How do I know if I have the O shape?

Your shoulders and your hips are close in width, and it is the waist that takes up the most room. It is generous and is noticed first. A great many dresses are written from there. The hand runs from the shoulders to the hips without meeting a clear hollow at the waist.

Which wedding dress cut should I choose for an O shape?

Fluid falls and A-line cuts first: the fabric comes down in one piece and the line looks longer. The neckline counts as much as the cut — a V or a sweetheart opens the bust and lengthens the neck.

Can I wear a mermaid dress with an O shape?

Yes. A body shape forbids no dress, it only says where to begin. The mermaid asks for a fabric that holds — a crêpe rather than a light satin — and is judged far better in the fitting room than in a photograph.

Should I avoid ball gowns with an O shape?

No, and the word “avoid” has no currency here. A worked bodice carries the eye upward, and the fullness of the skirt answers the bust without loading it. The ball gown simply comes after the sheath and the A-line in the order of fittings.

The O shape

Which dress for an O shape?

A fall that glides, a neckline that opens the bust: the line lengthens on its own.

Download the O shape catalogue

Private fitting

Made to measure

Alterations included

From €1,500

Recognising the O shape

Generous curves, a full bust and a soft middle.

The marker: Your shoulders and your hips are close in width, and it is the waist that takes up the most room.
The bust: It is generous and is noticed first. A great many dresses are written from there.
In front of the mirror: The hand runs from the shoulders to the hips without meeting a clear hollow at the waist.

The proportions

Bust and hips close, waist barely hollowed, a marked bust.

A body shape is not read in a mirror in thirty seconds, and it does not have to be exact: it is a starting point, to know what to try on first. If you hesitate between two, in three questions.

The cuts that suit you

All silhouettes

Lengthen the line and bring the bust forward. Here is why these lines work, and what they actually do once the dress is on.

Wedding dress, a-line recommended for the O shape — MADAMOON showroom, Paris 10e

Sheath

It grips nowhere. The fabric falls in one piece, from the bust to the hem, and the line looks longer than it is.

All our Sheath dresses

A-line

The bust is held, the skirt opens into an A from the waist. The eye stops at the neckline, and the dress leaves all the rest free.

All our A-line dresses

A V or sweetheart neckline opens the bust and lengthens the neck. More often than the cut, it is what tips a fitting one way or the other.

Discover our sheath wedding dresses suited to the O shape — or go straight to Adularia, Charmeuse sheath and Dove, A fluid fall in matte satin, draped neckline, off the shoulder.

Discover our A-line wedding dresses suited to the O shape — or go straight to Pendant, A-line in lace, with long sleeves and Aster, Chantilly lace, satin and detachable sleeves.

Our dresses for this figure

See the whole catalogue

The questions we are asked

Ask yours

How do I know if I have the O shape?: Your shoulders and your hips are close in width, and it is the waist that takes up the most room. It is generous and is noticed first. A great many dresses are written from there. The hand runs from the shoulders to the hips without meeting a clear hollow at the waist.
Which wedding dress cut should I choose for an O shape?: Fluid falls and A-line cuts first: the fabric comes down in one piece and the line looks longer. The neckline counts as much as the cut — a V or a sweetheart opens the bust and lengthens the neck.
Can I wear a mermaid dress with an O shape?: Yes. A body shape forbids no dress, it only says where to begin. The mermaid asks for a fabric that holds — a crêpe rather than a light satin — and is judged far better in the fitting room than in a photograph.
Should I avoid ball gowns with an O shape?: No, and the word “avoid” has no currency here. A worked bodice carries the eye upward, and the fullness of the skirt answers the bust without loading it. The ball gown simply comes after the sheath and the A-line in the order of fittings.

Beyond the body shape

A body shape says where to begin. It does not say who you are on the day of your wedding.

The style: A dress is also chosen against one’s type. An 8 shape may want something fluid, and be quite right.
The place: A two-metre train on a beach, heavy satin in August: the dress has to last the day, not only the photograph.
Comfort: You will wear it for twelve hours. If you can neither sit down nor raise your arms, no cut will make up for that.
Feeling: It is the only criterion that really decides. In the fitting room, brides know within thirty seconds — long before they have looked at the cut.

The houses that suit you