I must confess, mathematics has never been my forte; and I must confess this to those who might think that understanding and using the golden ratio has anything to do with being good at math or geometry. This applies especially to the use of the golden section in garment design.
The golden ratio (GR), also called the golden section, golden proportion, or mean (GR), is represented by the Greek letter phi and has the numerical value 1.6180339 or 0.6180339.
Ignoring the ongoing debate as to whether the golden ratio was developed by the Greeks or the Egyptians, the Greek mathematician Euclid (300 B.C.) recorded in his book “Elements” that dividing a line at the 0.6180399 point is dividing a line in the extreme and mean ratio. In other words, the proportion is found by dividing a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part.
This way of dividing a line or a shape is said to result in the most harmonious proportions.
