Wedding dress 101: silhouettes

Welcome to Wedding Dress 101! In this series, I’m going to share with you everything you need to know about the details of a wedding dress, from fabric to sizing to what goes into determining a dress’s price.

Today we’re going to talk about something that might be one of the first things you think about when you start pinning gowns: the silhouette! Feeling comfortable and beautiful in the dress you select is (in my opinion) the most important thing, so read on to start to get an idea of what silhouettes might be right for you.

A-Line

This is by far the most common silhouette my brides mention during appointments. A-line dresses are fitted through the natural waist and then start to flare out, giving them the “A” shape that the style gets its name from. That “A” shape can vary in size, from just a little bit of volume to something close to our next style on the list.

Ball Gown

If you’ve always pictured yourself in a dress like Cinderella’s, then you’re thinking of a ball gown. Like the a-line, these are fitted through the natural waist or hip, but the flare-out is much more dramatic. The skirt can get its shape in a few different ways, from satin on top of a hoop to layers upon layers of tulle.

Column

Maybe simple and clean is more your style. In that case, the streamlined look of a column dress might be for you. These are easy to confuse with a sheath dress (which we’ll talk about later), but the column is usually made with a more structured fabric, like taffeta or brocade.

Fit-and-Flare

Want to show off your curves on your wedding day? The fit-and-flare gives you the shape you want, but is also comfortable enough to move in all day. Unlike the mermaid and trumpet silhouette, this dress starts to flare out closer to the hips than the knees (and the increase in volume might not be as dramatic).

Mermaid

Similar to the fit-and-flare, the mermaid is fitted through the waist and hips, and then begins to flare out. The biggest difference is that the flare happens at the knee instead of closer to the hips. The location of the flare combined with the dramatic volume of the train helps give the style its name.

Sheath

If you’ve tried a column dress and it’s too structured for your liking, give a sheath dress a try! Made of silky fabrics like chiffon and charmeuse, the silhouette drapes gracefully over your body before the hemline hits the floor. And since there are no horizontal seams, it can help make you look taller.

Slip

The third of the more minimalist silhouettes on this list, the slip dress is the most similar to the dress before it on the list. The difference is in the fabric: slip dresses are made of unstructured fabrics like satin or silk that give a slightly looser feel.

At your first dress shopping appointment, I’d recommend trying on a mix of different silhouettes. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times that a bride will end up loving a silhouette that they never considered, or had counted out because they didn’t think it would look good. So who knows? Maybe even though every dress on in texts back and forth to friends are sheaths, you could end up walking down the aisle in a beautiful ball gown!