Do Your Clothes Fit?
And how you--yes, you--can achieve the perfect oversized look.
Many sources will—correctly—tell you that the state of fashion right now is dire. But, I think the expectations of fashion consumers are not without fault, here. Before the explosion of mass production and subsequent proliferation of fast fashion, acquiring clothing was not really something that was taken lightly—at least not for the average person of average income. If you were someone who could afford to pay someone else to make your clothes: you went to the dressmaker that knew you and your measurements and your body. If you were making your own clothes: you picked the patterns that worked best for you, and altered them as needed. Even when buying off the rack, you’d most likely have things tailored: a hem or a nip at the waist, at the very least.
Today, we expect clothes to fit our short torsos, our long torsos, our large, full breasts, our small, wide-set breasts, our broad shoulders, our narrow shoulders, our hip dips, our apron bellies, our round booties, our muscular thighs, and our hourglass peach apple romantic dramatic gamine bodies perfectly…off the rack! All while demanding cheaper and cheaper prices and while the arts of tailoring, sewing, and even basic mending are in grave danger of being lost to time—or at least limited to a tiny population of hobbyists—nowhere near the ubiquitous cottage industries they once were.
The blame doesn’t fall solely on us, though—not by far. Obviously, it’s capitalism’s fault. The desire to suck every cent possible from fashion as an industry means the production of clothing is less an artform and more a machine, where every moving part is streamlined and simplified to create wider appeal and wider profit margins. With brands making millions of garments a month for millions of bodies, corners must be cut, and the first thing to go is fit. This means what makes it to most of our closets is just average: cut for the average proportions, the average shape, the average person—a person that, given the nature of mathematical averages, most likely doesn’t even exist. For every person that does perfectly fit that average, there’s literal billions of people who couldn’t dream of it. And we all end up settling for close enough.
But, there’s an easy solution, right? Just make everything stretchy, right? Well…
I personally avoid stretch fabrics wherever I can—even my workout clothes are mostly cotton (though, I am also a fan of Girlfriend Collective’s leggings made from recycled water bottles)—but I understand how many of us depend on a bit of spandex for clothes to fit comfortably, and how that dependence has lead to many people not realizing how clothes are supposed to fit, at all.
Now, don’t get me wrong: if you are comfortable in your clothes and like the way you look, feel free to ignore me. I don’t buy into conventional ideas of “flattering” (i.e. things that make you look skinnier and taller) and neither should you. But, if you are embarking on the journey that is building a high quality, long-lasting wardrobe and you want your clothes to look and feel like they were made for you, here’s some things to look for. This advice is geared toward those that wear womenswear.