Ask Angie: Life as an In-betweener

Hi! I have always struggled to find cloths that work and have scoured the internet for solutions by trying to understand my body type. I feel like a lot of the post are for "thin" women and if you have some weight on you you are just put to be hourglass or curvy. I am someone who is overweight, and holds my weight on the side and below my belly button. I have a naturally larger ribcage, and a "barreled" chest, where my breast sit lower on me and the part above them is rounded if put from a side view. I am 5. 3 My measurements are as fallows, shoulders 45.5' Bust 40.5 below bust 34' waist 36' and hips are a 42.5'. I always have issue buying clothes because I enjoy the look and fashion of "tighter" fits, but ignorer to fit into clothing, my dresses in order to fit on my hips and chest and shoulders look awkward and box in the middle and leave too much space in the gut where it looks bigger than it is. My pants seem are always roomy above the butt when they touch my back and yet are tight around my pooch; and when I wear belts it never secures my back as much as I want and just feels tight on the pooch I especially when I sit down. I enjoy a more preppy style and I find layering helps Ie sweaters and vest because it can cover what I consider issue areas while allowing me a more tighter look, but Its not winter all the time and I get hot wearing sweaters every where. Also my button downs I wear, are usually gaping or look like I am swimming in them. I just always seem to be in the middle of sizes. Can you help with these issues on how to understand my in-between body. Sincerely, A young twenty something trying to find her style.

8 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Frankems, welcome! I'm not Angie -- just another forum member here. I'm just chiming in quickly just to say that the next couple of weeks are insanely busy for Angie in real life and on the forum, so if she does not get to your question personally right away, please don't be offended. She's working around the clock with the Nordstrom's sale.

I know that some of our other forum members will have wonderful suggestions in the meantime.

Tina

Hello Frankems and welcome!
My advice would be to find a tailor (or perhaps you sew?) that you trust. For starters you may want to use cheaper or thrifted items to experiment on getting a good fit. Once you have someone who knows your fit challenges and preferences you start to figure alterations into your garment cost. This is a tedious and likely a more costly way to build a wardrobe but it will be worth it to have clothes that fit the way you want them to.
All the best!

Emily K

Also not Angie but I can sympathize with fit issues, for sure. My problem, for a long time, was that I was a 0X--not well served by regular or plus sizes. Also, I'm busty but smaller in the waist, and everything I tried on was so boxy and made me look way bigger than I was. It is possible that a tailor can help--and for not a lot of money, also. The pants issue might be solved, for example by sizing up a bit and by having the back of the pants taken in with two darts--a really simple and not very costly alteration. If you need more, I've seen gussets added to the sides to give a bit more room in the front. And, with shirts, adding two vertical darts to the back (like princess seaming) is easy and effective. There's another alteration where a smile-shaped dart is taken at the waist to shorten the back (in case yo are having too much bunching fabric above the booty). As your shoulders seem fairly strong, this is the measurement you'll want to fit in shirts--the rest can be tailored down. I know a lot of people who will buy something and, before removing the tags, take it to a tailor for their opinion about what can be achieved. If the tailor doesn't think the alterations are worth it, you can return the garment. It could be really worth it for you to have fewer but better fitting, flattering garments that give you pleasure and confidence to wear. I did not take my own advice about this, but I am better about alterations now...hindsight!

I've added a picture of a recent alteration I did to some of my pants--shows a more complicated way of dealing with back-fit (in-progress photo with orange basting thread to test fit). I thought these pants fit OK when I bought them, but they were too gappy in the back and also the back rise was too long and so they wanted to make a horizontal fold between my waist and my butt. You can see that I took out quite a bit of fabric with the darts and then I chopped off a bit of the top so the waistband would reattach lower.

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Liz

Welcome! It sounds like you're having trouble finding clothing that is cut in shapes that work for the way your body is shaped. It could be that the preppy styles you like are cut for straighter figures, and are causing some of fit issues. When you can (there's a short waiting period for new members) you might want to post pictures of some of the fit issues you're experiencing so that forum members can suggest ways to alter, or can suggest other cuts of clothing to look for--meaning, clothing items where the pattern they used to make the item is more in line with how your body is shaped.

frannieb

Welcome to the forum. I have your body -I'm straight sized on top and plus size on top.
I get almost all my bottoms tailored and it is worth every penny. I have just come to accept the cost. I hate the two dart methods in back and usually have the back seem reconstructed this is a more costly alteration. I get shirts tailored sometimes but have simply let go of wearing button up shirts and my life is fine.
While i was really rediscovering my style i used to post a lot of What I Wore so check out some of my photos.

Traci

Welcome!

If you go to the ylf blog, under the advice tab there are some valuable older posts about how to dress different body types. It took me many years to learn that these are just guidelines and my individual body does not perfectly fit any of the molds, but some of the suggestions, like necklines, can really make a difference.

Someone else already mentioned it, but taking pictures of your outfits can be indispensable. There is so much that can be seen in the proportions of a picture that you don't notice in the mirror. I will offer a word of caution that sometimes the pictures can be misleading in a negative direction also, as your eye may fall to your problem areas. What really helps me with that is watching how I react to forum members' WIW pictures. I take them in in their entirety, and don't just stare at their hips, or whatever supposed "problem area" they have, and I have to reason with myself that no one else is judging me in the same way I judge myself.

Best of luck in sorting yourself out! It does take some trial and error, but the results are worth it.

sylvie55

Active Member

Welcome frankems! You will find lots of great folks and great advice here. I have a non-standard body type too -- significantly bigger on top than on the bottom. I've struggled with body issues for years and YLF is definitely helping me to break free from the sweats and baggy layers I used to hide out in. What works for me is wearing separates -- I own few dresses except loose shift types -- and clothing with lots of stretch. This usually means slim ponte pants, jogger-type pants, or jeans with stretch, plus blouses (never buttondowns) that are somewhat fitted in the arms and shoulders but loose in the bust and back area. Stylish accessories help, too. It's really hard to wear tailored styles when different parts of your body are different sizes.

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