Ready-to-wear clothes look best on a woman blessed with the body-type of a fashion model.
No-brainer, right? I have read that so many times and heard that for so many years I don’t even remember where the idea came from. Recently I have thought again.
We demand inexpensive clothes. And there are only so many ways to save money in manufacturing. Cutting is one; if a garment can be made slightly skimpier, it may be possible to get more of them from the bolt.
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My hypothesis:
RTW clothes are manufactured to fit the woman of average height and balanced proportions.
The average American woman is 5’4″. For me, I am already in trouble somewhere on my body because I am two inches taller. According to The Triumph of Individual Style , and based on the Golden Ratio concept, the easy-to-dress body is divided into eighths. For the average height, easy-to-dress woman, each segment – head, torso, legs, and the natural divisions thereof – would be a multiple of eight inches (8×8=64).
If one is longer or shorter than that in any segment, it can be a great inconvenience. For example, my rise is long by inches. Most of the time it causes no problem whatsoever; however, whenever leggings with a butt-covering sweater is the look, I am in trouble. OTOH, I am very thankful I never have to hem my jeans.
Have you thought about where you differ from the easy-to-dress body?