Stitcher's Guild

Are you any of you as *sick* of the unrealistic fashion illustrations as I am?

I've been sewing off and on all my life.  I've gone from hand sewing everything to using a machine to beginning to draft and design my own stuff.  Although I haven't been 'active' lately, I still do look through catalogs and pattern sites looking for stuff I'm interested in.

But I'm darn tired of the models and illustrations.  Honestly, even more so now that I've taken up painting and am trying to learn to draw realistic figures and true-to-life bodies. 

The illustrated models are always tall and thin, with big shoulders and no breasts.  They're hips wouldn't hold their pants up, and their legs are so long they'd be peering over the housetops.  And the real models are chosen to by how closely they match this "ideal". 

But who's ideal is that?  Everytime I evaluate a "look" or choose a pattern, I have to first determine how it's going to translate to our real-life bodies.  My daughters are all short, with large busts and short legs.  I'm short, with longer legs and no bust....my husband is tall with big shoulders and narrow hips.  My son is more "normal" with all his parts fairly average; but he's short, too.

Bottom line -lots of things look good in the catalog.  The models all look radiant in the loud, bright colors and miles of beads and 'details' that would overpower any of us girls.  And trying to choose stuff that will translate nicely becomes one of the hardest parts of sewing. 

At least with RTW, you can try the item on and evaluate it's looks immediately.  There's no lag time or wasted fabric or hours of work involved just to discover that it just won't work.  That it makes us lumpy or look even shorter or detracts from our better features.

Does anyone else feel like more realistic models and illustrations would be a boon?

I know how you feel!  I'm tall, but there ends any resemblance to a model or fashion illustration!   ;D  You're right that they have the build of a coat hanger.  Where they really divert from my figure is that I'm terribly short-waisted, and they're all terribly long-waisted.  This cuts out a lot of cute bodice detailing. :(  The pattern companies apparently wish we were all flat-chested, and so they draft accordingly. 

I think it's really, really hard to translate even a garment on a model , much less a fashion illustration, into a realistic idea of what that garment would look like on us.  Through long years of trial and error, I think I'm finally pretty sure of what actually looks good on me, rather than what I just wish looked good on me, and if I carefully scan a photo or drawing that appeals to me, I can see whether the elements of the garment are what I need, or whether it's something else about the picture that appealed to me.  Sometimes it's the color, the model's hair or attitude, the background, or who knows?  

Most people can't even try on RTW and look in the mirror and really "see" themselves.  They're still looking at the picture in their head of how they thought they'd look, or how a model looked in the garment, or whatever.  A really helpful tool to get over this is a digital camera.  It's amazing how much easier it is to see the truth in a photo rather than in a mirror.

I've not done this, but it's supposed to work pretty well.  Take a photo of yourself full front and side view wearing either a leotard or just underwear, and then trace the outlines onto a piece of paper.  Destroy the photos if necessary. ;)  Copy these, and then you have a croquis of your actual body shape and proportions to sketch garments onto, and see whether their proportions/details, etc. will flatter you. 

I also find it helpful for some reason to just hold my hand over the face and head of the model.  It's easier to focus on the garment itself, I think.

Lately I've been working on Marfy patterns, as I really like their styles, and their patterns are beautifully put together.  Their catalog is strictly fashion illustrations, and they are extremely unrealistic.  I think I have a pretty good handle on what my results will be, and so far, I've been pleased, except with the first thing I made, which was one of the free patterns they send with the catalog.  It was a top which I knew was absolutely not my style, but I wanted to make it up to see what size I should order in other patterns, as the patterns you order are not multi-sized.  I found out what I wanted to know, and I was right!  It looked awful on me! ;D

Thought I'd post a couple pictures.  One is the Marfy pattern illustration and the other is my finished jacket and skirt from the pattern. You can see that although the lines of the design are faithfully rendered, my version is definitely not on an idealized figure, and the differences are certainly there.

(http://www.pbase.com/lianasews/image/39429598.jpg)    (http://www.pbase.com/lianasews/image/51786028.jpg)

Those are the kinds of differences I get, too.  I get an unrealistic idea of how it will look on me, then I'm disappointed.

But worse, is my daughter.  She hasn't yet learned to remember that she's going to be the same, no matter how different the dress is.  She tends to choose things that are too long, or too puffy or just not right for her.

I deal with my disappointment well enough, but I hate to see her face when she has has picked a pattern, found fabric she likes...then sees the results just aren't what she wanted.  I try to explain beforehand, but nothing really prepares her for the fact.

I'm going to try your idea of making a copy of a photo.  That might help her get a better idea of what to expect.

It must be heartbreaking to see her anticipation turn to disappointment.  I see myself in everything she's doing.  My Mom used to try to tell me that something wouldn't work for me, but you know how it is when your mother gives you clothing advice.  She was actually pretty correct in most of her ideas, although some were more applicable to her figure rather than mine, but we're pretty similar, so  lot of it worked. 

I hope the photo/sketch idea helps.  It always sounded like a good idea.  Maybe if she had some friends who could critique each other's choices before they actually made the garment, but it's pretty hard to be that factually -based at that age.  That probably wouldn't do anything except cause hurt feelings.  No one likes to realize that others can see our deficiencies, even though it would be unbelievable that they wouldn't.  We like to preserve the illusion that we're "fooling" the general public.  Luckily, most people aren't nearly as interested in us as we are.  It would really be awful to be a celebrity who was continually critiqued by perfect strangers, let alone those we actually know. :P

We all seem to have to make about so many garments that wouldn't look good on us in a million years before we finally get the message on what's really going to flatter us, and then it's maybe only once or twice a year that we do it.  Hope springs eternal! :)

Liana - I love your idea about taking a photo/sketch. Even though I am tall (5'9) I have a long torso. Can never wear anything with a definite waistline. Even though I add the extra inches, it still looks strange - that it is going on forever. I am better off with something that doesn't have a real waistline - therefore your eye is fooled into thinking that I have a more normal "area". Some fashion trends I'm just not sure of yet - you would think that at my age I would know!. But I will try your photo/sketch to get a better idea. 
Your Marfy jacket and skirt are to die for. They look beautiful on the drawing and on you!!! What material did you use? Right now I have a hot pattern - "Nirvana Twinset" cut out of some nice white knit that I recently bought at Emma One Sock.

Dori

Thank you Dori!  I used a lightweight tweed/novelty weave and a silk crepe de chine for the accents. 

I hope the croquis idea works for you.  If you're really longwaisted, you should look at the designer's runway shows and evaluate what the models are wearing.  Those girls all seem to be very longwaisted, and they take advantage of it by doing all kinds of neat things that I can never do.  Valentino especially has lots of neat midriff-area details that I long for.

That Nirvana Twinset pattern is really popular, and it's so cute made up!  Be sure and post your version when you're done. :)

Liana, that outfit looks fantastic on you !

I too get tired of those board flat models, I"m not a large person  (5'5" 135 lbs.) but I still have CURVES !  Most patterns are either too small in the bust or the hip/waist measurements are off by 3-4 inches one area or another. 

Another extreme is they way things go from board flat to the plus size woman.  What happened to those of us who are in between ?

Barbie is another unrealistically proportioned figure.  From what I remember, if she were brought up from her scale, she'd be an AMAZON!

Where do the artists get the idea that our legs are that long ?

Thank you Kalamity!  They don't seem to have any middle ground, do they?''

Actually, my best friend in college had a figure almost exactly like a Barbie doll. :o  She had a terrible time getting clothes to fit, especially bathing suits, and wore a lot of loose shirts to kind of try and hide everything.

I grappled and fought with fashion illustrations for years until Nancy Erickson explained them to me a while back. Fashion illustrations are purposely drawn out of proportion so you can see design elements. How simple once you understand that. The illustration is not meant to depict how the garment will look on a real person. And the reason fashion models are so tall and skinny is basically the same. The designer wants to show the design elements in his garment, not the physical attributes of the model, so tall, skinny, flat-chested, no waist, no hips girls are called for. Of course, none of that helps us as we struggle to translate what they, the designers, show us into garments we sew and ultimately wear. Hope this helps relieve a little frustration.

Liana, I love your Marfy suit. It is beautiful. Do you order your Marfy patterns through Vogue?

Thanks, Pinkscissors!  No, I've ordered them through Nancy Erickson.  Vogue wasn't selling them yet when I started ordering, and I've just continued.

I agree entirely on your analysis of the "illustration challenge".  ;)

I loved the article in the latest issue of Threads (#125, July 2006), "Discover the Best Proportions & Styles for You". I have never used a croquis because I always thought I would have to be an artist to draw the garments on the picture. And there is just no way I am talented enough to draw the details of a garment on a small little picture of me. But I really liked the instructions on transferring your pattern design to your croquis. What a great idea! Their fashion illustration vs. personal silhoutte is really eye-opening. I also liked the suggestion when getting ready to take your picture to mark your knees, bust points, hips, waist, & neckline. I actually think I could do this and it would be worth the effort for me.

Yes, yes, yes! That is one of the things I like Australian Stitches so much for - they trial a pattern using a person with a real shape, not  a stick thin tall person. And you know, it sometimes turns out looking better on them! Perhaps we could persuade the pattern companies to put different height/weights views on their envelopes - and write inside in VERY LARGE LETTERS that  you will probably have to alter for your shape. How many people understand this fully? I didn't for years.

mcgintie, I'm in the same boat as you.  When I look at my sewing projects from years ago, I am amazed that I thought I could just make a pattern up "right out of the box" and then live with the poor fit.  I think that's one reason why I've made fitting my passion over the past 12 years or so.  Before then, I was under the mistaken assumption that the finished garment would look as it did on the model  (yeah, right!).  As I said, I was a bit delusional back then  ;D.

Well, I think we were all delusional then.   ;D  It's still hard to make myself really look at something and concentrate on how it will look on ME, not the model, as (unfortunately) the garment will not change me into someone else.  It will still just be me, in a new dress.  ::) 

Now that doesn't seem like such a difficult concept, does it?  Fortunes have been (and still are) being built on the fact that women hope that a magic wand will appear and change them into their ideal when they put on the (dress/coat/hairstyle/new make-up) fill in the blank!  :)