Concept of Line

            You may have heard the term “line” in reference to of a variety of topics from clothing to body types (or even waiting to check out at a big sale!). The term is also used extensively in the study of dance to describe the position or fluidity of a dancer’s body and motions. Longer, flowing lines and softened curves are often considered to be the more feminine and sensual. This is precisely why you see a ballerina pointing her toes! As you might imagine, women’s fashion tends to place emphasis on these qualities to emphasize a feminine look. A simple example of elongation of lines is the most iconic symbol of women’s fashion, high heels. Heels create a more vertical foot position, which adds to the length of the line of the leg. Just like the ballerina’s pointed toes, this creates the effect of longer, more feminine legs.

            However, not all lines on the body benefit from becoming longer. In fact, on many lines, the opposite is true. To better understand this; let’s take a look at the difference between typical male and female bodies. Consider the 4 lines I have drawn on the figures below: Shoulder, Bust, Waist and Hips (You may recognize 3 of the 4 as being the important measurements to know… no coincidence there).

Even if you’re not acutely aware of all the differences between genders, it should come as no surprise that men have broader shoulders, narrower hips and overall less variation between bust/waist/hip lines (a less curvy figure). In contrast, women have narrower shoulders, wider hips and a greater ratio between bust/waist/hip sizes (creating the typical feminine curves). Another important difference to note is that a woman's waist (the narrowest part of the torso) is located several inches above her belly button, where as the typical male waist line is right around the belly button. Despite variations in body shapes, as transgender women we usually seek to mold a male shape into feminine proportions by changing the length of our lines (or creating the illusion of change) in the following ways:

-       Reducing the width (length) of the shoulder line.

-       Increasing/decreasing our bust line. (I’m relatively skinny, so I try to increase my bust line, though more built individuals may want to focus on decreasing this line)

-       Decreasing the waist line

-       Increasing the hip line

I have only brought up these 4 lines to illustrate the concept of bodyline, however there are many more lines that define our bodies, which should be considered in the same way. For example, we must also consider the length and width of our arms and legs, size and shape of our face, etc. When you hear someone say that a particular style is unflattering, that simply means it is having the opposite effect of either creating length when reduction is needed, or shortening lines that should be elongated.

All this may sound like a tall order, however it is nothing that natural born women haven’t been doing forever either ;-) Luckily, there are many, many ways fashion can help us to achieve all these goals.