"A broad shoulder will make your
hips look narrower."
Behind the Myth: Simply by drawing an inverted triangle on a blackboard, image consultants showed the effect that was fashionable in the eighties. Currently, image consultants are suggesting large women wear boxy clothes to "make the shoulder silhouette broader to allow the fabric to skim away from the body instead of cling to it."
The Truth:The better your clothes fit, the slimmer you'll look. Wide, square shoulders look very dated, and in reality a boxy jacket will make any woman look larger. It is very difficult to engineer a garment to have a broad shoulder and then have it fit under the arm ... so it's naturally wider and over-sized.
The Solution:The difference is in the armhole ... the higher the better, more daylight around the body makes the body look leaner. You could still have a squared shoulder, but don't drop the armhole and keep the width of the sleeve trim. Too much fabric between the body and sleeve is just like pants too full at the inseams. Also, give yourself some waist by either letting the belt show, or curving the bodice garment in at the waist slightly. Be sure your top piece doesn't cling to the bottom. Lining or a slippery fabric for the top and/or bottom will skim the body. I show this in many of my classes, and the audience always gasps at the difference.
"Always dry clean rayon."
Behind the Myth: When rayon was first developed, it would shrink dramatically. Although rayon was created at the turn of the century, many women who used it before the new technology of the last 20-30 years have a naturally negative opinion of rayon.
The Truth: There are all kinds of rayons. Some wash, some don't. It depends on how the fiber has been treated. Without giving a lengthy textile lecture, all rayons can be tested for washability before you cut them out. However, rayon is one of those fibers that can either have residual or progressive shrinkage. Residual shrinkage is the yardage loss that occurs by the fabric simply relaxing after it's been stretched out on the loom and rolled onto the boards. Progressive means that the fabric will shrink a bit more each time it's washed. So, with rayons, test it more than once.
The Solution: When in doubt, most fabric stores will label a fabric dry clean only. If you think you'd like to try washing it, add an 1/8-1/4 yard extra per each yard you buy. Then cut yourself a good test swatch ... at least 4" square. Trace the sample, wet it thoroughly, let it dry, and compare. Re-trace it, wet it, let it dry, and compare again. If it keeps shrinking, plan on dry cleaning. If not, and the hand and color tolerate the water, consider the fabric washable. Typically, rayon will grow a bit when you wear it ... snug right out of the wash, a little looser after a little body warmth and movement, like jeans. When you find rayon in a blend, follow the cleaning instructions of the most dominant fiber. In ready-to-wear, always follow the manufacturer's care label. Rayon is also called bemberg, viscose, polynosic, fibranne, and a host of other trade and foreign language names, such as viscosa in Italian.
