Spoon body shape: dressing wider hips with a defined waist

The rule

For a spoon, the whole of it is one sentence: a clean shoulder, a marked 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 spoon 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.

That sentence is not unique to this shape. A trapezoid and an hourglass read the same at all three zones, so they get the same three clauses. What separates them is not the summary but the rules underneath it, and 4 garments below are scored on rules keyed to spoon specifically.

• 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 marked waist, because your waist sits well inside your chest, and a straight-hanging piece throws that away.
• 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 spoon reads furthest from ordinary, so they are the two that decide the most garments.

• Your waist.
• Your shoulder line.

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.

• Careful: A wide leg. Volume starting at the hip adds width exactly where the frame already carries it.
• Buy: A tapered leg. A straight or tapered leg stops the widest point getting any wider.
• Buy: A structured shoulder. Structure at the shoulder answers the hip and squares the silhouette up.

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 spoon 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.

• Straight-leg jeans: depends (+8). A straight or tapered leg stops the widest point getting any wider.
• Tapered trousers: depends (+8). A straight or tapered leg stops the widest point getting any wider.
• Structured blazers: depends (+7.3). Structure at the shoulder answers the hip and squares the silhouette up.
• Wide-leg trousers: depends (-9.3). Volume starting at the hip adds width exactly where the frame already carries it.