Body Shapes & Dress Forms - Good Thoughts & Illustrations at Marnie's Site

This is a deviation from my Knit Leader fitting agenda, but not too far off the track.

Read Marnie's site for good information about dress forms and fitting.

http://www.marniemaclean.com/words/2011/05/macgyver_approv.html

Even with her lovely slim body, she still has to adjust to get a nice fit!  Honestly, almost nobody fits standard sizes.  Everybody is longer, shorter, wider, thinner, or even sloped differently in various places. 

We all want clothes that fit, that actually fit our own highly individual bodies.  The eye evaluates the figure in comparison to the clothes, so clothing that puckers, pulls, or droops highlights negatives.  Clothing that fits beautifully gives an illusion of a better-than-real figure. 

I'm not going to get that kind of excellent fit with mushy-headed wishful thinking about what size I am; instead, I must come up with shapes that actually fit MY body.

I used to own an expensive adjustable dress form, and even set to my measurements, it wasn't quite right.  It didn't get the slant of my back right, or the width of my shoulders right.  On the other hand, the duct tape dress form is a great, cheap way to create a custom dress form for your own body.  If the form makes you want to go on a strict diet, fine; in the meantime, that's you actual shape and the form gives you a way to fit it properly.  Knit Natters did this as a club activity one day a few years ago (sorry, no pics), and you can do it with a friend or hubby to help you.  And, look how cheap it is!  Buying a dress form is expensive, but the duct tape method only requires the duct tape, an old, tight T-shirt to sacrifice for the base, and off you go.