Types of Necklines: Your Ultimate Guide to Neckline Styles

Ever put on a plain black top and thought, “Wow, this looks really good on me”? Then you put on another black top of a similar style and fit and you’re like, “Oh no, this does nothing for me.” It’s not the cut of the top – it’s the neckline that makes all the difference. The right neckline can maximize shoulders, toned upper arms, collar bones, the nape of the neck and alter the illusion of the length of the face. The neckline can also be used to hide problem areas and draw attention to other areas – like a turtle neck hiding loose skin around the neck on mature women, but exposing delightfully tanned shoulders. Generally, the wider the neckline the more it balances a longer face and the higher necklines can be used to make the face appear shorter. With a round, diamond or heart shaped face the deeper necklines create length.

So, let’s go through our A to Z list of necklines and see which ones suit your shape of face, and which draw attention to particular areas of the upper torso.

Different Types of Necklines

Asymmetrical neckline

The one shoulder look is flattering, providing lots of interest. It draws attention away from long and round faces by providing an interest at shoulder height. The look can be quite angular and in a firm fabric which suits round and oval faces by providing angles of interest. If the asymmetrical look is created using a softer fabric it works well for heart, square and other angular face shapes by providing a soft contrast.

Boat neck or Bateau

The wider neckline suits longer faces – like the oval and square as it provides width to balance the length. It also looks good on women with round or heart shaped faces. The neckline opens up wide to reach midway along the shoulder, but not wide enough to drop off the shoulder. Often with this style small guides are included to keep bra straps from showing.

Cowl or draped neckline

Soft and flattering with the draped cut of fabric around the neckline, this style suits most faces shapes, and is consequently often chosen for corporate uniforms. Those with rounder shaped faces can go for a deeper cowl that lengthens the face, while those with longer faces would choose a cowl that is wider on the shoulders. In a rich draped fabric it is a perfect style for evening wear.

Deep V neckline

The plunging neckline is often used by designers – and can be spilt almost to the navel for evening wear in some cases, which means the wearer has to use invisible support or nipple covers, or go completely braless. Wearing a neckline this low involves consideration of how a person moves, but it is certainly attention grabbing as those celebrities who appear on the red carpet sporting this look know. The V can plunge to the top of the breasts, or below to show more cleavage. It is a style suited to evening wear and beach wear where a bikini top may be worn underneath, providing coverage but also showing off the swimwear.

Halter neck

There are many varieties of the halter – it can be split low to show some cleavage, or high extending to the base of the neck exposing shoulders only. It is a sexy style that remains popular for evening and resort wear year after year, as it leaves the upper back bare. Sometimes a halter can come with a small stand up collar, but most frequently it ties or fastens behind the nape of the neck, without any collar. It is a favoured style for swimwear to avoid tan lines from a bikini top.

High Neck

The higher neckline is often seen on a sleeveless top that exposes the shoulders, and gives an athletic look. It is a very chic look. Worn with long fitted sleeves the high neck suits corporate wear, and interest can be created around the neckline when combined with a jacket. It suits all face shapes – just depending how you wear your hair, and what jewelry you combine it with. For someone with a round face a long chain and pendant can be worn. For a person with a square or oval face the neck can be softened with a draped scarf. An up style with width around the forehead area will balance out a diamond shaped face, and heart shaped faces benefit from a pony or a loose high up bun.

Keyhole neck

This peek a boo style is usually cut for the round edge to be on the base of the throat, with a keyhole cut out for interest. The keyhole can be wide – almost a circular shape, or narrower, and a diamond or teardrop shape can be flattering. The style is best suited to women with smaller busts otherwise it can be quite low on big busted women.

Mandarin collar

The small stand-up collar works well on shortening a longer face. The style however is also flattering for those with round, oval and heart shaped faces, provided the neck is reasonably long. Avoid if you have a very short neck.

Off the shoulder neckline

Either the top is cut with quite a wide neckline and in a soft fabric so one shoulder, or both are exposed in a casual look. The other off-the-shoulder neckline uses a frill or flounce that is elasticised and can be pulled up to create a round neck, or pulled down off the shoulder to create a wider-off-the- shoulder look, often referred to as the peasant-blouse look.

Pointed Shirt collar neckline

Be careful the shirt fits well and the collar lies flattish otherwise it can make a short neck appear even shorter. Wear with a pony tail or up style for added length on the neck. They can be worn unbuttoned quite low to draw attention to cleavage, especially for those with shorter necks and rounder faces.

Queen Anne neckline

This pretty style is often used in wedding gowns as the sweetheart line of the neck has little cap sleeves that can be worn on or off the shoulder.  They add an element of interest instead of bare shoulders. The cap sleeve is usually made of lace or a sheer fabric to add some romance to the look. It is a style that suits every face shape.

Round or crew neck

Most T-shirts come in this style and suit almost everyone except those with round faces who would benefit from a scoop neck. The style is practical and can be combined with a shirt that is left open to around the third button to create a lengthening V for those with round faces, or combined with a jersey with a scoop neck, or jacket with lapels to create more interest around the neckline.

Rounded shirt collar

The fit is important and would suit angular faces such as the square, diamond, or heart-shaped face, as the rounding on the collar softens the look.

Ruffled neckline

This look creates a softness around the face with the ruffles concealing part of the neck. It suits those with longer necks, and those who have more angular faces and oval shaped faces. The alternative is a scoop neckline with ruffles, and this look suits most faces as the ruffles break up the outline of the scoop, creates a flattering look.

Scalloped neck

To create this neckline on dresses or tops the shape of the scallops are cut, then the lining is attached and the scallops turned out and pressed to give a good finish. This creates an interesting detail drawing attention to the neck and décolleté, and provides a softer look to avoid adding length as the scallop neckline is usually a wider one. It suits oval and square faces particularly, as well as being flattering for other face types.

Scoop Neck

This is a rounded neckline that is scooped out deeper and wider and is flattering to almost all face shapes. It can be quite high, or low enough to expose some cleavage. Those with longer faces should avoid a deep scoop, instead going for a wider scoop. Those with round and heart shape faces can go for the deeper scoop as it lengthens the face.

Square Neck

People with angular faces should avoid this neckline, unless it comes with spaghetti straps. It offsets round and oval faces, by providing a contrast of shape. The square neck line can be high on tops for instance, or create a square shape with pinafore dresses, and sundresses that are straight across the top and have wide shoulder straps. Spaghetti straps can be included in the square neckline, but with the thinner straps it creates less illusion of a square and is a soft and flattering look for more angular faces.

Strapless illusion neckline

Mostly used on evening or wedding gowns, the strapless shaped corset style bodice has a sheer flesh colored fabric attached to create a high neckline, that is almost invisible, and may have some lace or diamante attached to give the illusion that the decorations are floating on the shoulders. It is practical, as the wearer doesn’t have to worry about the strapless top slipping down, yet retains the illusion of bare shoulders.

Strapless or corset style

Often used for evening wear the strapless look suits all face shapes – it just depends what style of jewelry is worn – with longer face shapes a shorter necklace or chain with an interesting central pendant will provide balance, while for a heart or round shaped face a longer necklace is needed. The strapless can be cut straight across the top of the bust, or it can be shaped into a semi-sweetheart neckline – the semi-sweetheart is a flattering curve for diamond, round, and heart shaped faces while the straight top will serve to add a balance with the width to the square or oval shaped face.

Sweetheart Neckline

The sweetheart neckline plunges into the shape of the bottom half of a heart, with the straps or sleeves coming up to create the sides of the heart. It is a flattering neckline often used for evening and wedding wear. It suits all face shapes – just depending on the depth of the neckline – for rounder shapes faces the sweetheart neckline can be quite low cut, whereas for oval and square faces is can be cut higher and wider to give balance between the vertical and the horizontal.

Turned up collar

Usually coats or dramatic evening wear is designed with a collar that is meant to stand up, or is furry, framing the face. This is best suited to an up style hairdo and dramatic make-up, as it is quite a theatrical look. It suits those with longer necks, and will suit any shape face, depending on whether it is worn with a wider neckline or a plunging one.

Turtle Neck

This style keeps you warm in winter and comes with extra fabric so you can wear it really high, right up almost to your ears or lower down. It shortens the longer face but is also cute with heart and diamond-shaped faces.

V-neck

The standard, reasonably high V is often seen on T shirts, and adds length to a round face by providing an angle to offset the roundness as well as some length. The V neck works well with square and oval faces.

Designers often create marriages between two styles of neckline – for example the V neck that is not quite a V and not quite round either – falling somewhere in between, then the bandeau style top which is straight combined with an overlaid piece of fabric that plunges into a V creating a more angular line to the neck, so it’s not quite square and not quite a V. The top in the image below is a V neck with a strip of fabric to create a round neck, effectively breaking up the outline to for a flattering effect.

Some designers put spaghetti straps onto their off the shoulder tops making them a bit more comfortable to wear, and minimizing the width of the neckline. Overall what you should be looking at, is the outline created by the neckline in order to judge whether it suits you.

When it comes to choosing, you will instinctively know what looks good on you. Try on a variety of styles until you find the one that is ‘just right’. Imagine you are Goldilocks in search of the perfect combination. If in doubt, ask a good friend for an honest opinion. We hope this guide with well over 20 styles, will help you in choosing what to buy, or make, for the next season. What is most important is that the neckline flatters your face shape and makes the most of your attributes, whether it be jawline, neck, shoulders, or décolleté.