Silhouette comparison - YouLookFab Forum

This is to examplify how one can look more plump or more svelt using only clothes.
The pictures below were taken on the same day, a few minutes apart. I didn't do this on purpose, but I think the comparison is interesting.

In the first pic, I'm wearing a roomy batwing short sleeves loosely knitted cotton top over a tighter black long sleeves cotton tee with cropped ponte leggings and my BZees Naturalizer wedge booties. It seemed to me that the outfit demanded some hippy accessory, so I added this ridiculously long and fun wooden beads rope necklace (which I think by its rounder shape add to give me a more overall rotund shape). This outfit is very comfortable and I will totally wear it to go teach. I like how it gives me a more approachable, maternal look.

In the second pic, I'm wearing my talbots Heritage dark wash jeans, the same black long sleeves tee but with a cropped black cardigan that is cinched at the waist and more generous at the shoulders. You'll notice that I also swapped my sportier booties for a black chunky heel "Stillson" type pump. This is not as comfortable, but more "serious", and I will wear it for meetings and events that demand to be a bit more dressed up.

In both pics, I'm wearing my 12'' Ashanti wig that I call my Mireille Mathieu because of the singer of the same name.

Maybe Angie or others can shed light on this and better explain the effects at play here. I think it literally looks like a 10-20 pounds difference! What do you think?

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6 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Krish, are you about the same distance from the camera? One looks closer than the other. I ask because I read an article recently about how distance from camera can really distort body and facial features in photos ... I wonder if there's a bit of that happening too. You look great in both btw!

krishnidoux

Same distance exactly, only one pic is cropped more

lyn67

I for a matter cannot put my finger on I love the nr 1 the best-and don't see those extra pounds at all, only a very natural, easy& chic girl. I say nr 2 is a bit too "done"...but I cannot explain.

RobinF

I think I also prefer #1, it looks very chic and stylish. The second one is nice but doesn't have the same pop.

Lyn, Robin, I agree with you, I also feel better in 1. I kind of dig myself with a little bit of curves too. To think that when I was young I was running away from it. What a mistake!

Angie

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Fashion Stylist

I don't think it's the outfits.

The camera angles are different and off. And the light is too. Look at how proportionately bigger your head is in #2, and how proportionately smaller your body is because of it. That's skewing your perception.

The light is shining on your thighs in #1, which is making them look wider than #2.

Also, one pic is from the front, and the other slightly from the side - bodies are different silhouettes. Not a fair comparison.

Of course, the oversized pullover does not show the narrowest part of your body, which makes #2 the more slimming silhouette.

Hope that makes sense.

Bonnie

That is quite a difference. I see that you are standing right in front of the door in the first photo and are standing two tiles closer to the mirror in the second photo. It would be interesting to see you wear the same clothes and retake the photos standing exactly the same position.

Bonnie, I think I will do that!
Angie, while I agree that both pics are not exactly at the same angle, and I apreciate your analysis, I still think outfit #1 shows a drastically different silhouette from outfit #2. But if my thighs in #1 hit the light differently, it's because the shoes'heels make me stand differently too, which is part of the illusion. Heels in #2 are really pumps, with a slightly higher heel (the Bzees in #1 are a wedge 2.8 inches while the pumps are steep 3 inches). In the second pic, my body is thrusted forward.
Below are more pics. I think it's the shoes, and the silhouette. In #1 and #3 below, I'm wearing the 3 inch pumps.

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Krish, you are right. The first set of pics showcase two very different silhouettes. The vamps of the shoes and the lengths of the bottoms between the two outfits make a difference too. That said, the camera angles and light futher skew proportions.

I don't find the slimmer #2 (in the first set of pics) more flattering though. I think #1 looks as nice. Just different!

Suz

All I know is that I like the plaid pants in your new photos!

Interesting experiment and it sounds like you've figured it out. All the outfits are really nice.

Alexandra

It has to do with how much light is showing around your body. In a batwing or similarly loose top, there’s very little to no light showing between your torso and your arms so visually you take up more space and read as larger/heavier. In a slimmer-fit top there’s more light showing and that reads as taking up less space/smaller/lighter. That’s why jackets with nice high armholes are visually more slimming than jackets with lower armholes. It works similarly with pants.

Angie, I agree with you. The plumper-looking outfit seems more flattering, I look more approachable in it. I like to see myself like that, strangely, more than the thinner version.
Suz, the plaid pants were a real find at the Bay, they are actually flannel leggings (you know how they sell them folded in hanging packages). They had various designs but this one struck out and they have been a workhorse these past months.
Alexandra, you have such a good eye! Your observations are so interesting. I will not look at my wardrobe pieces in the same way.

jussie

Hmm on an unrelated note I love the cinnamon top and plaid pants

Anonymous

Good observation Alexandra-that makes sense
And krishnidoux, I like that wig a lot! I've been enjoying all your hair-outfit labs

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