How to Determine the Best Wedding Dress Fit for Your Body Type
Choosing your wedding gown may be the most important decision you will make as a bride. Going from bridal store to bridal store searching for the perfect dress may seem exhilarating at first, but anxiety over choosing the right dress may set in over time. Alleviate some of the stress of wedding gown shopping by knowing how to determine the best wedding dress for your body type. Armed with this knowledge, you will spend less time agonizing over your decision and more time planning the other facets of your wedding. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Know your body type. Before you can effectively choose the best wedding dress style to compliment your body type and shape, you must first know what category your body falls under. If you have a thin waist and an ample chest and big hips, you have an hourglass shape. If your body is proportioned equally but you have a short distance between your ribs and your waist, then you have a short waist. If your waist is undefined and your body is straight from your shoulders down to your hips, then you have a thick waist. Consider your body type to be full-figured if you are voluptuous with a big bosom, round hips, a bit of a tummy and an ample derriere. Pear-shaped women are small on the top and larger on the bottom, often having small breasts, tiny waist and broad hips. Whether you are short or tall, consider yourself thin if you do not have too much meat on your frame. Petite women are just that, short with a thin frame. With these descriptions in mind, take a look at yourself in the mirror and decide which group you belong with. Once that is done, you can begin to look for a wedding dress.
-
2
Accentuate your best physical features. Hourglass ladies should select dresses that highlights your small waist such as corset gowns and two-piece dresses. Dresses with a sweetheart neckline will also accentuate your bust. Brides with short waists should look for dresses that elongate the body. A dropped-waist gown or gown with a fitted top that gradually opens to a full skirt will do the trick. For ladies with a thicker waist, Empire-waist dresses will take the attention off your waist line and make you look long and lean. Ball gowns work wonders to highlight the shapes of voluptuous, full-figured brides. Empire-waist dresses work well for pear-shaped brides because they hug and emphasize the top half of the body while disguising the larger bottom half.
-
-
3
Divert attention away from problem areas of your body. Thin ladies should avoid halter or off-the-shoulder dresses as they tend to bring unnecessary attention the bony shoulders and collar bone. Petite ladies should not wear ball gown style dresses because they will overwhelm a petite bride's already tiny frame. For pear-shaped brides, tight fitting styles such as those found in mermaid and trumpet-style dresses will bring too much attention to the larger bottom half of your body and therefore should be avoided. Sheath dresses and spaghetti dresses are not suggested for full-figured brides because those dresses tend to make you appear larger. Princess-line or basque waist gowns are not recommended for women with thick waists because these dresses will draw more attention to your middle section. Sheath dresses are a no-no for women with short waists. Sheath dresses will only make your short waist appear shorter. A ball down or Empire-waist dress may make a woman with an hour glass figure look disproportionate.
-
4
Listen to your body. Choose a dress that not only looks good but feels good. No matter how much you love a dress, do not purchase if it feels uncomfortable to wear. Also, don't trick yourself into thinking if you lose weight the dress will be more comfortable to wear. Even if your weight changes, your body type remains the same. So, buy the dress that looks and feels good on you.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Take someone whose opinion you trust, such as your mom or trusted bridesmaids, with you when you are trying on dresses. Be open to hearing the opinion of others who will give you honest feedback on your wedding gown choice.
References
- Photo Credit Goodshoot/Goodshoot/Getty Images
