Dress Fashion Ideas

Nothing is more feminine than a nice dress. Comfortable, diverse, and pretty dresses are a wonderful choice, from bumming around the house to attending an important event. With such a variety of designs, women sometimes find themselves overwhelmed when attempting to choose a dress. As with all clothing, the dress that will look the best is one in which the wearer is most comfortable. These bits of obvious information aside, let’s look deeper into some different fashion ideas for dresses.

Women differ in shapes and sizes. Because of this, a dress which may look stunning on one woman may look horrible on another. Understanding how different dress cuts look on different body shapes will help immensely. The ideal feminine figure is medium-to-tall height, moderate build, and an hourglass shape. It is ideal because only about 2% of the female population actually has a body like this. Different cuts help achieve a visual effect allowing more women to look like ‘ideal’.

If a woman has short legs and a long torso, she will want to create the visual effect of having longer legs and a shorter torso. To achieve this, she will want to choose dresses that draw the eye upward. She can choose dresses with darker bottoms, higher waists, and narrow or a-line cuts. She will also want to accessorize these types of dresses by wearing jewelry and scarves.

For women with balanced body shapes, dresses with one color from the top to the bottom, ones which are fitted through the waist and flow outward, and thin belts are the best styles. Again, a woman would want to accessorize this type of dress using jewelry and scarves which draw the eye upward.

A woman with long legs and a short torso would, likewise, dress differently from the above-mentioned body shapes. She would want to choose dresses which draw the eye downward. She can achieve this by wearing dresses with prints or lighter colors on the bottoms, dresses with a fitted waists and flowing skirts, and simple necklines. Jewelry and scarves that are medium to long lengths help draw the eye downward. Pinstripes, empire and high waists, and wide belts should all be avoided, as they draw unwanted attention to the “wrong” places. Once a woman determines which general cuts and colors work well for her body shape, she should decide which styles and colors are appropriate for her age, skin color, and situation.

Color plays a huge role in choosing a dress. Dresses come in every color and pattern imaginable. In the workplace, conservative is best. A woman who wants to be taken seriously should generally wear neutral colors—blacks, browns, ivories, greens, and so on—in her dresses, and use her jewelry and scarves to add flair and character. An outfit which most workplaces would find acceptable is a nice tailored maroon blazer worn over a khaki-colored dress, and accessorized with turquoise jewelry. She must avoid over-accessorizing her dress. Modesty in accessories and cosmetics is best. On the other hand, a young woman out for a night-out may wear any assortment of brightly colored dresses and jewelry, depending on her taste. A woman with an olive skin tone looks better in dresses with bold colors, such as magenta, whereas a lighter-skinned woman may look better in a yellow dress. Situation and skin tone both have large impacts on what color of dress will look best on each woman. In the same vein as color, women must choose dresses appropriate for their respective ages. A young woman can wear dresses with lower necklines and higher cuts but if an older woman will dress like that, it will look anything but inappropriate.

Dresses come with all types of necklines, waists, lengths, and cuts. Necklines vary from plunging, which look best on small-breasted women, to round and square necklines. The neckline of a dress has the power to make an otherwise unassuming dress look unique and stunning. It is well worth experimenting with different types of necklines and accessorizing each with different types of necklaces. A plunging neckline can be paired well with a long necklace. This breaks up the monotony of the exposed skin. A squared neckline would look best with a shorter necklace, or one with different strands of beads wrapped around the neck. Strong necklines, such as those created by a dress hanging on only one shoulder, should be worn without a necklace.

A dress’s waist creates a visual waistline for the woman. Generally, a woman accessorizes the waist of a dress with belts and scarves. A woman with a wider waist and smaller bust would want to wear a thinner belt and a fitted waist. Conversely, a woman with a naturally narrow waist would want to wear a fitted waist and thinner belt.

The skirt of a dress can dramatically affect its appropriateness for different social settings, as well as add visual interest to the piece. Skirts can be fitted, such as a pencil skirt, flow outward, such as an a-line skirt, short, long, angularly cut, fluted, and so on. The key is to remember that the more dramatic a dress, fewer accessories is needed for it. Dresses with short skirts and dramatic cuts are best served for night life, while more traditional cuts are best for the workplace. This does not mean a dress with a dramatic cut cannot be worn at work, though. It highly depends on the woman, where she works, and how sophisticated the accessories are.

Honestly, there are a lot of dress fashion ideas out there. There is an unlimited supply of cuts, colors, and accessories so the best way to know which fashion and style will work for you is simply to go out there and see for yourself!