Inverted triangle: the hood does not stay up

Women’s clothes. The shoulder is already the width. The jacket does not add another.

Here the shoulder passes the hip. A rain jacket with epaulettes and the hood up, in October haze, draws a second shadow. Sunlight at the airport point averages 4.35 kWh/m²/day in October, down from 5.11 in September. It is not a hard noon at altitude. A stiff wet hood is still enough to read as shoulder.

Open in MOSA

On this URL. Two undertones, same 5'4" woman, photographed in October haze so the shoulder shadow is the one this city actually has. The hood is for the walk, not the office. Pant length changes between a 28-inch inseam and a 32-inch inseam.

Inverted triangle, warm undertone, olive top and deeper pant, hood down, October haze in Houston — **Warm undertone.** Quiet top, olive or stone. Deeper pant. The color weighs low.img/warm-undertone.webp

Same inverted triangle, cool undertone, stone top and burgundy pant, hood down — **Cool undertone.** A black top in flat haze adds shoulder. Stone top, burgundy pant.img/cool-undertone.webp

The hood is for the sidewalk, not the desk

From the car to the door, the hood earns its place. October’s normal is 5.46 inches, and a single storm can soak a collar. Once there is a roof, the hood comes down. Left up, with October’s 4.35 kWh/m²/day between storms, it throws shade on both sides of the neck and the V doubles. This jacket has no epaulette and no tab at the shoulder. A little ease sits at the hip: a straight leg with a trace of room, not a bell that drags.

The walk inTop without a built shoulder, low contrast. Pant with more presence than the top, high rise, that does not cling until the hip becomes a line. Smooth rain shell, hood usable and stowable without a lump at the neck. Closed shoe. No epaulette.

The 28-inch crop is not lent to 32

28-inch inseam

A pant that shows the ankle takes a block off the shoulder. The crop works if the hem stays out of the puddle, not in it. An ankle-length shell at this inseam covers the leg, and the body becomes a rectangle with shoulders.

32-inch regular

That same crop looks short, and the shoulder wins again. At 32 inches the hem goes to the ankle, not to a bare shin. The 5'4" woman in the frames sits between the two lengths. She does not decide both.

September, at 90.4 °F and 5.11 kWh/m²/day, the hood is used for a shorter walk and the top is still the problem: a black top in that sun also heats the shoulder. November’s high is 72.6 °F and the sunlight is down to 3.23 kWh/m²/day. The epaulette still does not enter. A quieter top matters more when the light is flatter, not less.

Wear and skip

Hood down once inside
Top without an epaulette
Color in the pant
Ankle showing at 28 inches
Hem at the ankle at 32 inches

Epaulette
Hood left up at the desk
Black top on a cool undertone
Ankle-length shell at 28 inches
A bell hem that drags

Questions

Can the hood stay up if the shoulder is already wide?

On the walk, yes. Once there is a roof, no. October sunlight at the airport point averages 4.35 kWh/m²/day. A hood left up in that haze adds shoulder.

Does a cropped pant work at every inseam?

At 28 inches, a hem that shows the ankle balances the shoulder. At 32 inches that crop looks short and the shoulder leads more. At 32 the hem goes to the ankle.

What top fails on a cool undertone?

Black, in October haze. The shoulder reads heavier. The top goes to stone and the color drops to the pant.

Build this body in MOSA