Advice please - right dress shape for body shape

Count Dukula had a dress pretty similar to how you are describing and it had straps

I think it was Mori Lee

Thanks for that. unfortunately I can't afford Mori Lee. I'm getting something coloured and off the peg. might even just hire an evening gown. I'm just trying to work out what shape i should go for. i also tried the corset on with a tight, fishtail skirt and it looked very sexy. but less of the 'princess' moment of my dreams. think i might be a bit old to carry the full skirted, pouffy, ballgown look off though!

40 is hardly old my love!

Make sure you go for what you want and not what you expect is right

I think what you have described sounds nice, but i dont think you know what suits your body shape until you try heaps of things on

what i thought suited me totoally didnt and what i thought would look horrific looked ok = its all a matter of trial and error!

Thanks. i just couldn't work out if it looked ok or not. My mum couldn't come with me as she is ill and i don't have many girlie friends who are into that kind of thing. A friend is hopefully going to come with me when i have another look. But she's a much bigger size than me so i feel really unfair if i say 'do my arms look too fat' or whatever.

also i know it's their job but i spent about 2 hours in there trying stuff on then didn't buy, and feel like there's a limited number of times i can go back and do that again.

sorry, feeling rather low in body and face self-esteem dept at the mo. maybe will just wear a big bin bag!!

I am probably the wrong person to give advice as i am currently wondering where this piece of flesh has come from hanging over my jeans

but, if you want to go for a strapless why don't you get one of those lovely lace shrug type things too?

http://www.bridalwave.tv/RitvaW10Jan.JPG

you are going to be paying for it so it dont matter how many times you try it on!

why dont you try it on and get her to take a picture and then take the picture to show your mum/friends

i have found that asking other peoples opinions dosnt help = its what you feel compfortbale in and like at the end of the day!

dont feel low, im sure you look wonderful - dress trying it spose to be fun - enjoy it

Thanks ladies.

she took pictures on my phone and they are awful. i felt quite nice in the shop but in the photos i look dumpy and awful. but i will probably think that about any picture!

I may go for a shrug but the corset i am thinking of getting has a beautiful, detailed material so i dont' want to detract from it and also might find it hard to find something to go with it. i've tried boleros with short sleeves and they look awful because i have big arms and big shoulders, and it just made them look even bigger!

the corset is here, it's the purple one in the smaller pics:

http://www.fairygothmother.co.uk/70-m28.htm

my main question is about overall dress hape though. is a ballgown style going to make me look too wide as i am short but still pretty curvy? it would come out a bit like this:

http://www.fairygothmother.co.uk/si-01.htm

a straighter or fishtail one would be more like this:

http://www.fairygothmother.co.uk/70-m28trg3_r50.htm

I prefer the fish tail one in the pics on the model but obviously i havnt seen either on you

try and get some pics and show us

i think the fishtail one could be kinda restrictive - i wouldnt be able to walk in it i dont think

Yes I'm

yes, i'm a bit worried about that. the corset is very restrictive so a restricted bottom half as well could be quite uncomfortable. also the first part of do is on a narrow boat so i have to get on and off it and the stairs are really steep, almost like a step ladder. a friend suggested i wore something else for the boat and then changed for the evening do but i can't really afford two outfits, the corset takes a while to get into and you need help to do it, and if i'm paying lots of money for a special outfit that i'm only going to wear once, i really want to wear it for the whole event!!

oh yeah you want to be wearing it for the while event!

Are there any other options or is that the only 2?

i think the fish tail skirt would be way too restrictive for getting up a step ladder kinda step!

There's also a more A line type but it's much more expenisve for some odd reason:

http://www.fairygothmother.co.uk/fgm-judy.htm

I'm 5'2 and stumpy as heck with it. I've gone for empire-line as I think it makes even me look taller. Is this something you might consider? It's definitely got princess factor (for me at least). I wasn't going to go for strapless, but I fell in love with this. Arm podge is a serious issue, currently being tackled at the gym. Maybe considering a taffeta cover-up though, just to disguise that chubby bit more than circumference (can't do much, my arms are always going to be proportionately big for my body).

Empire lines usu make me look pregnant but that is actually really nice, and i think we have the same kind of proportions. you look great.

yeah, the world is not kind to us ladies with larger arms. I'm like you, if i exercise them they don't get smaller, just a diff shape! really annoyed that everything is strapless at the mo, bring back sleeves!!

Tell me about it! Sleeves, where did you go?! I might have an experiment with some material... maybe dangerous though ;-)

That dress is a dress with an overlay, so the lines you see are hanging straight from under the bust and aren't bunching over tummy bulges as it's just skimming the layer below. Very clever design, I thought.

Still not happy with the underage cleavage, but c'est la vie. I won't care on the day and it can always be Photoshopped out.

Tell me about it! Sleeves, where did you go?! I might have an experiment with some material... maybe dangerous though ;-)

That dress is a dress with an overlay, so the lines you see are hanging straight from under the bust and aren't bunching over tummy bulges as it's just skimming the layer below. Very clever design, I thought.

Still not happy with the underage cleavage, but c'est la vie. I won't care on the day and it can always be Photoshopped out.

I'm also 5'2 and i guess busty is prob the term but I also have wide hips (why couldn't I have been born 200 odd years ago when that shape was fashionable ?). I've gone for a halter neck dress with a fairly fitted body and an A line skirt. There is no way i could have got away with a strapless dress and I wanted something I would be comfortable in (not pulling up all day!!). I think it's quite flattering but I only have pics from the back which aren't really any good!!

Halternecks don't usually look good on me as they make my manly shoulders look even larger and my arms even chunkier. i did try on a lovely halterneck corset though, but it was v.expensive and they didn't have any in the right colours.

i was trying to find out on the internet what body shape i have and some things said pear, some said hourglass and the trinny and susannah one said cello! I despair.?

i want SLEEVES!!! and those little jackets and shrugs and things don't necessarily help. you'd think the manufacturer would realise that the people who want a shrug want one because they are self-conscious about their hefty arms, manly shoulders, back fat etc. but no, they make them with teeny tiny little armholes and sleeve widths as though they are for fairies and if i can even get into one i feel like i'm in a straightjacket, i can't get it off without help, and it manages to make my arms and shoulders look even bigger.?