  A cinched waist on very slim women creates a figure eight. (Le Chateau)
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The ‘it’ item for this season is the dress. Patterned, plain, pleated or peasant the dress marks a return to femininity in women’s fashion. While there are various styles out there, not all are the perfect fit for one’s body type.
We asked Toronto dress designers, Damzels in this Dress, to give us their tips to finding the right dress for you.
Full figured women:
“Her best bet is to do something that is very fitted at the waist,” says Rory Lindo, co-designer and owner of Damzels in this Dress. She says that wrap dresses are great choices for a full figured woman. It accentuates the cleavage and the waist offering the hourglass shape. Also, longer dresses are good choices as it offers the appearance of lengthening the body and looking a little taller. “Everyone likes to be a little taller,” she says.
Pear shaped women:
According to Lindo, most dresses lend themselves to pear-shaped bodies. That is, except the cigarette cut skirt or fitted skirt. “You would want to look for something coming away from the waist that flares from hip level and adds a nice swish to the hem.” The waist line can be at the navel or lower at the hip. The flare could even start at the thigh, but at some point the skirt should have a flare.
In addition, Lindo says to balance the lower body with a stronger upper body, like a sleeve for example. Rather than a spaghetti strap, Lindo says she prefers a capped sleeve or three-quarter length sleeve to balance the shape.
Top heavy women:
“The is the most difficult body to fit, above and beyond any other shape,” says Lindo. “It’s not because it’s a terrible figure but because dress manufacturers do not make dresses for this body type.” She says women with this body type either cannot do up the zipper up top or are forced to buy a larger size for the top half and then take it in at the bottom. “These gals can wear a pencil shape, as long as the pencil shape is not too narrow,” says Lindo.
“I also prefer not to see them with sleeves, instead spaghetti straps are great, or strapless.” Lindo suggests a dress that adds to the hips to offer balance to this shape, like a full skirt. “Straight cuts are also nice for this body type, plunging necklines, things that can bring your eye down and not stay so focused on the top half.”
Very slim women:
This trickiest part with this body type is finding the right size. Otherwise, according to Lindo, slim figures can wear a lot of things. “It’s just a matter of finding them small enough for someone with a thin frame.”
For those with a small bust, Lindo suggests a t-shirt neckline or a boat neck, capped sleeves, with no more than two inches below the neckline. “It adds fullness to the bust area.” Anything that would accentuate the bust area, like gathering, a cinched waist or a full skirt would offer balance as well. “It creates a figure eight.”
Squared shoulders women:
“Again we’re back to balance. I really do not recommend puff sleeves for this body type, and capped sleeves can be difficult as well. Strapless is amazing for broad shoulders, but then the waist should be fited and the skirt should be full. “This makes it seem like the bust area is the width of the girl rather than the shoulder area,” says Lindo. “Also, wear a beautiful necklace to bring the focus back in again.”
Long torso-ed women:
“This one is tough too,” she says. Tent shapes are great for a long-torso woman, as are empire waists.” According to Lindo, the difficulty is with dresses that have a natural waist-line or a low waist-line, the dress just doesn’t sit right. “Dresses that are fitted through the waist are tricky for long-torso women, but dresses that gather from under the bust are forgiving for short and long waisted. So the empire styles that are happening now are great.”
In the end, when choosing on a dress, Lindo says to decide on what needs to be balanced. In some cases you bulk up the bottom to balance the top, or offer more strength on the shoulders to soften the hips, whatever it takes to make things balanced. “Its 100% about balance,” says Lindo.
