Years ago, in fitting a well-to-do woman, who was very “heavy set” in mind as well as in body, I remember that she would insist upon drawing her arms up, crossing them over her ample bosom and saying that the armhole was too tight and that more and more must be trimmed out until her waist was unbalanced—narrower across the front than it should be, wholly deforming the dress. No dress can be beautiful if it is out of balance; it is contrary to every rule of right design.
(Left)—A gusset at the under arm (left) is advisable when the arm is larger than the armhole.
(Center)—Sleeves cut on the true bias, as shown, are often advantageous when very close-fitting sleeves are desired.
(Right)—Beware of dresses that are too narrow across the chest. They always make the bust appear larger.
I know one clever designer who makes for her larger customers a very firm net foundation waist with low square neck in front and back and close-fitting sleeves that extend almost to the elbow. In this she puts the dress shields. This net foundation, especially the sleeve part, protects the dress, makes it last a third longer, and has the advantage of confining the arms slightly.
Measure and find out if it is your arms or your body you “need to treat” in slenderizing. Sometimes very large arms accompany medium bust measurements and vice versa. Knowing this makes for a wiser use of line.
If your arms are small in proportion to the bust, as in “A,” use a normal shoulder line.
If they are large in proportion to your bust, as in “B,” cut the shoulder high.
If arms and bust are large, use a length line on the sleeves, as in “C.”
A foundation lining of net that holds the sleeve is often advisable for sheer dresses. Elastic should hold it at the waist. The bottom of the sleeves and the neck may be bound or picoted.
SLENDERIZING FLESHY SHOULDERS
Large shoulders are a problem because they can appear quite as full as the bust and by the roundness add years, which, of course, nobody wants. A collar that is just right in depth, not too deep or too short in the back, is the first essential. For your individual type, you must make experiments. Take a piece of muslin or paper and cut out modish collars that you think would be becoming to you. Then try them on with two mirrors and view the back, front, and sides, examining well down past the waistline, because the collar line and belt line must always agree. Turn under the collar edge, add to it, and after careful observation, do what your eye tells you is best. Never let your collar be so long as to look like a cape unless it is a cape; and don’t let it be of a length or size to lie up on your back like a doily on a table. Attach it—have it there for a purpose, that of giving a correct and becoming line.