Having the hourglass body shape means you have a curvy figure, especially with your full bust and voluptuous hips. Meanwhile, your waist is significantly smaller compared to your hips, a feature coveted by all women. Even though you have the most envied body shape, you probably often find it challenging to look for the right clothing style. In this detailed guide, we will walk you through everything you need to know about the most flattering prom dress styles for your shape.
Sweetheart Neck Dresses
Hourglass body shapes typically have full and very well-shaped breasts, which is obviously a desirable feature that you should definitely flaunt! A subtle but very efficient way to showcase the prominence of your bust line is by wearing a prom dress that has a sweetheart neckline.
The distinct heart-shaped neckline gives a very feminine touch to your look by softly tracing your cleavage to give it a proper enhancement. This type of open neckline also opens up decent space on your upper half to draw attention to your gorgeous decolletage, hence giving one of your hourglass body’s best features its well-deserved recognition!
Cocktail dresses come in different silhouettes, but a good one to go well together with a sweetheart neck should be something to relevantly flatter your highly coveted hourglass curves such as a fit and flare, A-Line, or bodycon. Basically, look for a dress that cinches the waist and skims thoroughly on your curves.
Sparkly Bodycon Dresses
Be your own sparkling superstar on your prom night by going for a sparkly bodycon dress that also brings out the best of your voluptuous hourglass figure! In all honesty, not everyone can pull off bodycon dresses as they are not really the easiest and the most forgiving garment piece, so hourglass girls are definitely blessed to be able to look great in one.
Bodycon dresses are specifically designed to cling closely to the body, hugging every curve that hourglass body shapes have – from your well-endowed bust, and narrow waistline, to your curvy hips. A bodycon dress is usually already a statement on its own but since it’s your prom night, a bit of more drama and extravagance won’t hurt, right?
Sparkly fabrics, whether they are glitters, sequins, or shiny threadings, are absolutely show-stopping and they also have this ability to reflect light in a way that will highlight the exact shape of your dress. With this mentioned, your hourglass body shape will be immensely accentuated if you wear a bodycon dress made from sparkly fabric.
Tulle Fit and Flare Dresses
The classic fit and flare silhouette is also one of the most flattering types of dresses to accentuate an hourglass body shape. It features a fitted bodice that conforms snugly to your prominent shoulders and bust line, a distinct waist seam that cinches your narrow waist, and a flared skirt that softly skims through your curvaceous hips.
Because of these style benefits fit and flare dresses give, it is quite apparent that this type of silhouette can be a foolproof fashion choice for your prom night dress. You can also accentuate the flare of the dress even further by going for tulle fabric material as this is also visually advantageous for hourglass shapes in a way that it helps highlight your narrow waistline more.
Queen Anne Neck Satin Dresses
The Queen Anne neckline is very underrated and I honestly think every hourglass girl should have at least one dress that features this sophisticated neckline shape. It provides support similar to a halter neck, accompanied by a sweetheart cut that brings your cleavage to prominence.
Because of the support the Queen Anne neckline features, it also helps give your full bust a nice lift to ensure that its shape is perfectly accentuated. Most Queen Anne style dresses also have a structured bodice that can also be very beneficial for hourglass frames because of how it cinches the waist and conforms to your curves.
To give your dress a more elegant and luxurious mood, opt for satin fabric as it is not only opulent, it can also be visually beneficial for hourglass body shapes. Satin has a very soft and flowy drape that can beautifully skim through your curves while its glossy surface can bring the focus on the garment itself and therefore emphasize the natural beauty of your hourglass body shape.
Flowy One-Shoulder Dresses
Here’s a chic and lowkey sultry dress option for your prom night – a flowy one-shoulder dress! Open necklines are generally quite flattering for hourglass body shapes and asymmetrical necklines such as the one-shoulder can fully highlight the beauty of your decolletage.
It gives less coverage for a sexier appeal but still also provides superior support for your full bust. The asymmetrical neckline significantly draws attention to your shoulders and collarbone, which is also helpful in keeping your frame visually lean and well-balanced.
In addition to its figure-flattering neckline, the flowy nature of this dress adds elegance and also creates a sense of movement that visually elongates your figure. As they drape flawlessly on your figure, you can expect a more forgiving and more comfortable fit that will allow you to move freely at ease.
V-Neck Velvet Dresses
Velvet has always been a luxurious fabric that’s soft in texture and rich in color, which are the attributes you would love your prom dress to have. The velvet fabric has a dense pile of cut fibers which explains its plushness and depth, and this density is also the reason why it naturally molds and contours to your voluptuous hourglass curves.
In addition to the style benefits of this fabric for your hourglass figure, having your dress in a V-shaped neckline will exude more elegance and accentuation to bring out your gorgeous hourglass body shape. Additionally, the downward-pointing V-shape naturally leads the viewer’s gaze towards the bust and your narrow waist, perfectly highlighting and flattering these distinguished parts of your hourglass figure.
Note that V-necks come in various depths – from modest to more plunging. This means that you have to be mindful about the coverage you’ll go for, depending on your level of comfort and if it’s deemed appropriate with your school’s rules.
A-Line Lace Dresses
The A-Line silhouette is a classic dress choice for hourglass-shaped women because of its timelessness and figure-enhancing fit. It features a fitted bodice that accentuates your bust line and your well-defined narrow waist, which further elevates your hourglass body shape.
From the waist down, the flow of the dress gently widens out as if forming an “A” shape to accommodate your wide hips, curvy thighs, and shapely legs. If you would like your prom dress to look dainty and lean towards a romantic, feminine look, go for intricate lace detailing.
A-Line lace dresses can come in varying lengths and sleeve styles so try to look for those that won’t drown your hourglass figure.
Sequined Halter Neck Dresses
The halter neckline provides ample support for the fuller bust size of hourglass-shaped women and at the same time, draws attention to your highly coveted decolletage. Halter neckline beautifully accentuates your best upper half features to keep your body shape proportions even and harmonious from top to bottom.
To bring more extravagance to your halter neck dress, have it embellished with sequins as they feature a mesmerizing sparkle whenever they catch light. The way it reflects light will further amplify the silhouette of your dress and therefore draw immense focus on your hourglass silhouette.
Mermaid Dresses with Corseted Top
A Mermaid dress can totally level up your hourglass body shape as it features a very flattering silhouette that will not only make your best features stand out but also accentuate every curve of your body. Mermaid dresses are mostly characterized by a skirt that flares out soft from the hips to the hem, resembling a mermaid’s tail, and this type of dress shape makes you look even curvier than you already are.
A mermaid dress is a form-fitting garment so you can expect a clingy fit all throughout, and you can take this form-fitting effect to another notch by going for mermaid dresses that have boning, such as a corset style. If you feel like showing off more of your beautiful decolletage and flaunting some cleavage, corsets can give you that gorgeous lift and support to enhance your upper half.
Corseted Mermaid dresses will surely let every curve of your hourglass figure stand out and the lace-up enclosure can give you full control on how tight you want your waist cinch to be. Although it’s important to note that this particular prom dress style leans toward a design that’s a bit more risque because of how it may expose more skin and cling very close to the body, so make sure to be mindful when going for this design and see if it goes by your school’s dress code.
Knee-Length X-Line Dresses
Here’s another very flattering prom dress silhouette for your hourglass body shape because it closely mimics your natural hourglass curves. The X-Line silhouette also has a very distinct waist cinch that makes your narrow waist perfectly accentuated.
X-Line dresses typically have structured shoulders that are in complete balance with the hemline of the dress, giving your silhouette a very proportionate ratio from top to bottom. Some styles of X-Line dresses may also have a slightly extended shoulder line to match the exact width of the flared hemline – pretty much exactly as how an X shape looks like.
You can of course experiment with varying lengths and go for the one that suits your height best. But if you’re torn between a short and long prom dress, you can go for the safest option which is knee-length as it can give your silhouette a proportionate balance while also showcasing your shapely legs.
Belted Full Mesh Dresses
Belts are highly advantageous for hourglass body shapes because it’s the most effortless and flattering way to accentuate your narrow waist and bring it to exquisite definition. The belt allows your prom dress to cinch at the waist and hold the skirt part of the dress to create a full flare.
The mesh fabric features a soft but textured detail that you can work on several layers to add decadence to your dress. The flare of the full mesh fabric creates a whimsical and flowing silhouette that also visually adds depth and dimension to the entire dress, which is highly appropriate for a fun and fancy prom night.
This fabric is actually pretty versatile as well as it allows you to have various layering style options to achieve the shape and structure you like your prom dress to have. Mesh is also an easy fabric to work with if you’d like to add more adornments to it like sequins, intricate beadwork, or delicate embroidery.
Avoid Unstructured Fabrics
Prom dresses should have more structure and depth because apart from the fact that structured prom dresses look great in photos, they also conform to your hourglass body shape more naturally. On the other hand, unstructured fabrics, which are usually the ones that are too heavy or slouchy, aren’t able to follow the natural shape of the body.
Unstructured fabrics lack shape so they can’t provide the proper support to flatter your hourglass features. This will make your prom dress look droopy and shapeless, creating an unbalanced overall appearance.
Avoid Shapeless Silhouettes
You have one of the most coveted body shapes that most women strive so hard to have! So this is also why you should always remember that your entire figure is an asset and that you have to always ensure that your hourglass figure is flawlessly accentuated.
On the contrary, dresses that are too billowy or dresses that don’t have strategic seams are shapeless by nature and so they will fully conceal your hourglass silhouette. By wearing shapeless dresses, you are losing your chance of making your hourglass features stand out.
Instead, go for dress silhouettes that feature a more tailored fit such as A-Line, fit and flare, or mermaid. Basically, dresses that cinch the waist and hug your curves snugly are the ideal style factors that will flatter your hourglass body shape.
Avoid Extreme Ruffles or Embellishments
Sometimes, in hopes of making the dress look more extravagant for prom night, some tend to pile up on loads of dramatic embellishments. However, this is an absolute fashion faux pas for hourglass body shapes because these extreme details will drown your beautiful body shape out!
Remember that your voluptuous body shape alone is already a statement on its own so there’s no need for a lot of extra details such as ruffles or embellishments in enhancing your natural figure. A few touches of detailing here and there should suffice, ideally, just pick one type of embellishment you’d like your prom dress to have to make sure that the focal point is your hourglass figure and not the bulky details adorning your dress.
