my bust is huge, actually (on proportions in styling)

a few days ago, i had a styling consultation with a twitter mutual of mine. i've been thinking about my wardrobe a lot recently, so i jumped at the opportunity when i saw her offering complimentary consultations to a few mutuals. 

during the consultation, she asked a lot of questions that helped me identify what exactly is important when thinking about styling, like the weather where i live, my height, my body type, what i tend to wear. both being asked about these things as well as the act of formulating an answer for them helped clarify a lot about the process and has kept me inspired for several days after. 

one thing i imagined might happen in the consultation is she would give me solutions to the things i find challenging about styling. instead, i found that she actually validated that, yeah, those things are just hard! for example, i have different contexts that i wear completely different styles of clothes in—there's no magic fix for that that will make them overlap! it's fine to have different sets of clothes for different contexts! 

when we talked about my size, i also felt validated that, yeah, having a bigger bust proportional to your other measurements can mean having to size up. so much from the session felt like seeing what i already knew but with new eyes: like yes, if a top fits my bust, then often that means it doesn't fit my waist, and that's why a lot of my stuff just looks a bit off, even if it somewhat passably fits. 

so for several days, i have been pondering my bust. i once tweeted that girls with big boobs think i have tiny boobs, but girls with tiny boobs think i have giant boobs. i remember trying on dresses with a friend once, and one dress was super tight on my chest, but she refused to acknowledge that, saying, "it's not like you have anything there for it to be tight on." so i have often felt confused about whether my chest would be considered big or not, as it seemed to depend on the eye of the beholder (there's a joke in here somewhere...the eye of the behålder maybe ((behå is "bra" in swedish))). 

a photo of my outfit yesterday (so the thumbnail isn't the bad outfit photo below lol)

anyway, since the consultation, i've been looking back on past outfits, especially with the lens of "my bust is huge, actually," and noticing when they have knocked (heh) the proportion of an outfit out of whack. i'd like to give two examples here: one where that happened, and one that's better-proportioned. both are from a few years ago. 

example 1: way too bust-heavy

this photo (example 1) was the one that made me be like: "oh wow, my bust IS huge, actually." like, it's completely overpowering the outfit! and the fit of the shirt emphasizes the bust, but then hangs down from there instead of hugging my waist, which makes me look boxy and weird. all this contrasted with the tightness of the skirt makes it look like i have no hips, when in reality my bust and hip are the same measurement, with my waist being smaller. this outfit shows none of that, and makes my shape look completely different.

example 2: way better!

this outfit is much better! it fits at my bust, but then nicely tapers in at the waist, even tapering out a bit again slightly below the waist, giving a nice flattering shape without being too tight. the lack of turtleneck here also helps to not make it super top-heavy like the outfit above. the jeans sit a bit below where the black skirt hit as well i think, which helps further even out the proportions. 

i feel like this realization has unlocked a lot for me when i conceptualize styling and putting together outfits in the future. and i think i always knew this was affecting how things fit on me, but also felt like acting like i had a big bust was stolen valor. but it is simply the truth that it's big enough to throw off the proportions of my outfit if i'm not careful!