"Dresses" to Kill

by William McGough 
(Roxanne Adamiyatt contributed to this article.)

Yes, it's that crazy time of year again: mid-April. AP's are approaching, the 60 degree weather is calling you outside, and there are signs littering the school reading “Guys, get your act together! Prom money is due in 2 weeks!” So hopefully your guy has gotten his act together; if not, give him a shove in the right direction (remember, guys get nervous too). But this isn't a relationship column, so enough of that!

What this is is a Fashion column, and a fashion column which, I regret to say, has been neglecting the ladies: I've set many of Bronxville's male fashion offenders straight, but I haven't fulfilled my promise of helping you ladies pick out your dream prom dress. Until now:

So, lets start from square one: what is a prom dress? (Serious question) If you go into most stores, you won't find a “prom dress” section because there is technically no such thing, so what should you be looking for? Bronxville's prom follows a relaxed “Black-Tie” dress code. Black Tie means a tuxedo (also known as a “Dinner Jacket”) for the gentlemen and one of two things for the ladies: either a “cocktail dress” or an “evening gown”. Now, what people consider Cocktail Dresses and Evening Gowns varies somewhat (it's a matter of opinion), but I'll try to give you formal definitions. Cocktail Dresses are generally knee-length or less. (If you want to be comfortable and tasteful, I would recommend keeping it within 5” from the top of your kneecap.) Evening gowns tend to be more formal, dropping to the ankles or the floor, which is a fine look, but considering the styles of dancing prevalent nowadays, you might want to give this style a miss lest you find people stepping on your beautiful gown. So depending on where you shop, you might hear different terms thrown about - “Evening Dress” is one which is frequently heard at department stores (it seems to refer to longer cocktail dresses).

Now, there are several important considerations when picking the perfect dress, but the most important is to choose a dress which works with your body-type. Now I don't want anyone reading this to start having a body-image-issue breakdown, so just remember no one is perfect and the prom is not about who looks the sexiest but having a good time. Everyone happy? Good. Let's continue:

The number-one priority you should have when choosing your dress should be finding a dress you are comfortable in. Don't choose something too tight and tell yourself you'll suck yourself into it. I don't care how much time you spend doing Pilates – after the first 45 minutes you will start to feel uncomfortable. One of the biggest mistakes, in my opinion, is wearing a strapless dress when you shouldn't be. You can just look at a person and tell how comfortable they are in what they are wearing, and you will look much better if you are confident and relaxed than if you are squeezing yourself into something the wrong size.

So let's break down the different styles of dresses by body type, keeping in mind what I said above about “positive body image”:

1. Diminish chest size:
   A V-Neck dress is the best choice if you are looking to diminish chest size. The v-neck creates a tapering illusion which has a slimming effect. You will want to make sure you have a “draping” or “skimming” fabric – not something which hugs the skin or something too stiff such that the dress follows your body but then falls away somewhat. You probably want to look for a dress which does not have too much “ornamentation” (beads/patterns, etc). If you insist on some sort of decoration, make sure that it is somewhere else besides the chest – maybe around the waist, etc. Oh, and a final word of warning: NO STRAPLESS DRESSES.

2. Emphasize chest size:
   The trick to emphasizing chest size is to show a wider amount of skin on top, meaning one of two things: a WIDE NECK or a Strapless Dress. In either case, the most important feature you want to look for is a gathering of the material around the stomach. Now while the dress might not really decrease in width too much, a gathering or darting of the material will create a good “hour-glass” optical illusion. A dress with ruffles , particularly in the chest-area, can help to accentuate this effect.

3. Bottom-heavy figure:
   The best advice for what we might call the “body-heavy” figure is to go for an “A-Line” dress. An a-line dress is a dress which is shaped roughly like an A, meaning that it is tight and fitted on the upper body and then flares gently from the waist downwards. You want to avoid any dress that has any sort of ruffles or details on the lower half as these add unnecessary bulk. The other thing you want to be looking for on your dress is what is called an “Empire Waist”. A dress with an Empire Waist has a waistline higher than normal, often times starting where the ribcage starts to split 2 or 3 inches below the chest. By placing the waistline higher, your lower body appears to be longer, and longer means more slender.

4. Generally Bigger
   If you are going for an all-over slimmer look, you are probably best off with a v-neck, and a dress that features a lot of draping. Now, understand the difference between draping and ruffles: ruffles are detailing on top of a closer-fitting dress whereas draping is the way in which the fabric touches your body – the fabric starts from one location, drapes down, then is gathered loosely below. One trick is to wear what is called a “body slip” - an undergarment which sort of looks like a one-piece swimsuit, although they sometime feature short legs. The general idea is to support your entire body and should make you much more comfortable, especially on the dance floor. Now the cliché is to wear a black dress because black is a slimming color. I would tend to disagree with this advice – the black will hide the draping effects we discussed above because shadows will not be as visible. You probably want to go for a color, but I think that a subtle print will look the best as it will add some nice visible appeal without adding bulk. Finally, don't leave your heels at home: they might not be of much use on the dance floor, but they will help make your legs look more slender.

5. Generally Thinner
   If you are generally thinner, you have two basic dress types you want to consider. The first is the strapless – you probably want to go with the dress that follows a straight line across the chest. Often times you can find a dress with a bow or some other detailing which adds structure and curvature. The second thing you might want to consider is a dress with a wider neck and detailing such as ruffling. I talk more about this in the section on “Emphasizing Chest Size” above.

6. I'm Average, Normal, what about me?
   Well, if you don't think you fall into one of the categories above, here is my advice: if are on the skinnier side, but not too thin, you might try a belted strapless dress, which has a good deal of “form-fitting” curvature on the chest with respect to the lowered neck-line. You might also want to try a slightly deeper but narrower neck (elongated v). If you do not have too many body concerns, it will mainly come down to what individual dresses you find and how you like them.

7. I'm fashion forward, the trendsetter and I don't want any of the above:
   Roxanne has some advice for you: “Asymmetrical dresses are a daring fashion choice ( I wore one last year) and are considered quite in vogue at the moment. They look gorgeous in bright colors and show off one's shoulders.”

Okay, so now you have an idea of what type of dress you should probably be wearing. Now comes the question: Black, White, Straight color, or Print? Well, the two most important things are to match your skin tone and your hair color.

Hair Color:

1. Blondes:
   If you have light-blond hair, you might want to avoid the black dress – blond on black does not always work that well. You probably want to think about lighter colors such as a red, lighter yellow, medium to light blue, maybe even a white. (If you go with white for the prom, you might want to find a dress that has some detailing such as a large bow in a different color.)

2. Dark hair:
   If you have darker hair, black will work but don't wear it if you have very dark hair that appears black. Otherwise, you pretty much have your run of the gamut – you can try darker colors like navy blue, a rich (dark but not too dark) purple,

3. Red Hair:
   The best color to compliment red hair is a rich (dark but not too dark that you can't see the color) brown. White also works, but you might want to avoid other colors. Black sometimes work, but be careful, especially if you have a lot of freckles. A dark, maybe even slightly dull, green will work, but again, redheads are very individual, so this might not work on some of you.

4. In between blond and brown:
   If you have lightish, maybe “butterscotch” hair, you might want to think about a gold dress. In general, I would go for a “shinier” dress, maybe in some light colors.

Skin Tone:

1. Dark skin/Too Tan:
   If you have tan skin you want to go for a darker color dress. If you have dark hair and dark skin, navy blue, darker purple, and black are great colors. If you have dark skin and blond hair (aka you went to the Bahamas or tan), you might want to try a pink or a darker color.

2. Very light/Redish hue
   If you have very light skin, maybe a slight redish hue, you do not want to wear a black dress. Instead, if you have blond hair you should go for a red dress, if you have brown hair you should go for a darker red. If you have red hair, see the section on red hair above.

Print or Solid Color? As a rule, I don't like prints but obviously some people do or else they would not make them. If you decide that you must have a dress with a print fabric, do me a favor and promise me that it is subtle, okay? You don't want to look like you are wearing a painting or drawing, instead, you are wearing a piece of clothing. I would try to stick with a two color pattern, especially one where the print/pattern is not that contrasting: if the fabric is light, the print should be a light color like white whereas if the fabric is dark, the print should be another dark color.

Roxanne disagrees with me on prints – she says, “Don't be shy with patterns and florals, they photograph beautifully- but if you do, no elaborate hairdos or makeup, and it's best to use relatively classic accessories.”

In any event, I would go for a straight color. If you go for white (I know, it's a shade not a color), I would look for a dress which has some sort of contrasting elements (such as a dark bow or belt).

A final word from Roxanne: “Pick a dress that you feel beautiful in, if you don't feel like yourself in a dress don't wear it because you will notice it in your photos and probably won't feel as confident.”

Now I'm not going to mention designers or stores where you should look because you don't want to have to worry that someone else might read this article, get the same idea, go to the same store, and get the same dress. If you are at a loss as to where to look or what you want, message me on Facebook or stop me in the hall, and I'll see what I can do for you.