Curvy girls were made for dresses
May 19th, 2008Time and time again my conclusions are confirmed: curvy gals look better in dresses than their slim counterparts. Aesthetically, dresses look best when they are filled in the bust, hip and bottom department. This requires curves and ideally a more voluptuous body type. Straighter bodies tend to lack the curves to fill out a dress silhouette in the best way, and therefore don’t look quite as fab.
The aesthetic conclusion makes perfect sense. Dresses were originally designed for women (I’m excluding Scottish men that look sensational in a kilt). Pants and jeans were originally designed for men. There was method to this madness. Woman are curvy; men are not. Perhaps this is why women with slim, straight boyish bodies look great in jeans. But they need to step aside when it comes to dresses because curvy girls have them beat.
Pretty dresses, but even these beautiful models are too slim to truly do them justice.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:54 am
you are the best Angie! You make me feel good about being curvy. I moved to dresses this spring entirely because of your dress related posts and I am happy to report that I feel really pretty and fab in them…plus have received quite a few compliments..even from my harshest critic. Thank you!
May 19th, 2008 at 6:56 am
As a curvy girl, I really appreciate this post. At the same time, it would be really nice to see some pictures *of* curvy girls in it.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:13 am
The last two posts and the reply by the 59-yr-old have brought me out of lurking at this site. I’m a 62 yr old rectangle with broad shoulders, no bust, thick waist and no hips who wants to feel fab about how I look. At my age we rectangles start to turn from “boyish” to little-old-manish. Yuk! Dresses don’t seem to be the answer to trying to look more feminine. From Angie’s post today I now understand why. Your hints for rectangles and inverted triangles have been very helpful. Any additional tips would be most appreciated!
May 19th, 2008 at 7:43 am
yep! after trying to minimize my “problem” areas for far too long, i finally realized that i always feel best in a dress (and get the most compliments that way as well). other than the occasional pair of jeans, i am a dresses & skirts girl all the way (which is definitely a good thing since i have never, ever found a pair of dressy pants that looks good on me)!
May 19th, 2008 at 7:45 am
How timely - I put on a dress this morning and will now have an extra oomph in my walk today
Thank you.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Well, this is sad for me, (since I DEFINATELY have the “boyish” body type) because I love dresses! But it’s a sad truth.
Jeans, here I come!
May 19th, 2008 at 8:24 am
As Mae West said, “I’m broad, where a broad oughta be broad.” Hooray for wrap dresses!!
May 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Yes, I agree, it would be really nice to see some pictures with curvy girls in it. Thanks!
May 19th, 2008 at 8:55 am
AMEN AMEN AMEN, this was the most perfect post ever. I have always felt this way. Thats why I could NEVER understand why designers felt otherwise.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Oh this makes so much sense! I’m a 53 year old rectangle and I just told my daughter the other day how I wish I could just throw on a dress but I look like a boy who is wearing a dress!
My kids did give me a dress for Mother’s Day that gives me curves astonishingly. It is from Patagonia and I will see if I can find the link.
Joy I love your comment about us going from boyish to little- old manish. That is so sad but true and also hilarious.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I think the dress in the second picture looks good on the model. It’s straighter and shows that she does have curves despite being slim. As far as practicality goes, straighter girls have us beat. I can’t imagine wearing frocks every day as opposed to jeans. Jeans also give more creative options too. I’d also say rectangles are able to wear straight cuts and voluminous sack dresses better, which of course happen to be the style of dress I like.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:39 am
http://www.patagonia.com/web/u.....90&ws=
Here is the link for the dress from Patagonia which I received for Mother’s Day and feel it gives me some curves. However I did tell my curvy daughter that I thought it looked more like her and it would look better on her curves.
Patagonia also has a skirt and top that are the same style as this dress but could be worn in 2 different colors to break up the straight line if desired.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:50 am
So so true. I am petite and barely hourglass shaped. I have never worn dresses as much as jeans and when I do (as I am today, thanks to the heat wave, which I have been waiting months for) I just kind of feel like I have sort of a bunch of cloth on top of my body. I stick to young-ish shorter type dresses, the junior line variety, and have never tried to wear the bigger gal more womanly stuff. Oh well!!!!! Skinny jeans have been a dream come true for me.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Yes, I am petite and hourglass shaped! I used to not like wearing dresses because I hadn’t read very much about different styles and shapes and only had a couple of VERY unflattering styles in my closet!
I love dresses now and I especially love the look of dresses just worn casually around town; it’s so feminine and polished looking, plus you don’t have to worry about coordinating top and bottom!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Amen! I love day dresses, and skirts for winter, and I often find them more comfortable than jeans. I only wish they didn’t read as “dressed up” or fussy to many.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am
well, as a skinny girl with no curves, i have always loved jeans. i look good in jeans and i really have never liked wearing dresses. This has always been because i couldn’t fill out the bust, or it wouldn’t fit right in the hips…i could go on - but i have grown fond of my denim body. finally!
May 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
This is definitely true, I look a million times better in a dress than in pants, although I’m not overly curvy, I have them where they count!
May 19th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
It’s very interesting hearing your comments. Rectangular boyish bodies can look great in a dress, but it’s a certain type of dress, like a very straight high necked sheath that creates curves and is especially flattering on a straight and skinny body. To your point, Maya.
Joy and Meredith, you are hilarious. Mirah, thank you for sharing your new found dress fancy with us and I’m glad that things made sense, San.
If you’re a curvy girl and you haven’t tried on a whole slew of dresses, you’re missing out. This is an easy look to pull off well as often or as frequently as you want to. Rock those dresses hot hourglasses and pretty pears!
May 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Curvy women do look great in dresses - and, I think in jeans, too, depending on the cut and fit - but so do we boobless, buttless beanpoles! Everyone looks good in a dress if the cut is flattering to them. I get more compliments when I wear dresses than when I wear jeans. So there. ;o)
May 19th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
So true. My curves are, shall we say, extremely subtle. I sometimes have to explain to people that how things look on the hanger is pretty much how they’ll look on me! Pretty camisoles, so boring on me! Strapless dress? Um, no, I need something to hold up the dress! And what would I do with all that extra space up top? Store chips and dip?
Can’t complain, though. We can’t all look great in everything. I do well in rayon dresses that drape well, conforming to my subtle curves, and in wooshy skirts, which I love. I just say no to taffeta and other beautiful but stiff fabrics, unless they are perfectly tailored or just irresistible anyway.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I do think I look better in dresses, particularly because it disguises how short my legs are, but am I the only one that has a hard time finding dresses that work? I’m petite and an hourglass. It seems lots of dresses I try on are designed for pear shaped women, so they’ll be too tight for me in the chest area (can’t even zip them up sometimes), and wayyyy to loose in the hip area.
It’s much easier for me to find and wear skirts.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I have to laugh because I’ve realized lately that the 4 dresses I’m wearing this year are fitted straight dresses with v,split or low necks. I’m a rectangle but not really boyish. And I’m dying to go try Ann Taylor’s summer dress collection. Bet you can guess which ones I want to try. Go pears and HHGs! I agree with Angie on this one.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
OMG you gals make me laugh. I’m still giggling about Debbie’s post and am trying to get rid of the chips and dip image
Hooray to dresses. I love them, as they are pretty, flattering (once the right cut is found), airy and light on summer days (but also stylish in fall and winter with boots), and sooo easy - just one piece to pull on, love it.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
You might tend towards an inverted triangle, Shiny. Do you wear a smaller size on the bottom than on top?
You lot crack me up and Patience, just another confirmation that you indeed rectangular in body type!
May 19th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I loved this post, as I am a converted tomboy who is finally learning to enjoy wearing dresses at the age of 23. As for curves, I have wide hips, so dresses *always* fit better than jeans. However, I am starting my first “real” job and have to stick to a dressy-business casual wardrobe. Any suggestions on dresses that are appropriate for work? All the dresses I’ve found are either too flimsy, too revealing, or too mature (ok, so I’m picky). And I would love to get more tips about dressing for work!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I love dresses too - especially, as Antje says, the “sooo easy - just one piece to pull on” aspect. I am missing wearing them while breastfeeding But I am probably not really curvy enough to do them justice.
Debbie’s mention of a strapless dress reminded me that I have been meaning to ask you, Angie, about T & S’s suggestion of them for pear shapes in their recent body shape book. They dressed a small busted pear in one, and also Trinny wore wore too - with a blouse underneath. It was such a different look and a suppose a bit more like a jumper (in the US sense) look. The dresses they used were very structured and I think this would be the key to it working. I have a pear shaped friend - very small bust and thin upper body who surprised me by looking stunning in *the right* structured strapless wedding dress
May 20th, 2008 at 8:03 am
So I brought the over 50 crowd out? This was a timely post for me. I just finished shopping mercilessly for a dress for a wedding, ended up with a sheath for my rectangle body by process of elimination. Now I know why…Cameron Diaz and I have the same shape…what a pity! LOL Now I feel so much better! This comes back to the post on Style–feeling and looking good in clothes for YOUR body! (There’s so much to learn!)
May 20th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Thanks Angie. I have learned to embrase my hourglass shape and this post is giving light to my path…. I do have a problem though…. I have a 36 C bust and I do have problem finding dresses or blouses that give enough coverage to it. I usually feel that I am showing too much. Any help please!!
May 20th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Here here! It took me forever to embrace the dress, but now that I have, there’s no going back. I’ve got a small waist and some serious junk in the trunk, and nothing makes the most out of my curvy proportions like a classic sheath. Now that it’s summer, I hope to abandon pants altogether for skirts and dresses - clothes that were *made* for women!
Abandoning pants sounds risqué, but you guys know what I mean.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
I think that all sizes/types can look great in a dress if it is the right cut for their body type. Making a broad statement that straighter figured women never look as good as curvy women in a dress is a little too harsh for me. As well as saying skinny women always look better in jeans since skinny girls can look bad in jeans if the cut doesn’t fit to their butt, is loose in the waist or has empty space poking out on the sides cause their hips don’t fill it out. (yes, i speak from experience. i hate jeans shopping)
I think the model on the right looks great in that dress, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t also look great on a curvy girl as well. A short dress is a great way for a straight, tall girl to show off long legs. Analyzing how a dress looks on someone shouldn’t totally focus on bust and butt, it should recognize the other assets that are also shown off in a dress like legs, neck, shoulders, arms…
I think that is the beauty of dresses, they look different on every body type but still look good because they show off ALL the features that make us feminine.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Thank you so much for this. I have some friends with some body image issues. And yeah, I’ve got ‘em too. This is such a nice read. I love your blog. Thank you so much!
June 1st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Truer words have never been spoken. I always gravitate toward dresses and for years, I didn’t own a single pair of jeans. (Only own one now.)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I have to say that dresses have diminished some of my body image issues!
When it seems that no types of pants and jeans fit, it can be hard not to
start to believe that there is something wrong with myself
But as soon as the right dress is put on, and I get compliments like “stunning”, and “WOW”; it makes every worry seem to fly out the window!
August 13th, 2008 at 8:13 am
[…] (separates are two or more). A-line dresses are particularly good on pear shaped body types and a must on curvier gals. Would you sport this casual […]
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Another article trying to boost curvy women while putting thin women down. Please don’t put others down to make yourself feel better.