Everybody’s Talking Sewing

Remember the old Sear Christmas Wish Book? I use to spend hours looking through that book and not only at holiday time. Well obviously I’ve had to find substitutes (I have lots!), and one of the ones I look through a lot are store supply/display catalogues. Oh come on, you already know I’m weird!

Anyway, I was going through the newest one and came to the mannequin section. Most are full-size, to scale (remember that - to scale) with the head included. Men, womens, and children’s for store clothing displays.

I scanned two images to share with you - I found them particularly interesting for a number of reasons I’ll explain in a bit.

Now, think about going into your favorite store and seeing an outfit on a display mannequin: you love it! You track down your size and hurry into the fitting room. Five minutes later you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and wondering what you’re doing wrong. This outfit doesn’t look anything like it did on the mannequin!

And my friends, the odds are it never, ever will look like it did on the mannequin. Here are the images I scanned.

Be sure you read the ‘stats’ beneath each image - I took it directly from their descriptions. Oh there were also an equal amount of size 4 models, but I couldn’t even force myself to scan those too. Just curious here, but how many of your friends are 5′-11″ with those measurements? Yeah, I came up with about the same amount: little more then 0, but less then 1.

Then there’s the Plus-Size model; someone want to let me know when a size 12-14 - a 14 by-the-way is the Average size of a woman living in the US - was moved into a plus-size category? Don’t forget she too is 5′-11″ tall. Oh and did you get a good look at her ’shape’? What part of plus-size are you seeing? I’m seeing someone very thin, with no stomach or hips, thin arms, legs and big boobs that will never sag.

And we wonder why clothes don’t look the same on us! NOT.

Want to know what a size 14 really looks like? Well here you go: 5′-5″, 51 years old, and a size 14.

And here’s another view - I keep saying Rubens would have just loved me!

Personally, I like curves… these ‘fantasy driven‘ manufacturers can have their mannequins, I think I’ll just keep on sewing clothes that flatter me; did I mention I really like curves?

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We can never pick clothes that will really look good on us, unless we understand our Body Style or Type. The five basic styles are: Hourglass, Triangle, Inverted Triangle, Rectangle-Slim, and Rectangle-Wide.

Each one of those have some pretty straight forward suggestions on what to and even more important what not to wear.

Hourglass

I used to have this classic shape - actually I still do, but now Rubens would absolutely love me!

The Hourglass is suppose to be the ideal shape because the shoulders and hips balance each other width-wise, along with a narrow waist.

Now you’re ’suppose’ to show off that hard earned waist without putting undo notice on your bust or hips. I freely admit I showed off everything I could when I had this shape ages ago - I worked hard to get it and I wasn’t going to hide it!

What to Wear
Slim skirts, tucked-in blouses, belts, slim fitting pants, tailored clothing, princess-seams, lots of colors (feel free to contrast them against each other), you can even wear stripes!

Don’t Wear
Boxy or shapeless garments (you’ve got the figure, show it off!), untucked shirts, and if you’re full busted crop-tops or empire style dresses.

Triangle

Pretty obvious when you think about it, the Triangle is a smaller bust and larger hips - also known as a Pear-shape. So the goal here is to move the interest from the hips to the bust area. That will help balance the triangle shape out.

What to Wear
Scarfs around your neck, tops with contrasting trim, fancy details at the neckline, light colors for your tops and darker one for the bottoms. Wider collars (I like shawl collars), and shoulder pads work well too. Think about wearing your skirts a bit longer to help draw the eye away from the hips.

Don’t Wear
Anything that draws attention to your hips! That includes pleats, horizontal stripes, bulky fabrics, awful patch-pockets, and halter tops (shudder) or raglan sleeves.

Inverted Triangle

I know, didn’t we just do this? Just flip your body! Full bust, broad shoulders, sometimes full arms, and narrow hips. An Inverted Triangle is a reverse Pear-shape, so we need to move the attention from the bust to the hips.

What to Wear
Pleats, pockets, tops with peplums, skirts and pants with yokes, V-neck tops, dark colors for your tops and light colors for your skirts, pants, and shorts. Maybe a top that has contrasting color/bands around the bottom hem line.

Don’t Wear
Ruffles (unless you’re 5-years old), shoulder pads, tops with yokes, wide collars, very narrow pants or tapered pants. We really are reversing the rules for the Triangle here.

Rectangle-Slim

This body style always reminds me of the Elves from the Lord of the Rings! The shoulders and hips are the same with and there’s very little definition in the waist. The Rectangle-Slim is a waif like body style. So what you need to do is pretend there’s more shape then there really is.

What to Wear
You get to wear horizontal stripes! You’re the only shape that can safely. Wide shoulders, unstructured jackets, contrasting top and bottom colors (that means lots of colors top and bottom). Pleats, flared skirts and pants, bulky sweaters - I am so jealous.

Don’t Wear
Vertical stripes (that’s all most of us can wear), wider waistbands (draws attention to your waist), big patch pockets, or and large vertical patterns.

Rectangle-Wide

Waist? What waist? Sorry but this body style doesn’t have any waist definition at all. Your shoulders, bust, hips and waist are all about equal. What we need to do here is make your shape smaller and curvier.

What to Wear
Complementary colors, and muted - gentle shades - leave the bright bold colors for someone else. Shoulder and neckline details (pull the body upward), princess seams, sheath style dresses - we’re trying for vertical lines. Straight skirts, narrower pant legs, tops and jackets that end below the waistline.

Don’t Wear
Boxy garments (just like we tell the Hourglass) - but in this case all they do is make you look wider! Keep details above or below the waist area. Stay away from designs that have large, blocks of colors, again this will just make you look larger.

Well I think this is a good beginning for you to determine your specific Body Style and to help make sure that the clothes you buy-and-make are the best styles for you. Now get out there and Go Play!

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