Dressing for Your Body Type: Diamond and Apple

I’m back with another Dressing for Your Body Type interview, a series where I speak to women with different body types about their body image journey. I don’t know about you, but hearing how women process and overcome body image issues is really inspiring to me. See the last interview here. For this installment of the series, I’m interviewing my god sister’s big sister, Keturah Draper. Keturah’s not that much older than me but growing up, I always thought of her as the cool, older sister. She was upbeat and self-assured, and that compliments any body type. Of course, Keturah’s much more than a cool, older sister. She’s a wife and mother, has been in education for 24 years, and currently works as a high school administrator. She also recently went through a body transformation, and I was interested in knowing more about how she managed her body image through it all. So when I asked her if she would participate in an interview with me, she said “sure”, and I was like “yay”. Here’s what she had to say.

Trulery: How would you describe your body type?

Keturah: I would describe my body type as a combination of diamond and apple. My shoulders and back are unusually broad, my hips are narrow, and my legs are long and skinny, which coupled makes for a rather difficult shopping experience.

Trulery: Diamond and apple—Ha! I like how that sounds. How would you say your body image evolved— how did you learn to appreciate your body?

Keturah: I’ve always been heavy-set until recently— I lost nearly 70 lbs. due to health reasons. I never had a complex about my weight, and learned to appreciate my size and height (6 feet) early in life. Ironically, although I’m smaller and can fit into what is deemed “normal size” clothing, I still identify as plus size because I shopped plus size the majority of my life. I’m learning to embrace the “new me”, but I exude the same level of confidence I had when I was plus size.

Trulery: What is one piece of advice you would give to anyone struggling with your specific body type?

Keturah: Your external self, your body type, can and often changes, especially as you get older and you’re body may not look the way it used to. So focus on, and be confident in your internal self—it’s where true happiness resides. What’s on the inside always shines through to the outside.

Trulery: What styles or pieces of clothing work best on your body and why?

Keturah: My staple or “go to” pieces of clothing which I believe work best on my body are…a good bodycon midi dress; I absolutely love kimonos— they can either dress up or dress down an outfit; maxi skirts/dresses; a blazer or jacket which works just like a kimono; I absolutely love jumpers/rompers any sleeve type; and a fantastic pair of spanx/shape wear. And believe it or not, I do most of my clothes shopping on Amazon!

See examples of Keturah’s 6 staple pieces below.

Bodycon Midi Dress/ Spanx/ Maxi Dress / Kimono/ Blazer/ Romper

So what can we learn from Keturah’s body image journey? For me, she drives home the idea that body appreciation has little to do with your body type, and more to do with how you feel about yourself in your body. If you feel good about you, your body will follow along, and be as fierce as you are regardless of your size. Leave your aha moments in the comments.