Petite Bridesmaids - What To Make Them Wear

The key to getting a flattering petite bridesmaid dress is: knowing your best features and working to emphasize them; and knowing your not-so-good features and working to cover them.

Small-framed bridesmaids often have a hard time choosing gowns. Most of the standard bridesmaid dresses available are for medium sized women and look too big on a petite-sized woman. Thankfully, more and more designers are coming up with unique designs for the petite woman, ensuring that there is a wide variety to choose from. If you are getting ready-made dresses for your bridesmaids, it helps to know what designs and types will look good on them. If you are getting custom-made designs, it helps to know which styles work and which ones do not.

Understanding the Design

The best dress or gown for petite bridesmaids will bring out their best features, while minimizing or hiding the not-so-good. If a maid has a small bust, choose a design with a busy bodice to add body to the chest. If they have a bulging tummy, go for a design that hides this bulge, giving the illusion of a flat stomach. If they have lovely hips, you will want a design that emphasizes these. If the hips are too big, a dress that tones them down is ideal.

Flat-chest versus Full-chest Petite

If a petite bridesmaid has a flat chest or small bust, choose a design with details on the bust. Frills, pleats and gathers work magic in creating a full bust. If on the other hand the maid is busty, a low or scoop neck that enhances the bust is perfect.

From Narrow Hips to Curvaceous

If the bridesmaid has narrow hips, a dress with a flowing bottom will add body to the thighs and hips. Great designs offering these include balloon and bubble dresses, empire dresses and ball gown designs. The maid will have to try on a dress that flares from the waist and one that flares from the bust. The waist flare is great for someone with a flat tummy. The downside is that it may make her look shorter. The bust-flare/empire is perfect and almost always looks good on all types of petite.

Curvy Hips

If you are curvy on the hips and thighs, you can balance off your body while emphasizing your curves by choosing a dress with ruffles that fall from the thighs.

The Bulging Tummy
There are a number of ways to deal with this:

- Choose a dress with details on the bodice, to draw attention away from the waist and to the bust.
- Choose a design that flares from the bust (empire waist), hence perfectly skimming over your tummy and giving a flawless look.
- If you have wider hips, go for a design with ruffles on the front, as they will effectively cover your tummy.

Add Height

While full length dresses are popular among petite ladies, they may sometimes make one look shorter. To create an illusion of tallness, choose a halter neck design for your full-length dress. Halter necks tend to draw attention from the body and up the face and head, thus giving an illusion of length. Additional tricks one can use to add height are vertical patterns, cuts, seam lines, buttons and decorations. Make the legs appear longer by using an empire waist, which looks exceptional especially for someone with a thick waist.

Show off your Trim Features

Most petite bridesmaids have trim upper arms and toned shoulders. This is the perfect opportunity to show off these features. Go for strapless, one-shoulder, spaghetti or halter designs. If you are confident about your back side, choose a low back. To create balance, avoid showing too much skin on your back if you are in a short dress, as this can actually make you look smaller. Generally though, short dresses in halter, spaghetti, strapless, and short-sleeve or one-shoulder design look great on petite women.

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