Because Veronica learned to dress for her body type, she now feels more balanced and confident. Knowing how to dress for her long legs and short torso has been a struggle all her life. In fact when she was younger she was always teased about it. She’s amazed knowing how to place the proper design lines in the right area can make such a big difference.
Veronica was invited to join a mastermind group for start-up companies. They’ve been meeting via Zoom. She’s learned a lot thus far. They’re going to have their first face-to-face for 3 days, in a couple of weeks. She went shopping to get a couple of new outfits for the event.
Knowing the proper placement of design lines for her body makes shopping much easier and less stressful. Keep reading to learn the proper placement of design lines for her body.
Veronica’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Veronica’s Body Element clues:
- Body Shape — X (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Curved clothes silhouette
- Can place horizontal and vertical lines almost anywhere when considering Body Shape
- Face Shape — Heart (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Curved design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — Low Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Yellow, Violet, Red
- Color Combinations (other colors) — Analogous
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — Low contrast
- First Scale Clue — Small
- Body Proportions — Short between bust/waist and waist/crotch, long between crotch/knees and knees/floor (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Place them between her crotch/knees and knees/floor; don’t place them between her bust/waist and waist/crotch
- Vertical lines — Place them between her bust/waist and waist/crotch; don’t place them between her crotch/knees and knees/floor
- Second Scale Clue — Decrease overall scale between bust/waist and waist/crotch; increase it between crotch/knees and knees/floor
- Body Frame Size — Medium (Body Frame Size — The Girls)
- Third scale clue — Medium
- Scale Strategy — Small/Medium (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Decrease scale to small between her bust/waist and waist/crotch
- Increase to medium between her crotch/knees and knees/floor
Dress For Body Type -- Shell
Veronica saw this top hanging on the wall on the DKNY pad and knew she had to have it. The number one reason is the color. Violet is one of her favorite colors and she doesn’t see it often. When she does and the design lines are right for her, she always buys it. She thought this is the perfect way to start this shopping trip.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Veronica learned the first design line she should evaluate is the silhouette. It’s the outside line of the clothes. The difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. It comes in two categories: angular and curved. In an angular silhouette the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be all the same width. On the other hand, with a curved silhouette the waist is significantly smaller than the shoulders and hips. Her Body Shape gives her clues as to which category to choose.
Veronica has an X Body Shape which puts her into the curved category. She looked at the silhouette of the shell and determined it was curved, and is perfect for her.
Horizontal Lines
Horizontal lines are one of the lines Veronica learned she needs to place strategically. They emphasize an area, make it appear wider and shorter. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to their placement.
For her Body Shape, Veronica doesn’t need to worry about the placement of horizontal lines because her X Body Shape doesn’t have one area wider than the others. However, she needs to strategically place them for her Body Proportions.
Veronica is short between her bust/waist and waist/crotch. She’s long between her crotch/knees and knee/floor. This makes her legs significantly longer than her torso. She wants to limit the placement of horizontal lines in between her bust/crotch because they’ll make this area appear even shorter. On the other hand, she wants them between her crotch/floor because horizontal lines will make this area appear shorter creating better balance with her torso.
This shell has two horizontal lines: the neckline and hem. The neckline is a crew neckline which makes a small horizontal line. It’s at her neckline and a good place because her Body Proportion between her chin/bust is equal to her ideal Body Proportions for her height.
Because Veronica is short between her bust/crotch she wants to limit horizontal lines in this area. The hem hits are just below her crotch because she’s short in this area. She learned placing a horizontal line here helps make her torso appear longer.
The horizontal lines on this shell work perfectly for Veronica.
Shape Of Design Lines
Veronica learned that the shape of design lines is also an important aspect of understanding design lines. They come in two shapes: angular and curved. Her Face Shape gives her clues to which category works best for her.
Face Shapes come in the same two categories. Veronica has a heart Face Shape which falls into the curved category. This means she should wear curved design lines.
The only design line with a shape is the neckline. It’s a crew neckline which is curved perfect for Veronica.
Dress For Body Type -- Jacket
Veronica knew she wanted to wear a jacket over the shell. First, because she gets cold in most conference rooms and secondly, they have vertical lines which is a needed design line for her short torso.
She loves the longer jackets and found this linen-blend gray one. Linen is an iconic summer fabric and also creates a casual look.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Veronica looked at the silhouette of this jacket and found it had a slight curved silhouette, but not enough for her. She then looked at all the seams to see if they could be altered.
Over the last several years, she learned that when clothes have an angular silhouette she can, in most cases, have it altered to create a curved silhouette. She saw the two back princess lines which are a perfect place to alter at the waist to fit her silhouette. She consulted her tailor and she just has enough time to have the jacket altered to fit her smaller waist.
Horizontal Lines
The next design lines Veronica looked for were horizontal lines on this jacket. Her eye first stopped at the neck lapel which lays between her shoulders and bust. Then her eye stopped at the pocket flaps, top and then bottom. These horizontal lines lay at mid-hip. Finally, her eye stopped at the hem which lays mid-thigh.
The lapel horizontal lines work for Veronica because it’s between her chin/bust where she’s even in this area compared to her ideal Body Proportions for her height.
The horizontal lines created by the pockets are problematic. This is because her Body Proportions between her bust/waist and waist/crotch are short. A horizontal line in this area will make the areas look even shorter. She looked for a jacket without horizontal pockets but couldn’t find one. She thought she could lessen the impact if she placed the flap inside the pocket. As a result, there was only one horizontal line.
The last horizontal line, the hem, works perfect for Veronica because it lays mid-thigh because she is long between her crotch and knees. This horizontal line helps lengthen the appearance of her torso and shorten her legs.
Veronica knows the horizontal lines on the jacket aren’t perfect, but sometimes it’s hard to find the perfect placement. She looked at how she felt when wearing the jacket with the whole outfit and she felt light, close to feeling like she could conquer her world.
Vertical Lines
Another design line that’s important to Veronica is vertical lines. They move the eye up and down and make the area appear thinner and longer. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placements of these design lines.
For Veronica’s Body Shape she can place vertical lines anywhere because there isn’t one area wider than the other on her X Body Shape. On the other hand, she needs to place them strategically for her Body Proportions. Because she’s short between her bust/waist and waist/crotch, she wants to place vertical lines in this area to make it appear longer. However, she wants to avoid them between her crotch/knees and knees/floor because she’s long in this area and they will make it appear even longer.
Veronica saw two vertical lines: the center front opening of the jacket and the ones created by the lapel on either side of the center front opening. Both of these vertical lines work well for her because they help make her torso appear longer.
Shape Of Design Lines
The last design aspect she looked at was the shape of design lines. Veronica found three different design line shapes within the jacket: the lapel, pocket flaps and center front opening at the hem. The lapel and pocket shapes are angular, while the center front at the hem is curved.
Veronica has a curved Face Shape, therefore, wants to wear curved design lines. She plans to put the pocket flaps inside the pockets and as a result, the shapes disappear. When looking at the jacket, the dominant design line shape is the center front opening at the hem. She plans to wear a curved shape necklace and earrings to lessen the effects of the lapel.
Dress For Body Type -- Pants
Veronica next turned her focus to look for a pair of pants. She considered a lot of different ones. She surprised herself by picking a petite pair. Because she’s short between her waist/crotch, she often finds regular pants are too long in this area. This pair of petite pants fits perfectly. She also found that wearing petite pants also makes the hem shorter which also works for her.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Like most pants, Veronica found the silhouette of the pants to be angular. She has found most pants are too big in her waist area. But because these pants have pleats she can wear them to fit her waist and have plenty of room for her wider hips. As a result, this pair of pants works for her curvy silhouette.
Horizontal Lines
Veronica determined this pair of pants has two horizontal lines: the waistband and hem. She will never wear her tops tucked in because a horizontal line at her waist will make the area between her waist and crotch appear even shorter. As a result, the waistband horizontal lines are a non-issue.
The pant hem hits Veronica just above her ankles. This is a perfect placement of a horizontal line for her. It makes her legs appear shorter, creating balance with her torso. She also saw a lot of wider leg capris which meant this style of pants were on trend.
Dress For Body Type -- Sandals
Veronica looked for sandals she could wear the whole three days. She looked for one in a neutral color. When she found these Ralph Lauren gray sandals she knew they would work for all the outfits. What she liked most is that gray is an unusual neutral and adds to the overall look of the outfits.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
With Veronica’s Face Shape being a heart type, she looked for sandals with a round toe shape. These sandals work perfect for her Face Shape.
Dress For Body Type -- Necklace
Veronica looked for a necklace next. She looked for a lariat necklace because it creates a vertical line. Before she learned about the best design lines for her body, she was always drawn to this style of necklace. She never knew why but now she does.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
This lariat necklace creates a vertical line from Veronica’s shoulders to just above her bust. Even though she could wear a necklace that creates a horizontal line in this area, wearing one which creates a vertical line is even better. That’s because her torso is shorter than her legs and the vertical line helps create the appearance of length.
Shape Of Design Lines
The pearls on the bottom of lariat are curved which is perfect for Veronica’s curved Face Shape.
Dress For Body Type -- Earrings
The last item Veronica looked for was earrings. She wanted them to have a bold curved shape to counterbalance any angular shapes in the outfit. She loved the fact that not only the overall shape is curved but it also had pearl shapes within it.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
The overall shape of the earrings are curved and it had a pearl design within the design. All are perfect for Veronica’s Face Shape.
Final Thoughts
Veronica is excited about her mastermind trip and that she found clothes that help her feel like she can conquer her world. Now that she understands the magic of strategically using design lines for her short torso and long legs she knows what to look for. As a result, she feels more confident in herself and her abilities. She’s better able to live outside her comfort zone so she can pursue her passion to create impact and make this world a better place to live.
Next week the direction of the post will go in a little different direction. It won’t be on Sam, Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica. It will be on me, sharing my body elements and what design lines and colors work best for me. It’s called: What To Wear For My Body Type — Joy.
Wear Your Greatness!!
