Collage by Jao San Pedro.

Collage by Jao San Pedro.

Hey! So I’m going to my friend’s birthday party next month, and I’m looking for a really cute dress. My size is L/XL, and I really want a sweetheart skater dress or a pastel pink halter! Please help! Thank you :) —Val, 14, California

Val, you are a woman after my own heart. “Skater,” “halter,” and “sweetheart” are words that send a sartorial shiver down my spine, and they’re excellent ingredients for what is sure to be a super cute party look. The good news for lovers of skater-style dresses (like you and me!) is that they’re bountiful in online stores right now.

Clockwise from top left: Pink Nicolette Mason Dress, $195, Addition Elle; Brooklyn Dress, $69.95; eShakti; Hope Dress, $59.95, eShakti; Sweetheart tie dress, $110.90, Eloquii.

Clockwise from top left: Pink Nicolette Mason Dress, $195, Addition Elle; Brooklyn Dress, $69.95; eShakti; Hope Dress, $59.95, eShakti; Sweetheart tie dress, $110.90, Eloquii.

I really love this lemon-colored sweetheart dress from Eloquii, which could be worn with flats (like the model) or heels, with a cardigan or without. It’s also available in black, so you can play around with how you style and accessorize it really easily.

Nicolette Mason’s recent collaboration with Addition Elle has resulted in one of the cutest dresses on my wishlist. This one ticks a lot of your boxes as well: It’s pink with a cinched waist and a sweetheart neckline, but it’s got sleeves and a little more coverage above that neckline. The cut-out floral detail at the hem makes it a perfect party dress (especially for springtime in California!) but it’s such a classic design that you could also wear it to nice dinners, to school, on a date—just about anywhere—making it a really great investment.

Now, some bad news: I hit up eShakti, which is my go-to spot for party dresses, and found you a killer sweetheart style dress in pink and a bright yellow halter, but nothing in pastel pink and halter. If you can forgive me for not finding the dream dress you’ve been envisaging, let me tell you one of the best things about shopping on eShakti: Every item you buy can be customised just for you! These two dresses give you the option to adjust the length of the hem to suit your height, adapt the design of the straps, and remove the pockets (although I love a dress with pockets!). All you really need to look for when you’re shopping on eShakti are the colors, fabrics, and prints you like in your size; the rest can almost always be altered. For example, you could choose a summery dress like this one and have halter straps added, or you could take this teal party dress and have it adapted into a sleeveless mini dress with a sweetheart neckline. I hope that gives you a few ideas for turning an almost-right dress into the perfect one for your friend’s party! —Brodie

I’ve always had very large breasts, and it’s always been a huge struggle for me because my body isn’t that big so they don’t fit my body at all and are very large and awkward and make me feel large and awkward. Any advice on what to wear or just how to feel better about my body? Also I feel like I can never go swimming, what are some good swimsuits that will fit me? I wear a 36G. —M., 18, Texas

Hey, M.!

Have you ever had a conversation about clothing in which someone says, “My body is just a hard fit at most stores”? Wait…that’s, like, every conversation about shopping for things to wear, right?

M., I know what this is all about: For very many years, including the whole of my teenage ones, I didn’t wear T-shirts, loose tops, anything and everything that could be described as a “blouse,” and dresses without ties from the sides to the back of the waist that I could knot tight around my figure, showing its actual shape instead of having fabric drape down from the far point of my breasts a full six inches away from the rest of my torso. EVERYTHING looked boxy. EVERYTHING looked like it was the wrong size. I was very annoyed by the way others responded to my shape, too, even more so than I was by my own feelings about it.

I’m sorry to hear you’re frustrated with your shape, M.(ammary cohort o’ mine). As a noted Stacked American, I know what that’s all about—I’ve written about it here, if you would like to read the account of a chesty person who has also had her giant boobs weigh on her mind—and spine—in a giant way. (True Life: I Keep Texting My Sister Group Chat About Wanting a “Breast Reduct-O” When My Back Hurts.) I’ve also taken dutiful notes about what “silhouettes” (OH DA-DAMNNN, with this Fashion’s Word, feeling so qualified for this job righ nah) work best for my proportions in a Damn Girl column of yore. To summarize these two efforts at answering questions similar to “what to wear” and “how to feel better about [your] body”: Your shape isn’t in any way “wrong,” and this would be true no matter your build. Clothing stores that cater to women with unvaried bodies that accept one kind of “fit” are the true culprits here, but there are means of circumventing their laziness. Breast practices tend to come down, in our cases, to (a) accepting that your tits are the right size just as they are, and (b) seeking out dresses/rompers/tops with adjustable waist ties at the sides or in the back—that way, YOU get to decide how your clothes fit you. Etsy has mad of these! SO STICK IT TO OLD NAVY—you can find the right fit for your tits on your own, my 32-G. Here are some fire options:

Clockwise from top left: Vintage plaid minidress, $26, Etsy; Vintage prep dress, $42, Etsy; Vintage 1970s dress, $34.99, Etsy; Vintage black floral print dress, $42, Etsy.

Clockwise from top left: Vintage plaid minidress, $26, Etsy; Vintage prep dress, $42, Etsy; Vintage 1970s dress, $34.99, Etsy; Vintage black floral print dress, $42, Etsy.

Cool and rad! Except…none of those are intended for swimming. Bathing costumes are an area of endowment I have not yet explored within Rookie’s hard-hitting boobs coverage until now, so thank you for raising this breastion. (I promise that, as your reward, the awful puns/portmanteaus stop now.) I’m so glad that you know your bra size—that will help you a lot in your search! Suits with molded cups, like the ones your normal bras have, will help with comfort and support, PLUS they will save you from the all-too-common triangular nipple covers that we know more commonly as “most bikinis.” Two-pieces with structure are a better bet. If you don’t mind a lack of underwire: I love a low-cut one-piece, or one with a print or design that is good-mood-inducing in both yourself and everyone else at the pool (my preferred option has a young Han Solo on it, and yes, I also wear it out at night—an additional benefit of this option!). Here are various ideas that I’m now yearning to execute myself:

Clockwise from top left: Custom handmade printed swimsuit, $147, Etsy; Crochet Applique Trim Longline Bikini, $34, Asos; Juliet Floral Print Longline Bikini Top, $34, Asos; Alina Swimsuit in Red, $78, Nasty Gal.

Clockwise from top left: Custom handmade printed swimsuit, $147, Etsy; Crochet Applique Trim Longline Bikini, $34, Asos; Juliet Floral Print Longline Bikini Top, $34, Asos; Alina Swimsuit in Red, $78, Nasty Gal.

These printed waist-defining and breast simultaneous highlighters/coverers are also vair cute. I hope you get a lot of swimming done in one of them soon, and that you come to appreciate that killer bod of yours even sooner. —Amy Rose

We know you’re already a certified spice, but if you have questions about clothes/dressing up/dressing down/swathing fabrics about your bodily form, send them to [email protected], and remember to include your NAME, AGE, and CITY.