Searching the October 2006 archives brought up this previously published discussion:
Vildy’s comment hits me right in the uncertainty zone (at least we’re there together:)
I’m not sure anymore how I feel about textures. I would wear this out to a casual evening but not stretch velveteen in the daytime. Not any more, anyway. I’ve just gotten rid of all of my flannel suit jackets, skirts, trousers. I realized I never wanted to wear them because I like smooth fabrics. I like fabrics with substance and crispness, too. This goes against the whole “there should be movement in your clothing” philosophy.
I get a lot out of reading your thinking about clothes and life. I’d love it if you’d write more about texture. Even though I’m rounded, I have a crisp personality and feel awkward in soft, draped clothes – like I’m selling a bill of goods.
The textbook answer to the taute vs drapy fabric question is this:
Skeletal (straight line) body types wear taut fabrics, muscular = semi-taut to semi-drape, molded (smooth, where the natural padding obscures the visibility of either bone or muscle) types wear drapy fabrics. Combination types wear taut on the straight parts and drapy on the smooth parts.
But that advice has never suited my personality either. And it seems to contradict Clinton and Stacy’s regular practice of making chubby people look slender by putting them in structured jackets.
Obviously I am not finished exploring this topic. What are your thoughts?
Hmm. I’m not getting why you would put taut fabrics on a skeletal body, etc. Doesn’t that make you look more extreme? I am pretty stick-like, and if my clothing is too tight or structured, I look more like a stick. However, I do get lost in too much fabric or overly-bulky sweaters. Just wondering what’s the idea behind the rule of thumb.
hmm, I know that I feel more slender when I wear things that are structured and come in at the waist a bit (like a dress shirt with darts) And I am in the slightly more padded department.
I am not altogether sure there is a rule of thumb here. Perhaps it is as much related to personal style/style idiom as it is to shape, and to the particular garment. Or to what it is paired with. Or if you’re willing ot spend time ironing?
I love textures myself, but I think texture is my substitute for pattern (although there is definitely pattern in texture).
I love drapey clothes on models, just not on me! I always seem to find myself in a fitted, textured blazer….firm fabric and nipped in at the waist….
Bridgette Raes has the most interesting take on texture in her book, “Style RX.” She swears boucle can be better than Botox.
I think that putting drapey clothes on “molded” types is just a fashion-industry excuse for making ridiculous tents for plus-size people. Yes, some drape is good. But all drape is more about fashion-industry laziness than about what actually works on actual bodies, IMHO
I think that bone structure also plays a role here. Think about a chubbier person with fine, delicate bones vs one with strong, heavier bones…
I know regardless of how much padding I have, I never feel like I’m dressed in drapey fabrics–it’s like wearing pajamas in public.
Ok, this is my take on it all.
Texture and Drape are two different concepts (sorry to throw a spanner in the works).
Textured fabrics can be anything from lace to cable knits, devore velvet to quilted fabrics.
What is best to do is match your level of texture, in your hair and skin, to texture in fabrics – so someone with straight smooth hair and fine smooth skin will look best in flat or fabrics with sheen that match their personal texture.
Someone with curly hair will look best in textured garments like boucle or a velvet devore, which has a curved appearance.
Someone with short spiky hair will look best in a tweed or some other sort of straight texture.
Does this make sense?
Too much thick texture (like chunky knits) will make you look chunkier, and are best on the very slim person, whilst fine textured garments work fine on the more curvy body as they don’t add bulk.
Now DRAPE is about body type, and this is not necessarily obvious from apparance, but from ‘feel’. Someone who is skeletal needs a stiffer more structured fabric, because if you put them in a highly drapey/floppy fabric like chiffon, it makes the jutting bones appear more prominent.
If you are more muscular – you need some stiffness, and some drape in your fabrics – denim is often a favourite fabric for the muscular type (there is a firmness to the flesh when pressed with an open palm on the tops of thighs and tops of arms).
Someone who is cushioned has a kind of squidgy feel when pressed, and needs a fabric with more drape – now drape is not about the thick or thiness of the fabric, but of the way the fabric falls, so they need clothes that drape more closely to the body, skimming without clinging to create the best silhouette (the cushioned person often finds jeans very hard to buy and they don’t find them comfortable to wear for long periods).
Too much lycra makes a garment less drapey, and best for the more muscular frame.
I’ll do a post on this on my blog with some pics to help you make sense of this concept.
“someone with straight smooth hair and fine smooth skin will look best in flat or fabrics with sheen that match their personal texture”
This works for me (matches my experience). I love velvet, sateen, and so-forth. Although I suppose as my skin becomes older, I may need other options. 😉
The drape part I really don’t get. I sort of get what a stiffer, more structured fabric is, but lycra making a fabric less drapey I don’t really get. The biggest part of my problem probably comes from not understanding the terms for fabric. Like what’s chiffon?
I’m looking forward to your post, but I really wish you could go to the fabric store with me. 🙂
Texture and drape are different animals. You can have a drapey, thin tweed, or a stiff, heavy tweed. Fiber content (silk vs. wool vs. polyester, etc.) often plays a huge role in this. (Most) polyester gabardines I’ve seen are ugly and stiff; wool gabardine is a dream fabric, drapey but also able to give a structured effect.
That being said, I don’t hold much by “rules” regarding texture. If you like smooth fabrics (or vice versa), you’ll doubtless find a way to make it work for you. I suppose I’m different in that regard – I’m all about the intuition, and how something looks when it’s put together, as opposed to laying out guidelines. 😀
BTW, chiffon is the sheer, soft stuff that you often see in formalwear. Georgette is similar, but it has a pebbly feel to it instead of a smooth one. And here’s a handy-dandy list of fabric definitions.
Great list/site, Oxannna. I just can’t ‘feel’ it online. We have a fabric store in town, super friendly folks and they don’t mind if you touch for texture or fall for drape.
Tip: When you check-out your local one, be sure to notice whether the fabric has ‘sizing’, though. That will change both T and D when washed out.