Building a dream closet has always been on Monica’s bucket list. All her life, she’s loved clothes. In the past, she built her dream closet based just on color. She’s attracted to color; however, she’s learned that color is just one component. Design lines that enhance her body are the other component. Today she has a better idea about which design lines work for her.
On the shopping trip with Sam, Alice, Grace and Veronica, Monica decided that she was going to be open. She looked at the current color and design line trends and determined whether they could work for her. If she didn’t find anything; that would be fine because she knows it’s not a reflection on her or her body. This mindset alone is a major step forward for Monica because in the past whenever she didn’t find anything, to her, it meant there was something wrong with her and her body.
Monica only found shoes and a necklace while shopping, but saw a green shirt she loved. But she didn’t find it in a style that works for her body, so she went online to find styles with design lines which match her body’s clues. She loves the fact that if she doesn’t find what she wants in the store, she can go online.
Read further to find out what Monica found.
Monica’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Monica’s Body Element clues:
- Body Shape — O (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Angular clothes silhouette
- Avoid placing horizontal lines at the waist
- Avoid placing vertical lines at the shoulders
- Face Shape — Pear (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Curved design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — Medium Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Green, Yellow and Red/Orange
- Color Combinations (other colors) — Analogous
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — Medium contrast
- First Scale Clue — Medium
- Body Proportions — Long between bust/waist, Long between waist/crotch, Short between crotch/knees, Short between knees/floor (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Don’t place them between her crotch/knees and knees/floor but she can place them between her bust and crotch. However, because she has an O Body Shape, so she needs to avoid them at her waist
- Vertical lines — Limit them between her bust/crotch but do place them between her crotch/floor
- Second Scale Clue — Increase overall scale between bust/crotch and decrease it between crotch/floor
- Body Frame Size — Medium (Body Frame Size — The Girls)
- Third scale clue — Large
- Scale Strategy — Medium/Large (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Increase to large between her bust/crotch
- Decrease to medium between her crotch/floor
Building Dream Closet -- Top
The first thing that drew Monica to this top is the color. This is one of her favorite colors. Then she looked at the design lines. Based on everything she’s learned this past year, they looked perfect. When she tried it on to make sure the design lines were in the right places for her body, the top fit perfectly. She thought she could wear it to work and when going out with her husband and/or friends.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
In the past year, Monica learned that she needs to look for clothes with an angular silhouette because her O Body Shape is in the angular category. In this category, the shoulders, waist and hips all appear the same width.
This top has an angular silhouette because the shoulders and hips appear the same width, which is perfect for her Body Shape.
Horizontal Lines
Monica has learned that horizontal lines are an important design line to understand because they stop the eyes, emphasize that area and make the area appear wider and shorter. She also learned that her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
With her O Body Shape, Monica doesn’t want to place horizontal lines at her waist; however, they work well in her shoulder and hip areas. For her Body Proportions, putting them between her bust and crotch will make this long area appear to be shorter, creating balance. On the other hand, putting them in her leg area will make her legs appear even shorter than her torso.
This top has three horizontal lines: the neckline, top of the hem band and bottom of the hem band. The horizontal line created at the neckline is in the perfect spot for Monica’s O Body Shape. It brings emphasis to this area and makes the shoulders appear a little wider. The two horizontal lines created by the hem band are just above the hip area, which also brings emphasis to this area and makes it appear wider. Both together, they bring balance to her O Body Shape.
For Monica’s Body Proportions, all three horizontal lines are perfect. Her Body Proportion between her chin/bust is the same as the ideal length Body Proportions for her height. Horizontal lines in this area don’t affect her Body Proportions. On the other hand, with her being long between bust/crotch, horizontal lines are important because they’ll help this area appear shorter. The horizontal lines created by the band are in the perfect place for her. They make this area appear shorter while not bringing emphasis to her waist.
Shape Of Design Lines
Another fact Monica has learned is that her Face Shape gives her clues as to the shape of design lines. She has a pear Face Shape. It falls into the curved category, which means she should look for curved design lines.
Monica found that this top’s neckline was the only design line shape detail. She noticed that the transition from the straight line front to the shoulders is curved which is perfect for her Face Shape.
Color
One of Monica’s favorite colors is a rich green. That’s the main reason she’s attracted to this top. While shopping in the Alfani section at the Roseville Macy’s store, she saw this color on several tops. However, the tops’ design lines didn’t work for her. In the past, she would’ve bought one of them; but now she knows better. She found out the color, Deep Forest Green, so when she got home she looked on macys.com to see if there were other tops made with the same color. She felt like she hit the jackpot when she found this top.
Building Dream Closet -- Pants
When looking at fashion trends, Monica noted that wide leg trousers are in. While looking on macys.com, she saw these pants and thought they might work. She wanted something different. What interested her is the fact that most pants are big in the hip area because her waist is wider than her hips. So if the pants are designed to have ease, then, she could use it to her advantage. Also, she could press crease lines down the center front and back, which creates vertical lines in her leg area. She learned that vertical lines in this area will make her legs appear longer. Her legs are shorter than her torso, so these vertical lines help create balance.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Monica knows that she needs to look for pants with an angular silhouette the waist and hips appear to have the same width. She also knows that most pants in the ready-to-wear market have this silhouette. Her biggest problem with pants is the fact that her waist is wider than her hips and most pants are too big in her hips. These pants are meant to have ease in this area. She’s used to wearing skinny pants and is surprised by the fact that she likes the way these pants fit and feel.
Horizontal Lines
Because Monica’s legs are shorter than her torso, horizontal lines aren’t her friend in the leg area. This is one of the reasons she tends to wear dresses because it’s hard to know where the torso ends and legs begin.
The hem of the pants is the only visible horizontal line. It lies just above the floor. As a result, it gives a little length to the legs, making them appear a little longer.
Vertical Lines
Monica learned that vertical lines are her friend when placed in her leg area. This is because they help her legs appear longer, creating balance with her torso. To create vertical design lines when there are none, she learned that she can create them by pressing in vertical creases from just above the crotch to the hem. This type of trouser is perfect for these design lines.
Monica is amazed how placing horizontal lines in her torso area and vertical ones in her leg area magically make her torso and legs appear balanced. It also gives her more confidence when wearing pants.
Color
When the pants are paired with the green top, the color contrast is medium/high. Monica has a color contrast profile of medium. She knows the contrast is a little high for her; but she feels that on days when she already has energy and confidence, it’ll work for her. She’s always had a bubbly personality and is the life of the party. On days she needs a little extra push, she’ll wear the top with pants that create a medium color contrast.
Building Dream Closet -- Necklace
When shopping with her friends, Monica looked in the fashion jewelry for anything interesting. She saw this necklace and thought it would go with several of her outfits. She went back to the Alfani department to see how it went with the rain forest green and it worked perfectly.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Horizontal Lines
When looking at the necklace on her, Monica thought it created a horizontal line that lands mid-chest which worked for both her Body Shape and Body Proportions.
Shape Of Design Lines
Monica noted that the design line shape of the stones is curved, which is perfect for her pear shaped face.
Color
Monica loved all the colors in the stones. They appeared mostly to be in the green family, which is one of the reasons she loved them.
This last year, she’s learned that the analogous color scheme is perfect for her. This means the colors lie next to each other on the color wheel. The stone colors go between blue/green, green and yellow/green, which create this color scheme.
When looking at the relative lightness and darkness of the stone colors, Monica thought they were in the medium range. This also fits with the clues given by the color of her skin, hair and eyes.
Building Dream Closet -- Sandals
While shopping with her friends, Monica looked for flat white sandals. She thought she could wear them with a lot of different outfits. She looked at the design lines and thought they would work perfectly for her.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
When looking for sandals, Monica looked for ones that have a curved toe. She saw so many with an angular toe this season. She almost gave up until she saw these sandals.
For kicks, Monica tried on a few white sandals with an angular toe and felt like her feet didn’t belong to her. When she put on the curved toe sandals, she felt like her feet belonged. She thinks it’s amazing that the shape of a sandal’s toe can make such a difference.
Final Thoughts
Monica is so excited that she understands the clues her body gives her as to which design lines and colors enhance her natural beauty. She’s amazed by the fact that understanding them can create such a difference in how she feels. As a result, she feels she can show up in her life being more herself. And she’s building the dream closet she’s always dreamt about.
In the next blog post, Alice will share her experience shopping with her friends. She’s amazed that her attitude toward shopping has changed so much over this past year. She’s seeing clothes and design lines with new eyes. Go to: Building Dream Closet — Alice, to read about her experience.
Wear Your Greatness!!
