The Dress Guide: Which Sleeve Length is Perfect For You?

First up in the new collection is the Sleeveless Plaid Shift Dress, which is perfect if you have a Diamond body shape. A woman with a Diamond body shape has hips broader than her shoulders and her waist is the widest part of her frame. Her lower legs and arms are her best features. The aim with a Diamond Body Shape is to balance the shoulders and hips while creating a waistline. The sleeveless dress is perfect for this body shape as it highlights the slender arms which draws attention away from the waistline. We offer our dresses with or without a waist seam and we would suggest for Diamond ladies that you go seam free to create a sleek and smooth silhouette.

When it comes to the Cap Sleeve Shift, you should choose this dress if you have a Pear or Spoon Body Shape. This is where your hips are wider than your shoulders, but you also have a narrow waist. With this body shape you want to draw attention to your shoulders to create the illusion that your shoulders and hips are in proportion. The Cap Sleeve would be ideal for drawing the eyes to the shoulders due to where the fabric cuts on the arm, not to mention it is very flattering on the upper body. We offer a round or square neck and personally I think the square neck looks lovely with a cute little cap sleeve.

There are two different body shapes that would best suit the Short Sleeve Shift Dress and they are the Rectangle Body Shape and the Apple Body Shape. A woman with the rectangle body shape has equal bust, waist and hip measurements, she also tends to be quite tall, lean and have very little definition in her waist. The key to dressing this body shape is ensuring the rectangular midriff is broken up, this can be done by adding volume to the upper body and drawing attention to the waistline. This is why the short sleeve style of dress is perfect. My top tip is to have your sleeve length custom made so they end at the waist, this will draw focus to your waistline and create the illusion that it is more defined. Add in a waist seam for an additional excuse to highlight this area.

A woman with an Apple Body Shape has a large bust, narrow hips and a full midsection, she will also have long slender legs and little definition in her waist. It is recommended that a woman with this body shape should accentuate her upper body in order to take the focus away from her waist, the short sleeves are great for this as they are super flattering on the shoulders and chest. Another way to draw attention away from the midriff is to wear clothing that is slightly fitted to avoid unnecessary fabric around the waist, our shift dresses are perfect for this as they are custom made to your exact measurements.

For our final dress style, again there are two different body shapes this dress would look great on; Hourglass and Inverted Triangle. Let's start with the Hourglass body shape, women with this shape usually have an equal measurement of hips and bust, with a considerably narrower waist, she also has larger legs and rounded shoulders. Since this body shape is already balanced the key to dressing is to follow the natural silhouette, in other words don't draw attention to either the lower body or upper body. The elbow length sleeve is a great choice as it is so clean cut it will not draw attention away from the waistline.

Last, but by no means least, the Inverted Triangle Body Shape, this is the body shape of a woman who has broad shoulders and/or bust with a narrower hip measurement, she will generally look quite athletic and has little waist definition. When it comes to this body shape the sleeves should be used to make the upper body appear slimmer and the lower body appear fuller, the elbow length sleeve is perfect for this as the sleeve will end at the hips, which will in turn add volume to this area.

Of course this is just our advice and you do not have to stick to the sleeve length for your body shape. Essentially we advise that you should go for the style of dress you both love and feel most confident in, as this will shine through and make you look fabulous!