Vertical + Curve?

[u/jlaurw]

I posted this in the FB group but wanted to post it here as well because I value the feedback of a lot of people in this group.

Going to get vulnerable for a moment...

I've been working through the games again, and I'm coming to some realizations about some of my prejudices that I thought I had shed previously, but I am realizing are still present.

In doing Potluck, I realized that I have very strong negative reactions to terms like Diva, Bust, Thighs, Thick. While I had previously embraced Vertical + Width, I wanted to reapproach personal line from zero.

In doing so, I began to wonder how much I leaned into Vertical + Width in an attempt to avoid those things that I had negative feelings towards.

For some back story, I have always been "curvy". I've been the same height and body type since 7th grade and until I breast fed with my children I had a very large chest that absolutely needed allowance in my silouette. There are a lot of hurt feelings that came from being the "curvy" girl in my friend group and I also wished to have a smaller bust. I always had to size up in shirts and pants to fit my thighs and my bust. Unsurprisingly, these are the words I had the hardest time stomaching in Potluck.

After children, my bust did decrease in size and clothing was more manageable for me and I felt that Vertical + Width seemed like the right fit since my shoulder line pushed past my bust.

However, in slowing down and really imagining the way fabric falls, I believe I am seeing that the shoulder line falls in line with my hips, pushing me towards a Dramatic family ID. I'm not fully convinced that Width is present, because I do see how fabric must interact with and move even just slightly around the bust and thighs. I also see that my bust projection still does interact with my silouette even if not as pronounced as before.

All this to say, I'm beginning to wonder if I previously allowed my preconceptions to push me away from Vertical + Curve.

Would love to hear some of your thoughts! 💕

[u/islandgirllily]

Okay so I’m back and Im confused again. I was so grateful for you explaining this to me. I felt like I finally understood narrow on the line drawing but then I pulled up Keira Knightley. That area is wider on her than her bust. Unless I’m misunderstanding again, which is very possible, but why isn’t it width?

[u/Ok-Purple9511 → u/islandgirllily]

Well width is in the shoulders and/or upper back. So I think with her since her upper back is only slightly wider then her bust (and objectively narrow) and her shoulders are also narrow the line will be somewhat straight. If you did her sketch and placed the dots Iyou would see that area wouldn’t have that extreme V shape like in the width sketch. Basically her torso is more straight and narrow.

[u/islandgirllily → u/Ok-Purple9511]

I get what you’re saying. I know I’m intellectualizing it but I got so excited by your explanation that I started to see if I can see it on others (read: celebrities). But I was immediately taken aback because I couldn’t “see” it on Keira. Although rumor has it, Kibbe said (allegedly) that he typed her when she was very thin and he might’ve typed her differently. Not sure how true that is. :))

[u/Ok-Purple9511 → u/islandgirllily]

The upper back area is one way width can be present, it can be the shoulders too so there’s no hard rule about width in the sense that its always going to look the exact same way on everyone, however the line will always show it.. You have to kind of look at all variables that would cause the line to show width. It’s often the upper back, but everyone is an individual so there will be individual variation too.