Dress Week: Waistlines and Necklines

Waistlines and Necklines:

Here are waistline and neckline drawings and definitions that I made reference to in the last post regarding dressing for your shape.

Waistlines defined:

1. Empire waist – waist seam falls just beneath the bust, where the under bust is measured.
2. Dropped waist  - waist seam falls below the natural waistline, somewhere between high hip and low hip
3. Dropped basque waist – waist seam falls in the same region as the dropped waist, but a basque waist is marked by the ‘V’ shaped seam line
4. Dropped rounded basque waist – waist seam falls in the same region as the dropped waist, the ‘V’ shaped seam line is more subtle than the traditional basque waist
5. Natural waist – waist seam falls at the natural waist, if unsure of placement refer to “body measurements” chart

Necklines defined:

1. Boat or bateau – wide neck with a shallow dip
2. ‘V’ – neckline forming a sharp ‘V’, straight lines
3. Rounded ‘V’ – neckline forming a bowed ‘V’, curved lines
4. Jewel – rounded neckline lying slightly below the bottom point of the hollow
5. High jewel – rounded neckline at the base of the neck over the hollow
6. Scoop – simple rounded neckline dipping lower than the jewel neckline
7. Square – neckline in the shape of three sides of a square
8. Sweetheart – neckline shaped like the top humps of a heart
9. Cowl  - drapey, swaging, loose neckline
10. Strapless (straight) – a bodice without straps or sleeves of any kind with a straight horizontal edge
11. Crossed (or wrap) – wrapped across the body forming a ‘V’ neckline