Proportion Play

One can never truly remember where the idea of experimenting with the contrast in proportion between your clothes and your body originated from, but a slight hunch points towards the haute couture designers of the 1970's and onward. Think vintage Christian Dior or Balenciaga. Nevertheless, modern day trendsetters and individualistic style thinkers cannot avoid the creative fad of wearing garments that appear to be either too large or too small when worn. It's not ridiculous or nonsensical, but chic (if done properly). Stefano Pilati, creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, proves just how veritable this statement is by sporting a voluminous wool mustard in conjunction with wide-legged denim trousers and showing that he didn't absentmindedly choose clothes that were twice his size, but rather use his body as a canvas for a little proportion play. Good representation of menswear, no?

Executing an effortless look when using differently sized clothing has all to do with a sharp eye for shape and form. In short, the varied shapes of the clothes on your body must complement each other for the purpose of improving the whole image. Combining a large pullover, for example, with over sized trousers might make you seem much bigger than you actually are, thereby distracting people from actually admiring the beauty in the clothing. Essentially, sporting an over sized knit (ideally, Rag & Bone) with some skinny jeans (not too skinny, unless you're bold) makes for a much more flattering look that comes across as being impeccably styled and undeniably chic. It's all about the styling. And it's all about the proportion.

Text Ricardo Hernandez

Image courtesy of Tommy Ton for Jak and Jil