When it comes to wearing dresses, many women are reluctant to try, although they long for the day when they feel they have the confidence to wear dresses in a self-assured manner, and with dignity and poise. Part of the reason why so many women may be reluctant to add dresses to their wardrobe, is due to a lack of knowledge and expertise, there are so many styles of women’s dresses available, that it can be difficult to know ‘what’s what’ in fashion terms. Here, we will cover various styles of dress to make the topic more accessible to women in general.

Sheath Dress
This is a fitted style of dress, that falls straight, from top to bottom as a single garment, and as such, there is no seam at the waist. This is a flattering style of dress, generally sleeveless and figure hugging. This is an extremely popular style of dress worn to semi-formal occasion.

Shift Dress
This is similar in style to the above, but is not figure hugging or fitted, they tend to float and flow along the body with no discernible waistline – perfect for women who do not have an hourglass figure.

Jumper Dress
(Also called a sweater dress in the USA) these dresses tend to be informal and made of the same materials as sweatshirts; they normally have no sleeves, and people wear them throughout the year.

Sun Dress
As the name implies, these dresses are intended to be worn during the warmer seasons. They are normally made from cotton, and are always lightweight. They are extremely popular and come in a manner of styles, from ankle length to above the knee.

Maxi Dress
For those of you who are unaware, this style of dress is the opposite of the mini-dress; they are long, figure hugging dresses, which are particularly elegant and chic. They tend to suit formal occasions more than they do informal occasions.

Wrap Dress
These dresses, as the name implies, wrap around the body and are then tied manually at some point, normally the closure is at the front. Closures consist of zippers, buttons, or knots. They are a casual style of dress, worn as everyday clothing, rather than as eveningwear, or suchlike.

A-Line Dress
These dresses have a fitted bodice, which graduates out at the waist into a more flowing, less figure hugging skirt. The name is given to the skirt because of the shape it makes.

Tutu Dress
This style is the type that you often seen worn by ballerinas. In recent years, however, they have become a part of popular fashion trends and are worn every day as informal, yet elegant, outfits. The upper is normally in the form of a corset, while the skirt part generally puffs-out at the waist only.