Very interesting. I've got some homework to do. I've always struggled with figuring out my proportions, thanks for the nudge.

Yeah, Nicole, Imogen has a video about necklace placement, too! Actually, she names 2 sweet spots, a short length and a long length. There is a bit of room for play there, though, because it will also depend a bit on the layers you're wearing.

Thanks for posting this video Suz!

I finally got around to fixing my video player and did the exercise. I came up with an interesting discovery. Either I am very proportional (8 head lengths) or I did it a little wrong. Assuming the second, but when I repeated, I got very similar results. I even did it with a measuring tape instead of a string. There was a half-inch difference in some measurements from the 8.5" (the head measurement), like 9" from chin to mid-bust, but I'm sure a better fitting bra could fix that! I also seemed to be 8" in the lower torso (waist to crotch).
I'm 5'6" (66") and my head and torso are 33" as are my legs. I always thought I had shorter legs but my inseam measurement would dispute that. I used to measure the length of my upper leg (leg break to mid-knee) v. the length of my lower leg (mid-knee to ankle), not including my foot, so maybe that's why I thought that.

Funny thing is I still have trouble finding appropriate fitting clothing. I am pear-shaped (now more of a pear-apple!) so I carry most of my weight below my waist.
According to Imogen: "that we are proportionally SHORT where we tend to PUT ON WEIGHT first." So that would mean I should be shorter in the lower torso and mid thigh area. MY natural waist is tricky to find right now (it's padded) but I noticed I am narrower a little above where my belly button lies. So I'm assuming that is my natural waist not my belly button line.

It's too bad there isn't an app where we could take our picture and get a printout like Heleen's!!! Thanks again for posting this, but now look what you've started...

I don't put on weight in my upper thighs (relatively), but I'm proportionately very short there. I guess I'm the spanner, eh?

VERY interesting, Rosee and Mochi! Rosee, it sounds as if you are enviably well proportioned! That is great news! But I sympathize about the struggle to find clothes as a pear. I think it can be extremely frustrating, but that it perhaps more about the way the clothes are cut horizontally than their vertical proportions; they are made for people with narrower hips.

My bottom half confirms Imogen's theory; I DO tend to put on weight on my thighs, which are proportionately short. But I DON'T tend to put on weight on my short waist...or at least not for a long time; it goes on other places first. So Mochi, I'm a bit of a spanner, too.

I think it more likely that we LOOK as if we've put on weight in our shorter areas first. We may, in fact, be gaining all over, but it is in the shorter areas that our weight gain will be more visible. Does that make sense?

I did Imogen's proportion thing and figured out I'm short waisted but have a long rise. I always gain weight in the tummy area, which confirms her theory. Now I know why I can wear petite tops (I'm 5 ft. 2 in. tall) but NOT petite pants! It's because petite pants are too short in the rise. They're not easy to find, but I buy misses' short pants that have a 30-inch inseam to wear with heels. I can also buy regular misses' pants and have them hemmed, but I only do that if the pants are on sale and priced low enough to justify taking them to the tailor.

Also, my shoulders are the same width as my hips, and I can't always wear petite tops. Some petite brands are too narrow in the shoulders and too short in the arms. So I shop both petite and regular sizes for tops.

My biggest fit issue is tummy flab from having 4 children; 3 of them c-section deliveries. I never see any fashion advice about what to do to conceal that. I don't have as much of a tummy as many women I know, but I still have a pooch, and I hate it.

Wow what a great conversation is going on here - glad that you've all begun to understand how proportion is so important - in fact as important as body shape in working out what will work for your unique body.

To clear up questions:

It's full head length, not just face length - but a 2D length not 3D - you may find taking a photo - take it with the camera at half your height so that it doesn't skew up or down the apparent length of your body.

A large bust will visually shorten your waist - I - in measurement (if I measured in quarters rather than eighths - would have a balanced waist - but because a large bust sits lower - my chin to mid-bust is longer and mid-bust to waist is shorter - has to be to fit the amount of flesh in!

Waist is the narrowest point between end of rib cage and top of pelvis - so not the belly button (which is lower than natural waist).

Necklaces - that's the Balance Point concept - and is based on face length, not head length (so hairline to chin).

I would love to do a series of posts on proportions so if you'd like to send me photos taken as described I can give you some pointers - will happily blank out faces!

Oooh! ! Thanks, Imogen! Perhaps we should start a new thread about this with a request?