Final Advice for Finding the Perfect Prom Dress

Linda Hahn: I am Linda Hahn, owner and buyer for L H boutique in Laguna Beach. I am here to give you some final advice on picking the perfect prom dress. The first thing I wanted to mention is that, it's important that your dress be flattering. We have talked about body types but there are a few things that come into play on any body type.The first is the bust line, always a huge factor for young girls. For those girls who have a larger bust and want to minimize that, they can do as Kelly has done on the end here and wear a dress that doesn't tuck back in under the bust. You also want to avoid a very clingy fabric so it's not going to be accentuating the bust, no deep 'V' necklines. A nice, rounded neckline gives a very flattering age appropriate look.

Nikki is showing us the opposite for a girl who wants to maximize the bust you can wear dress that has interest, bows, a tie anything going on up there that's going to give you a little more volume at the top. Both of these looks are very age appropriate and very flattering and accomplish what you set out to accomplish.Another area that we hadn't talked about earlier is emphasizing one's legs. For a lot of girls the legs are the area they really want to maximize. You can get away with wearing the short mini dresses when they are in style, if you compensate for that by covering the rest of your body a little bit more as we have done with Katelin here. It's fine to wear a short dress, but if you also have it very low cut or very tight, it will look not appropriate for your age and not a flattering look.Here what we have done is put her in something that has a nice, reasonable neckline, a little bit of coverage in the sleeves and then she can have the shorter dress.Becca is showing us another way of wearing the shorter skirt. You can also get by with the shorter skirt if you wear a dress that isn't tight everywhere, so she has a neckline that is not revealing too much and a dress that has a bit of a blousing look going on. That allows you to get away with a little bit shorter dress and still be age appropriate and still flattering your body.Thank you girls. Remember when shopping for your prom dress that it's important to keep an open mind. It's great to look at all the magazines and find out about all what's in style at this particular moment. But it's also a good idea when you get into the store to ask the advice of the salespeople. They know how the different bodies fit, they have seen these dresses on other people. They can help you understand what will work for your body and what will not. It's also really important to not just judge a dress by how it looks on the hanger. Often times, on the hanger a dress will look like nothing and you would be so surprised when you put it on and find out it really is a very flattering and interesting style.The other thing that's extremely important is if you are shopping, especially if you are shopping in a small boutique where there's lot of salespeople around who can help you, it's important to come out of the dressing room with the outfit on and let them give you some guidance. Often times, they can give you some hints as to seeing how that looks on your body, they can then recommend some other garments that might work better for you.The final point is that it's extremely important that you feel good. You want to know that you will be able to dance the night away and not have to worry about that dress riding up, falling off your shoulders, binding you anywhere. You want to be comfortable. You also want to make sure that you understand the store policies. Many stores will not take a dress, especially a prom dress back at all once it has left the store. You need to make sure that you are making the correct decision when you buy the dress. You can also look for boutiques that are willing to guarantee that they will not sell to anyone else in your High School, the dress that you have chosen. Our particular store does that and if you shop at small boutiques you maybe able to find one in your neighborhood that will do the same thing. It's a really helpful policy to have. Once you have found that perfect prom dress go to the prom and enjoy yourself and have a great time.From L H boutique in Laguna Beach, thanks for watching.