Listen Ladies: Here is How to Identify an Ideal Prom Dress

Often forgotten, the principal step to selecting an ideal prom dress is determining your skin tone. The skin tone directly correlates to personal colors. Most people fall into one of the three basic tones: cool, warm or neutral.

If your skin tone has blue or pinkish undertones, you are presumably safe to categorize yourself as a cool-toned individual. In order to properly determine your skin tone department, carefully analyze the color of your veins in natural light. If the color of your veins seems to be more blue than green, then you certainly fall into the cool tone category. Most cool-toned individuals have light colored eyes, often blue or gray. The hair color may be blonde, black, or brown.

Upon determining that your personal colors are cool, you must proceed to select shades that compliment your cool tones. Your prom dress should be red, navy, black, dark purple, magenta or blue green. To further compliment your style, you should keep in mind that silver jewelry is more flattering than gold.

In comparison, if your skin tone has yellow or olive undertones, you fall into the category of warm-toned individuals. In this case, the color of the veins on your wrists should be more green than blue. Warm-toned people have green, hazel or brown eye colors. Blonde, strawberry-blonde, auburn, brown, or black hair colors are typically symbolic of warm tones.

The ideal prom dress for warm-toned individuals comes in shades of orange, brown, yellow, yellow-green, peachy-pink, olive-green, and other earthly tones. Additionally, to compliment the warm colors and complete your look, keep in mind that gold jewelry is preferable to silver.

Perhaps, looking at the veins on your wrists has left you confused about your true skin tone. You are unable to properly determine if blue or green is your signature mark. In this case, you fall into the category of neutrally-toned individuals.

Neutrally-toned individuals have skin with pink, yellow or blue undertones. Their eye color and hair color does not have a specified tone or shade. In this case, you have the freedom of choosing a prom dress in any color without worrying about the potential detrimental effects on your appearance. Correspondingly, silver or gold jewelry will flatter your style.

BODY SHAPE

The subsequent step in choosing an ideal prom dress is properly analyzing your body shape. The basic rule of thumb here is to highlight the positive features while drawing attention away from the parts you don't feel comfortable showing.

The curvy types should concentrate on celebrating their hourglass figures. In this case, a full skirt and boned corset serve as the active ingredients for a perfect dress.

According to the experts at prettyforprom.com, "The corset will flatter your waist and display your luscious hips and bust while the full skirt will hide any unwanted weight in the legs and thighs." A perfect dress for the curvy-shaped individuals, highlighting the characteristics described above, is shown here: Curvy Body Types. Furthermore, some dresses, ideal for the curvy body type, feature straps in addition to corsets in order to provide extra support.

Similarly, the tall and thin individuals with little to no curves should focus on selecting dresses featuring curve enhancing patterns. An a-line dress seems to be the most flattering and sophisticated dress choice. Moreover, dresses featuring signature details will give a desired appearance of fullness. An example of a dress that would flatter the thin and tall body type can be seen here: Tall and Thin Body Types. The extra patterns angling in the horizontal direction on the hips and bust area add an illusion of ampleness. The brown sequin embellishment on the halter neckline enhances the desired texture and fullness of the bust area. Additionally, the vertical lines on the lower part of the dress compliment long legs, the most essential asset of this body type.

The apple shaped individuals - characterized by the added weight or thickness in the waistline - look best in empire gowns. The following dress features all of the characteristics amiable to the apple shaped body type: Apple Shaped Body Types. This particular empire dress has a ribbon placed high on the waistline inducing a desired slimming effect.

One of the common misconceptions is to cover broad shoulder during prom. The reality is that covering broad shoulders enhances the broad shoulder effect. Choosing a halter top dress with a narrowing waist line takes the attention away from the wide shoulders while bestowing an hourglass appearance.

BUDGET

Once you have determined the physical characteristics of your ideal dress, you are left with analyzing the budget in order to uncover the paramount retail shop capable of addressing your financial needs. If you are in the category of those individuals looking to spend less than $50.00 on their prom dress, I highly recommend visiting the clearance sections of your local stores such as Dillard's, Deb and Macy's. You may be surprised how many spectacular dresses seem to perfectly fit your low-cost budget.

For those of you affording to spend in the $50.00-$100.00 range, the following list of stores seems to offer some wonderful choices:

Dresses categorized based on sizes 1 through 28.

Dresses in many colors and styles.

Dresses organized based on price.

The lucky prom shoppers capable of indulging themselves by spending more than $100.00 should consider the following retail shops:

Various designer styles available.

Features Jovani, Niteline and various celebrity dresses.

Designer dresses currently on sale.

By adhering to the three steps discussed above, - the skin tone, the body shape and the budget - you will immensely increase your chances of finding the ideal dress. Investing a little bit of thought and time into your prom dress shopping experience will ensure you become the queen of the spotlight.