How Dress for your Body Type if You’re Bigger Busted

How dress for your body type if you’re bigger busted

One of the most common body types I work with in my female clients is bigger busted. The struggle IS real. When you’re bigger busted, you may struggle with the over blousy effect where your tops flow away from your body (to the extent that you may appear pregnant when you’re not), button down shirts gap, dresses fit on top but not on the bottom, and you appear to “lead with your bust.”

Here are ways to style yourself for flattery, minimize your bust and dress your best when you’re bigger busted:

  1. Patterns– consider wearing patterned tops and dresses. Patterns are my favorite technique for dressing my bigger busted clients. Be sure to experiment and try on tops and dresses to determine the scale of the pattern that works for you. I would recommend what I call a mid-range pattern – too small and it will be lost on you, too big and it can be overwhelming.
  2. Darker Colors – Darker colors can help minimize your bust. But don’t feel you have to wear black forever. This can be dark green, cranberry, navy, charcoal gray and more. The key is to make the top darker than the bottoms your wearing as this will create a balanced silhouette in the outfit.
  3. Drape and Fit – some of my clients’ favorite shirts are those that gather in at the bottom of the shirt to bring the shirt back to their body. These are fantastic shirts to consider. It doesn’t have to be a waistband per se but can be other detailing like a faux wrap, additional fabric layered at the bottom, ruffles and more. Consider shirts that drape vs. cling. Don’t forget to buy for the hardest to fit part of your body and alter the rest! If you find something you love that fits you in the bust but is bigger around your torso or rest of your body, consider having it altered to fit.

Check out these examples of how I styled some of my bigger busted clients:

Examples of how patterns and layering can be beneficial for an area you want to minimize.
Examples of how texture (left) and proper drape in a shirt (right) can work to minimize your bust.
Examples of shirts with detailing at the bottom (left) and a shirt with a waist band and built in wrap (right)
Shirt with built in wrap (left) and a great way to minimize the blousiness of a top is to tuck it in (right).

For more on dressing for your body type, read these posts:

How to dress for your body type like a stylist

Three ways to adjust to a changing body type

How (And Why) Your Body Shape Should Guide Your Shopping

 

 

 

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