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Fitting my real body

5/1/2017

7 Comments

 
I dream of the perfect fit... of clothes that are simply perfect when I put them on, the grain hanging right, the ease just enough, the curves and shapes flattering.  But in order for my clothes to be perfect, my body image must be accurate!  And (as making my sister's block shows) understanding a body is easier said than done. 
​It's a peculiar pathology of our culture that we think of bodies as things to be seen, not as things to walk, talk, digest food, lift burdens, run races, help others, et cetera.  We treat being seen as a function, and worry that we are not pleasing to the eye.  So we carry around all kinds of burdens of imagined "ugliness" or "figure flaws".  We talk about "pampering" ourselves with manicures and "investing" in good make-up.  And women are so used to being judged by appearance (and so used to judging other women the same) that we pre-emptively talk ourselves down lest someone else do so first.

Yet despite all our obsessing over how we look, most of us have not updated our self-image since our teens (or the last time we felt either particularly good or particularly bad).  When we go through big bodily changes, like pregnancy or illness or aging, we hold onto the mental image of our bodies before.  And when we see a camera or a mirror, we automatically present ourselves to best advantage.  (Ever caught your reflection unexpectedly and realized that you were slumping, or scowling, or looking vacant?  Then you nearly get whiplash pulling yourself into a better-looking attitude!)
Picture
​In order to sew clothes for myself, I need to have a real image of my own body.  Plus, in fairness to my sister, whose body I have over-analyzed on this blog already, I ought to scrutinize my own!

Here is what I know about myself, based on un-posed photographs and other people's comments:
  • I don't stand as straight as I imagine I do. 
  • Like most people raised with computers and now having a cell phone, I have forward head posture. 
  • I am shorter than I feel. 
  • My bottom is bigger than it used to be; I used to be an hour glass, but now I think I'm a pear. 
  • I have a high waist, well-defined, parallel to the floor. 
​The posture stuff is correctable, and should be corrected for the sake of my health.  Fixing my forward head posture is one of my new year's resolutions.  Look at this series of pictures I took one day in January 2017.  The first is my normal, not-thinking-about-it posture.  The second is me straightening my shoulders, and the third is me pulling the back of my skull back and up to get my ears in line with my shoulders, like they're supposed to be. 
Picture
When I do the move all at once, I feel like a cat taking umbrage at something!
So when I'm working to improve my posture, how should I make my clothes fit?  The answer is simple: I dress people, not new year's resolutions.  There's no point in making clothes to fit my someday-body (or anyone else's)!  If I intend to have better posture at the end of the year, I'll still sew back-shoulder darts in my blouses now, since now is when I'm wearing them.  If someone tells me that she intends to lose weight, I'll still make her dress fit her now, since now is when she's wearing it.  Now is the only time we ever really have. 
7 Comments
Fatima
5/3/2017 08:19:59 pm

Hi,
We met today at the garden store. I took a pic of the kimono. U remember. ..
I worked with kathleen from fashion incubator. I was her sample maker; her book and her are a wonderful source of knowledge in the sewing world.
I saw you read her stuff. Are u part of her forum?

Anyway, i was delighted to meet you today.

Reply
Karen Roy link
5/5/2017 01:10:07 pm

Hi Fatima! Yes, I remember you from the store!

The funny thing was that just before you walked in and took a picture of that top, I had been drawing it. I was intrigued by the dart on the front panel, from the point of bust to the princess seam. I am not sure why that shirt had it, but I can see how it would be useful if I were working with a fabric with a really obvious nap or print and wanted it to be oriented right both on the top/shoulder area and the lower front area. The dart could be the hinge point enabling the whole CF to be on grain.

I am not a member of Kathleen's forum, mostly because I'm trying to limit my online activities (forget work-life balance, I need life-internet balance!). However, I have considered buying her book. Her blog posts are so useful!

Thanks for dropping by!

Reply
The Sister
5/7/2017 07:09:46 am

You'll like this, in light of your post here:

"What a cruel scheme to keep a woman from knowing her power. To put the focus on what pregnancy did to her body rather than focus on what her perfect body just did. Here we sit, creating and nourishing the future and we are diminished to "baby weight." I will not succumb to your demeaning ideals." (Amethyst Joy)

It's good to have goals and work towards bettering ourselves always, but it's also absolutely right that you dress the person of the Now, because no one is promised a Tomorrow.

Reply
Karen Roy link
5/9/2017 09:26:49 am

What an incisive comment from Amethyst Joy (who is she?). Every thing we say or think stems from some value--be it ever-so-unexamined. When someone has a baby, and immediately people want to know how much weight she gained in pregnancy and how long it'll take for her to lose it, they are showing what they value. To them, a woman's conformity to their "beauty standards" is more important than miracle of reproduction, her appearance more important than her motherhood. The message is "You're not good enough yet, but keep working, honey! I'll tell you when you've made it." How sad.

All this focus on the increasingly impossible ways we "should" look affronts human dignity. Clothes that fit imaginary bodies just make us feel worse. That's not what I want my clothes to be about. When I make clothes--for myself, or you, or a client--I want them to be allies not accusers, showing the wearer's best attributes and personality.

Reply
The Sister
5/15/2017 11:30:11 am

I don't know who Amethyst Joy is; I found that quote online and liked it. :-) Such a confident and strong statement in that last sentence.

Amethyst Joy link
9/21/2017 07:57:57 pm

I am Amethyst Joy, So glad I found this blog. Thank you for your kind words, it is a curious epidemic, the focus. Moving forward, shifting perspective.

Reply
Karen Roy link
9/26/2017 09:43:03 am

Hi Amethyst Joy! I'm glad you found this, too; my sister and I both liked what you said. It's so interesting to see where our ideas go when we're not looking!
Karen.

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    Karen Roy

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