(The followingt post is a guest post by Archana Venkat)
I hate shopping for clothes for myself. Myntra and Jabong (and
FlipKart and whatever else is there) don’t make a difference. Readymade clothes
rarely fit me well. I used to wear trousers and shirts to work a few years ago
(before my pregnancy) and even then finding a shirt that dint expose your
bottom or a trouser that didn’t look like yoga pants/ tights was tough and I had
to resort to getting both items of clothing stitched. I guess my tailor
couldn’t overcome the torture and eventually shut shop and left me dealing with
Salwar Kameezes. While I try and avoid looking Aunty-ish, people tell me Salwar
Kameez IS Aunty wear, no two ways about it. So I went back to trying maternity
trousers, but because I didn’t have a bump anymore, they wouldn’t fit.
I decided to confront the problem head on – by seeking out a
clothes designer. Recommended by a friend, I called her store only to have the
saleswoman ask me “what shape are you?”. Well, large. Ok, maybe extra-large.
But beyond that I didn’t know what to tell her, especially after she insisted
that I was telling her my size and not my shape. Needless to say I didn’t see
the designer because I felt a little embarrassed. But the question left me
curious.
In India we recognize only 3 female shapes – thin, medium
and fat. In my eyes these three translate roughly into “emaciated”, “thin” and
“normal”. Most clothes are made for thin people and look good only on them. As
for the rest of us, well, Indian clothing companies don’t care. They would
rather we be inspired to get thin and fit into the clothes they make.
But apparently the rest of the world doesn’t abide by this
philosophy and there are enough sizes to cater to all shapes. A few companies
have gone forward and created online tools to help people understand what their
shape is and what clothes would make them look good. One such company, Eloquii,
a US based clothing retailer, has developed a tool on its website called Shape
My Style that helps figure out the best clothes for one’s body shape. They help
one identify five body shapes – Diamond, Teardrop, Heart, Infinity, and Emerald
– based on simple questions. For each of
these shapes they have a set of guidelines indicating what cuts, colors, fits
and accessories would look best and follow that up by recommending a set of
clothes from their which can be bought online. What’s more they have models
closely resembling your body type wearing their collection so you can see how
the clothes will fit you. (Which means, fat women, don’t have to see stick thin
women modeling clothes prescribed for them, because a XXXL version of a dress
that was originally designed for a XS size will fit poorly).
In my opinion, this site is geared for success because they
have information that empowers customers across their purchase lifecycle
without forcing them to buy anything.
UK-based fashionistas Trinny Woodhall and Susannah
Constantine, in their book The
Body Shape Bible, have identified 12
body shapes that can help women find the right clothes. There is also a quiz
that can help you figure out which of these shapes you fit into.
Of course, a good tailor / dress designer should be able to
give you all this information offline, but not without charging a hefty fee.
And because most of us in India cannot afford designers or high end tailors, we
are left to wallow in ill fitting clothes and self pity. Which brings me to the
question -why aren’t Indian retailers investing in any online tools/ tips like
this?
I don’t have any answers but would like to know.
Archana Venkat is a marketing and communication specialist who writes at Straight talk with Arch.
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