Ask Angie: Fitted jackets and blouses for the waistless - YouLookFab Forum

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Ask Angie: Fitted jackets and blouses for the waistless

JR

Veteran

In keeping with today's blog post on fitted clothes and with my current personal obsession: what do waistless women like me do when we want a structured, fitted look?

I am think especially of blazers and fitted blouses here. If a jacket fits me at the shoulders, it is straining at the buttons. If it fits me through the waist, it bags through the shoulders and back. Blouses are even worse, the lighter material making the bags and billows all the more obvious. They also tend to ride up rather easily too. Princess seams, which in theory should make tops and toppers look marvellous, are never proportioned for the body I have. I am seriously contemplating taking up sewing again, but this is not the kind of adjustment that can be made easily by a semi-novice.

What can I look for off the rack besides boxy? Is there anything at all? How can I look tailored and structured instead of squeezed or drowning?

Dressing

15 replies

Latest reply was from JR

Makrame

Veteran

I am going to bump this up for Angie, and give my thoughts - I rarely wear jackets buttoned/closed so I am not too concerned if they strain at the front. I usually find slightly flared jackets (ending at high hip, not at the waist or low hip) that create an illusion of a nipped-in waist most flattering on me. Adding a belt under an open jacket also helps with defining a waist. So I guess I try to stick to a formula of a slightly loose but not oversized top under a fitted jacket, and it seem to work pretty well.

catgirl

Veteran

I'm interested too!

Echo

Veteran

Me, too!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am bumping again. And obviously, not Angie!

But my guess is that for a fitted, structured look, if you lack a waist, you'd do different things depending on the reason for your relative "waistlessness."

JR, you didn't look unwaisted in today's WIW post at all. The top you were wearing (the green one) was gently curved at the waist area, no? And seemed to give you a waist?

JR

Veteran

Makrame, I try to wear jackets open as much as possible too, but when I'm wearing them for warmth it gets a bit trickier. I will have to play with belts under jackets a bit more. I'm finding that belting a lighter-weight boxy jacket also can create a faux waist and/or faux peplum that can be flattering.

I am still flummoxed when it comes to crisp button-downs.

Keix

Veteran

I'm another member of the waistless club and eagerly awaiting Angie's input. I just ordered the Gibson equestrian blazer and I really hope it fits, but it's a shot in the dark--tailored jackets aren't really made for a small-busted rectangle/apple figure with zero curves through the torso.

Carole

Veteran

Finding the right brand is probably going to solve your problem, I hope Angie chimes in soon to save the day!

JR

Veteran

Suz, we must have posted at the same time, so I didn't see your post till now. Sorry. My waist measurements are always several inches larger than they "should" be for off the rack or for patterns. It's not totally absent, but almost.

Yesterday's blouse was lying. ;o) It is less fitted than most, which is why the discrepancy isn't jarring. It is looser through the shoulders than anywhere else though, but not yet to the point where it makes me miserable to wear it. Perhaps because it is a shiny, slightly stiff fabric, it doesn't ride up as much as most blouses do.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Take it to a tailor! They can do amazing things.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

JR, a blazer does not need to button up! If it fits everywhere else, but is snug when buttoned, don't worry about it. Here's that post:

http://youlookfab.com/2008/09/.....ed-jacket/

You're looking for vertical seaming and details that draw the eye towards the waist, like slanted pockets, curved hemlines, V-shaped neck breaks, nipped in torsos, and low stances.

As for shirts, have you tried a Foxcroft shirt?

Blouses I need to see on your bod because I don't quite understand the fit concern.

I hope that makes sense

JR

Veteran

Thanks Angie. I'm assuming it's the same advice concerning jackets when it's the lower buttons that are straining.

I just heard of Foxcraft for the first time here recently. I will have to check if they have a Canadian presence. Returns can be very tricky cross-border. I did take a look at their offerings, and most had princess seams, which generally assume that all women are hourglasses. Perhaps if I were just a rectangle, it would be okay, but the apple superimposed on it makes it tricky. And I am so fond of button-downs...

I have a very busy weekend ahead, but I'll see if I can take pictures that show the concern with blouses once the rush is over. I've been avoiding buying them for a while, and I haven't checked the fit of most of them since spring, but maybe there is one that will illustrate the problem well.

I do leave my blazers unbuttoned a lot, but sometimes I am wearing them as outerwear, or would like to anyway. So I am less concerned with creating lines and more interested in finding if there's anything out there I can buy that would actually FIT, instead of just creating the illusion that it fits. It looks like boxy remains the only option to the unbuttoned blazer and unfitted blouses (rare right now) the best bet in that department.

D'Ellen

Veteran

Yay to Angie's Foxcroft shirt recommendation! I have finally found shirts that fit and flatter my waist-less, thick-torsoed shape. I can even wear the "fitted" fit in Foxcroft, and I can button all the buttons! And they are truely wrinkle-free! I just purged a slew of ill-fitting shirts in favor of Foxcroft.

Keix

Veteran

JR--it's difficult to try out as a Canadian, for you, but I love the Gibson equestrian blazer that I just received today. I'm normally a size 2P in button-downs and the SP fits snugly--but I can button it without pulling in the waist--so definitely size up. I was wary because peplum stylings tend to be cut narrower in the waist, but somehow this blazer worked for me.

I will definitely check out Foxcroft the next time I'm at Nordstrom, too... I have this vague sense in my head that they run large, so hopefully I'm not sized out.

Nadya

Veteran

Just another vote to types the Foxcroft if you can get them. As Blonda alluded to, they have a tailored and a regular fit. I'm an apple and typically go for the latter. They're expensive but once you know your size you can stalk them at sales.

JR

Veteran

I'll have to keep my eyes open for Foxcroft north of the border then. And start shopping more actively when I do down to the States. Thanks for the recommendation, ladies.

Hubby snitched the camera on me, so photos are going to be difficult for a while. DS left me his cheap one, but I have no cable for it yet.