Why is fit important?
You could spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on an item of clothing, but if it doesn’t fit properly, it still leaves much else to be desired. If your clothes fit poorly, if looks sloppy and you give off the impression that you don’t care about your appearance. Poor fit can ruin the cutest of outfits. You can even stock your wardrobe with very cheap, inexpensive budget items and if they fit you correctly and maintain a certain level of quality, you can look like a million bucks.
What is ease and why should I care?
Clothes are designed to fit a certain way. Some are fitted to the body, but not every garment is “fitted” per say. Even those that are loose fitting still need to fit appropriately. The distance between the body and the garment is called ease.There are two types of ease:
- Wearing ease
- Style ease
Even fitted garments have wearing ease. A fitted garment may have one to two inches of ease, while a loose fitting garment has 3 or more inches of ease and has both wearing and style ease. There is a little leeway in fit, but if a garment is meant to hang loose, don’t go a size smaller for a fitted garment. If you don’t like the look of the loose garment, just pass on it, it won’t look right as fitted, because the pattern is drafted specifically for a loose look.
How should clothes fit a woman?
Neckline
The neck of a garment should lay correctly and not bag or gap. The front neck usually scoops down further in the front than in the back. You should never feel like you’re being choked.
Horizontal Shoulder Line
The shoulder horizontal shoulder seam should sit on top of the shoulder and should be straight. Some styles have a seam where the shoulder is moved forward. If that is the case, you should still check that the seam is straight and the distance between the ridge or top of the shoulder to the seam is the same.
Shoulder to Sleeve Seam
The location of the shoulder to sleeve seam is often a subject of variation in design. If a top is supposed to sit at the natural shoulder line, the seam should lay right on the edge of the shoulder that doesn’t move when you move your arm. If the design calls for a drop shoulder the seam can extend onto the arm and the design should contain enough ease elsewhere in the design to accommodate movement and lay correctly. Do not buy a size smaller in a drop shoulder top so that the shoulder is in the normal shoulder seam location; the garment will not fit you properly under the arms, at the top of the arm or at the bust. Some designs also have the armhole set in. Many times these types of designs don’t have sleeves. An example of this is a racerback tank.
Overall Sleeve Fit
If the shoulder to sleeve seam is in the correct location, we next want to look at the fit of the sleeve. Is it comfortable? Do you have a full range of motion with your arms? If they feel tight at the top of the sleeve, there may not be enough ease in the cap of the sleeve. If it is hard to move your arms forward, the arm hole may not have been cut properly. Also check to make sure you can bend your arm and that it’s not too tight at the elbow.
The length of the sleeve is also important. There is a lot of leeway in short sleeve length. However, elbow length sleeves should hit just above the elbow. Three-quarter length sleeves should hit between the elbow and about half way down the forearm. If they are longer than this, get them hemmed. As a quick styling tip, you can also just push them up or cuff them. Long sleeves should be at the bone that pokes out at the wrist.
Torso
The chest area should be loose enough around the full bust that it does not pull. If the closure gaps or there are horizontal stretch marks going across the bust, it’s too small. The bust location is another important fit point. Clothing for junior and petite sizes often have bust points (the fullest part of the bust) are higher than misses sizes, but this is something that varies by brand. The bust points usually vary based on whether the brand is for older or younger women because, guess what happens when you get older? That’s right–things like gravity and having children. The placement of bust darts should always point to the fullest area of the body.
Waist down
There should be at minimal a ½ of ease at the waist. You can have more as a personal preference, but garments should not slide down or sit lower than they were designed to. Pants that are too big at the waist that slide down too low throw the fit off for the whole pant, from the slope of the hip, the rise of the crotch, width of the thigh and the location of the hem. Avoiding pants that are too tight will minimize muffin top, but sad to say, you can’t always avoid muffin top altogether, but choosing a pant with a different rise may help too.
There needs to be a minimal of 1” ease in the hip width. You should be able to do squats without your crotch seam ripping. Any horizontal stretch lines indicate that the hip width is too narrow. If your garments have the appearance of empty saddle bags at the side, the hip is too wide or the shape of the hip is off. This problem can easily be taken care of by a tailor.
Pant Length
Pant legs should have some ease as well. Less is needed for stretchy fabrics and still less for leggings. Horizontal stretch lines indicate the pants are too small. Pant leg width being too wide is really just a matter of personal preference and should be evaluated from a proportional standpoint.
For full-length pants, there should only be one break in the pant. A break is a horizontal fold in the pant. It occurs as the hem of the pant sits on top of the shoe. If there is more than one horizontal fold in the leg of the pant, they are too long. The good news is, this fit issue is a really easy fix by adjusting the hem. The real struggle is to decide what to do with pants in which you wear both heels and flats
Evaluating fit on the body
Here is a really quick and easy tip for evaluating fit. If there are horizontal wrinkles or lines, it is too small in that area. If there are vertical lines or wrinkles in the fabric, it’s too big. Many times added fullness can be an intentional design element like gathers or pleats. On the contrary, if a garment is supposed to be fitted, there should not be vertical folds.
Measurement Charts
If you love online shopping
Okay, rant over. . . I promise
. . . so you may have one blouse that is fitted with one measurement, but a second blouse which consists of additional wearing ease. The garments themselves have different measurements, but they are made to fit the same body. Because of this, manufacturers don’t have to make new chart for every garment they design and hopefully there is consistency in proper fit throughout a brand.
There are certain instances where you may be given the measurements of the garment. If that’s the case, remember to account for wearing ease when comparing it to your actual measurements when choosing the correct size. To add to the confusion, sometimes you’ll be provided a flat measurement instead. That just means that the garment is laid flat and then the measurements are taken. For this, double the number, the add the needed ease to determine if the garment will fit you.
Importance of Fit
Having clothing that fits correctly is one of the most important tips when purchasing clothes. Just a little bit of attention to fit can make a budget garment stand up against more expensive brands. Ultimately, when you look 100% put together and everyone will assume you paid top dollar for your outfit. You don’t have to tell them you’re a bargain shopper if you don’t want to.
Furthermore, for more visuals, helpful tips and tricks, follow my Fit Pinterest board. What are your most frustrating fit issues? Leave me some comments below.
Also, to dive into bra fit, see this post.
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