r/theatricalromantic

Hi all, I've read DK's new book, but I find the sketch instructions and accomodation definitions to be very vague and confusing. I was wondering if anyone here could help explain Narrow, Petite and Balance accomodations? (Disclaimer: I'm not asking you to help type me; I'm asking for help understanding the method better so I can type myself.)

Here's where my confusion lies: I think Balance, Petite and Narrow all apply to me. My shoulders and hips are the exact same width, both in measurement and appearance, so to me that indicates Balance. My current understanding of Narrow is that no part of the figure is wider than the shoulders, so that applies to me as well. And I am conventionally very petite, being 5'2" with proportionally short legs, small hands and feet, very delicate bone structure and the like. But I really don't understand what Kibbe Petite actually means because the Petite sketch is just randomly smaller than the others. And yet I've heard it's not about how small you are relative to other people, so I'm super confused!

And like I've said, I've struggled with the sketch because there are no specific instructions on where the lines should start at the shoulders, exactly how much the imaginary fabric should skim the figure, where the imaginary hem should end, when and where to place the dots, and so forth. I'm a very literal thinker, so I need more detail than what is provided in the book.

I think I can say with confidence that I'm either SC, SG or TR, because my figure is a narrow hourglass (not conventionally curvy but the slight hourglass shape is there), and I think my body appears soft and fleshy despite being a low body weight. I feel happiest when I wear clothing with at least some curve accomodation, like a defined waist and soft gathers. Small details like ruffles and tiny floral prints are very flattering on me as well. But I've heard SC, SG and TR can all have those characteristics.

So, like I said, I'd just appreciate some help understanding Balance, Narrow and Petite in a general sense.

At 5 ft 3 and 1/2 inches tall I already know that I am a Theatrical Romantic because of my overall yin-yang balance, the accommodations that I have to consider in clothing (curve plus narrow), plus I fit 99% of all the descriptions from the old book to the new (e.g, delicate bones, touches of sharpness in the skeleton, narrow hourglass, zero width whatsoever, no angularity or boxiness in the skeleton etc.). So, I understand narrow in terms of the concept that all my curves fit under the vertical shoulder line going downward. That part I get.

However, I still struggled to understand what I'm looking at on the sketch/line drawing in terms of how the placement of blue dots equals narrow in the shoulder area.

Now I am finally able to wrap my head around it once I started thinking about the way fabric acts on my body in that area. I have a large bust that extends past my frame horizontally (double curve) and wear a small (size 4). But sometimes I have to get an extra small in tops because the fabric bags, bunches, and or hangs loosely on the sides of my chest and I could never figure out why.

As I'm now understanding it, this is because of my narrow frame and clothes designed for a "standard" body with a large bust often assumes a wider ribcage. As it stated in the Concept Wardrobe, "Even if the bust expands outward, the bony structure underneath is delicate or small." That is definitely my experience and this really made it click for me.

Hopefully, for those who have not already done so, thinking about it in terms of how fabric acts around the sides of the chest area might help clarify any confusion about this aspect of the TR frame.