Do you ever get an idea or image in your head, only to find that
reality is somewhat different?
It’s happened to me twice this week, so I thought I’d write a couple of
posts about the differences I’ve encountered.
First up was a blog post by Handmade by Carolyn. She’s calling it the paper doll project and not only does she plan to wear only
self made clothes this year, but she’s going to draw her outfits on a daily
basis.
What a great idea I thought.
Drawing clothes was always a favourite pastime of mine when I was
younger so I decided to have a go with what I was wearing yesterday.
Carolyn is using her Fashionary to do her sketches. I visited their website to find out exactly
what a Fashionary was – and now I know I
really want one! – and found you could download sample templates.
Here’s the drawing I did. It's not coloured in because I was wearing a grey jersey dress with a
frilled hem, black tights and black shoes and I thought that would be too dark to photograph well.
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| "Model" Me |
Great, I though. I look
fantastic! Except my body is shaped
nothing like the stick thin model figure of the Fashionary template.
"I know", my next thought was, "I’ll make myself a croqui"
so I can see what I really look like in this outfit. I didn’t actually use the tutorial I linked, my method
involved photography, tracing and more photography, but the end result is
similar.
And scary!
This is what I REALLY look like in the same outfit.
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| "Real" Me |
Hmm...... not quite so attractive now, is it?!
Now I already knew that I wasn’t 6 feet tall with a size 0 figure, or
whatever models have these days, but I was a bit shocked that I looked quite so
wide and well, lumpy.
I’m not really sure how I feel about this (except that I want to lose
about 10 pounds now!) but that was in my plan anyway. Hubby and I started eating much more
healthily after New Year, so hopefully the scales will drop a bit, and my
mini-me won’t be quite so wide.
I’m not even sure why I’m sharing this with you, but strangely I feel a
bit better about it now that it’s “out there”.
Maybe I should try the exercise again with a different outfit, one that
doesn’t hug my curves quite so much, and covers my chubby knees! I always knew I hated my knees!
Thanks for reading my ramblings. I hope my drawings didn't scare you too much!
My other revelation wasn't quite so scary, but I'll save that for another day.
I've made a photo-traced croquis, and it shocked me too at first. Exposing myself to the reality of my width and lumps, has had the effect, once the shock wore off, of making me feel more self-accepting. It's also helped a ton in developing my eye for proportions that flatter my figure.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know that I'm not alone. Now I've had time to think about it, I can see it's not a good representation of how I actually look, but I think it will help me focus on flattering shapes for my figure.
DeleteWe all have to learn to live with what we have! Thanks for sharing this - I must give it a go myself (with my eyes tight shut!!!)
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see your results Judith, if you do give it a go and decide to share.
DeleteFirstly, having had the pleasure of meeting you in real life can I declare that picture is rubbish! You are not that shape, I don't recall any issues with your knees, frankly it doesn't do you justice! I think you need to have another go at that drawing!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I know exactly what you mean about being confronted with an image of yourself - as much as I love Doris the dressform I do find it disconcerting to see my headless doppleganger in the corner!
Thank you Jacq! I knew I was a bit pear shaped, but I didn't think it was that pronounced! I have got chubby knees though - although I had them when I was about 20 pounds lighter than I am now!
DeleteI've got used to Rosie in the corner of my bedroom now, and actually she's nowhere near as pearshaped as my drawing.
I don't know Sam . . . to my eye from photos, you look more like the first drawing than the second. I think you're being too hard on yourself. I also think that it's pretty difficult to get a real idea of how you look this way - there's something lost in translating a three-dimensional body to a two-dimensional drawing. Not a trained artist or anything, just my two cents!
ReplyDeleteThat's very kind Gail. I think midway between the two is probably most accurate. And you're right, its not an accurate representation of how a body actually looks (thank goodness!).
DeleteOk, I'm totally outing myself here... I did one of those self-trace croqui thingies a while back whenever it was going around the blogosphere. And I was HORRIFIED by my shape. So I totally understand. Although I think camera angle and lighting can make a huge difference. The lens flattens you out. Anyway, I crumpled up my drawings and threw them away. Lol!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to do the same with mine Liza Jane!
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