Sam figured out dressing for your body type has helped her tap into confidence she didn’t know she possessed. She’s now working on her dream project creating a multi-purpose community where people are living and working. She’s had this dream ever since getting her architecture degree.
Sam was never into clothes before because she thought they were just meant to protect your body. Now she understands that they can change how you feel. She’s learned that her body gives her clues as to which design lines and colors work best for her body. Because she didn’t have a clue what works best for her body this system has helped her. Over time she’s building a closet full of these clothes.
Sam and her friends Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica haven’t spent much time together this summer because each was going in different directions. So they decided that they and their husbands would spend the day wine tasting, visiting local shops and eating out. Sam wanted a casual outfit which could also take her into the fall season.
Sam’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Sam’s Body Element clues:
- Body Shape — H (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Angular clothes silhouette
- Can place horizontal and vertical lines almost anywhere when considering Body Shape
- Face Shape — Oval (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Curved design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — High Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Blue, Pink (red/violet), Green
- Color Combinations (other colors) —
- Triadic — Blue
- Triadic or Complementary — Pink
- Complementary — Green
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — High contrast
- First Scale Clue — Large
- Body Proportions — Short between chin/bust, long between waist/crotch (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Don’t place them between her chin/bust but do place them between her waist/crotch
- Vertical lines — Limit the amount between her waist/crotch but do place them between her chin/bust
- Second Scale Clue — Decrease overall scale between chin/bust and increase it between waist/crotch
- Body Frame Size — Medium (Body Frame Size — The Girls)
- Third scale clue — Medium
- Scale Strategy — Medium/Large (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Decrease it to medium between her chin/bust
- Increase it to large between her waist/crotch
Dressing For Your Body Type -- Top
Sam always starts putting together an outfit by looking for a top and she stopped in the Vince Camuto area. Blue is one of her favorite colors and this top caught her eye. When designing homes, she’s always drawn to paisley prints. What she liked about it is that at first she didn’t see it and then all the sudden she did. The other detail she liked is the vent placed in the center back seam near the hem. She knew this top is where she’ll build an outfit.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam learned that the first design line to look at is the silhouette, which is the outside line of an outfit. The silhouette is the difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. They’re two types of silhouettes: angular and curved. With an angular silhouette the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. On the other hand, a curved silhouette has a waist that is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and waist. Her Body Shape gives her the clue to which silhouette.
Sam has an H Body Shape which means her shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. This Body Shape gives her the clue of an angular silhouette.
Sam looked at the side seam to determine the top’s silhouette. It appeared to be a straight line which means it has the perfect angular silhouette for her.
Horizontal Lines
The next design line Sam looks for is horizontal lines. She knows they stop the eye, emphasize the area and make it appear wider and shorter. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
Sam learned that because she has an H Body Shape she can place horizontal lines anywhere because she doesn’t have one area wider than another. On the other hand, she needs to look at her Body Proportions to determine the best place for horizontal lines. She is short between her chin/bust and long between her waist/crotch. This means she wants to limit or avoid them between her chin/bust and wants them between her waist/crotch.
Sam found two horizontal lines on the top: neckline and hem. The neckline is right at the nape of her neck and the hem lies mid-hip. The neckline isn’t perfect; but this didn’t concern her because she knows of ways to create length in this area. For the hem, its placement was perfect for her Body Proportions.
Vertical Lines
The next design lines Sam looked for are vertical lines. She learned they moved the eye up and down, and made the area appear longer and thinner. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
Like horizontal lines, Sam didn’t need to be concerned about the placement of these lines for her Body Shape because she doesn’t have one area wider than the other. Like horizontal lines she turns to her Body Proportions to determine the best placement.
Sam knows she wants them between her chin and bust to make this area appear longer and limits or avoids them between her waist/crotch area.
She found two vertical lines: those created by the armholes and the big paisley shape that starts at her shoulder and goes just below her bust. Both of these work for Sam’s Body Proportions by making the area between her chin/bust appear longer which also minimizes the horizontal line created by the neckline.
Design Lines Shape
Sam learned that design line shape can make an outfit feel wrong when the wrong line shape is used. Design line shapes can be found in the neckline, collars, pocket, cuff, decorative seam lines and prints. They come in two shapes: angular and curved. Angular design line shapes have angles and curved ones, like the name, are curved.
Sam’s Face Shape gives her clues as to which category is best for her. She has an oval Face Shape which means curved design line shape works best for her.
Sam figured out this top has two design line shape areas: neckline and print. Both have an overall feel of curved perfect for her Face Shape clue.
Color
Sam’s favorite color is blue and she likes many different shades. One that she wears a lot is navy. This is one of the major reasons why she picked this top. In the past, she stayed away from wearing prints, even though she liked the texture they create, because she couldn’t figure out what colors work best on her and scale of the print.
Sam’s learned that the coloring of her Skin, Hair and Eyes give her the clues she needs to determine the best colors in a print. The color contrast between her Skin and Hair give her that clue. It’s called her color contrast profile.
Sam’s color contrast profile is high because she has light skin and dark hair. This means she can wear high contrast colors. She gets that by wearing triatic (every third color on the color wheel) or complimentary (colors across from each other on the color wheel) color combinations. Also the relative lightness can be both dark and light.
The colors on the top are navy and white. This creates a high color contrast perfect for the clues her color contrast profile gives her.
Scale
The other part of knowing what prints work best for her is the scale of prints. Sam learned that she can look at the clues from her color contrast profile, Body Frame Size and Body Proportions. She determined that the clues from her color contrast profile and Body Frame Size give her an overall strategy of medium/large. Then she adjusts this for her Body Proportions. Up if it’s long in the area or down if it’s short in the area. Because the print lies in both areas she wants to wear medium large.
Sam looked at the print closely. At first she thought the scale was medium/large but then she saw the large paisley that went from the shoulder to just under her bust. So she tried it on to see how it felt. Because the large paisley was so subtle, the overall feel was more medium/large and most importantly she felt confident in the top. Sam knew the print worked for her.
Dressing For Your Body Type -- Cardigan
Sam wanted to get a cardigan to go with the top because she wanted an outfit than transitions into fall and cooler mornings and evenings. One of her go to brands is Anne Klien because she liked the classic styles. She has this one in black and liked the tan with the blue.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
By looking at the seam line, Sam determined the cardigan has an angular silhouette which matches her Body Shape clues.
Horizontal Lines
Sam then looked for horizontal lines and she found four: top of the patch pocket, bottom of the patch pocket, sleeve hems and cardigan hem. When she tried on the cardigan she determined that the top of the patch pocket lay at her mid-hip and the rest lay below her crotch. All four match her Body Proportions’ clues.
Design Line Shape
Sam next looked at the design line shapes to make sure they match her Face Shape clues. She found three places that design lines created a shape: patch pockets, pocket buttons and center front hem transition. She determined that the shapes included both angular and curved design lines shapes. The top of the patch pocket was angular; while, the bottom is curved. The button on the pocket is round which is curved. Finally the center front hem transition is angular.
Even though Sam’s Face Shape is oval, she wasn’t concerned about the top of the patch pocket or center front hem transition because she knows the print on the top, shoes, necklace and earrings all have curved shapes. As a result, the overall design line shape feels curved.
Dressing For Your Body Type -- Pants
Sam next looked for jeans. She wanted to go outside her comfort zone and try something different. When looking around she saw a lot of flared jeans. She tried on several brands and liked the look of On 34th, a new brand for Macy’s.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
When looking at all the pants, Sam learned to look at the waist and hip width to determine if the silhouette is angular or curved. She determined the silhouette is indeed angular and is perfect for her Body Shape clue.
Horizontal Lines
Sam next looked at the horizontal lines and found three: waistband, pocket and hem. These pants are high waisted which isn’t ideal for her because she needs the horizontal line between her waist/crotch area. Mid-rise pants work better. That being said every other part of the fit works perfect for her and she tends to not tuck her tops in.
The placement of the pocket works well because it lays between her waist and crotch. The pants are so long that she needs to wear a heel. Before this journey she would have passed on these jeans for just this reason; but now she likes wearing heels when out with her family and friends.
What To Wear For My Body Type -- Sandals
Sam normally doesn’t like to wear a heel of any type; however, when she tried these on, she didn’t feel like she was wearing a 2 inch heel. She surprised herself and is amazed how she’s grown in the diversity of clothes and accessories she now wears.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam looked for shoes that have a round toe which matches her Face Shape clue. These shoes have that round toe. She’s amazed how wearing a round toe makes such a difference in how she feels.
Scale
As an architect, Sam understands the concept of making sure the scale of items are important. But when it comes to shoes she didn’t have a clue. Now that she understands her scale strategy is medium/large and it applies to shoes also, she looks for shoes that have visual weight. The soles of these shoes give her just that.
Dressing For Your Body Type -- Necklace
Sam looks for a necklace which creates visual length because the neckline of the top creates a horizontal line. This Y-necklace does just that.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
This necklace naturally creates vertical lines because of its Y shape. It’s perfect for Sam’s short Body Proportions between her chin/bust, making this area appear longer.
Shape Of Design Lines
This necklace has both angular and curved elements. However, Sam felt the overall feel is curved because of the round pendant.
Dressing For Your Body Type -- Earrings
Sam looked for earrings that complimented the rest of the outfit. She wanted them to support the rest of the outfit. When she found this pair she knew they were right because they were unique but weren’t the star.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
The twist of the earrings create a soft curve perfect for Sam’s Face Shape clue.
Scale
Sam looked for earrings with a medium scale because her Body Proportions between chin/bust is short. She learned that she should decrease her medium/large overall scale to medium in areas where she’s short. This pair of medium scale earrings is perfect for her body’s clues.
Final Thoughts
Sam is amazed how wearing the right design lines and colors for her body helps her step into her confidence. She’s also amazed how she uses her architect background in putting clothes together. In fact, this knowledge around understanding of what works for her body she uses in designing homes. As she takes steps toward her passion, her confidence in herself and her abilities keeps growing and growing.
Next week is Monica’s turn to share what design lines and colors work best for her body and the outfit she’ll be wearing wine tasting on Labor Day. The post is: Dressing For Your Body Type — Monica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
