Rectangle body shape: dressing a straight up-and-down build

The rule

For a rectangle, the whole of it is one sentence: a clean shoulder, a skimmed waist, and a clean leg line.

Each clause carries the measurement relationship that selected it, rather than a conclusion you have to take on trust. A rectangle that sits near one of these thresholds would have been given the neighbouring clause, and the condition is there so you can tell which side you are on.

No other shape in the set produces this sentence, so the three clauses are doing the whole job here.

• A clean shoulder, because your shoulder and waist are close to the usual relationship, so the seam only has to land in the right place.
• A skimmed waist, because your waist is moderately inside your chest, enough to follow but not enough to cinch.
• And a clean leg line, because your torso and leg divide near the middle, so the leg only has to avoid interrupting itself.

The two zones worth holding in your head

The full reading knows six continuous numbers, and saying all six produces a description rather than an instruction. These are the two where a rectangle reads furthest from ordinary, so they are the two that decide the most garments.

• Your shoulder line.
• Your waist.

What to buy

Ranked by how hard the rules argue, in either direction. A firm "leave it" is as useful as a firm "buy it", and both beat a lukewarm suggestion.

• Buy: A structured shoulder. Structure at the shoulder builds the V-taper a straight frame does not have naturally.
• Buy: An open layer. Layers add the depth and shape a rectangular frame reads flat without.
• Careful: A soft, unstructured shoulder. Fully unstructured pieces hang straight down and repeat the line you already have.

Every garment, scored

Each garment in the list below was run through the same rule table the product uses on real product pages, on a mid-height rectangle with a medium bone scale. The number is the net effect on the silhouette score. A garment that is missing is one no rule had an opinion about, which happens more often than a styling article would admit.

• Structured blazers: works (+24). Structure at the shoulder builds the V-taper a straight frame does not have naturally.
• Boxy jackets: works (+10). By the usual convention: layers add the depth and shape a rectangular frame reads flat without.
• Tapered trousers: depends (+7). A tapered leg narrows the bottom line and makes the upper body read broader by comparison.
• Unstructured blazers: depends (+1). By the usual convention: layers add the depth and shape a rectangular frame reads flat without.