I was just thinking about this the other day when I came across something about the history of ready-to-wear clothes. The first iteration of RTW was to offer a rough garment prototype to a customer, and the prototype would then be tailored to fit the customer's body. This was a faster option for the customer than the old system, where you'd have to start by picking the fabric and the pattern and everything had to be made from scratch. Somewhere along the way we began to expect that the clothes we buy should automatically fit our bodies, but hardly anyone is a standard size! Sorry I'm rambling, this is such a fascinating topic!
Always a pleasure to hear your perspective, Tiia! If I’m understanding you correctly, I think what you’re describing is the same as a “made-to-measure” suit? Whereas custom is made from scratch, I think MTM is made from prototype which is tailored to fit the customer, and off the rack “you get what you get” 😂
As a petite person (officially 5’3”) I liked your illustration on how dresses for taller or even average height folks don’t work on me. I’m curious if you feel like tailoring can overcome this? I shop petite often when it’s offered and then I rely on my trusty sewing machine or tailor for everything else.
I think it really depends on each garment and how it's constructed. If the proportions of all the elements in the overall piece are key, than to disrupt one by altering it is risky, e.g. a jumpsuit where there are distinct details delineating the top and bottom, or a cinched dress at the natural waist. Also, it can get expensive! e.g. trying to reconstruct a corseted bodice designed for a certain torso length would be an expensive.
Having said that, I think a lot of clothes give a lot of room to worn by a large range of heights, especially if you're open to moving outside of "traditional proportions".
There's enough clothes out there that I don't think you need to rely on "petites". Look at the measurements of pieces and compare them to yours. Some pieces are made to be a bit more cropped, or shorter here or there. I hope that sort of answered your question?
Yes!! It did!! I get myself in trouble altering certain dresses and I realized it’s because they often have those details you mentioned that are meant to hit specifically. It’s also the cost of altering that gets most annoying for me.
I love getting tips on proportions and how best to dress for your height etc! I tried the whole “Don’t pay any attention at all to any sort of body type advice” method and ultimately I never felt like myself.
....soooooo the only place this dress (cough, cough) belongs is exactly where it began, on the NY runway right before FW. This could be in a Marc Jacob's retrospective where we can really see his pathology....The Costume Institute or Bed,Bath, and Beyond, either one works. I really would like to continue on the positive note of your styling. Loving these casual real pieces and btw I have had the Tibi nylon pants for 2 years. Wore them once and did not feel good at all.....hoping this Spring I can figure out styling to my liking. You have nailed so many great looks and as I mentioned on an earlier comment that Dries sweatshirt is GOAT !!!!! Thanks for a fun read.......xxxs
HAHAHAHAHA, tell us how you really feel about the dress, Susan 😂. I’m glad you appreciated the styling and I guess both of us will be working on those nylon joggers. My plane leaves Saturday am, so I’m on it stat!
Sorry Irene but I’m with Susan on the MJ dress 😳😉 .. but love the rest of your thoughtful & interesting post. I have the tibi nylon Stella (in white) and also feel same about winter styling. Just looks wrong. I recently got the new season nylon pleated skirt from tibi also in white (which is fab) and I think it might work better in winter as the nylon is more matt… haven’t worn it yet though.. but will soon as the magnolia & daffodils are arriving here in Ireland. Finally spring.
I love that skirt and I expect you'll enjoy it a lot! Interesting point about the skirt fabric. I also don't have trouble wearing my other nylon skirts/bottoms in the winter. Makes me wonder if the light colour has something to do with it?
Thank goodness for the warmer weather, it can't come quickly enough! Warm hugs from across the pond!
I'm also (exactly or maybe barely) 5'3", so this was a highly relevant read! For example I love those navy Khaite pants in the runway photo you shared—slouchy, easy, and sexy in their androgyny. I struggle to find pants that fit me like that. I often default to the boys' department or to straight cut styles that are easy to hem. I'm inspired to keep trying though! Loving your amazing hats, your new haircut, your Raey coat, and I hope you feel better soon ❤️!
I'm 5'3 and the petite dilemma is real. Proportions are just off and i do use a tailor but the look of how it's suppose to look is not the look i get and then I'm
Current dilemma is with straight leg jean. I live in California so jeans are everything. Because my inseam is 26", 27" is almost floor length on me. If i hem to show my ankle i feel like that makes me look even shorter. Do i just leave them longer ??
I have the dahlia and other cropped jeans that i have also hemmed. The question is more to the point of when u have short legs and you are hemming a straight leg jean (cos shorter barrel jeans eg. Pistolas Eli jean i love) is it better to keep them below the ankle or (as most taller women do show their ankle) in an effort to not look shorter. Does this make sense?
Yes totally. I think you can do either. I think for most people it will come down to how comfortable they are with the overall vertical proportions when wearing a jean. With a cropped jean, you can visually lengthen your legs with a higher rise on your pant and wearing a more open shoe with a low vamp. Wearing a cropped low rise jean with a full coverage shoe feels so unbalanced for my relatively short legs!
As a 5'7" long torso'd person I absolutely love the illustration! I have found that petite for somethings or the short length works best. Also those Zara culottes will haunt me to my grave! I do a search every few weeks on poshmark and eBay. Enjoy Martinique!
I loved your take on proportions, Irene!
I was just thinking about this the other day when I came across something about the history of ready-to-wear clothes. The first iteration of RTW was to offer a rough garment prototype to a customer, and the prototype would then be tailored to fit the customer's body. This was a faster option for the customer than the old system, where you'd have to start by picking the fabric and the pattern and everything had to be made from scratch. Somewhere along the way we began to expect that the clothes we buy should automatically fit our bodies, but hardly anyone is a standard size! Sorry I'm rambling, this is such a fascinating topic!
Always a pleasure to hear your perspective, Tiia! If I’m understanding you correctly, I think what you’re describing is the same as a “made-to-measure” suit? Whereas custom is made from scratch, I think MTM is made from prototype which is tailored to fit the customer, and off the rack “you get what you get” 😂
Yes, "made to measure"! I couldn't think what that was called in English!
As a petite person (officially 5’3”) I liked your illustration on how dresses for taller or even average height folks don’t work on me. I’m curious if you feel like tailoring can overcome this? I shop petite often when it’s offered and then I rely on my trusty sewing machine or tailor for everything else.
I think it really depends on each garment and how it's constructed. If the proportions of all the elements in the overall piece are key, than to disrupt one by altering it is risky, e.g. a jumpsuit where there are distinct details delineating the top and bottom, or a cinched dress at the natural waist. Also, it can get expensive! e.g. trying to reconstruct a corseted bodice designed for a certain torso length would be an expensive.
Having said that, I think a lot of clothes give a lot of room to worn by a large range of heights, especially if you're open to moving outside of "traditional proportions".
There's enough clothes out there that I don't think you need to rely on "petites". Look at the measurements of pieces and compare them to yours. Some pieces are made to be a bit more cropped, or shorter here or there. I hope that sort of answered your question?
Yes!! It did!! I get myself in trouble altering certain dresses and I realized it’s because they often have those details you mentioned that are meant to hit specifically. It’s also the cost of altering that gets most annoying for me.
Yeah, I think some pieces are best left unaltered. Fortunately, there are lot of fish in the sea!
I love getting tips on proportions and how best to dress for your height etc! I tried the whole “Don’t pay any attention at all to any sort of body type advice” method and ultimately I never felt like myself.
I think most people would agree with you!
....soooooo the only place this dress (cough, cough) belongs is exactly where it began, on the NY runway right before FW. This could be in a Marc Jacob's retrospective where we can really see his pathology....The Costume Institute or Bed,Bath, and Beyond, either one works. I really would like to continue on the positive note of your styling. Loving these casual real pieces and btw I have had the Tibi nylon pants for 2 years. Wore them once and did not feel good at all.....hoping this Spring I can figure out styling to my liking. You have nailed so many great looks and as I mentioned on an earlier comment that Dries sweatshirt is GOAT !!!!! Thanks for a fun read.......xxxs
HAHAHAHAHA, tell us how you really feel about the dress, Susan 😂. I’m glad you appreciated the styling and I guess both of us will be working on those nylon joggers. My plane leaves Saturday am, so I’m on it stat!
Sorry Irene but I’m with Susan on the MJ dress 😳😉 .. but love the rest of your thoughtful & interesting post. I have the tibi nylon Stella (in white) and also feel same about winter styling. Just looks wrong. I recently got the new season nylon pleated skirt from tibi also in white (which is fab) and I think it might work better in winter as the nylon is more matt… haven’t worn it yet though.. but will soon as the magnolia & daffodils are arriving here in Ireland. Finally spring.
I love that skirt and I expect you'll enjoy it a lot! Interesting point about the skirt fabric. I also don't have trouble wearing my other nylon skirts/bottoms in the winter. Makes me wonder if the light colour has something to do with it?
Thank goodness for the warmer weather, it can't come quickly enough! Warm hugs from across the pond!
I'm also (exactly or maybe barely) 5'3", so this was a highly relevant read! For example I love those navy Khaite pants in the runway photo you shared—slouchy, easy, and sexy in their androgyny. I struggle to find pants that fit me like that. I often default to the boys' department or to straight cut styles that are easy to hem. I'm inspired to keep trying though! Loving your amazing hats, your new haircut, your Raey coat, and I hope you feel better soon ❤️!
My legs are as if they’re on a 5’3” body so I can relate!
I'm 5'3 and the petite dilemma is real. Proportions are just off and i do use a tailor but the look of how it's suppose to look is not the look i get and then I'm
Not happy. It's complicated!!
It is! If I can help or if you have specific questions, let me know! Maybe I can do a post or a live or something!
Current dilemma is with straight leg jean. I live in California so jeans are everything. Because my inseam is 26", 27" is almost floor length on me. If i hem to show my ankle i feel like that makes me look even shorter. Do i just leave them longer ??
Have you tried searching for a mid-rise 24" "cropped" inseam?
This Citizens is a 25.5" https://www.aritzia.com/en/product/dahlia-bow-leg-jean/122982.html?dwvar_122982_color=33815
This Levis is 26" but it's a pretty easy hem? https://go.shopmy.us/p-14060907
I have the dahlia and other cropped jeans that i have also hemmed. The question is more to the point of when u have short legs and you are hemming a straight leg jean (cos shorter barrel jeans eg. Pistolas Eli jean i love) is it better to keep them below the ankle or (as most taller women do show their ankle) in an effort to not look shorter. Does this make sense?
Yes totally. I think you can do either. I think for most people it will come down to how comfortable they are with the overall vertical proportions when wearing a jean. With a cropped jean, you can visually lengthen your legs with a higher rise on your pant and wearing a more open shoe with a low vamp. Wearing a cropped low rise jean with a full coverage shoe feels so unbalanced for my relatively short legs!
Stylists say hem to ankle
That Dries sweatshirt is completely mouth watering :) I wish I were not a blazer girl so that I could style it like you do and feel myself in it.
As a 5'7" long torso'd person I absolutely love the illustration! I have found that petite for somethings or the short length works best. Also those Zara culottes will haunt me to my grave! I do a search every few weeks on poshmark and eBay. Enjoy Martinique!