To look good and feel comfortable in a dress, you should know which dress styles are best suited to your figure, and which will never be flattering. Ideally, the cut of the dress should echo the shape of your body. When you slip it on and zip it up, the dress shouldn't stretch or droop, gap or bind, ride up your thighs or slide off your shoulders.

The first step is to figure out your basic body shape:

Rectangle - Lean, boyish. with a minimum of curves.
Square - Chunky, with wide shoulders and hips.
Circle - Small shoulders. big middle, small hips.
Triangle - Wide shoulders, big bust, small hips.
Pyramid - Narrow shoulders, small bust, big hips.
Hourglass - Well-proportioned bust and hips, small waist.

Next, look for a dress. whose basic shape corresponds to that of your body.

Rectangle
Your slender figure will look more shapely in a sarong, shirtwaist, sheath (a fairly close-fitting dress with no waistline), cowlneck shift (a fairly loose-fitting dress with no waistline) or princess-style dress. Yours is the only figure type that looks really good in dingy knit styles, such as the polo and tube dresses.

Square
A coat dress, sheath or princess-style dress will soften the squareness of your figure and give a little waist definition. Another good choice: a wrap dress.

Circle
A tunic dress or sheath with detailing at the neckline or shoulder, or a diagonal drape from neck to knee, will deemphasize your wide midriff

Triangle
A coat dress, tunic dress.' sheath or wedge style will accommodate your top-heavy figure. The crossover top of the coat dress will have a slenderizing effect so will the narrow skirt of the tunic and wedge styles and the easy fit of the sheath.

Pyramid
The sarong dress wilI camouflage your hips. The shirtwaist style will add volume at the top and deline your waist. The cowl-neck shift will add fullness at the bustline and deemphasize your hips. Empire and A-line styles are other good choices.

Hourglass
Styles that accommodate your shapely bust and hips while delining your trim waist will work host. These include the coat dress, sarong dress, shirtwaist, princess and wrap dress.