• Style Guides
    • All Style Guides & Tips
    • Boho Style Essentials
    • Classic Style Essentials
    • Edgy Style Essentials
    • College Wardrobe Essentials
  • College
    • All College Articles
    • Dorm Bedding 2020
    • College School Supplies Checklist
    • Dorm Color Scheme Guide
    • Dorm Organization Tips
  • Outfit Ideas
    • All Outfit Inspo
    • College Outfits
    • 21st Birthday Outfits
    • Cold Weather Outfits
  • Sorority
    • All Things Sorority
    • Sorority Rush Essentials
    • Sorority Rush Outfits
  • Shopping
    • All Shopping Guides
    • Best Budget Fashion Stores
    • Where to Buy Sweaters
    • Best Online Thrift Stores
    • Timeless Jewelry Guide
  • Beauty
    • All Things Beauty
    • Makeup Essentials Guide
  • Valentine’s
    • All Valentine’s Posts
    • Valentine’s Day Gifts 2021
    • Valentines Gifts for Boyfriend
    • Valentine’s Day Gifts for Girlfriend
    • Cute Valentines Outfits
    • Galentine’s Day 2021
College Fashion
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Write for us

Fashion Sketching 101: How to Draw Fashion Figures

Fashion sketching tutorial. Learn to draw fashion figures and croquis in minutes with our step-by-step tutorial.

Last Updated on March 1, 2019 by Whitney - Parsons
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you purchase through our links. Please read our full disclosure here.
Fashion sketches

Photo via ELLE

One of the cornerstones of fashion school is learning how to sketch fashion figures. However, as fashion school students learn, there’s a big difference between proper body proportions in art and in fashion.

In art, the body’s proportions are measured in heads. The average figure is about 7-7 1/2 heads, including the actual head, tall.

However, in fashion, the body proportions are elongated in order to better represent the models, who are above average in height. Because of this, the figures become 8-10 heads tall. Though the basic proportions of the fashion figure are about the same — give or take 1/4-1/2 of a head — every illustrator adds their own style to the formula.

If you want to embrace your inner fashion designer, or just want to learn more about what fashion school is like, read on!

Today, I’ll teach you how to sketch a proportionate female fashion figure and how to translate the measurements into a walking pose. Scroll down to learn more:

Materials You’ll Need:

  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Ruler (if you want to be extremely precise)
  • A sketchpad (duh!)

Fashion Sketching 101: How to Draw a Female Fashion Figure

Step #1

Draw a line. This is the balance line, a.k.a. the line which determines the body’s center of gravity. The balance line always extends from the base of the neck (where it meets the shoulders) straight to the ground.

Step #2

Draw a head with the middle of it on the line. To draw a head, sketch a large circle on top with a smaller circle below it. Connect these two on the sides with slightly rounded diagonal lines, as shown in the sketch below.

fashion figure sketch steps

Step #3

Measure the head, either with your pencil or the ruler. Using this measurement, draw nine small dashes equal distance apart, then number them from the bottom of the chin (#1) down to the bottom of the feet (#10).

Step #4

For the top half of the body, draw lines extending from 1 1/2 heads, 2 1/4, 3, 3 1/2, and 4 1/4 heads, as outlined below. These marks are where the shoulders, bust, waist, high hip, and crotch are located, respectively. The elbows are also located with the waist at the 3 heads mark.

Upper body proportions

(Click to enlarge.)

Step #5

Draw the features in, using straight lines: The shoulders on the woman fashion figure are 1 1/2 heads wide, the waist is a head’s width, while the hips should be about 1 1/4 heads wide. Therefore, the woman fashion figure should have an hourglass silhouette.

Step #6

For the lower half of the body, mark 6 1/2 heads as well as 9 for the knees and ankles, respectively.

Sketch bottom half

(Click to enlarge.)

Step #7

Draw the legs by making lines which curve and narrow as they go from the high hip to the knee for the thighs. For the calves, make a smaller cylindrical shape by curving the lines from the knees and then tapering them at the ankles, which jut out slightly on the inner half of each leg.

The thighs (from high hip to knee) and the calves (from knee to ankle) should be the same length.

Step #8

The last head is for the feet, which begin at the ankle to flare out in diagonal lines for 3/4 of the length of the head before they meet at a point.

Step #9

Draw the hands similarly. These begin with the wrist at the crotch. The fingers should end a little above the 5 heads mark.

Fashion Sketching 102: How to Draw Figure Movement

Once you get the proportions down, now it’s time to give the figure movement! There are three crucial components which all fashion figures require: a balance line, a high shoulder, and an opposing high hip.

Start by sketching a new figure. However, this time (after drawing the balance line and putting down the 10 head marks) tilt the shoulder line so that one side is higher. Tilt the high hip, too, but with the opposite side higher.

Sketch tilt

(Click to enlarge.)

For example below, I made the right shoulder higher so the left hip would be higher in order to keep the figure balanced. Try it yourself: If you tilt your shoulders, what happens to your hips?

Additionally, by tilting parts of the body, the rest of the body will follow suit. Anything above the high hip will follow the tilt of the shoulders, while everything below will follow the tilt of the hips, however all of these tilts will not be as severe as the shoulders and hips.

There’s one more rule that fashion figures must follow: the leg which comes from the high hip cannot be bent and that foot must touch the balance line. This keeps the figure balanced. Again, you can try this by shifting your weight to one foot . When this happens, the leg supporting all the weight cannot be bent.

Example of a walking pose:

Notice the tilts including the subtle differences between the two knees.

Croquis

(Click to enlarge.)

Now you can have fun and try drawing your own fashion figures! To start, find poses to mimic by looking through magazines. To copy the pose, just remember to identify the balance line, the high shoulder, high hip, and the supporting leg (the one which touches the balance line).

What do you think?

Did you know about fashion proportions? Have you heard about measuring the body using heads? Did you find this tutorial helpful? Would you like to learn how to draw some basic poses? Tell me what you think by leaving a comment!

Tags : Fashion School, How To

55 Comments
Originally published on April 12, 2013
Previous 11 Things to Add to Your College Bucket List
Next 4 Reasons Why You Need a Personal Vision Statement

Related Posts

10 Beginner Tips for the Collegiate Minimalist

FIDM Housing

Diary of a Fashion School Student: Housing and Having a...

Photo including: a day designer planner, glasses, a furry pillow, and a laptop.

How to Plan Out Your Week to Perfection

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joanna says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:27 am

    Great- I love it!

    Reply
  2. Nina says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:27 am

    This was exteremely helpful- especially for someone who is as clumsy with a pencil as myself! I’m glad someone else recognizes that you draw fashion figures slightly elongated, it’s something my friends and I argue about.

    Reply
  3. M says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:27 am

    “However, in fashion, the body proportions are elongated in order to better represent the models, who are above average in height. Because of this, the figures become 8-10 heads tall.”

    This explains a lot.
    Great series, by the way!

    Reply
  4. Kelsey says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:27 am

    I’m in love with this post! Great idea!!

    Reply
  5. arlyn says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:26 pm

    i really find this as a very helpful tutorial. i liked it.thank you.:D

    Reply
  6. vicky rathod... says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:26 pm

    thank u so much for such a very valuable tutorial…..thanx again….and give a some more tips pls…

    Reply
  7. SANDRA says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:25 pm

    thanx alot i really loved d tutorial.

    Reply
  8. omolara says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    I’m a fashion designer in training and I don’t understand a thing

    Reply
  9. FR says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    Love the post!

    However I am struggling a bit to understand it.
    When you keep saying head, for example 1 1/2 head and 3 1/4 head what do you mean?
    Do you mean the head measurement you told us to take in step 3 ?

    Also what is 1/4? is that meant to be inches ?

    Sorry for being a bit slow but i really don’t understand that part. Everything else seems straightforward. I am sure I can do it if you will just explain that head thing.

    Thanks x

    Reply
    • assina says

      July 5, 2020 at 5:07 am

      hi..1/2 of head means the head you drew draw a line halfway through it..and for 1/4 draw a line halfway through the half way line…hope this helped

      Reply
  10. Christinia Peake says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    Found this information very helpful

    Reply
  11. Grace L. says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    Thanks for the tutorial! It was great and easy to follow. Personally, I’m not that good with drawing but this really helped! Thanks again!

    Reply
  12. Jennifer says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    This helped me a lot. Thank you!! 😀

    Reply
  13. psalmuel says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks. It was extremely helpful. the method gives precision. once again. Thanks

    Reply
  14. dammy says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:39 pm

    Hello,thanks for this tutorial,I love it,am new here.I want to become a fashion designer,but no finacial support to go to school looking a begginers fashion design tutorial nd I found this. But I don’t understand the fashion proportions,pls kindly throw more light.thanks

    Reply
  15. Zehra says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:33 am

    This is even more effective than my college illustration teachings. I could learn faster i guess.

    Reply
  16. Agnes says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    I was on the verge of paying to be taught how to sketch but then I stumbled on this post. It is so invaluable. I spent my early morning hours recreating this sketches and for the first time in my life I did great (smiling from ear to ear). One point I don’t understand though is which leg should not be bent and should touch the balance line?
    Thank you again Whitney. My day will be a great one because of you.

    Reply
  17. Kiersten says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:33 am

    I’m in love with this! I’m only 13 years old and fashion design is what I want to for a living. And this has helped me so much! Could you maybe post something about how to sketch a male figure still and in motion? Thank you so much

    Reply
  18. Liz says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:39 pm

    Thank you – this is very helpful and hope you do some more. 🙂

    Reply
  19. eyebloggz says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:32 am

    U just won my heart with this tutorial God bless u.

    Reply
  20. Kyla says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:32 am

    This is the very best of the best sketching tutorial I have ever seen. This is so simple.
    Now I can actually put something on paper.
    Thank you so much.

    Reply
  21. Ilechukwu says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:37 am

    this is really helpful for people like me….pls keep us updated tankx

    Reply
  22. Thato Lebaka says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    this was incredibly helpful, I almost gave up on learning. thank you so much. hope to see more of your posts 🙂

    Reply
  23. Megha M says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    Thanks a lot, it was very helpfull

    Reply
  24. Tanviky says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    Best I av Eva read,I don’t need to watch a video to draw mine.

    Reply
  25. Opal says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:56 pm

    Hi my name is opal and I want know how to become a fashion designer for a living I’ll be draw very since I was 12 years old.

    Reply
  26. Alabi Ameenah Bamgbopa says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:55 pm

    Good morning, really appreciate this class of teaching how to do sketch a figure have tried my 101 and was perfect but the moving sketch 102 I didn’t get it perfectly kindly come to my aid want to be perfect.
    How can I download the whole course I mean pdf pls, thanks so much I appreciate your immense effort and may God provide for all your needs.

    Reply
  27. G says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:58 pm

    It’s almost 2 AM here in the Philippines but your tutorial kept me awake. This is very helpful. Now there’s something I can start with, I’ve always wanted to learn how to draw/sketch fashion figures. May God’s grace be upon you. You inspire people. 🙂

    Reply
  28. pwint says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:00 pm

    It’s very helpful. I love it . Thank you.

    Reply
  29. sally osume says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:00 pm

    yes, it was helpful and i’ll like to learn how to draw basic poses

    Reply
  30. Joseph Montgomery says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    m&Gold
    thank you so much, really cool and easy way to learn sketching fashion figures. God bless you for sharing such great skill set, am really grateful. would you be kind to share how to endow the figure with dress styles etc?

    thank you so much regardless.

    Reply
  31. Lance Derrick says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    Thanks for the useful information. For people who want to learn Fashion Sketch but are not good at drawing figures, we created a fashion sketch book and hopefully it helps. https://amzn.to/2JMVWSF

    Reply
  32. barbara_humphrey says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    Thank you for this information. I have been trying to draw fashion figures for some time. This information you provided is a lot clearer. Thank youagain

    Reply
  33. Alisa Gannon says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    Thanks so much! I’ve just started doing fashion watercolor and this is the best info I’ve found! I hope you have more!

    Reply
  34. Ro says

    February 9, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    Hey that was really helpfull <3

    Reply
  35. vicbubby says

    February 20, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    thanks so much. nice details

    Reply
  36. Michele says

    February 21, 2019 at 5:59 am

    Thanks great tutorial

    Reply
  37. Natasha says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:25 am

    An fail free tutorial the first website i clicked on and understood it perfectly. Thankx…

    Reply
  38. Priyanka Gupta says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:26 am

    So much helpful .I was looking for the tutorials like this one ..thanx guyss..plz provide some more tutorials for the same.

    Reply
  39. jessica says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:32 am

    wow it real help me a lot.nd tnks for such info

    Reply
  40. Glorykofa says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:32 am

    VERY HELPFUL. How can I reach you for personal tutorials. I am in New York.

    Reply
  41. semsema says

    April 15, 2019 at 11:36 am

    thanks a lot ,this information was very helpful to me

    Reply
  42. vicky says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    This information was very helpful, thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  43. Ayappan says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    nice im like it this page….. very useful

    Reply
  44. Abeer says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks 4 sharing 🙂
    Love it!! Really!

    Reply
  45. fashion iran (fashionir) says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    thank you so much, really cool and easy way to learn.
    آموزش طراحی لباس

    Reply
  46. eram says

    May 17, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    I just loved it

    Reply
  47. Fay says

    May 17, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    I love this!!..i had tried different methods previously and couldnt get it right but one shot at yours and i’m a sketch guru already!.thank u

    Reply
  48. Temi says

    May 17, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    Whitney, the Samsung note 10.1 which I use is beautiful. It’s great for sketching. The sketchpad app has various pencil and brush heads and you also get to pick from a wide range of colours from the pre installed colour pallette. And you can record your sketch session also! You should look up the features on gsmarena.com.

    Reply
  49. Revathi says

    May 19, 2019 at 2:58 am

    Great

    Reply
  50. diksha says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:39 pm

    its really gret i loved it a lot n it was very helpful..:-)

    Reply
  51. patrick says

    May 29, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    l ask my boss to teach me this And he never did and now I know. God bless u very much.
    but plesse, I want to know about the poses in dress. thank u.

    Reply
  52. sarvin says

    July 7, 2019 at 9:05 am

    Thank you so much I use the your drawing tips in mine https://www.sarvinstyle.com/fashion-figure/

    Reply
  53. Maria Hernandez says

    July 17, 2019 at 12:32 am

    Fashion designing is my top hobby. From a very little age I always drew something which is related to fashion. I tried to take lessons from a professional but could not able to find one to guide me. This article has some amazing lessons. Making the head is so easy I never knew that. Following this steps can make anyone create an female image within a minute. Thanks for the amazing lessons.

    Reply
  54. pink peacock says

    July 28, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    Draw Dress

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • pinterest
  • bloglovin

SEARCH CF

Get the latest CF updates! (Delivered weekly, no spam ever, unsubscribe anytime.)

21 Cute Backpacks for School 2021: Our Picks for Going to Class with Style

Sling some style over your shoulder this semester.

Best of 2020: Fashion, Beauty, College Essentials, and More!

All of my favorites from an unforgettable year, to say the least.

Vintage Posts

Copyright © 2007-2021 College Fashion LLC | Contact • Privacy Policy • Terms of Service • Disclosure • Write for Us