The overall outline or shape of a garment or outfit.
Silhouette describes the shape perceived around the outside of a garment or a complete outfit. Cut, volume and proportion contribute to that outline, while the way fabric hangs affects how it appears on the body. A bustle, for example, changes the outline by adding fullness at the back. In development, a pattern cutter translates a proposed shape into pattern pieces and checks the result during fittings. Alterations also require attention to the outline because changing a garment’s dimensions can affect its proportions. Fit concerns how clothing accommodates the wearer, while silhouette describes its overall visual shape.
In job listings
Burberry sought a Senior Pattern Cutter in London to translate design concepts into patterns while preserving silhouette, movement and proportion. The role followed styles through development, fittings and technical resolution. This gives the term a concrete production application: maintaining the intended outline as a design becomes a resolved garment. Search local jobs for “silhouette”.
