If you have a fuller bust, choosing clothes that flatter your curves can sometimes be a challenge. A top, jacket or dress may fit perfectly everywhere else and yet pull over your bust or you might find that buttoned shirts/blouses constantly splay open.
If you are someone who enjoys showing off your full bust then you may enjoy the fitted and higher neck styles that will do just that, but a lot of the clients I work with tell me that they would rather not make their bust take centre stage. So if this sounds like you, here are a few top tips on what to look for, and of equal importance, what to avoid.
1. Fabric, fabric, fabric!
Soft, fluid, floaty or stretchy fabrics will always feel more comfortable if you have a lovely full bust, and will flatter your curves. The fabric is able to go around or skim your bust without adding extra volume or bulk.
It’s often best to avoid stiff, starchy fabrics as these can instead constrict your curves or hit a curve and then literally ‘hang’ from it adding extra inches all the way down from that point. That’s not to say that you can never wear a stiffer fabric, as it can definitely work if it has been tailored in some way or has been designed ‘with your boobs in mind’ (as the Bravissimo strapline used to say. It’s such a shame that Bravissimo stopped making clothes isn’t it?).
2. Open necklines
Being able to see some of your decolletage can be really flattering, as it effectively breaks up the bust line. This doesn’t mean that you have to wear low cut tops that show off your cleavage (unless you want to), but showing a little bit of the decolletage works really well. So necklines like v necks, scoop necks, sweetheart necklines, notch neck lines, cowl necks etc. can all look great on you.
The higher necklines, like roll necks and crew necks, as well as details over the bust like buttons generally work less well.
3. Rounded patterns
Rounded and abstract patterns, like florals, squiggles, paisley, dots etc. compliment curves so are great if you have a curvy bust. Pattern in and of itself can also confuse the eye and so disguise an area, so an all over patterned top or dress often works well. Just be a bit careful of placement patterns that draw the eye directly to the fullest part of the bust. I’ve seen tops which literally have two large flowers positioned on each bust!
Straight lines look good when they stay straight. When they go over/across/around a curve there’s a chance that they may kink and hence the eye gets drawn here. This is why geometric patterns like checks and stripes can be more of a challenge if you have a full bust.
4. Slanted sleeve lines
If you’d rather not draw attention to your bust then it’s best not to place any horizontal lines directly in line with it, such as a sleeve line. So when it comes to choosing shorter sleeves you’ll often find diagonal/slanted sleeves work better than a straight sleeve that finishes in line with the fullest part of your bust, for example.
Full balloon sleeves can also be problematic as they can add volume and breadth to the area closest to your bust.
5. Single breasted jacket styles
A single breasted jacket is generally both more comfortable and flattering if you have a curvy bust. If it does up lower down and contains some stretch then even better. (Both Whistles and M&S are selling these jackets and they often sell out for good reason!).
Double breasted styles can feel constricting over a fuller bust so are not something I would recommend unless they feel roomy enough and are tailored to avoid adding extra volume.
I hope that these few tips are helpful.
Don’t forget that the most important thing is to choose clothes that 100% feel like you and that you enjoy wearing. Your style personality trumps everything in my opinion. The tips and advice can then be layered on top and you can choose which bits you adopt and which bits to ignore.
It’s fair to say that dressing your body is a bit like a jigsaw, in that you need to put all of the pieces together first before you’re able to definitely work out which styles are most flattering. So if you have a fuller bust but are narrower across your shoulders than you are at your hips, for example, you may well want to choose tops that add breadth at the shoulder line. This may mean choosing wider lapels on jackets or puff shoulder tops, which in theory contradict some of the advice above. So, do weigh everything up before you decide which styles work best for you. If you find this tricky and would like some objective expert advice, I’d love to help you – we cover all of this in a Style Consultation.