How to Choose a Wedding Gown For Your Body Type

According to a study conducted by Cornell University, 70 percent of engaged women said they wanted to lose weight, typically 20 pounds, before their wedding day.  The reason?  To look good in their wedding photos.  Brides are starving themselves, going on crash diets and asking their doctors to insert a feeding tube into their nose.  Brides, you don't have to go to extremes to look good on your wedding day.  The trick is to choose the right dress.

Today, wedding gowns are made for every body type.  Here is a quick guide to help you choose the right wedding gown for the shape you're living in today:

• If you're pear shaped - Look for: A skirt that gradually flares out in an A formation from the natural waist to the floor, highlighting the narrowness of the midsection and floating away from the hips and thighs.

• If you're busty - Look for: A dress with a scooped neckline. It will open up your face and display your décolletage without showing too much cleavage. If you love the look of strapless gowns, choose one that has a slight dip along the neckline, like a sweetheart, rather than a style that goes straight across.

• If you're plus sized - Look for: An Empire dress with a skirt that begins just under the bust and flows into a gradual floor-length A-line. Make sure the Empire seam does not start on the chest and that there is no pleating of the fabric, which is reminiscent of maternity wear. The dress should play up your shape; if it’s too loose, it will add pounds.

• If you're apple shaped - Look for: A dress that cinches in at the smallest point on the waistline, then flares out into a gradual A shape. Opt for a bodice with a lot of texture to it―think ruche or lace detailing―that will camouflage and fit snugly, creating a corsetlike effect. The most slenderizing neckline for you is one with a deep V, which will draw eyes toward the vertical, not the horizontal.

• If you're tall - Look for: A simple silhouette. The strategy is to emphasize your natural shape, so every aspect of the dress―the lower waistline, a floor-sweeping hem―needs to reflect your longer proportions. If you're wearing long sleeves, they should go past the wrist. You don't want to look as if you've borrowed a gown from someone shorter than you. 

• If you're straight lined- Look for: A dress that will create curves where you don’t have them. Try a sheath dress in a wispy charmeuse that’s cut on the bias; the curving side seam will give you a va-va-va-voom silhouette. Or look for a ball gown that cinches in at your natural waist and descends into a full, flowing floor-length skirt: It will capitalize on your slenderness and camouflage a lack of hips.

• If you're petite - Look for: Trumpet, sheath, and modified A-line gowns. Find a style with a waistline above your natural waist, to make the lower half of the dress (and therefore you) appear longer. The fabric is up to you―you can pull off a high sheen. But the detailing should be small (no huge bows) and limited to the bodice, to draw the eye upward. 

• If you're small chested - Look for: A ruched bodice. Extra fabric up top will help fill out your upper body and create the illusion of curves. Lightly padded halter styles will also do the trick.

 Regardless of your body type, we can help you find the perfect wedding gown that will make you feel stunning.  Come by and see us at 645 N. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert, AZ  85234 ~ (480) 926-9106.