What is the Best Dress for My Body Type?

Every body is beautiful. Every body is also unique. No matter who you are or what you look like, you deserve to feel confident and comfortable in your clothing. So, when it comes to finding the perfect dress, you might be wondering what you should keep in mind to ensure that it’s the best fit for your body type.

First, you’ll want to figure out what your archetypal body shape is. Next, you’ll want to emphasize your assets. Finally, you should choose a dress that’s optimized for those qualities.

Ready to learn more? Here’s how to shop for the perfect dresses to fit your shape and body type.

Though there is some variation in how these body types are grouped, generally speaking, there are five women’s body types:

1. Round/Apple: If you have a larger upper body and a lower half without a clearly defined waistline, then chances are you have a round or apple-shaped body. Often, people with this body type have well-defined legs and a slender waist but less definition from the waist up.
2. Pear/Triangle: If your lower half is wider than your upper half, chances are you have a pear body shape. This body shape is defined by a larger butt and thighs and wider hips.
3. Inverted Triangle: If you’ve ever been told you have broad shoulders, chances are your body type is an inverted triangle. This body type is defined by shoulders that are broader than the hips.
4. Rectangular/Athletic: If you don’t have an overly-defined waistline and your body is a similar width in both your top and bottom halves, then chances are you have a rectangular or athletic body shape.
5. Hourglass: This is the shape that many women for years have coveted. It’s defined by shoulders and hips that are about the same width along with a well-defined waistline.

Now that we’ve covered the most common women’s body types, you’re probably wondering what choosing flattering or slimming dress styles for you will look like. Thankfully, choosing dresses for each of the different body types isn’t too difficult, once you know what to look for.

First things first: you never want to visually break your body in half. Rather, you want to break it into thirds — usually with the bottom third being longer than the top. With that in mind, here are some specific dress styles for each body type that can help you make the most of your figure:

• For a Round/Apple-Shaped Body: Focus on accentuating the bottom half of your body to round out any perceived topheaviness. You can do this by accentuating your legs while wearing dresses with v-necklines to help elongate your torso. A-line dresses and empire dresses are good choices.
• For a Pear/Triangle-Shaped Body: Pear-shaped bodies are wider on the bottom than the top, so people who have this body type often are best served by choosing dresses that draw more attention to the top half and balance it out, such as those with ruffled or puffy sleeves. Another trick is to layer dresses with a wider-shouldered jacket.
• For an Inverted Triangle Body: To dress for an inverted triangle body type, it’s best to draw visual attention to your hips. That often means choosing dresses with a simple upper half and more going on in the bottom half (i.e. dresses with ruffles or patterns on the bottom half).
• For a Regular/Athletic Body: If you have an athletic body, you’re already well-proportioned. That said, you may want to consider showing off your arms and legs. Alternatively, you could spring for dresses that accentuate both your bottom half and top half by creating the illusion of an hourglass figure.
• For an Hourglass Body: Dresses that accentuate your curves are ideal for this body type. This often means choosing dresses that have a clear and well-defined waistline or making one by wearing a chunky belt.

If you have a belly and are looking for slimming dress styles to draw attention away from it, then you may want to choose an outfit that’s big on top and narrow on the bottom. The main thing to keep in mind is that when trying to hide a belly (which is, we should note, by no means something that you have to do unless you want to), it’s all about drawing the eye elsewhere on the body.