few well-loved brands for tops and dresses can be relied upon when nothing else seems to fit.  Here are some examples of what each designer has done in the past.  Unfortunately (well... fortunately), inventory changes all the time, but these links will give you some ideas about what styles might look good on you. (We're all different. It's just a matter of trial and error until you find your faves.)

• Maggy London
• Donna Morgan
• Joe Browns (60's vibe)
• Karen Kane
• Rachel Pally (worth the extra money)
• Eileen Fisher

Look around for other jersey tops and dresses with styles similar to the brands on my list. However, most cute dresses, slacks, jeans, and tops will seem adorable on you... until you try to breathe.

Fashion Tips for Apple-Shaped Women

Here are some tips that I have found to be helpful:

• Top Heavy: Apple-shaped women are top heavy.  A deep V-neck or U-neck style makes broad shoulders and big chests look thinner.  A touch of cleavage is almost always good, as a diversionary tactic, if you are a woman over 40 or 50.
• Color Block Trend: Color blocking, done right, will draw people's eyes up to your face or down to your shapely legs.
• Prints Are Fine: Stretch jersey prints are fabulous for your apple body, and the right print will give good camouflage and confuse your critics.
• Leggings: This seems counterintuitive, but a long, tunic top over stretchy leggings is a good look for many apple chicks.  I like to make sure my top is long enough to cover all the family jewels, and then I balance everything with some cute knee-high boots.  You can go all rock-n-roll with this look, as long as most of the items you're wearing are made out of great fabric.
• Wrap Dresses: Wrap dresses, in stretch jersey, are wonderful if they have enough fabric so they will not fall open. Make sure your wrap dresses have flared skirts, for balance, or people will only notice your tummy.

Any designer who decides to make a wrap dress with enough fabric to wrap an apple stomach and then flare out, in a cool, trendy DVF-type of print, will make zillions. If the dress comes in both larger-missy and plus sizes, has no collar, and hits below the knee, the designer will be canonized.

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