I am thinking which one has more curves – not which one has the biggest curve. I chose A.
Andrea
March 30th, 2011
3:25 PM
Can you post the measurements ? If model A has a 32C bust, a 26″ waist, and 39″ hips, and model B has a 40B bust, a 38″ waist, and 43″ hips then I suppose that A would be classified as “curvier” since there is a greater difference between her measurements, whereas model B has a figure that is less curvy than average (very small difference between bust, waist and hip measurements).
dosfashionistas
March 30th, 2011
4:18 PM
Of course B is curvier. There are many more curves to fit around on B, and not all in the standard places either.
Kathleen
March 30th, 2011
4:28 PM
Andrea, I don’t have measurements. I snagged the photo from a weight loss site. You have good instincts, learn to trust them.
Andrea
March 30th, 2011
5:54 PM
Model A appears to have better posture, whereas Model B seems to have a greater curve to her spine, and a forward slump to her shoulders, therefore in this scenario Model B is curvier ! I think to properly answer this question, it needs to be more specific. Is the “curvier” model being referred to in physically descriptive terms in a social context, by her statistics as it pertains to demographics (there are fewer Model A’s than Model B’s in North America), by the quantitive range of the difference in measurements, by the volume and shape of the body ? These will all yield various answers.
Quincunx
March 31st, 2011
2:12 AM
I am going to define curvy-without-quotation-marks as an hourglass shape, with a waist measurement less than the bust and hip, enough so to make close fitting a real annoyance. (Projecting? Moi? Naaaaah. . .) Neither of these two have the hourglass look from the front but A will have a tad more differential in the front view. By the side view though, A definitely has the worse differential and the (I realllly want to put those quotation marks around it :( ) curvy figure. B’s waist and hip measurements are nearly equal. By the way, B, if you’re reading this and sewing your own, look up “tilted waist alteration”, it’s simple and replaces the multi-step operation of swayback alteration here and full abdomen alteration there and pinching the excess fabric out of the thigh here and there and it’s amazing how we can overcomplicate things for ourselves and projecting? moi? never!
I chose Woman A because I think from the front, Woman B will look like a O shape so fewer, closer spaced curves (though, by no means fewer challenges!!!). Whereas Woman A has a high bust, a narrow-looking waist (I used my finger to guestimate measurements on the screen ;) ).
Also, A’s back seems to curve in more meaning swayback/fabric puddle danger.
Liz
March 31st, 2011
6:14 AM
I am thinking that curvier is defined as the figure that needs the most fitting, i.e. more dart control. B is pretty straight from bustline through “tummy” (as one self-proclaimed sewing expert calls it) and needs very little dart control.
“Curvier” with the quotes has become another euphemism for overweight. So, for that matter, has the word “voluptuous”.
Kathleen G
March 31st, 2011
9:21 AM
I think A would have the curviest pattern pieces–concave and convex. Where B would have straighter or more convex curves in the pattern.
Dennis
March 31st, 2011
10:15 AM
B has bigger curves and more of them than A. A should eat more and not starve herself to death. Just a big man’s perspective.
vespabelle
March 31st, 2011
10:49 AM
Dennis, let’s not bodysnark, it’s not helpful or nice.
I voted for A, but I think it’s hard to tell. She could be very narrow hipped! I’d third (or forth) the swayback issue. (and who knows if she’s got massive thighs from riding a bike!)
Meaghan Smith
March 31st, 2011
11:30 AM
Doesn’t a larger girth ultimately require extra length? Won’t a shorter distance between circumference measurements yield a curvier curve because of the shorter distance between points of measure? Kathleen, didn’t you write about this a long time ago? I wish I could remember the post.
[...] you need to catch up, the answer to yesterday’s quiz (and part two) is woman A is curviest and now I’m going to tell you why. Actually, I’ll [...]
Heather
July 28th, 2011
10:42 AM
I’ve found a quick and easy sollution to the swayback problem is simply to lengthen the torso on the shirt/dress pattern you’re working with. Having a 0.65 waist-hip ratio myself along with a swayback and a long torso, lengthing the clothes and sometimes adding extra darts in the back seems to fix this problem for me.
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I was almost ready to hit publish on another post but decided it might be fun to poll the readership before I did that.
16 Responses to “Pop Quiz: Who is the curviest of them all?”
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March 30th, 2011
3:06 PM
I’m thinking in terms of drafting a pattern….maybe I’m way off-base here.
March 30th, 2011
3:23 PM
I am thinking which one has more curves – not which one has the biggest curve. I chose A.
March 30th, 2011
3:25 PM
Can you post the measurements ? If model A has a 32C bust, a 26″ waist, and 39″ hips, and model B has a 40B bust, a 38″ waist, and 43″ hips then I suppose that A would be classified as “curvier” since there is a greater difference between her measurements, whereas model B has a figure that is less curvy than average (very small difference between bust, waist and hip measurements).
March 30th, 2011
4:18 PM
Of course B is curvier. There are many more curves to fit around on B, and not all in the standard places either.
March 30th, 2011
4:28 PM
Andrea, I don’t have measurements. I snagged the photo from a weight loss site. You have good instincts, learn to trust them.
March 30th, 2011
5:54 PM
Model A appears to have better posture, whereas Model B seems to have a greater curve to her spine, and a forward slump to her shoulders, therefore in this scenario Model B is curvier ! I think to properly answer this question, it needs to be more specific. Is the “curvier” model being referred to in physically descriptive terms in a social context, by her statistics as it pertains to demographics (there are fewer Model A’s than Model B’s in North America), by the quantitive range of the difference in measurements, by the volume and shape of the body ? These will all yield various answers.
March 31st, 2011
2:12 AM
I am going to define curvy-without-quotation-marks as an hourglass shape, with a waist measurement less than the bust and hip, enough so to make close fitting a real annoyance. (Projecting? Moi? Naaaaah. . .) Neither of these two have the hourglass look from the front but A will have a tad more differential in the front view. By the side view though, A definitely has the worse differential and the (I realllly want to put those quotation marks around it :( ) curvy figure. B’s waist and hip measurements are nearly equal. By the way, B, if you’re reading this and sewing your own, look up “tilted waist alteration”, it’s simple and replaces the multi-step operation of swayback alteration here and full abdomen alteration there and pinching the excess fabric out of the thigh here and there and it’s amazing how we can overcomplicate things for ourselves and projecting? moi? never!
March 31st, 2011
6:10 AM
I chose Woman A because I think from the front, Woman B will look like a O shape so fewer, closer spaced curves (though, by no means fewer challenges!!!). Whereas Woman A has a high bust, a narrow-looking waist (I used my finger to guestimate measurements on the screen ;) ).
Also, A’s back seems to curve in more meaning swayback/fabric puddle danger.
March 31st, 2011
6:14 AM
I am thinking that curvier is defined as the figure that needs the most fitting, i.e. more dart control. B is pretty straight from bustline through “tummy” (as one self-proclaimed sewing expert calls it) and needs very little dart control.
“Curvier” with the quotes has become another euphemism for overweight. So, for that matter, has the word “voluptuous”.
March 31st, 2011
9:21 AM
I think A would have the curviest pattern pieces–concave and convex. Where B would have straighter or more convex curves in the pattern.
March 31st, 2011
10:15 AM
B has bigger curves and more of them than A. A should eat more and not starve herself to death. Just a big man’s perspective.
March 31st, 2011
10:49 AM
Dennis, let’s not bodysnark, it’s not helpful or nice.
I voted for A, but I think it’s hard to tell. She could be very narrow hipped! I’d third (or forth) the swayback issue. (and who knows if she’s got massive thighs from riding a bike!)
March 31st, 2011
11:30 AM
Doesn’t a larger girth ultimately require extra length? Won’t a shorter distance between circumference measurements yield a curvier curve because of the shorter distance between points of measure? Kathleen, didn’t you write about this a long time ago? I wish I could remember the post.
March 31st, 2011
2:58 PM
[...] am very pleased with the results from yesterday’s pop quiz. Several of you noticed the distinction between curvy and “curvy”. Good show, [...]
March 31st, 2011
3:41 PM
[...] you need to catch up, the answer to yesterday’s quiz (and part two) is woman A is curviest and now I’m going to tell you why. Actually, I’ll [...]
July 28th, 2011
10:42 AM
I’ve found a quick and easy sollution to the swayback problem is simply to lengthen the torso on the shirt/dress pattern you’re working with. Having a 0.65 waist-hip ratio myself along with a swayback and a long torso, lengthing the clothes and sometimes adding extra darts in the back seems to fix this problem for me.