Hi,
coming from someone of a similar build (bust 38, natural waist 32 dropped waist 37, 5'7 tall), Skirt wise, just about anything goes. You want something that has stiffener, to keep a nice shape. But as far as styles go, soft skirts are pretty popular. I've attached a bunch of photos from Gavin Doherty's, Siopa Rince's, Elevation's, and Doire's Facebook pages that give an idea of what's pretty current right now. You can see there are TONS of skirt styles, just about anything goes. A lot of skirts tend to be on the flouncier, softer, and feminine side, with a few being geometric (folded ribbon skirts, the layers of "pleats", etc).
As far as designs go, you really want something that suits age and suits body shape. There are some dresses in the photos above, you can see, that have the "belt" look... a horizontal design that wraps around the mid section. I would avoid things like this, they may get lost in my curves, and emphasize larger areas of my body that I don't want attention drawn to. You want something vertical I think and possibly something asymmetrical. Some dresses above have asymmetrical designs that don't cut the whole dress in half, but really bring something modern and elegant to the design. Maybe have some embroidery swoop down from one shoulder into the middler around the top of the chest, and have some similar embroidery swoop up from the opposite waist side and stop around the belly button. The possibilities are endless.
Something to also consider is how dropped you want the waist. On me personally, super dropped waists = AWESOME. they lengthen me, and give me great shape, and help balance out my long legs. Some people though can't do the super dropped waist though, as it makes their legs look short and stumpy and their torso too long.
As far as second hand dresses go, there are tons of dresses floating around that are very current and gorgeous, with reduced prices and brand name tags. The ever constant problem is finding something that fits. I came across this problem CONSTANTLY and was forced to have something made custom as no one had anything in my size (or someone did, but the dress would be five years old, which won't suit me as I was Prelim trying to get into Open in a very competitive region where most girls in my competition are wearing Gavins and Elevations, and Siopa Rince, etc). So, what I would do is get some price quote from dressmakers, and keep your eye open for 2nd hand at the same time.
Some great Dressmakers to consider for a good price and great quality are (but not limited to!)
-Kirations (US)
-Michelle Lewis (Canada)
-Taylor Designs (N. Ireland)
-Mary Skotnicki (US)
-Kerry and Lucy Design (Canada)
as well as some fabulous dressmakers here on DDN! I recently had a dress by KDSF, bought it off the rack. It was stunning! Modern design, elegant, fit well, great quality. And I am sure there are TONS more dressmakers that are just waiting to show off their talent.
There are also big name dressmakers- Gavin, Siopa Rince, Elevation, Doire, Loretta - obviously great dresses, but for a price. Sometimes, they can run closer to the $2600 USD mark. They can also, sometimes keep closer to the $2,000 mark (I had a gavin made for $1970- no crystals, and stunning quality). A good idea, if you like one of these dressmakers, but can't afford them, is to find ideas and designs of theirs you like and show them to the dressmaker you do chose, and they can get a feel of things you like to create something just for you!
Phew! Long message! Sorry! Hope this helped just a bit
CREDIT TO GAVIN, SIOPA RINCE, ELEVATION AND DOIRE FACEBOOK PAGES FOR THE PHOTOS
