Tailoring for Women

Last weekend saw the 2009 EU Economic Summit held in Berlin.  Angela Merkel, one of the world’s leading political figures, was host to the conference.  What struck me about the imagery in the press was the way she captured the focus with her lavender-pink jacket framed by the line up of identical dark suits.

Women do have the opportunity to make more of a statement in the public arena by the way they dress.  Much more so than men.  For me, this example also highlights the importance of ensuring all the elements of the ’statement’ are in balance.

The shade of her jacket was ideal bringing a sense of freshness, femininity, maybe even optimism for a new political landscape in the use of the spring colour palette. It certainly pulled the eye into the centre of the picture.  However, it strikes me that a few changes in the style and detailing would make the look more successful.

The high square shoulder line gives the appearance of tension and rigidity in the jacket, and the close fitting armscye could be cut with a bit more freedom.   The sleeves should look the same length, and so one could be shortened or the other lengthened.  Another change that might help to soften the look would be to put a slight curve on the lower front opening edge at the hemline.  This would expose a bit more of the dark trouser, and keeping the eye central would visually slim the hipline.

Her male counterparts can rely on the simplicity and safety of their ‘uniform’, and their problems are consequently far less complex. The darker suit colours mask all manner of strains in the fit, which is designed and built with a different structure in mind - not so closely tailored to reveal the figure underneath. The simple option of choosing the right tie is perhaps the ultimate distraction.

We live in a goldfish bowl for the media where the slightest flaws in posture, health, demeanour or dress are pounced on by the press who sometimes seem to look for any pretext to set a ‘news hare’ running.  In fairness they are not the only ones to judge a book by its cover.  The psychologists tell us it is an all too human trait.

Image is vital, particularly on the world stage.  That is why so much attention was lavished on the candidates and their entourage during the recent US elections.  I am sure we all remember the fuss over Sarah Palin’s wardrobe budget. Yet some women seem to manage things without so much razzmatazz.

Here in the UK, the politician Ann Widdecombe carried out a remarkable transformation.  A women of robust opinions, her appearance and demeanour a short while ago became very much the butt of rather uncharitable political satire.  The makeover she has undergone now presents her as the same serious politician, but one with a softer, feminine and more relaxed and humorous side.

One’s appearance can be more than the sum of its parts, but only if they all work together.

Photo: thanks to Daily Telegraph

In some ways this post is an extension of the last Briefing for Bespoke post (Line, shape, proportion), but this time with a slightly more light-hearted tone as befits the Christmas season.

Strange as it may seem I first came across the Tailor’s Rule of Thumb when talking with the artist Kristin Newton, who uses a selection of ‘body’ parts for estimating proportion when teaching her drawing course at the Right Brain Research Centre in Tokyo (hence the notes in Japanese). This is an example of the way in which the width of the eye is used as a preliminary means of mapping out the proportions of a face.

Before accurate measuring systems were in place the body was often used as a measuring system. For instance for the Egyptians a common cubit was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, whereas a span for the Ancients was the largest distance between the points of two fingers measured on a man’s outstretched hand; around 22.9 centimetres, 9 inches or 1/4 yard. The measurement of an inch is gauged as the distance between the base of the thumbnail and the first joint, and from this connection, in French and Portuguese both the words for thumb and the unit of measure have a common derivation; respectively un pouce and polegada (from polegar - thumb).

With the Tailor’s Rule of Thumb however, the purpose is to establish comparative proportions so that by taking just one measurement, irrespective of one’s size, it should be theoretically possible to map out the basic elements of a body’s contours. Jonathan Swift has Gulliver refer to this during his stay in Lilliput (Gulliver’s Travels ):

“The Seamstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground, one standing at my neck, the other at my mid-leg, with a strong cord extended, that each held by the end whilst a third measured the length of the cord with a rule of an inch long. Then they measured my right Thumb, and desired no more; for by a mathematical Computation, that twice round the Thumb is once around the Wrist, and so on to the Neck and Waist, and by the help of my old Shirt, which I displayed on the Ground before them for a Pattern, they fitted me exactly.”

There is an anecdote in the tailoring community about a client who came in to buy some trousers, wrapped the waistband twice around his neck and left with them over his arm with the pronouncement that they  would be a perfect fit. An interesting snippet but one that perhaps needs a grain or two of salt. Much of the art of the tailoring process lies in the accurate measurement and the subsequent balancing of a pattern. A highly skilled job needing a critical eye, so perhaps this novel method should be left with the Lilliputians.

It might be fun however as we are in the midst of party season to find some alternative proportions that would work for everyone. Of course the true test would come once the post Christmas dieting has kicked in.

Let me know what you come up with! And of course… a Happy New Year to all.

Photo: thanks to Glasgow University, RBR (Tokyo)