10 April 2009 – Let Your Seams Do the Work

Posted on | April 10, 2009 | 4 Comments

10 April 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Wine top: F21, remixed
Purple ruffle neck top: F21
Black trousers: Target maternity, remixed
Metallic peeptoes: Target, remixed

End Notes:

This whole week we’ve been thinking about our bodies’ proportions, particularly how we use our clothes to transform the areas of our bodies that we are the most self-conscious about. I’ve been on a quest to shorten my endlessly long torso, a task which, I have to admit, is made a bit more difficult with my preggers belly.*

Earlier this week, S. talked about how she uses an empire waist to define a waist and conceal her “muffinage.” I’m using a similar kind of construction today to do something completely different: break up my torso. As A. explained yesterday, a seam below the bust does not a floaty empire waist make.
I’ve become increasingly committed to the idea that tops that subtly break up my super-de-duper long top half with well-placed seams are my friends.** It’s like having a built in belt that stage-whispers, “Just in case you were wondering, here’s her waist.”

I think one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this week’s consideration of proportions is that I’ve learned how each of us use similar items of clothing to do entirely different things for our very different body types. It’s a testimony to how knowing your body allows you to adapt trends to suit your shape, something that we’ll explore in more depth in Week 3 of our Proportions series!

Ruffles and Wine, originally uploaded by academichic.

* Folks, I swear that my bump is more prominent in person, even head on. If you didn’t believe before that photography flattens things out, here is your proof.

** I have to admit that, pre-preggers, finding seamed tops that matched up to my elongated proportions was tricky. Doable, though.

Category: Beltless, Color Combinations, Fashion 101, Layers Upon Layers, Pants Please, Preggers, Proportionally, Reaching New Heights

Comments

4 Responses to “10 April 2009 – Let Your Seams Do the Work”

Sal
April 10th, 2009 @ 7:15 am

Funny how waist definition is important to nearly ALL body types, but for different reasons.
Rose
April 10th, 2009 @ 8:02 pm

I’m in love with the combo of the shirt. I wish I owned those shirts :-)
Diana
April 11th, 2009 @ 5:25 am

I love the color of those tops, and the cut is super flattering on you.
4 May 2009 : academichic
May 4th, 2009 @ 7:16 am

[...] and have an under-the-bust seam like this one? I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, let your seams do the work. Even though this isn’t a maternity shirt, it works perfectly for me as it hugs my bump and [...]