If you are feeling conscious about a bit of extra belly fat but still want to look great in a business dress, I have good news for you: here are 6 Top Tips about the best businesses dresses to hide a belly. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!
Cut, Color and Pattern Make A Huge Difference!
First things first: The cut of your dress can make a HUGE difference in the way your body shape appears in a dress. I have tried all kinds of cuts and have found that classic, straight cut shift dresses don´t do much for hiding my belly.
So we have to think out of the box a little and instead of the classic business dress, my recommendation is to go for one of the following 3 cuts: Empire-Style, Wrap Dresses, Dresses with loose tops or layering
# 1 Dresses to Hide A Belly: The Empire-Style Dress
The empire-style cut finishes just below the bust and creates the illusion of a higher waist and falls loosely around your belly area. It is a great cut, which will beautifully draw attention to your face and cleavage and will draw attention away from your belly.
#2 Dresses To Hide a Belly: The Wrap Dress
I have found that wrap dresses are great to make you look a bit more slender around your mid drift than you actually are. The “layering effect” of a wrap dress gives the illusion of shape and helps a great deal with creating a natural waist.
For business, I find that a wrap dress can be beautifully combined with a blazer, making it a complete business outfit that still looks very put together, is comfortable and most of all hides a bit of extra weight around the belly area.
I love Boden´s Elodie Wrap dress. It comes in many funky patterns but also in a classic black or dark blue. Combine it with a blazer to make a more formal business outfit.
# 3 Dresses to Hide A Belly: The Dress With Layers Or Lose Tops
Another great business dress cut to hide a belly is a shirt dress with a loose top. Dresses such as this shirt dress by Everlane will look great in a business casual office environment, perhaps worn with a pair of heels and a statement bag. The lose cuts will be very comfortable and hide a bit of a belly with ease.
# 4 Best Business Dress Colors and Patterns To Hide A Belly
Colors and patterns will influence your appearance a lot. It is a well-known fact of course that dark colors will absorb volume, i.e. will make you look slimmer, whereas bright colors may enhance certain areas. Thankfully, black is THE color for the office and the black all-over look just happens to be one of the top trends this fall.
Another good way to draw attention away from your mid drift and give you an overall slender appearance are vertical stripes, flowery patterns or 2-tone dresses.
With flowery patterns, I recommend going for small flowers rather than for big bold prints. Big and bold will always make you look bigger than you are.
Talking about playing with illusions, color-blocking is a great way of drawing attention away from your belly which you want to hide. There are 2 ways of color blocking in dresses: vertical (different color down the side of your dress) and horizontal (2 different colors for top and bottom of the dress). – both help to draw attention away from your belly and give you a better shape all over. Here is an example of a nice 2-tone dress that creates the illusion of a slimmer waistline.
#5 Shapewear Helps To Hide Those Bulges
Shapeware is a great way to give yourself a tummy tuck without the surgery. Spanx are made from double-stretch material and a High-Waisted Spanx Short can easily create a smoother waist and hide some unwanted bulges under your dress. I have been wearing spanx on occasion and have to say, I am not a great fan of the slightly confining feeling when wearing them, but they do help to make you more comfortable in terms of hiding a belly.
#6 Draw Attention To Your Neck Line and Shoulders
My recommendation for when you have a bit of a belly is to draw attention away from your waist and rather draw it to the upper half of your upper body, your shoulders and neck line.
Make sure the neck line is business appropriate though and avoid very low-cut dresses. I love the cut of this dress – the material is loose around the belly area, the cut draws attention to your face and neckline, yet the cut is sophisticated enough to be worn at any office (with or without a blazer).
Another great neckline to draw attention away from your belly and to your face is the waterfall neckline.
The Right Cut & Pattern in A Dress Will Hide Your Belly In No Time
Classic tailored business dresses can be less than ideal when you are conscious of your belly and are trying to hide it. Cuts such as an empire-style, a wrap dress or a layered look will draw attention away from your belly and will create an overall better shape plus make you feel more comfortable. If you are still feeling anxious about wearing a business dress or just want the extra support, shapewear such as Spanx might give you that extra boost of confidence!
I would love to hear what your favorite business dresses are at the moment and how you go about hiding a belly in the comments below. And of course, if I can ever give you a hand with anything, please let me know as well.
Image credit: Spanx.com, bodenusa.com, everlane.com, anthropologie.com
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Ah, I’m glad I decided to stick around and surf around your website. I really see that there is a lot of valuable information here for women, specifically those in office jobs such as my mom. Had to come down here and let you know that I am very thankful for this information and I’m sure my mom will be as well. I will be showing her this article!
Hi Misael, thanks for browsing, and I am glad you like some of these ideas for your mom! Give her my warm regards, and I hope some of my tips will be helpful to her! All the best, Drea
This is such a beautiful collection of dresses. I am by no means obese. I am medium build but I always have issues in my belly region with some styles. I love styles that have a little volume there but it has to be elegant and at the same time, comfortable. Thank you for this information. I will be checking out your website.
Hello, thank you for your comment. I know the feeling, it is sometimes just more comfortable to wear dresses that hide a bit of a belly, and you don´t have to be conscious of your midriff the whole time. I am glad you have enjoyed the article, and thank you for checking out my site!
Welkz this is one of the biggest realities for ladies and it is all about the belly fat. Many times I see some women who just want to try to hide it but it is not easy especially when going to work. It’s so awesome to see that you have a solution to this issue here on your website and it would be just so good to be able to learn more. Nice job.
Hello John, yes indeed, it is uncomfortable to be squeezed into a business outfit when you have a bit of a belly – I think this goes for men and women alike. Dresses offer a solution, if you check out styles that are a bit more generous around the midriff. I am glad you have found this article interesting, thank you for your comment!