Over the last 150 years, the average height of Western populations has grown by around four inches. That’s quite a substantial change over a relatively short period of time. Height isn’t the only thing that has changed; human weight is increasing at a faster rate than ever before, and there are more obese people now than at any previous point in history. These changes are mainly due to the effects of improved standards of living and healthcare rather than evolutionary or genetic causes, but they still represent a comparative form of evolution. With the shape of human bodies undergoing such seismic shifts, what are designers and clothes manufacturers doing to address these changes, if anything?
Size exact
Clothes are made based on an original design, with the proportions increased as the sizes go up. The problem with this model is that there are very few people who conform to the template version of human physiology. This means that for clothes to fit, you may be forced to make a compromise. To get your pants to do up, you may need to buy them a size larger, which then means you have too much length in the legs. To fit a shirt across your bust without the buttons popping off, you may have to buy one that’s too long in the arms. Or maybe you’re tall and skinny, and if you buy a sweater that has long enough arms, your body is swamped in a woolen tent. There are as many difficulties getting clothes to fit as there are differences in the shape of the human body.
Specialist retailers
The growth of the Internet and online shopping has made supplying specialist markets far more viable for retailers. When plus size women from anywhere across the world can order their clothes from you, your business’s client base expands enormously, instead of being restricted to a local populace. There are specialist outlets for many body types now, for example, shorter women (petite), taller women (over 5’8”), and plus size women (size 12 and above), like the Life is Chic Boutique – plus size online boutique.
Handmade and bespoke
Many women who struggle to find well-fitting clothes turn their hand to making their own. If you have the skills and the time, this could be an ideal solution, as you can make any item of clothing tailored to match your physique. If your talents aren’t well-suited to needlework, learning how to sew at evening classes might be an idea, or if you have no desire to become a dressmaker, you can hire a professional and get made to measure clothes. This option does come at a premium, unless you can find a local seamstress who is able to make clothes for you.
How technology is helping
There are several technological innovations that can help you find clothes that fit your shape and look good on you as well:
- Visual search technology can use scanning to match size, proportions, shape, and color
- Augmented reality-enabled virtual fitting rooms that simulate the experience of trying clothes on
- 3D body scanners take complete measurements that will ensure clothing fits your exact body shape
- Avatars are being used to enable the design of clothes that will fit any required body shape
- Software that can cope with the differences in clothes sizes between brands, so you can match the fit and not rely on variables in sizing
Real women
Several years ago, women finally got tired of being fed the same idealized version of body shape by fashion designers and the media, and became increasingly vocal about the need for the industry to change. Some of them took matters into their own hands by launching companies selling clothing for real women instead of Miss Average, and these companies have been very successful. Plus size ranges are being backed by major advertising campaigns, and all sizes and shapes are being offered complete ranges of fashion clothing, swimwear and lingerie, instead of just vast billowy dresses designed to cover the shape of your body rather than showing it off.
High fashion
The catwalks and haute couture designers are notorious for using tall, slender models to show off designs. They have come under a lot of criticism in recent times, because of the poor body image problems young girls have been suffering as a result of having stick-thin models displayed as the ideal. Magazines and websites have been similarly criticized, and further taken to task for the use of photoshopping techniques and airbrushed photographs. Rather than looking to design clothes for real body shapes, the industry seems to have been putting all its efforts into making its models seem ever more unrealistically perfect. There are some signs that things could be changing, however, for example, there are far more plus size models fronting key promotional campaigns. Many plus size and realistically proportioned models such as Tess Holliday and Ashley Graham are creating huge social media followings and being given lucrative modeling contracts. They are adored by women because they represent body shapes that normal women can identify with.
So, is fashion keeping up?
There is progress being made, but at a frustratingly slow pace. The averagely proportioned mannequin is still the main blueprint for clothing design and manufacture. Most catwalk models are still tall and willowy, and magazines still predominantly use slender, idealized models for their photo shoots. One of the key problems is that models that don’t conform to the manufactured ideal shape are still not taken seriously in the wider industry. Although they may be feted for what they are doing and what they represent, they are still always referred to as “plus size” rather than just “models.” The implication here is that they are different from the norm, and that although this is admirable, they are not equal to the industry standard models. A change in attitude across the fashion industry and society as a whole needs to take place so that women are seen as equal to each other whatever their shape, rather than being judged on a scale that holds size zero as the perfect shape.
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