Prom Dress Shopping Guide for Your Shape

It takes time and patience to try on all those prom dresses, hoping to find just the right dress for your special evening. Prom Night is incredibly important for many girls, with many seeing this night as a right of passage from childhood to adulthood. The first step in finding the ideal dress, and the most important, is finding the dress that flatters your body type. Choose a gown that suits the type of body you have. Forget about what you see in the mags. Mags sell dreams, and what looks like a dream gown on the girl in the picture, might look like a nightmare on you. Why? The usual reason: you and she don’t have the same type of body. You need to identify what cut will best fit your body and which silhouette will most flatter your shape and size. So, how do you do that? Easy, just read on.

Are you Tall and Thin?

If you are, then you should probably buy a prom dress style that adds curves, shows off your long legs, flows gracefully to reveal your slim silhouette, and adds fullness to your chest. I would suggest sheath, empire, a-line dresses and maybe ball gowns. A sheath dress would look great and flow gracefully on your long slim silhouette. It would also reveal your long legs. Transform your body into a feminine hourglass by adding detail at the waistline (a belt, ribbons, shirring, or darts). An open neckline, a cutout back or a plunging V-neck, will work well for you.

Do you have an Hourglass Shape?

This basically means that you’re either tall or short. You also have a curvy frame. You have a small waist, your hips are naturally curvy, and you have a rounded bottom. You should show off your curves by wearing a form-fitting sheath dress. Be it plain or embellished, this type of dress will accentuate your body in all the right places. Try a strapless bodice ball gown with a full skirt and a cinched waist.

Do you have Broad Shoulders?

If you have broad shoulders, or a large bust, choose a prom dress that will give you a feminine shape such as a ball gown or empire style dress. Also, dresses that reveal your shoulder are best. Covering your shoulders may make them look bigger. A halter or strapless style with a narrow bodice looks best. This would expose your shoulders, you shouldn’t hide them.

Are you Petite?

Notice how short dresses make you legs look longer? You should elongate your tiny frame by showing some leg. Wear a dress with a short hemline and instantly look taller. Play around with necklines -V-shape, halter or sweetheart are great for you.

Are you Pear-shaped or Apple-shaped?

An empire gown might work best with this type of figure. An a-line dress can work well too if you have a bodice with boning to give it a slimming effect.

There are more accesories you can add to your dress to make it really look like the dress you want. You can add sequined beads, with matching heels. You don’t really have to buy designer dresses to make your prom night memorable, there are quite a lot of choices in vintage shops that might attract your taste, vintage dresses are actually ‘in’ nowadays.