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You now know what's essential and what's hot. Now it's time to kick up your DIY makeover a notch and customize a new look that's right for you.

Before you can really decide what flatters your figure, you'll need an honest assessment of your figure flaws (too busty, big hips, etc.) and a realistic sense of what you hope to accomplish (look taller, dress sexier, appear younger).

The best way to get a sense of your overall shape is to stand in front of a full-length mirror and squint: you can see an outline of your body that way.

What do you see?

A body that is narrower through the shoulders and fuller through the hips is usually called a pear or bottom-heavy shape.

A body that is wider through the shoulders, tapering down to narrower hips can either be top-heavy or athletic depending on how physically fit you are.

A body that is almost equally full through the shoulders and hips with a smaller waist is called an hourglass figure.

Of course there are even many variations within these general figure types: long torso, short waisted, tall, petite, etc. And you'll need to know about every problem you may face on the road to looking better in your clothes.

Most of us assess our bodies only in terms of our weight (heavy, on-target or slim) and forget all of the beautiful variations that we can show off and conceal using fashion techniques.

So take some time to really assess what your shape is about.