Choosing looser styles?

mamacandoit

i know this mentions sewing but even if you don't sew you may be able to help bc it applies more to style choices than sewing...
I stumbled across this article advocating choosing loose styles to sew so as to minimise fitting trauma and be able to more easily achieve the style of choice.
http://www.conselle.com/guide-.....to-fashion

I would be worried about looking like a tent in loose styles but unfortunately i'm coming to realise (very reluctantly) that semi-fitted/fitted garments aren't very suitable for my plus size body

Can some help me understand the bit on Style Selection...[quote]Select the garment type or silhouette that matches most nearly your general figure type. This will be your "quick-fit" style, being fuller in fashion design where your figure is also fuller. It is most likely to accommodate your figure type and often without alteration. [/quote]

i'm a plus size hourglass with a large tummy (apple shape in that area)

thanks as always!

9 years ago

Dressing

10 replies

Latest reply was from Vildy

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

The article link doesn't work for me, but I would think that something like a fit-and-flare would be a naturally easier fit for a pear than a shift dress. Whereas the straight shift might be easier for a rectangle, because it aligns to the natural body shape.

9 years ago

Aida

Veteran

(If you could redo your link, try this one: http://www.conselle.com/guide-.....rticle.php)

I don't sew, but to me this totally goes against why I would even want to start in the first place: to get that perfect-for-me fit! Of course if you're after loose cuts then it's helpful.

Regarding the quote, I think she means to select a garment whose lines mirror your own body's. So if you were an hourglass, the garment would be shaped so that it dips in at the waist; for a pear the hem would flare out a bit; etc. Ideally for these types of garments you want them to skim your own outline.

9 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I think this is the correct link:
http://www.conselle.com/guide-.....rticle.php

I don't know. She's right, on one level, about sewing, if you don't want to learn how to do pattern alterations (which really aren't that hard, honestly). But when I first started sewing and made unfitted, baggy simple items because that's how I knew what to sew, I never actually wore those garments because they made me feel awful and didn't look good.

"Close-fitting fabric that gets "hung up" on a body curve or bulges
creates contrast in line and shape. It calls attention to the curve and
signals you need a larger size or a larger, looser style."

I guess so, but if you can at all, an altered item that actually fits is a more flattering option than a baggy shape that nominally fits but elides your whole body. Flattery is in the eye of the beholder, but for me, fitted or semifitted items almost always look better on larger people than loose or baggy choices.

9 years ago

Sheila

Veteran

If you haven't read them already, I highly recommend Angie's archive of blog posts regarding dressing the various body shapes. It includes wonderful suggesions for how to minimize various body idiosyncracies (which we all have!). Are you an Apple or a Pear or an Hourglass??? Or something else or a mixture of two shapes?

In the upper right hand corner of this page there is a blank line and a small magnifying glass. Just type your search words into that spot, if you know your prevalent body shape. She also includes which kinds of fabrics are flattering, as well as suggestions for fit and style of garments.

9 years ago

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I know the older the I get the more flow I love. I do not really care how it looks. I do want t be pulled together but, at the same time I feel like I'm on fire some days.
Thank yo for sharing

9 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Heh, I think I would be one of her more depressing students. I don't understand how you can choose flowy fits and then have fun with fabrics, because I think flow depends heavily on the fabric used. I think your fabrics would need to be pretty specific in type.

Also don't get the hemline thing and practicing 'slim dressing.' I think slim dressing does indeed involve a hemline in a flattering place, and that often is not one's widest point...

9 years ago

Beth Ann

Veteran

I think semi-fitted looks are tough to find off the rack, without any alteration, but I think she's throwing the baby out with the bathwater a bit here!

It makes sense to learn to sew with a few garments that allow you focus on the basics of a clean, straight stitch, excellent pressing, cutting and finishing. Leave fit issues for later! Still, I'd encourage you to make sure you do a few things:

Choose a pattern with a "real" natural shoulder seam -- the droopy shoulder thing can make a garment look saggy.

When in doubt, cut larger, and baste seams. You can easily sew inside your basting line if it's a bit too big.

Try on as you go: I like to, for example, try on a skirt before I attach the waistband and/or zipper -- it gives me a rough idea, and alerts me to changes that need to be made.

Copy a favorite garment! That way you know the basic silhouette works!

9 years ago

Runs With Scissors

Veteran

As others have said -- if you prefer to wear fitted stuff, sewing semi-fitted stuff you like will be tricky! But I thought I'd throw out a semi-fitted pattern suggestion that seems to work well on a variety of body types. It's the Alder shirtdress, from Grainline Studio: http://shop.grainlinestudio.co.....shirtdress

I've made the version with the gathered skirt and find it to be pretty much the perfect carefree summer dress. I also found it pretty easy to tweak for fit: I made mine a tad longer, and added some darts for just a bit more fit-and-flare in the bodice (while keeping plenty of ease).

Here's a quick Google Image search showing other people's makes of this pattern:
https://www.google.com/search?.....ource=lnms

9 years ago

mamacandoit

Active Member

thanks everyone.
You all pretty much confirmed what I was thinking.

Funnily enough, i'm sewing a shirtdress at the moment mCalls 6696

9 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

I'm the outlier here. I think Judith Rasband's really good and I think that was a genius article of fitting tips. When she talks about where to hem she gives the same advice that Trinny and Susannah showed worked. You don't cover over a mound and therefore feature it's prominence but you stop the hem at a midway point so that the body curve seems to fall away beneath. Very disguising. I fit my stuff this way all the time.

I use many of the tips she offers, having found them out myself through trial and error.

9 years ago

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