Like Sam, Monica and Alice, Grace is looking forward to learning how to analyze her favorite outfit. She’s learning to accept her body the way it is and that there’s nothing wrong with it. She simply needs to learn how to use her body clues to determine what design lines and colors enhance her natural beauty. This is a process for her because of several reasons. When trying on clothes, nothing fits over her hips and thighs. Also, for all of her life, people have made snide comments about her large areas. As a result, she feels shame because she thinks she caused the size. Luckly, she knows deep down that this isn’t true.
Let’s see what Grace has learned.
Grace’s Body Elements
Grace learned the clues her Body Elements give her when determining which design lines and colors enhance her natural beauty and help her tap into her confidence and personal power. By understanding these clues her perspective on clothes has totally changed. Her Body Element clues are:
- Body Shape — A (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Curved clothes silhouette
- Horizontal lines — Place them at her shoulders and waist, and avoid placing them at her hips
- Vertical lines — Place them between her waist and hips, and avoid placing them at the shoulders
- Face Shape — Rectangle (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Angular design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — Medium Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Orange, Green
- Color Combinations (other colors) — Triadic and Analogous
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — Medium contrast
- First Scale Clue — Medium
- Body Proportions — Short between bust/waist, long between waist/crotch, short between knees/floor (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Place them between her waist/crotch but not at the hips, and don’t place them between her bust/waist and knees/floor
- Vertical lines — Place them between her bust/waist and knees/floor; limit them between her waist/crotch; however when she places them from her bust to below her crotch, the eye passes over this entire area and will make it appear thinner for her Body Shape
- Second Scale Clue — Decrease overall scale between bust/waist and knee/floor; increase it between waist/crotch
- Body Frame Size — Small (Body Frame Size — The Girls)
- Third scale clue — Small
- Scale Strategy — Small/Medium (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Decrease scale to small between her bust/waist and knees/floor
- Increase to medium between her waist/crotch
Analyze Favorite Outfit -- Favorite Outfit
Grace’s favorite outfit is a top and skirt combination. She tends to wear a lot of skirts because pants don’t fit her body well: it’s hard to get them to fit over her thighs and hips without having a large gap at the waist. That being said, she loves soft flowy skirts and tops. When wearing them she feels more feminine. She’s in mid-management at a healthcare company, helping patients get through difficult situations. Tapping into her feminine qualities helps her to be a successful manager, which helps her direct reports better assists patients.
Analyze Favorite Outfit -- Top
Grace loves this top for so many reasons. First of all she loves the print. It has all her favorite colors and it’s floral. She loves surrounding herself with flowers and works in her yard full of flowers to unwind after work.
Second, the fabric is a light flowy knit that can conform to her body. She has such a hard time finding tops that fit her shoulders, waist and hips.
Analyze Favorite Outfits -- Design Line & Color
Most aspects of this top work for Grace. The silhouette follows her body shape. It has a horizontal design line between her chin and bust. This line makes her shoulders appear wider creating balance with her hips. The hem creates a horizontal line and is between her waist and hips creating balance with her hips.
The hem’s horizontal line balances her Body Proportions because she’s long between her waist and crotch. By placing a horizontal line in this area it appears shorter. Also it makes the area between her bust and waist, where she’s short, appear longer.
The print has the perfect overall shape and scale. Grace has an angular shaped face and the print has an overall angular feel. Her overall scale strategy is small/medium and the scale of the print is just that.
The colors are all her favorite colors in a triadic color scheme.
The one area that the top can be improved upon is the neckline shape. It has an overall curved shape rather than an angular one. This is a minor problem. She can counterbalance this by wearing a coral necklace with an angular shape.
Analyze Favorite Outfit -- Skirt
Grace loves this style of skirt because she can get it to fit her waist and there’s enough room to flow over her hips. She’s found some skirts like this make her hips look even larger so she has to be careful. She also likes that the fabric is light and flowy. When wearing heavier, more structured fabrics, Grace feels like they add weight to her hips.
Grace wishes she could find more skirts like this.
Analyze Favorite Outfits -- Design Line & Color
This skirt is perfect for her Body Shape because it easily follows her curvy shape without emphasizing her hips. The vertical lines help draw the eye down passing over this area. The length is also perfect. The hem hits at her knees which is perfect for her Body Proportions.
Currently Macy’s Alfani brand has this skirt still in stock. It sometimes comes in other colors besides black. One problem is it might be too long for Grace. However this problem can be solved by having a tailor/seamstress shorten it.
Summary
All in all Grace’s favorite outfit reflects most of her Body Element clues. The next question is: how can Grace use this information to create a closet full of clothes she loves to wear?
Tops
Grace should look for tops with horizontal lines at the shoulders and the hems should hit her mid-hip. She can tuck them in if the waistband of a skirt or pant is placed at or below her belly button. By doing this, length is created between her bust and waist.
Most of the tops and blouses she finds in the ready-to-wear market will have an angular silhouette. She can change the silhouette to a curved one, matching her silhouette by adding vertical darts from just below her bust to the hem. Most tailors/seamstresses can make this alteration. By doing this one alteration Grace can transform many of the tops/blouses in her closet.
Grace might find many tops/blouses’ hems are too long for her and lay at her hips. She can also have her tailor/seamstress shorten any hem so it lies in the perfect spot for her.
Skirts
The key to finding a skirt Grace likes is to be open to alterations. She should buy them to fit around her hips. If she finds the waist to be too big then have it altered. She should always remember her body is perfect the way it is. She just needs to get some adjustments to get clothes to fit it perfectly.
Another alteration Grace might need to have done is shortening the hem line. Many of the flowy skirts she loves wearing come in Midi length. In most cases the alteration can be done easily.
These are a few skirts she can find on Macy’s website:
Pants
There are a few pants in the ready-to-wear world that could fit Grace’s Body Shape. She should look for pants with a curvy fit. This means the hips of a given size waist are wider than the regular fit. For Grace there will be less or no gap at the waist. Alfani has great curvy pants that fit well on Grace’s Body Shape. This pant also has ample room for her thighs. It can come in various colors. Good news for A Body Shapes.
If Grace decides to wear pants, another design line that will serve her is a center front and back crease line. These cease lines create vertical lines which will lengthen the appearance of her legs and also make her hips and thighs appear thinner.
Other curvy pants at Macy’s are:
Final Thoughts
Finding clothes that fit her A Body Shape can be a difficult process for Grace especially for skirts and pants. Skirts are hard for everyone because it’s hard to find a variety of styles in the ready-to-wear world. Grace’s Body Shape makes it harder. To get both skirts and pants to fit better she should use a tailor/seamstress to alter the waist and in many cases shorten the hem.
To get an even better fit and place all the design lines in the right places, Grace can have skirts and pants custom made for her. By doing this they’ll be made in the fabrics, colors and prints she loves to wear. Yes they cost more but she’ll wear them more and bring the cost per wearing down.
The final Girl learning how to analyze her favorite outfit is Veronica. She loves this outfit and has always wondered why it works so well on her body. She’s always known clothes change how she feels. The problem for her has been knowing what to do. Read how Veronica learns how to analyze her favorite outfit in Analyze Favorite Outfit — Veronica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
