Redefining the Drawn Body through Investigations of Proportional Techniques

Gill, S and Sanderson, R (2013) Redefining the Drawn Body through Investigations of Proportional Techniques. In: 5th Inter-disciplinary Global Conference on Fashion, 09 September 2013 - 12 September 2013, Oxford, UK.

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Abstract

The creation of fashion drawing templates provides the initial silhouette and proportions for the conceptualisation of clothing. These templates are usually created according to proportions where overall height relates to 9 heads, often determined as pleasing to the eye, but abstracted from the actual proportions of a population. Initial research utilising data collected by body scanning, suggests an average head to height ratio of 7.5 heads, which would correspond to 8, after elongation of the feet from the scanned position. Within the process of creating figure templates the head length provides the means to calculate not only length relationships but also the widths at key locations, like the shoulder, bust, waist and hips. This provides standardisation which will not develop figure templates that are representative of the actual body, or allow for the accepted variation between bodies of different proportions and silhouettes (shapes). Utilising an extensive database of body scans, composed of UK women aged 18-30 who were classified as one of seven body shapes according to the FFIT method, different proportions for creating more representative figure templates were explored. Utilising tools within the body scanning analysis software it was possible to determine head to length and width relationships existing within the different figure categories. This provided a foundation for proposing methods to create more realistic figure drawing templates to be used in education and help fashion students design and conceptualise garments on more proportionally realistic bodies.