If you have an hourglass figure with broad shoulders, your body shape is quite unique. Because of your generous curves and your prominent shoulders, it is important to choose the right styles that can emphasize your gorgeous body features. Let’s first take a deep dive to fully understand your body shape, and then go over everything you need to know on how to best dress your shape.
Appearance
- Broad shoulders
- Well-defined waistline
- Well-balanced hips and shoulders
- Full chest
- May have a short waist
V-neck dresses
As a hourglass shape woman with broad shoulders, the goal is to create balance around the top half of your body by minimizing your broad shoulders as stylishly as possible. An effective way to do this is by wearing v-neck dresses that draw attention towards the center of your body.
V-neckline dresses are incredibly flattering for the hourglass body type because they help to show off a little of your chest which brings more balance to your upper body. It works even better on women with broad shoulders because this neckline helps to establish a more balanced overall figure.
So, if you’re ever in doubt about what you can do to slim down your wide shoulders, your go-to style can be v-neck dresses. This will help you to achieve visual balance and stylishly show off your assets, especially if you have a full bust.
Wrap dresses
Wrap dresses are an incredibly versatile style of dress with a silhouette that’s flattering for hourglass women with broad shoulders. How? Well, let’s start with the open, v-neckline which I mentioned earlier helps to streamline your wider upper body.
The V-neckline is just open enough to reveal your slender neck and collarbone, which visually shrinks the width of your shoulders. Next up is the wrap style of the dress that moves seamlessly around your silhouette without being tight-fitting on your frame.
The wrap dress flows effortlessly with your curves and helps you create a more defined waistline. However, remember that the length of your wrap dress also matters. The perfect length is usually a little below your knee, and this helps to create a more balanced overall shape.
Of course, this also depends on your height. You can play around with this until you find the length that flatters your body and allows you to balance your broad shoulders.
Avoid spaghetti strap tops
Another effortless way to achieve a more balanced look on your hourglass body shape and make your broad shoulders less prominent is to avoid spaghetti strap tops. This is because the spaghetti straps are really thin and offer a sharp contrast which your broad shoulders.
Of course, this will make the width of your shoulders more obvious and lead to an uneven silhouette. Rather than wear spaghetti strap tops that make you appear top-heavy, wear more dresses and tops with sleeves that flatter this area.
These sleeves don’t have to be extremely fitted or short. You need one that leaves room for your arms without being excessively big as this will help to flatter your upper body and make your broad shoulders less prominent.
The bottomline here is that spaghetti strap tops are not flattering for hourglass women with broad shoulders.
A-line dresses
Here’s another flattering silhouette for hourglass women with broad shoulders: A-line dresses. There’s a high chance you’ve heard about this style countless times but you may not know just how amazing they look on women with broad shoulders, especially if you have an hourglass body type.
A-line dresses are known for adding more volume to the bottom half of the body, which effectively balances with your heavier top half. This will help to balance your overall figure, making it appear more flattering and feminine.
Wearing A-line dresses will make you stand out beautifully and you should definitely not miss out on having a few in your closet. They are a much better option compared to dresses with excessive shoulder details like ruffles.
These tend to add more volume to your upper body which is not what you need at that moment. You can get a similar effect with sleeveless dresses as well. These styles add more to the overall imbalance of your body silhouette. So, stick with A-line dresses.
Peplum tops
Wearing peplum tops as a hourglass woman with broad shoulders is one of the best way to draw attention away from the width of your shoulders. Instead, this attention can be diverted to your lower body which automatically adds more volume to this area visually.
This balances your overall silhouette and makes you look breathtakingly beautiful. Peplum tops are effective because they offer just the right amount of volume at the bottom of the top.
With the flounce at the bottom of peplum tops, it’s easy to create the illusion of a balanced figure as there’s less attention on your broad shoulders. Another amazing effect of peplum tops is that they add more waist definition to your figure.
So, if you don’t mind using this top to create a curvier silhouette, you’ll definitely love the results on your body. This will help you create a more feminine structure that stands out.
Avoid turtleneck tops
High necklines are unflattering for the hourglass body type and that includes turtleneck tops. Your best tops are those with lower necklines as they help to break up your wide chest and make you appear slender.
They can also help to create more visual balance in your body proportion as lower necklines reduce attention on the bust area. However, the opposite is the case with turtleneck tops. This style draws more emphasis on your bust and shoulders, making them appear bigger.
If you don’t want your chest to look fuller and become the focus of people attention, then you should avoid turtleneck tops. A deep V-neckline or scoop neck will offer a more flattering fit that is great for your hourglass body with broad shoulders.
Another huge disadvantage of turtleneck tops for your body type is that they cover all the elongating parts of your body. This can shrink your overall appearance, making you appear shorter than you actually are.
If you’re a petite hourglass woman with broad shoulders, you can already imagine how awkward this would look.
Dark-colored tops
It’s no secret that dark colors have a slimming effect on the body. For the hourglass woman with broad shoulders, you need styles that can help you tone down this width without minimizing your natural curves.
An effective way is with dark-colored tops. Tops in darker colors like black will easily slim down your overall silhouette so you can show off your perfect curves that’s typical for the hourglass body type.
Of course, black is also associated with elegance and sophistication. You can combine this with wide leg pants to convey a huge sense of professionalism everywhere you go. Dark-colored tops also have an elongation effect on the body.
So, you can use this to visually add a few inches to your overall height. Since black is a universal color that pairs amazingly well with almost every other color, you can have a lot of fun combining this to find the one that fits your unique style.
Avoid padded shoulders
Whether it’s on dresses, tops or jackets, hourglass shape women with broad shoulders should avoid wearing them with padded shoulders. Padded shoulders will make your structure look more unbalanced as they add more volume to your broad shoulders.
This is not flattering for your body shape. Wearing styles that add more volume to your top is not a great idea if you want your shoulders to look smaller. You should also avoid tight-fitting or extremely defined shoulders on your tops which draw more attention to this area.
Wear tops without this extra bulk and you’ll be able to balance your silhouette effortlessly. This means specifically looking out for tops and dresses without any details around the upper body that can make this area look bigger.
Keep your tops and jackets as plain as possible, even when layering, and you’ll be able to draw attention to your lower half.
Avoid oversized tops
The hourglass body type is a naturally balanced figure and even with broad shoulders, this doesn’t tamper with your curvy silhouette. Wearing oversized tops will only overwhelm your figure and make your upper body appear bigger.
This especially applies to your bust area. If you have a full chest and don’t want to draw more attention to this area, you should avoid wearing oversized tops. Rather than try to conceal your beautiful body shape and make your waist appear undefined, you should stick with more fitted styles that are more relaxed on your body.
This doesn’t include tops with horizontal stripes as this will visually add more width to your upper body. You need to focus on styling your body while creating proper balance in your body proportions. This isn’t possible with oversized tops.
