Eliminating the waistline: avoiding an unflattering optical illusion in male skirts

[robehickman]

By 'waistline', I mean the horizontal line that manifests between a top and bottom garment if they are strongly contrasting in colour.

It is widely known that horizontal lines create a 'widening' illusion. This can be problematic because male torso’s are typically proportionally wide to begin with, and generally lack substantial difference between the waist and hips. If that is combined with a widening illusion the effect is to make the torso look even wider.

For some reason, that is particularly noticeable when men wear skirts, and to me personally, rarely looks flattering to the person.

Eliminating the hard horizontal line at the waist often looks much more natural to my eye. That can be done by choosing top / bottom garments that are the same colour, wearing a one-piece dress / robe type garment, or layering things over the waistline to obscure it, like a hip scarf or open vest / jacket.

[Mouse]

I sometimes use a corset or wide belt to give shape to the waist. Lately I have also been experimenting with having a higher waist, since I bought some short jackets.

The other thing to consider is how tight the upper body is covered. There is a big difference to wearing a tight leotard to a normal fitting T-shirt.

The other problem I have is my tummy, wanting to bulge out over my waist. This can be fixed with a wide belt or corset. I have also worked to reduce the volume of the tummy to also get around these problems.

[Modoc]

I have worn dresses a few times and am inclined to wear them even more. Something mid-calf length, with no or minimal cinching at the waist, works really well for me.
Something like this without the belt.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shop ... 63ODwq2Hia
Something else I do is wear a longer top untucked over a skirt.

[robehickman]

The main point I was raising is that I think that the lack of non-horizontal lines in male fashion design today, works against making skirted outfits that read in a way that look organic.

Also, there are many more examples of 'dresses' (cut in one piece, or having seperate bodice and skirt sewn together) in male fashion history than there are tops and skirts as seperate garments worn together.

The other problem I have is my tummy, wanting to bulge out over my waist. This can be fixed with a wide belt or corset. I have also worked to reduce the volume of the tummy to also get around these problems.

Loose tunic / dress type things are also effective at covering that.