Triangle body shape: dressing narrow shoulders and wider hips

The rule

For a triangle, the whole of it is one sentence: structure on top, space at the 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 triangle 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. An oval reads the same at all three zones, so it gets the same three clauses. What separates them is not the summary but the rules underneath it, and 5 garments below are scored on rules keyed to triangle specifically.

• Structure on top, because your shoulder measures close to your waist, so nothing above builds a line on its own.
• Space at the waist, because your waist and chest measure close, so anything that grips there reports the width instead of passing it.
• 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 triangle 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. Structured shoulders widen the top line and pull the eye upward, away from the hips.
• Careful: A wide leg. Extra volume below the waist compounds the widest part of the frame.
• Buy: A bold pattern. Pattern and detail above the waist balance a bottom-heavy frame.

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 triangle 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 (+14.2). Structured shoulders widen the top line and pull the eye upward, away from the hips.
• Bold-print tops: depends (+8.9). By the usual convention: pattern and detail above the waist balance a bottom-heavy frame.
• Straight-leg jeans: depends (+8). A straight or tapered leg keeps the lower half quiet so the shoulders lead.
• Tapered trousers: depends (+8). A straight or tapered leg keeps the lower half quiet so the shoulders lead.
• Wide-leg trousers: skip (-11.6). Extra volume below the waist compounds the widest part of the frame.