Different Wedding Dress Styles For Body Types

Wedding Dress Styles For Body Types

A lot of women just want to feel comfortable on their wedding day but comfort looks different to different people. Here we are going to show you the different wedding dress styles for body types. There are commonly five different main body shapes, the most common ones are the hourglass shape, pear shape, triangle, rectangle and the apple figure.

We find a lot of women struggling with the apple and the triangle shape, it’s not a shape that you find clothing for very often. The internet only gives you limited things to work with and that makes it difficult for these two shapes. Today Janita Toerien shows us what more can be done and that you don’t necessarily have to stick within the rules to make it work for you.

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Janita Toerien Discusses The Different Body Types

5 Different Body Shapes

1. Hour Glass Shape:

Even though the hourglass shape is an easy body type to dress, we’re going to have a look at how you can have fun with it and just do something a little bit different to make it your own. When we look at an hourglass, we really see an hourglass shape, where the bust is wider, the waist is more narrow and the hips are wider again. This is for most people the ideal body shape.

When dressing for this shape you really want to keep the shape of your body, you want to accentuate that. With the hourglass shape, you’ve got a beautiful proportion between your shoulders, the narrow waist and beautiful hip. You don’t want to take any of those features away. By using two different tones, for example, black on the skirt and a more nude colour on the bodice, you immediately create a line in the waist and that complements the narrow waistline and accentuates it. Halter necklines tend to create a disproportion with most shapes, but you can pull of the halter neckline with an hourglass shape. With the high neckline, you elongate your figure, even more.

When you do want to accentuate the hourglass figure, try and keep with something that is fitted. Wearing a shift dress that just goes straight down from the bust to the hips, won’t do anything for your figure.

2. Pear Shape:

It’s a more narrow bust, narrow waist and wider hips. This is a very common shape with women in South Africa. A lot of women have childbearing hips, as they would say and it’s a style that is easy to accommodate. A lot of shops and designers cater to this specific body type. By creating a nice balance between the shoulders and the waist, you will need to create a neckline where it flows out toward the shoulders.

By doing this, your sternum area opens up. Create detail on the bodice to lead the eye upwards. Keep the waist accentuated by using a belt, let it drop a little lower than the waistline and from there if will flare out. As soon as you do the flare from just above the widest part of the hips, it creates vertical lines flowing down and will give the illusion that your hips actually are narrow and not necessarily wide.

3. Triangle Shape:

You have broader shoulders with a narrow waist and narrow hips. One often find this shape in swimmers or people that work their upper bodies a lot. With this kind of body shape, a lot of stylists or the internet might say that you need to stir clear of anything that might accentuate the shoulder. We feel not to hide it, rather use something to soften your shoulders. Use a very soft, fine tulle around the shoulder line and arms. Let it hang loosely to create an effect that the arms are actually smaller than what it really is. Use gathers around the waistline to create more volume to almost add to a hip and that just flows down to a voluminous bottom.

4. Rectangular Shape:

Then when we look at a rectangular shape, it’s a body shape that doesn’t have a lot of definition going from the bust to the waist and to the hips. What we want to create are curves. Again we can do that by using diagonal lines, we can do that by using a softer neckline and most definitely by using a fitted silhouette. Whenever you think about the celebrities that you see like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez, they do not have rectangular body shapes but they wear fitted clothing to accentuate the curves, so once you put something fitted on the body, it will accentuate even the slightest little curve.

By using diagonal lines running into the waist it creates a shape that leads the eye inwards and then again use it to go outwards to create a line going out towards the hip. By using a silhouette and going in underneath the waistline with volume coming out by the sides, all of a sudden you create a curvier shape which is perfect for a rectangular silhouette.

5. Apple Shape:

Lastly, we have the apple shape, quite a big bust, more of a protruding tummy and then narrow hips. This is also a very common shape. You need to remember that body shapes comes from where you carry your weight. With the apple figure, the weight is gained around the breast tissue and the breast tissue can often then go around the sides and towards the back. So you want to take care in choosing something that would complement the back as well.

The first thing the internet will tell you is that you can not wear anything that gives prominence to your waist, however, Juanita does not agree! You can put a thick waistline around your waist to create the waist to look narrower. By adding a V-line you will create an elongating line, which lengthens your bodice instead of chopping it off, for example, wearing a sweetheart neckline or a strapless dress. You will lead people’s eyes toward the middle by adding texture, visual interests and by keeping the side seams open. Another nice thing with apple figures is, to create pleads over the tummy which completely hides it with vertical lines running down, you will get a soft flowing and elongating effect.

Best Wedding Dress Styles To Match Your Body Type

Choosing the right wedding gown for your body type will definitely make you look and feel more glamorous! We’ve just shown you the different types of figures that you get, the difficult part starts now. Where to begin? How do you choose? Ladies you now need to get the right fitted dress and style for your body type. Remember it is your BIG day, you would want to look beautiful, confident and sexy for your husband-to-be. Take your time by finding the perfect dress.

Have a look at our Wedding Dress Inspiration board on Pinterest for more ideas for your perfect dress!

1. The Petite Bride:

Stilettos will do the job but our number one tip for you short bride is to play with lines, for example, have a slit or a low cleavage. A soft flowy dress with an A-Line will also make you look longer. Another option for petite brides is to wear short Wedding Gowns or to have fun with Convertible Dresses.

2. The Voluptuous Bride

How does the saying go? Flaunt what yo mamma gave ya! The voluptuous bride must embrace her beautiful body. Choose your favourite asset to highlight with your wedding gown. TIP: If you feel self-conscious about your body why don’t you wear a loosely fitted wedding gown? Have a look at a few examples of plus size wedding dresses.

3. The Tall Bride

Your length is your biggest asset! Use it and don’t be afraid to show off your tall body with a fitted wedding dress. You can dance the night away comfortably.

4. The Apple-Shaped Bride

For the apple-shaped bride, our number one tip would be to get a wedding gown that’s tight around your bust and then lose out downwards. Long sleeves or gloves also look beautiful and flattering on the apple-shaped bride. Another tip for our Apple Brides is to play with different layers of material over your tummy area.

5. The Pear-Shaped Bride

You should wear a wedding gown that’s tight around your middle! If you want to show off your gorgeous body (we totally think you should) why don’t you wear a tightly fitted mermaid dress to show off those curves? A mermaid gown is a stunning way to show off what you’ve got in an elegant fashion.