I bought this tee shirt the other day because I loved the red stripes, the generously scooped neckline, and the neckline-grouping sleeves. It seemed a little long in the dressing room mirror–petite would have been better–but I thought I could live with it. It turned out I couldn’t. I actually started double-sided taping it to the length you see on the right every time I went out!

Here’s the thing: a lot of us with big boobs look like we have short waists because our chests take up so much room. So if you’re like me, you’re always thinking you should elongate it. That’s why I don’t like to tuck anything in.

But here’s the other thing: the Golden Mean trumps “waist elongating” if your lengthening strategy is going to put your top and bottom at a 1:1 ratio. (I link to my original posts explaining the Golden Mean at the bottom.)

The hem of my shirt cuts me into two even parts: 2.5 units from shoulder to shirt hem and 2.5 units from hem to ankles.
The shortened hem puts me at a 2:3 ratio.

After I took these photos, I took this top to my seamstress to make the changes permanent!

Here’s one more example, this time with a skirt. It turns out bare legs don’t matter.

If you feel like you’ve seen me in this outfit before, you have! Camille took these photos of me the same day as our Bravissimo field trip in July. The first and last photos of that day made me realize that untucked is not always a good idea.
Full Busts and the Golden Mean–Getting Started
Full Busts and the Golden Mean–Take Your Measurements

Already Pretty also has a great discussion of the “golden ratio”, with super helpful links to Imogen Lamport’s coverage of it at the bottom of her post.

A Crash Course in the Golden Ratio