Wedding Dress Silhouettes

Bridal dress silhouette is the shape of the dress. In reality bridal dresses can be a mix of more than one silhouette. A petticoat under the dress will easily change the silhouette so when it comes to How to choose a wedding dress style silhouette or shape is not the most important one.

A-line

The most common wedding dress silhouette. Many sheath bridal gowns can be made into A-line with a petticoat. Here you can find more information and examples of A-line wedding dresses.

Sheath

Sheath silhouette allows the skirt to fall straight down from the hips creating a straight “column”. Here you can find more information and examples of sheath wedding dresses.

Princess

The princess silhouette is the one with lots of volume in the skirt. A petticoat can turn some A-line dresses into princess. Here you can find more information and examples of princess wedding dresses.

Mermaid

The bridal gown silhouette that hugs the body. The name comes from the shape of the dress becoming more narrow below the hipline. Here you can find more information and examples of mermaid wedding dresses.

Plus size

Plus size is listed as a separate silhouette because they have much better support, which influences the dress shape. Well supported dresses usually belong to the upper price ranges which we discuss in our guide to wedding dress price. However when it comes to bridal dresses investing in quality makes much more of a difference than with other types of clothing as bridal dresses have support bones, built in bra, support belt etc. that you wouldn’t find in other types of clothing. Here you can find more information and examples of plus size wedding dresses.

There are actually many more silhouettes but they are usually a mix between some of the above. Many guides list empire as a separate silhouette where the waist cut is directly below the chest. Empire dress can actually be sheath or A-line.