What Dress Shapes Are There?

Every man on the hunt for new dresses inevitably keeps running into the same question: which shape is actually right for me? Clothes make the person — but every dress makes the person wearing it look different, highlighting both flattering and less flattering areas of that particular body. Men especially tend to have a hard time navigating all the shapes and cuts out there, and end up stuck on the question: which dresses actually suit me?

What dress shapes are there?

Here's a list of the dress styles you'll come across online and in department stores:

• A-line dress
• Evening dress
• Babydoll dress
• Wedding dress
• Bandeau dress
• Cocktail dress
• "The little black dress"
• Empire dress
• Sheath dress
• Shirt dress
• Halter dress
• Princess dress
• Shift dress
• Wrap dress

Each of these dress types follows its own cut and shape.

Which dress shape suits me?

Now let's get into the real substance. What's your figure like? Which proportions define your body?
In fashion terms, letters are the best way to describe your body shape.
The nicknames used for them are borrowed from everyday objects, and they're not meant as an insult in any way.
So even if you're a "pear type," that's simply a descriptive way of saying you have narrow shoulders and wider hips.

There are the following types:

• The A-type (also known as the pear shape)
• The H-type
• The O-type
• The V-type (also known as the triangle shape)
• The X-type (also known as the hourglass shape, or 90-60-90)

The A-type

The pear is the perfect symbol for this type. The shoulders tend to be narrow and delicate, while the hips are wider and more pronounced. Dresses you wear should mainly draw attention to your upper body.

• Narrow, delicate shoulders
• Long arms
• Flat chest area
• Flat stomach
• Wide hips
• Fairly strong thighs
• Slender calves

🛑 What to avoid: Stay away from dresses that fit tightly around the hips. They'll only emphasize your proportions too clearly.

✅ What you can wear: Anything with a pattern, or asymmetrical necklines up top! Emphasize your shoulder area and beam yourself back to the 80s with shoulder pads. They're actually back in style, by the way!

The H-type

This shape is defined by a rectangle, much like the letter H itself. Your shoulders, hips, and waist are all roughly the same width. If you trace a line around your body, it ends up looking like a rectangle. The main goal here is to emphasize your shape and curves, clearly and deliberately. You can identify the H-type by the following traits:

• Narrow back
• Flat chest area
• Little waist definition
• Barely any curve at the shoulders
• Not much hip definition
• Small backside
• Athletic build
• Long, athletic legs

🛑 What to avoid: Stay away from dresses that give your body a lot of extra room! Balloon dresses or oversized styles absolutely will not flatter your figure.

✅ What you can wear: A-line dresses, wrap dresses (fitted), empire dresses, and shirt or blouse dresses.

The O-type

The letter O is rounder than this shape actually is — though calling it a "zero" shape wouldn't have been particularly charming either. Here, the main goal is to draw attention away from your midsection and highlight your long, slender legs or your chest area instead. Deep necklines and calmer, more muted colors work especially well for that.

• Slender arms
• Narrow legs
• Slim legs
• Pronounced chest area
• Pronounced décolletage
• Rounder stomach
• Flat backside
• Full, pronounced hips

🛑 What to avoid: Stay away from tightly fitted dresses, like sheath dresses.

✅ What you can wear: Muted colors, and ideally wrap dresses, shirt dresses, and empire dresses.

The V-type

Similar to the A-type, this is essentially the inverted version of that shape. Except nobody calls it the "inverted pear type" — instead, it's the triangle type, or V-type. Here, the shoulders are broad and the hips comparatively narrow. This is common among men, since they naturally tend to have a more pronounced shoulder and chest area. And to be clear, we don't mean breasts specifically.

• Pronounced shoulder area
• Broad, muscular, well-defined back
• Waist circumference larger than chest circumference
• Waist barely defined
• Narrow hips
• Small backside
• Slender legs

🛑 What to avoid: Focus on visually elongating your silhouette. You already have a pronounced upper body, so you shouldn't emphasize it further. That means empire dresses, deep off-the-shoulder necklines, and dresses with thin, narrow, or even spaghetti straps are off-limits.

✅ What you can wear: Easy to remember: anything with a V-neckline suits you well! Also explore halter dresses or asymmetrical one-shoulder dresses. These visually elongate your upper body, balancing out the disproportionate width with added length.

The X-type

This is the shape most people associate with an hourglass: broad at the top and bottom, narrow in the middle. Baywatch popularized the so-called "ideal measurements" of 90-60-90 for this type.

• Shoulders and hips roughly equal width
• Narrow waist
• Pronounced chest
• Flat stomach
• Pronounced backside and hips
• Athletic to strong thighs

🛑 What to avoid: Cuts that use a lot of fabric and add even more volume, as well as oversized styles or cocktail and mini dresses that are cut too small.

✅ What you can wear: Sheath dresses, wrap dresses, and anything with a V-neckline.