A dress is the hardest garment to fit, because it has to work at the bust, waist and hip at the same time. That is also why the right silhouette makes such a difference: a dress cut for your proportions looks tailored straight off the rack, while the wrong one needs work in three places.
Below, the eight body shapes from the FFIT system, with the dress silhouettes that suit each, the ones to skip, and the single alteration worth knowing about. If you don’t know your shape yet, the body shape calculator works it out from four measurements.
Quick reference
| Shape | Best dress silhouettes | Usually skip |
|---|---|---|
| Hourglass | Wrap, belted, fit-and-flare | Straight shift with no waist |
| Top hourglass | A-line, fit-and-flare with a V-neck | High necks, ruffled bodices |
| Bottom hourglass | Fit-and-flare, A-line with structured shoulders | Drop waists, stiff pleats at the hip |
| Spoon | Seamed sheath, A-line from a high waist | Anything that ends at the high hip |
| Pear | A-line, detail at the top | Clingy skirts, plain bodices |
| Inverted triangle | Full skirts, halter and V-necks | Puff sleeves, boat necks |
| Rectangle | Bias-cut, peplum, wrap, belted | A hard cinch with nothing to cinch |
| Apple | Empire, column, longline layers | Belts at the waist, tent shapes |
Hourglass
The hourglass already has its waist, so the best dresses simply follow it: wrap dresses, belted dresses and fit-and-flare shapes that are fitted through the bodice and release at the hip. Fabrics with a little stretch, like ponte or crepe, hold the curve without pulling at the bust.
Skip straight shifts and column dresses unless you belt them. On this outline they read as a loss of shape rather than as minimalism.
The alteration: buy for the bust and hip and have the waist taken in. It is cheap, and it is almost always needed.
Top hourglass
The top hourglass has a fuller bust with a defined waist. Look for an open neckline — V, scoop or sweetheart — on top of a dress that releases into an A-line or full skirt. The open neckline gives the bust vertical space, and the skirt brings the hip closer to the width of the bust.
Avoid high crew necks, boat necks and ruffled bodices, which all add width at the fullest point.
The alteration: if a dress fits the bust, the waist will usually need taking in. Princess-seamed styles need less work than darted ones.
Bottom hourglass
The bottom hourglass has fuller hips with a defined waist. Fit-and-flare works beautifully, and so does an A-line dress with a structured shoulder or a wider neckline, which widens the top of the outline to balance the hip.
Skip drop waists and dresses with stiff pleats starting at the hip; both add volume at the widest point.
The alteration: dresses bought for the hip gape at the back waist. Taking the excess out at the center back seam keeps the sides hanging straight.
Spoon
The spoon is wide from the high hip down, with a shelf rather than a gradual curve. The best dresses are seamed sheaths with a smooth front and A-lines that start from a high waist, skimming past the high hip instead of stopping on it.
Avoid anything with a seam, hem or belt landing right on the high hip, and avoid hip pockets and peplums, which add volume exactly there.
The alteration: expect to let out the side seams at the high hip and take in the waist. It is the shape ready-to-wear fits least well.
Pear
The pear has fuller hips with a gentle waist. An A-line dress that skims the hips, combined with interest at the top — a print, a statement sleeve, a wide neckline — balances the outline without fighting it.
Skip clingy bodycon skirts and dresses with all the detail at the hem.
The alteration: buy for the hips and have the bodice taken in. Don’t try to alter a shoulder that is too wide; size for the shoulder if the dress has structure there.
Inverted triangle
The inverted triangle has shoulders and bust wider than the hip. Put the volume below the waist: full, pleated or flared skirts with a halter, V or scoop neckline that breaks up the width across the chest.
Skip puff and cap sleeves, shoulder pads, boat necks and horizontal stripes across the chest — all of them add to the widest point.
The alteration: raglan and halter styles fit better off the rack than set-in sleeves. If a set-in shoulder is too wide, narrowing it is worth the cost.
Rectangle
The rectangle has bust, waist and hip close together. You can either lean into the straight line — column dresses and shifts look deliberate on this shape — or build curve with bias cuts, peplums, wrap fronts and belts over a softer layer.
What doesn’t work is a hard cinch with nothing to cinch: a tight waistband on a straight outline looks like strain, not shape.
The alteration: hem length. With little waist suppression to work with, getting the length exactly right does more than taking anything in.
Apple
The apple carries its fullest measurement at the waist, so shape comes from vertical lines rather than from the waist. Empire-seamed dresses, columns in one color, and dresses worn under a long open layer all work, especially with a V or scoop neckline.
Skip belts at the waist and peplums, which add width at the fullest point, and tent shapes, which add width everywhere. Fabric that skims the body looks smaller than either.
The alteration: look for princess and empire seams rather than a waist dart. They shape the dress above and below the fullest point instead of at it.
A note on fabric
The same silhouette behaves very differently in different fabrics. Structured fabrics — cotton poplin, wool crepe, scuba — hold their own shape and add a little volume. Fluid fabrics — jersey, silk, viscose — follow yours. If a silhouette that should suit you isn’t working, try it in the other kind of fabric before giving up on it.