How to choose a wedding dress style to suit your shape

The Neckline For Your Body Shape

The neckline of your wedding dress is important as it will draw attention to your upper body.   The shape of the neckline can be used to accentuate or downplay features.

Low round or scooped necks and square necklines are popular as they do not draw attention to any particular feature and do not detract from your face.

Strapless square or heart-shaped necklines are also popular, however you need to be confident of the way your shoulders, chest and upper arms look.

Asymmetric necklines can be very flattering as they can help draw the eye away from problem areas.

Below are suggestions of the best necklines to suit your shape:

• Large Shoulders – halter necks look best, but may make a woman with a large bust look out of proportion.
• Large Busts – V-necks draw attention away from large busts as they guide the eye inwards and down the midline of the dress.  Strapless can also be great as it draws attention upwards by emphasizing the shoulders and minimising the chest.
• Small Busts – high round neck or slash-neck dresses look best on brides with small busts (it actually makes them appear bigger) or brides that don’t want to show too much décolletage.

Dress for your silhouette

If you are short or petite, do not select slim, straight dresses as you may get lost in them.  If you like fitted dresses, choose a mermaid skirt which kicks out at the bottom. Empire line dresses are great for people with petite frames and those with a small bust as they begin below the bust, which gives an illusion of a bust, and the style also gives the illusion of height.

For the pear-shaped or hourglass shaped bride,  you need to balance the top half of your body with the bottom.  You can’t go wrong with a strapless or V-neck dress with an A-line skirt.  It is best to steer clear of straight or bias-cut designs as they will accentuate your hips.

A full skirt can be great if you have full hips as this will help hide them (by covering them up).  If you are petite or small busted it is best to steer away from a full skirted style dress as it may overwhelm your frame and make you look smaller.   A word of caution for fuller figured women as the full skirt can emphasize your size rather than flatter your best features.

A line shapes work on most people, but are particularly flattering to pear shaped and fuller figured brides.