The conventional standard for female beauty includes curves—robust curvature around the breasts, hips, butt, and thighs, possibly with a thinner waist to call more attention to them. This shape can make you feel more confident and sexier, so it makes sense why so many women strive to achieve it.
No matter what body type you have, there are steps you can take to build and accentuate your curves.
How to Get Shapelier Curves
Use these strategies to get shapelier curves:
- Try body shapers. Body shapers are one of the easiest ways to make yourself look curvier. These simple, discreet clothing items compress the bulgier middle areas of your body, while allowing your hips and breasts to look their best. As long as you get the right size for your body, they’re extremely comfortable to wear, and can provide a bit of an illusion; your stomach will look flatter, and you’ll appear to have more of an hourglass figure.
- Do more squats. Of course, if you have more time, you can put in the effort to make your hips, butt, and thighs thicker, resulting in an attractive curvature in the lower half of your body. The basic idea here is to build muscle in these areas. If you’re reluctant to build muscle because you’re afraid of looking like a bodybuilder, don’t worry; building muscle is hard, and you won’t overdo it by accident. One of the best ways to build muscle is with a compound lift exercise that targets all these areas at once; ideally, you’ll use squats. With increasing amounts of weight (and plenty of rest, with good nutrition), you can get closer to your ideal, curvy body type.
- Run or bike. You can also take up running or biking if you’re not interested in lifting weight. These cardiovascular exercises will build up the muscles in your thighs and butt, and they don’t even require a gym membership. You’ll also burn calories with these exercises, eventually resulting in a slimmer waist. And as an added bonus, you’ll relieve stress, feel more confident, and extend your lifespan all at the same time.
- Do pullups and back lifts. This one may seem counterintuitive. After all, most exercise programs designed for women focus on cardio or lower-body exercises. However, pullups can serve an important purpose; building up your latissimus dorsi muscles (lats), which connect your upper extremities to your vertebral column. These muscles can make your shoulders and chest look more prominent and make your waist look smaller, and they can also help you improve your posture. Pullups aren’t the only effective exercise to work them, either; you could do one of several varieties of rows or lat pulldowns.
- Get your clothes tailored. Let’s assume you’re already doing the work, or you aren’t interested in doing it at all. What other steps can you take to make yourself look curvier? Instead of shopping for new clothes and trying to find the perfect outfit to give you the look you want, delve into your own wardrobe. Chances are, many of your clothes fit you decently—but not perfectly. Spending a little time and money taking these clothes to a professional tailor can help you shape them perfectly to your body. Even low-quality clothes, when properly tailored, can look better than their high-end counterparts. It’s all about the fit.
- Wear peplums (overskirts). If you are in the market for some new clothes, consider adding some peplums to your inventory. These versatile overskirts have a natural shape that accentuates your curviest body parts, while minimizing the appearance of your waist. Experiment with different patterns and colors to see what best fits your current body type.
- Work on your posture and gait. You could also work on your posture and your gait to make yourself look curvy. For example, the simple habit of sitting and standing up straight with your shoulders back can highlight some of your best features while downplaying your waist; it can also make you feel more confident by itself. You could also tweak the way you walk; standing up straighter and throwing a little back-and-forth into your walk can show off your curves more than a typical gait.
Being Happy With Your Body Type
These strategies are useful for building up and showing off the curves of your body, but remember—there are many different body types, and all of them can be beautiful. It’s perfectly fine to sculpt and accentuate your curves, if that’s what makes you feel more attractive and more confident, but don’t delude yourself into thinking that this is the only way. Learn to be happy in your own skin, no matter what, and make sure all your body- and image-related goals are secondary to that pursuit.