YouLookFab Forum » Topic: body proportions (length)

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: body proportions (length) - for Shiny https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:48:32 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php anne on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61368 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:55:28 +0000 anne 61368@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I had to do the exercise a few times because the first time the 9 proportions ended up begin way more than my total height... I think my midsection is as much a trouble spot for me as my thighs. My thighs and bottom have always been curvy in an otherwise uncurvy body - I can see it it pictures from when I was 4! But until yesterday I didn't have a full length mirror so I think I could ignore them. After my hips got a little bigger in later adolescence I did get a waist, and I am, and have always been clearly long waisted. But now after 3 kids, it is two inches bigger, I get bloated sometimes, it is the first place I put on, and lose weight. so I guess this area of me gets more attention because it doesn't stay the same - some days I can wear a wide belt - other days it's time for the voluminous tops! I am fairly petite so 5"4 and agree that that affects things. I might be long-waisted but there is still only about 4 inches between rib cage and hip, measured on the side. Ele on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61302 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:23:14 +0000 Ele 61302@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hmm, I tried this and my proportions were all out of whack. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I have a proportionally long head (pointy chin), rather than my body. The measurements indicate that I'm slightly short in the torso, but I'm definitely not. Anyone who looks at me would say that I'm long-waisted. (I'm another one with stumps for legs;) I remember learning about this theory in university, though. We based figures in fashion illustration class on this theory; while most people are meant to be 8 heads high, typical croquis (fashion figure drawings) are 9-11 heads high. Most of the extra length goes into the legs, with a bit in the neck to elongate it. The theory was that most people are proportionate for the first 4 heads- from head to hipbone- and than taller people were likely to have most of that extra height in their legs. Obviously, that isn't always the case in real life. ImogenL on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61278 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:35:53 +0000 ImogenL 61278@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Don't call them stubs! And one of the benefits most women with shorter legs have, is they they are more likely to have a defined waist (which many longer legged women don't get). It's all swings and roundabouts! tarzy on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61266 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:29:48 +0000 tarzy 61266@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow. Very interesting. I took measurements, and even if I was off a little here and there, my lower half is quite a bit shorter than my upper half - by nine inches! I already knew I had short legs, but seeing the stats really brings that home. It's like I'm walking around on little stubs! I really do need heels to help balance me out. No wonder I don't like flats! ImogenL on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61265 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:09:22 +0000 ImogenL 61265@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Kari - sometimes we may put on weight in certain areas due to hormones or genetics, but frequently we tend to appear widest where we are proportionally shortest, though of course there are ALWAYS anomalies! Shiny - pregnancy will stretch your skin and muscles - and if you are more petite naturally, your body is most likely going to have a harder time getting this skin to go back, than if you're taller. I have a friend who was told by the doctor the only way she'd get rid of those wobbly bits was surgery. Appreciate your body that it was able to give you DD. Anonymous on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61263 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:22:19 +0000 Anonymous 61263@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Shiny in all the pictures I've seen of you, it has NEVER entered my mind that your legs are stubby, so cross that one off the list please. shiny on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61259 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:35:03 +0000 shiny 61259@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ If you ask me, I'd tell you instead that it is my midsection that is my biggest troublezone. That's what it feels like, at any rate. It is true I'm short from bra band to natural waist, and waist to hip bone. But, I am short ALL OVER. Proportionately speaking, when I do these measurement exercises, I am actually quite even in every "zone" except for from neck/shoulder line to bra! This is where I am - objectively and measureably - shortest. It is what makes even petite tops sometimes be too low or long in the straps. It is true when I gain weight I end up getting those waddly under arm bits, and I lose my collar bones. But it's my midsection that bothers me most. I do have to wonder how much of this is "mental" ... err, subjective ... if you know what I mean? Or, if not in my mind only, how much of it is postpartum stuff that simply never went away (and won't - i.e., stretched out skin and muscle)? If you are really short, and you produce a baby same size as any average or tall sized person, it seems logical said baby could potentially and irrevocably stretch your gut out all over the place, never to quite ping back into place again. In other words, it's not fat it's skin and lax muscles (heck maybe even warped ribs and such... I remember DD16 kicking me in the ribs a lot!!!) Subjectively, I also tend to think my legs look really stubby.... in fact, "Stub" is a frequent nickname in my family tree... it runs in the family, to have short legs.... but when I did these measurement exercises, the reality is my legs are a 1 inch longer than my upper body. So I am not simply proportionate - they are - a whopping(!) 1 inch longer. Hee hee. Yet, I seem to have this mental block that sees my legs as stubby. Is this because my mind is so used to seeing leggy models? I do have to wonder. This is a long-winded way to say that the measurement exercises were very helpful to me because they made me challenge my subjective view of myself, with objective measurements. What we see, is not necessarily the reality. We filter. Kari on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61251 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:31:33 +0000 Kari 61251@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Very interesting - I'm disproportionately short in the mid-bust to navel range and both of the upper leg ranges (between leg break to knee). My navel to leg break & lower leg measurements are all very close to head length. I notice much more weight gain or loss in the navel to leg break area even though that area is "in proportion" according to the Da Vinci theory. I don't put on a lot of weight at my natural waist or mid-thighs (in the middle of my shortest areas.) Maybe I'm an anomaly. (Or maybe I'm measuring wrong.) Maya on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61245 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:04:59 +0000 Maya 61245@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I think she definitely has something going there. I am very short waisted with a pooch and long legs and arms that are both on the thin side. I know I can have a small, defined waist because I did used to have one, but it certainly wouldn't come back easily. shiny on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61244 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:54:56 +0000 shiny 61244@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Yes, I saw that too. I am sure what I saw originally was NOT on Imogen's site. I can picture it in my mind, it had line drawings. The site was very sparse with not much else. But yes, it was a very similar idea, so perhaps the same concept? Wherever I saw it originally, it is simply not online anymore, anywhere. The idea that one is widest in their shortest area was not something I'd ever read about until Imogen's blog. It does make sense to me. anne on "body proportions (length) - for Shiny" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/body-proportions-length-for-shiny#post-61243 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:41:31 +0000 anne 61243@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Shiny, you have mentioned several times a page which gave you various lengths of your body to measure. I think Imogen may have had a blog a few days ago with the information. <a href="http://insideoutstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/body-proportions-explained.html" rel="nofollow">http://insideoutstyle.blogspot.....ained.html</a> Does that sound like the sort of thing you were refering to? BTW I did it and discovered I was basically in proportion (between 8 and 9 inches) everywhere, except the leg break to thigh measurement, which was lot shorter - no surprises there, since it is my widest area too, and apprarently that is usually how it works