Maxi Dresses In All Their Glory

Sometimes I sit around and think about things that most people don't. Like maxi dresses. I love them, but honestly they have to be the absolute perfect length. They can be absolutely slimming and elongating or they can make you look like you are a short, frumpy, square of a person. Now, show of hands. Who wants the first one?

If you are short, watch your dress length! If you let the dress go below the top of your foot you will look like someone shrunk you in your clothes. If your clothes look too big they are not slimming. If you are short and your body is more of an apple shape choose a maxi dress that has a defined empire waist. If you are more of a pear shape maxi dresses are your best friend, although you probably want to stick with defined waists too. If you are more of a straight build than you can wear any style really. A defined waist whether it's true waist, hip, or empire waist will look awesome on you.

The key to looking amazing and glamorous instead of dumpy and frumpy in your maxi dress is to make sure it accentuates your best features and camouflages what you want camouflaged. If you've got great shoulders and fit arms than show them off! Choose a maxi dress that is either strapless, halter, or spaghetti strap. If you are well endowed, than be careful. Strapless is going to make you look saggy, a straight across neckline will give you the dreaded uni-boob, and a triangle top runs the risk of everyone getting a show everytime you move. I recommend going with a v-neck or scoop neckline and recommend choosing a dress that has atleast one inch straps to give you the ability to wear a non-strapless bra. If you are small chested (like me) than you basically get to wear whatever neckline you want. Aren't you lucky?

Here's a few styles to give you some visual aides:

The green dress is fantastic for pear shaped bodies with smaller chests and great shoulders. The ruching and angles on this dress draw the eye to the smallest part of your waist and the modified sweetheart neck helps to make your shoulders and chest look incredible.

The gray dress is just a fun example of what you can do if you have an awesome back and want to show it off. It still covers more than even a strapless dress would and gives you the support you don't get with a strapless but it still shows off a little bit of your back and shoulders. Both the green and gray dresses are from www.modcloth.com. They have some really amazing maxi dresses you should definitely go check them out!

The blue, red, and white striped dress is a great example of that waist definition I was telling you about for people with straight body types. The draw string waist and the extra volume up top will help to give you more curves. If you are a top heavy don't wear this dress. It will do absolutely nothing for your body.

This blue and white dress from Anthropologie is great if you have a larger chest. It's a bit of a deep V so if your really large chested make sure to wear a cami or a cami-bra (basically a cami but doesn't go all the way down to your waist like a cami would). If you need a suggestion for that kind of bra, I highly recommend checking out www.shopcoobie.com. If you are small chested and don't need a lot of bra support I would recommend checking these out as well. They are awesome. Ok, back to the dress. This dress allows for you to wear a more supportive bra and will help to minimize your shoulders and back if you are top heavy. Also, the defined waist will help give you a really great shape.

Maxi dresses are a great asset for the summer. They are cool but they still look great. Also, if you aren't a huge fan of wearing shorts or shorter skirts you can wear these and still be comfortable and cool this summer. Not to mention, you will be right on point with your fashion.