Hot take: I was sketching clothes for a body that wasn't real

I was looking through my old sketchbooks from design school, the ones from maybe 2015, and it hit me. Every single figure I drew was this tall, super thin, long-legged person. I mean, every time. I was making clothes for a ghost. The tip-off was last month when I volunteered to help with a local theater group's costumes. I had to fit real people, with all kinds of shapes, and my first few mock-ups were a total mess. The waistlines were in the wrong place, the sleeves were too tight in the upper arm, everything. My teacher back then always said 'design for the ideal form,' but I think I got that all wrong. It's way more fun and a real challenge to make something that works on a person you can actually see and talk to. Anyone else have to unlearn something basic like that from their early training?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_patel24d ago

So what's your ideal form now?

perry.jesse24d ago

My ideal form is a Google Doc with edit history turned on, after what happened to Kevin's friend. Maybe a physical notebook locked in a safe, guarded by a dog that hates cats. Honestly, if my cat can't sit on it and cause chaos, is it even worth having? The bar is pretty low now, just something that can make it through breakfast without getting hair in the fan.

kevin_williams24d ago

My buddy got asked that same thing last week. He started describing this perfect digital avatar, but then his cat jumped on his keyboard and deleted the whole file. He said maybe the ideal form is just something that can survive a house pet.