Fitting Pretty



WRITER CREDIT: 
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 
Fitting Pretty | Choose looks that flatter every body in your wedding party

Of the myriad decisions a bride must make, some are as clear as those Baccarat tumblers she’s registered for. But choosing a bridesmaid’s dress that will flatter every last shape and size of her party? That’s a puzzle on par with how to get a clumsy groom to glide across the dance floor. For help, we turned to Katherine Mullins and Caroline Baker, the partners behind local boutique LulaKate, who design their own line of bridesmaids’ dresses. Each advocates choosing different dress silhouettes based on each bridesmaid’s figure, all in complementary colors and fabrics for a uniformed, polished bridal party. “People look best in what they feel comfortable in, bottom line,” says Caroline.

Hourglass

Katherine and Caroline agree that pretty much anything goes for this figure. “This silhouette can wear the gamut of dress shapes, but we love to see women accent the bustline with a scoop neck, square neck, or V-neck,” says Katherine. Caroline adds that an A-line or full skirt complements this body type well. “Accenting this shape with a belt or other waist detail is also great,” she says.

Boyish

Athletic, less curvy types benefit from A-line skirts with movement that create the illusion of hips. Adds Caroline, “Boyish figures get a great advantage from some sort of visual interest in the shoulder area and neckline, like a wide square neck or V-neck—it makes for a beautiful contour.”

Full-Figured

These women look best when dress waists hit at their natural waistline. According to Katherine and Caroline, they look sleek in boatneck or V-neck dresses accented by any waist detail that breaks up but doesn’t truncate their silhouette. They do, however, warn against Empire waistlines for this body shape.

Illustration by Danielle Silver

The Wedding Row

August 12 2019
We love it when Charleston is the backdrop for a budding romance, and we love it even more when a couple who started here returns for their “I do’s.” So it went with Amanda and Joey, who both...

August 12 2019
When a gal can name how many days she’s dated her beau (“One thousand and nine, but who’s counting?” laughs Erin), you know she’s ready for him to put a ring on it. When Matthew obliged, he and his...

August 8 2019
Sometimes it’s just so better said coming straight from the bride, so away we go into hearing it all from Houstin, Texas, resident Megan… (besides, we’re pretty sure we couldn’t get away with calling...

August 8 2019
We’re sure that Laura and Brian wanted their wedding day at Lowndes Grove Plantation to go on forever, because, duh, but we have to say we want it to, too! Why, now? Take a look at their insanely...

August 7 2019
Leave it to a couple from Texas to make a big splash of a wedding here in Charleston. Not only did Alicia and Walker pick an iconic mansion, the William Aiken House, for their reception, but they...

August 6 2019
“For months before the wedding,” says Mike, “Taryn would say, ‘Just wait! You won’t believe how amazing this day is going to be.’ ”And amazing it was. From the perfectly planned pink palette to the...

July 31 2019
August is just around the corner (like tomorrow, oh-em-gee) and school is about to be back in session. Do we hear all of those moms emitting a sigh of relief? To celebrate the end of this dreadfully...

July 30 2019
Kelly and Will met in an elementary school in 2013 … not while they were attending, of course, but while they were both teaching in Cleveland, Mississippi, for Teach for America Corps. Every...