Finding Dress Styles to Flatter Your Shape x

Why dress styles are so important

As you know ladies, here at Popsy we believe that when you look great, you feel great too – after all, it’s the guiding principle behind our Popsy brand, to increase women’s confidence, one dress at a time! Dress styles are so important that’s why we choose colourful prints, that allow your personality to shine through. And most of our dresses have some stretch in them too, so they feel wonderfully comfortable throughout the day. We even offer our own in-house alteration service too, so your new dress fits you perfectly with the exact length you love because we understand that everybody is different.

As you’ll see from our customer photographs, Popsy dresses look great on everyone, regardless of shape or size. If you feel great, it gives you confidence, and that’s something we pop in the bag with every order we send out!

I am not one at all for ‘fashion rules’ In fact my motto is ‘if it makes you feel good - wear it!’ From our emails though I know some ladies feel they need a little guidance in finding out the styles and shapes that will flatter and enhance their body shape. And let’s face it – we all have body parts we’re keen to emphasise and other ones that we’re rather less keen to show off! Some women seem to have an inbuilt understanding of how to throw a ‘look’ together that flatters their form while some of us stare at the computer screen for ages no idea what to buy but it’s something that any of us can learn to do, with just a little experimentation.

As I said, I am not one at all for fashion rules but for those who would like a little helping hand you may find this helpful

Making the most of curves

If your bust and hips are roughly the same size, and your waist is quite a bit smaller, then you’ve got an hourglass figure, which looks good in most skirt and dress styles – although you may find shift dresses won’t make the most of your fab shape. Look out for skater style dress shapes that hug your torso and emphasise your waist, before flaring out into an A-line skirt.

You’ll also look awesome in a classic swing dress, which has extra material in the skirt to give it a real girly ‘swish’ as you move. For special occasions, where you really want to go the extra mile, firm foundation garments will help to smooth out any lumps or bumps, as well as doing away with any risk of the dreaded VPL. But remember to leave enough room for food and drink – looking good isn’t all about depriving yourself of treats. If you feel uncomfortable, you won’t have the best time – and where’s the fun in that?

Creating the curves 

Whether athletic, a rectangular torso looks pretty good in just about anything. It’s easy to create the illusion of a well-defined waist by choosing gathered fabrics drawn in with a belt, which creates hourglass curves in seconds. Take a look at our tulip dresses, which have soft fabric folds that will drape perfectly, to give you the perfect silhouette.

This body shape also looks good in a jumpsuit, particularly when you use a belt to cinch in the material at the waist. Choose loose, culotte-style trouser shapes to balance out your proportions, or emphasis a great pair of pins with a more tailored style.

Cherish - I don't like my tummy

This is one of the most common messages I get. "how do I hide my mum tum" etc. I wish I had a magic spell which would make everybody love the way the way they are! Now I blame social media for a lot of this - but that's a whole different blog post! 'Unwanted curves' can be the bane of a woman’s life, but they really don’t need to be. We should all embrace our bodies, whatever size or shape they happen to be, but if you’re really concerned about the area between your hips and your bust, just learn how to draw the eye away to an area you feel more comfortable about showing off. It’s a little-known fact that the majority of women defined as having an ‘apple’ shape, actually have spectacular legs. Others may choose to draw the eye towards other bodily assets – it’s all a matter of what you feel comfortable with! Our Olive, Amy, Leona and Shira shapes are perfect for taking the eyes away from the tummy area. 

Leggings or bright and colourful tights draw the eye exactly where you want to focus attention. Add a beautifully-tailored coatigan on top, and you’ve pulled a look together with the minimum of fuss.

But of course, at the end of the day, rules are made to be broken. There’s really no reason why any of us should try to hide away any parts of our bodies that we don’t like, particularly if it’s just in an attempt to conform to what society says we should look like. (somebody stop me before this turns into a rant!)  Body shapes go in and out of fashion, which is absolutely ridiculous when you consider it’s not something that most of us can do anything to change and why should we?

What we can change though, is our attitude towards ourselves. We should all focus on learning to love our bodies, what we believe to be our 'imperfections' and all, and celebrate them by making them look #popsypretty! 

Popsy x