Many women have a problem with choosing the right dress, because rather than choosing the dress that actually compliments their body type they often choose a dress that hides their so called flaws, which shouldn't be the case. Ever heard of the adage, "If you've got it, flaunt it"? Well, that's what you should be thinking about when you are choosing a dress. If you have nice legs, show it by having a dress with side slits. If you have great breasts, showing off a little cleavage, just enough, not too much, will do. If you have a great back, like me, I like to show it off by wearing a backless dress. If you have great collar bones, then wearing something that will show them off will be great. You get the picture, just make sure not to over expose yourself, what I mean is, show only one part of your body that you feel makes you look great.

Don't think about what you don't want people to notice, instead think about what you do want them to notice. This way we also boost our confidence and love ourselves more when we realize that we have overcome our so called flaws. The dictionary defines the word "flaw" as "a defect, fault, or imperfection". I believe that people create their own flaws because they are unsure about themselves and somehow become insecure around people who they think look better than them. I believe that flaws are just a figment of ones imagination, because I believe that God didn't create flaws, we are the ones who define what our flaws are, the sooner we get over that, the better we will feel about ourselves.

Anyway, the first thing we should do before we even go out to shop for a formal dress is, we must first identify what kind of formal party we are going to attend. The reason why we want to do that is simple, we don't want to look over-dressed or under-dressed for that specific occasion. Is it a formal cocktail party? A wedding? A corporate party? Or a Prom? Knowing what kind of party you're going to attend will make it a lot easier for you to choose the perfect dress.

The next thing we should do is think about the crowd. Thinking about what people might possibly wear can also help us choose a dress for ourselves.

Choosing a formal dress is no easy task. I know how it feels going through a whole store just looking for that one dress that makes us good in all sides, you know what I mean? There are more dresses that seem to make us look bad as compared to those that actually make you look good.

As if choosing the right dress wasn't hard enough, the issue of price comes in. If you're most people, then we usually have a budget, and no matter how much we like a dress, if the price is above our budget, we end up settling for the one that is not as flattering on us as the more expensive one but is within our price range. Because of this, more and more women end up buying dresses they only get to wear once a year, during really special occasions, or not at all, because it wasn't what we wanted in the first place.

To avoid situations like settling for a dress that is within our budget but not really our first choice, we should prepare in advance, save up, so that when shopping time comes we'll have a few extra bucks to spend on that perfect dress.

Unless you're a really good tailor, or you know a really good one, don't ever copy a dress from a magazine picture, it might end badly, like my dress for our junior prom, my dress was horrible. I was trying to save money. I was embarrassed of it because it didn't turn out how I imagined it would, plus I should've made sure that the tailor and I were on the same page, because we weren't, my dress suffered. The dress didn't turn out how I imagined it would, the cloth used was all wrong, the details were on the wrong places, and it looked awful on me, it made me look so unattractive that I had no choice but to buy a new dress at the very last minute. So instead of saving money I ended up spending more.

In buying the perfect formal dress, we should follow these 3 rules, I came up with these so that it will be easier for me to find what I want to find.

1. Consider the length. Don't go overly short and don't go exaggeratedly long, if you don't wan to step on it and slip.

2. Make sure that your budget is enough for a really nice dress. Be sure that the dress you will buy can be used for several occasions and not just once.

3. Buy it only if you really want it. Try it on.

The perfect dress is not going to look perfect if you wear the wrong accesories. Make sure to accesorize appropriately. The most important of all, don't forget the shoes, any dress will look better complimented by a pair of great looking and comfortable shoes.