Ask a female tailor: Body proportions
Body shapes of pear, banana, apple, triangle, H, T go on and on and on. I don’t know about you but my body does not fit these categories and nor does my long body fit into the average silhouette of ”body shape clothing”. The unique aspect for bespoke clothing is that your body is not classified as a certain body shape. Whether bespoke or off-the-rack, your body proportions can be simplified into 3 sections and each section is 1/3 of your body (excluding neck and head) a.k.a. portions
- Shoulders to waist
- Waist to knees
- Knees to ankles
Today’s Topic is shoulders to waist.
Broad shoulders: you already display a sense of confidence so you don’t have to dramatize your shoulders. Avoid large shoulder pads, puffed shoulders, and wide lapels. This also depends on the size of your bust. Ideally, bigger busts should find jackets with no lapel to avoid a top heavy look and feel. If a lapel is desired, a longer and narrow length is better and makes your upper body look longer. Certain box shaped jackets like Coco Chanel’s may not be your best solution either because it is over bearing. To avoid top heavy shirts, divert the focus by wearing a V shape or wide neckline for your shirts. This creates balance. If you have broad shoulders and small busts, most of the same rules apply except for the fact that your shirts and dresses that have collars or thicker straps. Wide shaped garments take away your bust.
Narrow shoulders: Everything can take on the opposite. For example, extended shoulders (like my lasted post: Style of Emmanuelle Alt), puff shoulders, padded shoulders, larger lapels can do wonders for you. It gives you a stronger presense. Smaller armholes are better for you because too big of an armhole can make you seem like you’re drowning in your jacket, shirts, and dresses. As for small or big busts for shirts, the same rules apply as stated in the last paragraph.
Fitted Waists: You should always be fitted properly to your waist size. When the waist is fitted to you, it gives you that hour glass shape even if you don’t have that naturally. Creating an illusion to fix flaws or embrace them. For those who have a shorter torso and you want to find a jacket that fits you, make sure the jacket have no more than 2 buttons. Anything more than two button shortens you even more. Again, longer and leaner lapels give length to your torso. Longer torso can take on more buttons but again the key is to have a fitted waist in your clothing. We will address the length of the jacket in our next blog post because the length of the jacket really depends the 2nd portion of your body: waist to knees.
Save money, time, discomfort and your image for first impressions by understanding your body proportions. All the rules I listed can be bent because every person’s body is different. Don’t stereotype your physique.
Have any questions that you want me to address in “ask the tailor” or want to set up a consultation? Contact me at Macy’s email: mkooima@deoost.nl. We are here for you.