Let’s start with the colour of your china prom dress. It’s best to select a shade that complements the colour of your skin and hair. A good general rule of thumb is if you have reddish or bluish tones to your skin, then you should choose shades that contain blues and reds, while if you have more golden tones to your skin, you should choose yellow-based tones. This doesn’t mean that if you love green but have pinkish skin you have to avoid wearing your favourite colour to the prom: it just means that your china prom dress should be in a bluer shade of green ? a nice turquoise or eau de nil would be perfect.

When considering the colour and pattern, you should also consider your overall shape and size. If you’re a little on the chubbier side and all your efforts to lose weight don’t seem to be quick enough, then a darker shade is more slimming ? but don’t feel limited to basic black. Dark purple, navy blue, chocolate brown, burgundy and deep forest green are other svelte options.

What about the cut of your china prom dress? As with bridal gowns, you should select a china prom dress that is cut so that it either reveals or hugs tightly to your better features and skims loosely around the bits you don’t want to emphasise. So if you have the pear shape that’s typical of the majority of women (in other words, a smaller bust, a small to medium sized waist, and larger hips, buttocks and thighs), then something that is looser around the butt and legs and nipped in around the waist will be flattering ? and you may also want to draw attention to another great feature like dainty ankles, toned arms or statuesque shoulders. However, if you’re proud of your generous butt, then show it off with a mermaid cut (tight around the waist and hips, then flared around the hemline) or maybe an eyecatching feature like a bow at the back.