Hello, here I am again for this tenth episode of (Very) Well Dressed!
“The long coat packs down and makes you look smaller.”
You've probably heard that one before, right? In all these years of writing articles on men's style and advising you, I have heard this refrain come up again and again.
And since I'm only slightly taller than 1m70, you can imagine that the question of its veracity has always interested me.
And in fact, I myself have noticed on many occasions that certain coats that are too long visually take away 10cm from me. And yet... This is not the case for all long coats.
Some even sometimes seem to lengthen the silhouette.
So today, I decided to elucidate with you the mystery behind the "correct" coat length ... once and for all!
1. YOUR HEIGHT RELATED TO THE COAT
First of all, we recall the basic reasoning, simple and logical, which popularized the idea that “long coat = smaller air”.
The human eye sees a body, it sees a coat on it.
He sees the amount of bodies protruding from the coat.
And he deduces that the more we see the person's legs, the taller they are, and that the less we see them, the smaller they are.
It seems perfectly logical , but in this case, it doesn't explain why certain long coats on the contrary lengthen the silhouette...
So there is something that still escapes us.
2. BREVILIGNE AND LONGILIGNE
We sometimes find answers where we wouldn't imagine .
Imagine that the first element that put me on the trail of a definitive answer to this question, I found it...
In my readings on fitness and bodybuilding . Logical, since when we practice this type of activity at a more or less advanced stage, we end up learning that different exercises are more or less easy depending on the body shape of the practitioner.
And often, the biggest difference is in the "bust/legs" ratio: those who are long in the bust and comparatively short in the legs are "brevilinear", and those who are longer in the legs than in the bust are called "longilinear" .
For a long time I believed that “longilign” only designated a “slender” silhouette without further details. But once you see that... Everything is explained.
Now take a good look at the photo above.
In this diagram, both men are the same height , and yet the one with a long leg appears visually taller.
This is where we return to our coats, and where we begin to understand the issue a little better: the important thing is not necessarily to reveal the body as much as possible, but to give air to the legs. 'be bigger.
And for that, it is not enough just to discover them as much as possible.
3. STOP AT AN ANCHOR POINT
Here we are. This is the “secret sauce” of the right coat length.
I often say it: the problem with theories in clothing is not that they are stupid, it is that the words struggle to encompass all the subtlety of reality.
Because when I say “having great legs”, what exactly does that mean?
High hips? Long shins? Long femurs?
A single model, three coats with roughly comparable volumes. The peacoat gives longer legs. Logic. But yet, of the two mid-length coats, it seems that it is the longer of the two that lengthens it the most... Why?
In fact, the human eye doesn't just judge "what sticks out" to recognize our proportions: it also refers to our joints. The famous anchor points, which I have spoken about more than once in the past.
And this is where I explain why sometimes even a shorter coat can look smaller than a longer coat.
4. BENDING CHANGES EVERYTHING
This is the basis for any tailor style enthusiast: the size. (Coincidence?)
The waist is literally what separates the "upper" from the "lower body" (not the hips): it's true from the point of view of sports movement, and it's true from the point of view of clothes.
© Lardini
If you're wondering why we're seeing more and more belted coats over the years, it's not just because the belt is a "gadget"... It has a real impact on the silhouette. (Lardini).
When you cinch a coat by marking it at the waist (by a belt or simply by its cut), you create a strong visual demarcation between these two parts, which will help to make your legs look "longer" , regardless of the length. of the room.
This means, however, that the opposite is true: everything we have just seen about longer coats which can make you look longer ceases to apply from the moment the coat is so straight that the separation between the bust and the waist The wearer's pelvis cannot be distinguished , even in movement.
In this case, everything leads me to believe that the good old "popular" rule presented at the beginning applies.
5. A MATTER OF STYLE, OF COURSE
Before concluding, we will make a little vital reminder: let us never forget that clothing is not supposed to be just a cold theoretical optimization of what suits us.
Choosing only based on that also means missing a lot of aspects of what style can be.
© Sartorial Notes
Extremely long coat on a Pitti gentleman. And yet... It doesn't shorten it that much, right? The secret is the bend, and where the coat stops.
6. EXCEPTIONS OF MORPHOLOGY
And finally: a quick word on morphos, particularly for the special cases of really big or “strong” people, as well as very tall or very thin people.
These are two physique "types" for which it may be advantageous to do quite differently than what was suggested earlier.
Good viewing !
PS: IN THIS VIDEO, I WEAR...
- A Corridor shirt
- A BonneGueule striped t-shirt
