Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Finding your Magic Number!

When you're at a Skirt Party you're focus is most likely on the fabric and styles, right?  When I'm having a skirt made, the last thing I think about is length.  My deciding vote is always after asking my measurer, "does this look right?"  I am never certain enough to say, 'two inches above the knee, yes stop right there.  Perfect."  Never certain enough until now...

I went in search of the perfect length rule of thumb.  What I found was a mathematical equation.  Your height isn't the important factor here, your proportions are.  When picking out your standard length, you want 50% skirt showing, 50% leg.  This would be simple if we all had proportionate measurements but fact is, we don't.  Get out your tape measure and I'm going to teach you a little trick.

First, measure from the top of your hip bone to the middle of your knee.  This is your upper leg length.   Now measure from your mid knee to your mid ankle.  This is your lower leg length.
 I found that my upper length is 19" where as my lower length is 16".  I am a short-shinner.  Now that we have these measurements, were getting somewhere.  Plug in this equation:
Longer length-shorter length=The difference/2=MAGIC NUMBER.

Did I lose you?  Stay with me.  Mine would be:
19"-16"=3"/2= 1.5.  1.5 is my Magic Number.  My thighs are longer than my shins, so to correct that I start at my mid knee and go up 1.5" (my magic number).  Say you have longer shins.  Then you would start at your mid knee and go down however many inches your magic number is.
 I was curious how accurate my past skirts came to being proportionate.  I threw on my favorite go-to, The Frida and voila, it fell exactly 1 1/2 inches above my knee!
Next time your are being measured by your sales rep, ask them to measure you with the Magic Number system!

TIP:  This is only to find a proportionate standard length.  Are you looking for a mini-pencil?  This system does not apply in that situation!  Next week, I'll cover the correct lengths for different occasions.  Stay tuned!

No comments:

Post a Comment