Of late in my sewing I have been working with the colour, style and wardrobe structure tips I gathered from Kerryn at Kerryn's Fabric World while on holiday in QLD's sunshine coast this May. I had read many of Kerryn's articles in the Australian Stitches magazine and couldn't wait to see her myself. It was fantastic! Sooooo worth the visit. So was the fabric shop she runs her image consulting business in. However, for all that I learnt, I have decided to take it all with a healthy grain of salt - as I am sure Kerryn would think appropriate!

I understand the "how to look good" industry is about giving women confidence in themselves, and (hopefully) to help liberate themselves from society's merry-go-round of feeling bad about their body and image.

But the underlying presumptions of what constitutes an ideal figure - where are they questioned?
It seems to me we are supposed to be trying to look as tall, skinny, and as tiny femininely curved as possible. And if we don't have it naturally, it is all about illusion, baby.
Is this "ideal" what I really want to strive for?
I understand proportion. I am a graphic designer. I understand the effect of colour and line and volume. This is my work. It isn't that hard to apply it to my body too. But... aren't pleasing line and proportion come in more variations than a tall, slim slightly curved rectangle? I understand these guidelines are for women who don't have that innate gift of design. But the underlying presumption of what we are trying to achieve as women drives me barmy.

In Imogen Lamport's Image Consultant  terms, an X shape. A low-hipped hourglass.
Here are a few figure "flaws" I have

Big muscly thighs
Short stature, all 5"3' of it.

Let's look at Kerryn's suggestions for those wide hips/thighs.

•  bootleg trousers will pull the sillouette in, narrow the hip-region down, yet the slight flair in the calves will bring the whole leg line into flattering proportion.
• Shoulder emphasis to balance out the width in the hip.
• No A-line skirts. Straight skirts to minimise the width of that whole area. At most, a tiny flair at the hem. Interestingly, Imogen Lamport actually recommends A-line skirts for this figure type.

Kerryn also made a number of other suggestions for balancing the figure that affect the look of that area, however I aim to take just one isolated element, the hips and thighs, and test the guidelines.

So.... here goes.


Trousers: In my wardrobe I have mostly wide-legged 3/4 trousers  because they are looser, so cooler. I swapped my usual wide-leg 3/4 length trousers with the closest thing to bootleg 3/4 trousers I own.  Wow. Spot on, Kerryn ! I look fantastic in them.
I chose as simple a top as possible so as not to distract, and took a sewing mugshot of myself.

I put on my wide-leg trousers again, I can see the difference easily, and think "Yeah but having that slight hip emphasis actually shows off that tiny waist really well." (or is it that these are my fave, most comfy trousers and I am totally biased? ;)

Shoulder emphasis? Here is the bootleg trousers with a top that emphasises my shoulders. With bootleg trousers, does this top make my shoulders look just a tad "big" now?

 Next, the wide-leg trousers with shoulder emphasis. To me this looks nicely balanced, and very feminine with a touch of quirkiness in the way I pieced the lower trouser legs together (It was a lot of fun to sew, actually!) I certainly don't look as "slim" as I could with closer-fitting clothes, but the proportions are pleasing, regardless.

Skirts - most of my skirts are A-line. It's the heat again. Stand with your legs close together like you need to in the average straight skirt. Try this in really really hot, humid weather.
Now bring your legs apart to shoulder-width or more, like you can stand comfortably in an a-line skirt. Understand why my skirts are all A-line, now?

Well alright... all except for one, long, straight elegant skirt I  rarely wear, that I can test Kerryn's suggestion with!

A-line skirt with plain top

Straight skirt with plain top

A-line skirt with shoulder-emphasis top

Straight skirt with shoulder-emphasis top

I can see the differences, but not as clearly as with the trousers. Not enough skirt variety in my wardrobe means I introduced two variables in the skirt experiment - different length as well as different style. Darn! Not good Science. Never mind. I actually think the length is what makes the biggest difference, not the style though. The longer they are, the taller and slimmer I look.
As to whether Kerryn is right about avoiding A-line, or Imogen is right that they are ideal for us big-thighed x-shaped lasses, I think my climate will have the last laugh. 

So, what have I learnt from all this? Well, that the "guidelines" do actually affect the way the figure is perceived. And in the way they are held to do so. Hey wow!

But...

Uh...

Can I go play again now? Can I go back to using the choice of clothes to express different styles and suggest different shapes and lines? This tall slim, slightly curvy rectangle business is pretty boring.

However, this time, I have more options to play with. I understand more clearly than before how the different style lines change the way my body appears. When I feel like being a long slim, tall elegant young woman I know much more clearly how to achieve it. When I feel like being the earthy, hip-centred woman with her feet placed firmly on the ground, I know which clothes in my wardrobe to reach for.