Why Dress To Your Body Scale?

Ever worn a garment or an accessory and it never looked or felt quite right? 

I recall this experience a few times myself, before learning to dress to your body scale be it a small, medium or large frame. 

That is, the size and volume of a garment, prints and detail, as well as jewellery, bags and other accessories. 

When you think about it, a garment that's voluminous or has large prints is going to swamp a petite person, who'll struggle to be noticed. 

On the other hand, petite prints or accessories will make a larger person appear bigger. 

To get a clearer perspective, have a look at the images below. Which of the centre circles is bigger?

Source: Wikipedia 

You will see the centre circle on the right appears larger. A dainty bracelet on a large wrist will have a similar visual effect. 

The centre circle on the left appears smaller. So imagine, for example, how a large, chunky necklace would make a small neck look even smaller.

Unless of course, you want to diminish your size further, by up-scaling the detail or accessory. 

Here are some examples of matching to body scale. 

Jewellery

  

Prints

Accessories  

How to tell if your body scale is small, medium or large? 

Go by the following measurements. 

SCALE	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE
Around the wrist	< 5 ½ inches (14cm)	5 ½ - 7 inches  (14-18cm)	7+ inches (18+cm)
Around the ankles	< 7 ½ inches (19 cm)	7 ½ - 9 inches (19-23cm)	> 9 inches    (23 cm)

Source: Academy of Professional Image 

OR use below as a guide. 

BUILD	SCALE
Small/fine frame Short and slim	Small to medium scale
Medium frame  Short and rounded  Medium height and weight Tall and slim	Medium scale
Large frame  Tall and rounded	Large scale

Source: Academy of Professional Image 

So what if you want to wear smaller or larger prints or accessories to your scale?

To keep some harmony to your appearance, move up or down a scale. For example, a petite person could opt to wear something more medium scale. A larger framed person who prefers fine jewellery would also ideally move down to medium scale. People with a medium frame can go either way. 

At the end of the day, you wear what reflects your personality and makes you happy and feel fabulous. 

Nicky xx