Proportion, Balance & Focus

August 1, 2025

You know saying those words can strike terror into any sewists, no matter how practiced you are.  After you learn all the major techniques, finally it comes down to shaping and fitting yourself.  But that's more than just fitting a piece of cloth to your body.  It about focusing on the good parts and using proportion and balance to do that.  

I could sit here with a 1,000 words and your eyes would glaze over and you'd be asleep in a couple of minutes.  So this is where pictures tell the whole story straight up.  

You know I'm a stickler about fitting and that DOES NOT MEAN clothes that are skin tight to you - no matter how often you see one of the Kardashians showing us too much of their body, or anyone at the grocery store.  Have you noticed the preponderance of tight clothing at the grocery store?  You think a memo went out or something.  Thank heavens I missed it!  

So a couple of weeks ago I stepped out of my normal silhouette and did something different.  Course it helped that I had some old 1980s fabulous crepe from Armani which was perfect for this pair of pants, so the journey begins.  If you want to see the first take, click here.

The thing is that I knew, even though that jacket I wore above (in the link) was nice, I could do better.  But this is a different silhouette and that's what I want to talk about today.  

As many of you know, I carry my weight in my hips, below my waist, above my mid-thigh.  The rest of me looks pretty good, and that's what I like to show off in my normal profile, and I use proportion, balance and some other things to pull that off.  

First let's look at what's not right.  It's amazing how well we see this. 

I was wearing this top and working with the black one, and thought this is an excellent example of proportion gone completely wrong.  We all know it's wrong, but what's wrong with it?  Can you see it?

1. This person is large to begin with - large waist, large hips, large legs.  Everything is too large, is there anything small - maybe the wrist.  This is exactly what happens with clothes that have no line or silhouette to them.  The fit (if you can call it that, I don't), but there is no shape.  
2. The top has no waist.  Maybe if there was a little definition around the waist, then the pants might look better.
3. The top is too long for this fuller pants - it makes everything look big below the waist.
4. The old rule, "If it fits around the shoulders, that's a good start," doesn't work here.  The shoulders and neck and collar work, but that's it.
5. The one good thing - it's a pretty print on top.

Whew!  This looks a lot better, and there's the hint of a waist, but we can see the legs and they aren't that big after all.  This silhouette works.  There's shape to the top that hints at a waist, nice legs, so that we have something to show off here.  

I'm not even going to show all of this, but here's the exact opposite of the other photo (with the flowered top and the lose pants).  Here too much is showing, and the proportion is a mess for the opposite reason above.  TMI (too much information) is never good, and I didn't even show all the leg on the leggings.  Leggings work on me as long as I keep something about mid-thigh length.  This is as much about my history as it is about the bad proportions.    

I was a child of the 60's and the first fashion craze we knew was Mary Quant, Twiggy and all the "mod" craze.  That look was short, short skirts, sometimes leggings or patterned hose.  That proportion, of the short dress/skirt with the pattern hose, became the first fashion trend that I knew and participated in.  The old-fashioned day dress with the small print was ugly, but mod was beautiful.

That mentality still lives in my head and the top with leggings still looks good in my eye.  

But in reality, It's good proportions.

Here's the technical reason why - this is the divine proportion overlaid on this silhouette.  It's a classic length and that's why it was so popular back in the 60's.  It's a classic length because it's one of the most favorite of proportions.  

But other proportions are good too, and other silhouettes.  My hips are big, but if I can balance them with something that will flatter another part of my body, then I can make them look less noticeable.  

This works with pants that are not leggings, but slimmer.  They actually have a slit boot-leg cut.  These are the Barb pant from StyleArc.  And this blouse is an oldie but goodie

It's a classic blouse, elegant and straightforward with good classic lines, and since it doesn't have a collar band, it goes together very easily.  I added a side front dart because that dart always makes the side silhouette better.  It keeps the side profile clean and sleek, which is key in this top to go with these fuller pants.  I adore this collar cause it stands up beautifully framing the face with grand collar proportions - not too big or showy and not too small and lost. 

So after all that here's the finished outfit.   

I can not even believe how comfy and flattering this looks and feels.  Yes, the pants are full, but there's a clear silhouette on the top.  

I normally don't wear black on top and lighter colors on bottom, however, sometimes this works, and in this case it works beautifully.  

Of course, I can't take a simple pattern and just make it straight.  Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo Nooooooooooo!  I have to add something a little different, and since this blouse grew more to be a "top," I did something interesting on the cuffs.  (Notice the collar in the back standing beautifully.  I can unbutton those and push the sleeve up and it looks like a vent in the sleeve.)

This is a slit on the back side of the sleeve, NOT the underarm sleeve seam.  And then put loops over the buttons.  Quickly, a couple of things - these buttons don't match the front buttons.  They are both vintage sets.  But they both tone with the feel, look, and color of the pant, very low key.  So I'm using both of them on this "top."  I'll pair this top with a pair of white pants, but I'll wear it with some of my ponte pants.  I have a black background, wild summer floral ponte pants that will look grand with this.  

It's fun to play around with different silhouettes.  There are some fantastic guidelines to use when you do this.  The Elements of Design and the Rules or Principles of Design help so much.  Your eye will always catch what's wrong but the Elements and Principles will help you figure out what it is and how to fix it.  

But I have always like Yves St. Laurent's explanation:  "There are seven points to a woman's body to show.  If you use too many, she looks like a tart.  If you use too little she looks like a bag lady."  "Bag lady," is a term that was popular then, but Karl Lagerfeld brought it up to date when he quoted:  "Don't wear sweat pants.  It looks like you've given up."  And I think that's what's so sad about what's sold in stores to women who aren't bone thin - usually a boxy, baggy top.  And that's all retail offers.  

We can do so much more. Because we sew, we can use our skills to dress ourselves so that we put our best foot forward.  We lead normal lives, and I'm probably like you, and I like to eat, and I'm not interested in getting bone thin at this age.  And I also have fun with new ideas to look flattering and attractive by putting the best parts of my body first.  These pants have an elastic waist, which means I can wear them comfortably to dinner with this top and the other black linen top.  

Just as I love wearing winter white in the winter, I love wearing black in the evening during the summer.  It's a break from all the bright colors, and it's always classic.  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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