About those Hemlines!

Last week I had to do a second fitting on one of my clients to check the hemline.  I momentarily panicked seeing a front hem 1" shorter than what was measured at the previous fitting.  I spent a good 45 minutes at the previous fitting checking and rechecking my hemline pins.  It was perfect that day.  I knew there were no miscalculations on my end, then it dawned on me:

It was a "Perfect Posture" issue.   

Two things will "change" a hemline length:

1. Perfect Posture
2. Gaining or losing weight

My client was looking in the mirror as I was checking her hem and was assuming a perfect posture stance throwing her shoulders back which can sometimes elongate the torso, thus raising the hemline.  Today's teens tend to have the rolled, forward shoulder stance due to a combination of factors like computer work, sitting at a school desk during the day, and constantly being slumped over while texting.  Attaining the perfect posture stance lasts for maybe a minute.  Then that stance becomes uncomfortable, they become more comfortable, and their "normal stance" takes over. 

One thing I will NOT tell my clients to do is, "Stand up straight!"  It doesn't work.  They will not maintain that posture during the entire prom event.  Their normal posture takes right over.  And that is what I want--normal posture when I'm fitting prom dresses.  Sometimes perfect posture will "cure" some other appearance issue which needs to be brought up, but perfect posture doesn't help me at all when I'm working on a hemline.  I need to hem a gown with normal posture.

The second thing that will change a hemline once the gown has been altered is weight.  How is this so?  I'll use balloons as my example, but one could use a baseball, softball, and basketball instead of balloons for this example as well.  Blow up a balloon about halfway, seal it, then put it on the floor.  Now cut a square of fabric to cover the balloon so some of the edges hit the floor.  Blow up a second balloon twice the size of the first balloon, place it on the floor, and cover the balloon with the SAME PIECE OF FABRIC.  Do the fabric edges touch the floor?  NO!  Because the balloon has grown in size.  Now you tell me, what would happen to the fabric edges if the second balloon was smaller than the original balloon?

Another example would be to examine dress or top hemlines.  See my rough-sketch hand drawing:

What happens to pregnant ladies as their tummies expand?  Their front hemline rises (assuming it's not a maternity top or dress), and if you look at a pregnant woman from a side angle wearing a regular (non-pregnancy) shirt, you will notice their front hemline is higher than the back because it takes more fabric to cover their expanding bellies.  It not only happens on pregnant women, it also happens on women who carry a lot of excess weight in their belly area and/or large-busted women.  Men are not immune from this problem either.

That is exactly what happens with body bulges from gaining weight.  The hemline will rise.  This has given me pause to consider bringing a scale along to my fittings to check for weight gain/loss.  I don't control someone else's weight, but the dress I alter is a reflection of my work and their weight gain has a direct bearing on the appearance of my work. 

The reverse is also true.  If a girl loses the weight, the dress hemline may appear longer.  The example I give for this is one most of us women are familiar with--snug jeans.  Snug jeans have a crotch seam that hugs the body.  If weight is lost, less fabric is needed to mold around booty, hip, and tummy curves.  Thus, the jeans become looser, the crotch seam is not as snug and begins to drop away from the body and hang lower, and the hemline of the pants suddenly seem to grow longer.  (No, sorry to say you did not get taller, but your tummy and tush did get smaller lol.)

Bumps and bulges are also a reason why many gowns cannot be altered the same hemline amount all the way around the dress.  Some areas of the hemline will have deeper hem allowance than others depending on where body fullness occurs.  This is why I need to hem a gown while on a body. Most girls have curves and the dress needs to be hemmed to accommodate their curves wherever they may be. 

So, to wrap things up for this post, two things that can have an impact on altered hemlines are posture and weight gain or loss.  Give me normal, relaxed posture and maintain the weight.  Anything more than 5 lbs. can affect the altered hemline depending on body type and where a girl tends to put on weight.  Follow those two basic rules for a perfect prom-day look, and both of us will be very happy :) !