Page:Costume design and illustration (IA costumedesignill00trap).pdf/21

 CHAPTER ONE

1. Forms. In both lines of fashion work it is necessary to be able to con- struct quickly a form on which to sketch or design a dress, and, like the forms in store windows, this should be constructed to enhance the good lines of the garment. Care must be taken, however, never to confuse this with the human figure, the structure of which is entirely different. The simplest way of obtaining this form is by drawing two ovals. First, make a straight line for the shoulders, then swing an oval, somewhat foreshortened, from the shoulder line, to represent the waist. Next, swing another more elongated oval, from near the ending points of the first oval, having the

farthest part out always opposite the farthest point out of the other oval, to represent the skirt. Connect these and you have a form. See Fig. 1. The bust and hip should be on a line, and for the present-day silhouette the connecting lines should be but slightly curved.

Next, extend the two lines for the sleeves, add the collar and put in the centre line, which, in the front, follows the outside line of the waist and goes straight in the skirt. See Fig. 2. (Of course, the proportions differ according to fashion; i.e., the normal waist would go but twice into the short skirt of the summer of 1916.) It is interesting to note how the reverse of this straight line and curve forms the back. In making the back, connect the ovals in the same man-