How knowing your proportions can elevate your closet

Everyone has their golden number, they just need to find it. Meaning, everyone is perfect as they are, only that fashion magazines and catwalks often tend to imply the opposite.

If a person feels like they are not enough, it’s not their fault. The fashions are forcing that person into the wrong container and setting wrong standards: one thing cannot be right for everyone. And the worst thing is, all this causes suffering and low self-esteem.

In this post, you will learn how to calculate the various proportions of your body, leaving you more able to adjust your closet and take more of the clothes that suit your figure the best.

In the classical (Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman) world, part of the ideal of perfection was that a person would be 8 heads tall:

1. the head, which is calculated from the hairline to the chin;
2. the second and the third go from the chin until the waist point (this is where the torso is tighter and where the body inclines when we bend left or right, you can find it by putting your hands on it);
3. the fourth is from the waist point to the pubic bone (this where the body flexes when we bend over);
4. the fifth and the sixth should go until half the knee;
5. the last two should go until the malleolus (the two bones on the ankle)

Usually, there are very few who are 8 heads tall. Most fit 7 or 7 and a half heads, and it’s absolutely normal.

The barycentre

Now, this is important because we will introduce a new measurement: the barycentre. To calculate this, you need to measure the length of your torso (from your chin to the pubic bone) and the length of your legs (from the pubic bone to the malleolus). If both the measurements are the same (1-2cm more or less don’t matter) then you have a medium barycentre. If your legs are longer, it’s high; if your torso is longer, it’s low. Remember to do these measurements with the measuring tape taut, and if needed get someone to help you.

Depending on your barycentre, you might want to optically elongate or enlarge your figure. Maybe it’s because of your barycentre that if you are tall you can’t see yourself in flats, or if you are short you can’t see yourself in heels! It’s the barycentre that can make a petite person seem taller from afar (because it could be high) or a tall person look shorter (because it could be low).

More volume horizontally or vertically?

Next, you will want to see where you have more volume (knowing your body shape can be useful): if it’s horizontal (wide shoulders, wide hips, large chest, big glutei…) or vertical (a long neck, a more abundant torso compared to the legs, tall height…). If it’s horizonal, you will want to balance it with vertical lines (a long necklace, monochrome, an untied scarf, buttons, vertical stripes, pleats…) and if your volume is vertical go for those things that can penalize a short person (anklets, thick belts, big and bold prints, horizontal stripes, boots…). Lines and prints, as well textiles, can in fact make a huge difference and be of enourmous help if you need to trick the eye.