Plus Size Draping techniques: Normalizing Fat, Obese, and Plus Size Bodies in the Classroom to Enhance Fashion Design Students Versatility in the Fashion Industry"

Abstract

Ideally, fashion draping would take place on the human body but as time is limited student designers must use a mannequin. One of the challenges of draping techniques is the standardized and unrealistic shape of dress form mannequins. As the average US woman grows in size, a more realistic figure should be used to teach draping. Standard draping techniques require the designer to drape a muslin block on a size 8 dress form. Strategies to improve students understanding of the 3 dimensional human form have been developed. For example, by implementing the use of a Cartesian grid in the Drape to draft block patterns method presented by Salusso and Vandermner (2012) students are better able to monitor lengthwise and horizontal grain. However, they still lack the skills to drape on a plus-size body shape. Larger mannequins must be used to teach students to design for the mass market.