Now that she has a better understanding of design lines, Veronica is excited about building her dream closet. Shopping with her friends: Sam, Monica, Alice and Grace makes the process even better. She feels empowered because she now understands it’s a matter of placing horizontal and vertical design lines in the right places.
What has always given her trouble is the fact that her torso is significantly shorter than her legs. In some of her outfits, she felt totally out of balance; while in others she felt balanced. She couldn’t figure out why. Now she knows. Over the past year, when she felt out of balance, the horizontal and vertical design lines weren’t in the right places and when she felt in balance, they were. She noticed that when she felt out of balance, her confidence was low. On the other hand, when she felt balanced, she had more confidence. She’s on a quest to transform her closet so that in any outfit she puts on, she feels like she can conquer her world.
Keep reading to learn which combinations of horizontal and vertical design lines help Veronica feel balanced.
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
Building Dream Closet -- Top
Veronica looked for tops with vertical design lines. This isn’t an easy thing to do. Along with having vertical design lines, the hem had to hit her just above or below her crotch to give her as much length as possible. She was excited to find one that was also yellow, one of her favorite colors.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
This past year, Veronica learned that her X Body Shape gives her a clue as to the silhouette, which is the outside line. Silhouettes come in two categories: angular and curvy. In the angular category, the shoulders, waist and hips appear to have the same width. Conversely, in the curvy category, the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and waist. Veronica’s X Body Shape gives her the clue to wear a curvy silhouette.
Veronica looked at the side seams just below the armpit to the hem. She noted it was straight creating an angular silhouette. However because of the wider shoulders, they make the silhouette appear curvy. She learned that she could have vertical darts sewn into a top to create a curvy silhouette. There is also a silver lining: these darts create vertical lines, giving her torso more length. She knows this is an added expense; but, it’s worth it because she’ll feel more balanced and confident.
Horizontal Lines
Another thing Veronica learned is that horizontal lines stop your 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.
Veronica has an S Body Shape which means she can place horizontal lines anywhere because one area of her body isn’t wider than the others. As a result, her Body Proportions will give her clues as to the placement of these design lines. Veronica’s torso is significantly shorter than her legs. This means she wants to avoid horizontal lines in the torso area.
This top has only one horizontal line and that’s the hem. When Veronica tried on the top, it hit her just above her crotch which works well for her: it doesn’t visually shorten her torso.
Vertical Lines
Veronica learned that vertical lines move your eye up and down and make the area appear thinner and longer. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines. Like with horizontal lines, she can place vertical lines anywhere for her S Body Shape. She needs to use the clues from her Body Proportions to determine the placement of vertical design lines.
Since Veronica’s torso is shorter than her legs, she learned that placing vertical lines just in her torso area will make her torso appear to be longer and more in balance with her legs. The v-neckline creates vertical lines along with the dropped shoulders. Also the center front pin-tuck creates a vertical line.
Because Veronica wants to add darts to transform the silhouette from angular to curvy, these darts will also create vertical lines, giving the appearance of length between the bust and crotch.
Shape Of Design Lines
Through learning what clues her body gives her, Veronica understands that her Face Shape gives her clues as to the shape of design lines. She has a heart Face Shape which falls into the curved category. This means the best design line shapes for her are curved. Finally, she should look for design line shapes in design details on the clothes themselves, accessories and prints.
The only design line shape Veronica saw on this top is the neckline. Because it’s a V-shape, it naturally creates an angular shape. She knows this isn’t the best shape for her, but the desire to create length is more important. If she wears a necklace with curved design line details, this will counterbalance the angular neckline.
Color
One of Veronica’s favorite colors is yellow, especially bold yellows. This is one of the major reasons she was drawn to the top in the first place.
Building Dream Closet -- Pants
While shopping in the Macy’s store, Veronica looked for curvy fit jean shorts. She wanted shorts because in the hot California summers, she wants to stay fairly cool.
Veronica didn’t find any shorts in the length she was looking for. All she found were super short shorts in the Junior’s department. She’s never felt comfortable wearing this length. So when she got home, she looked on macys.com for longer length shorts and found quite a few. She liked this length and color the best.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Veronica learned that her S Body Shape falls into the curved category and therefore she should look for shorts with a curvy fit. She knows clothing has a curvy fit when the label has “curvy fit” instead of “regular.”
When searching on macys.com, she typed in “women curvy fit jean short” and she had many to choose from. When she tried on this pair of shorts, they fit her curvy body perfectly.
Horizontal Lines
Veronica’s legs are significantly longer than her torso, so the best place to put horizontal lines is in her leg area so her legs will appear shorter and more in balance with her torso.
These shorts have a cuff which creates two horizontal lines just above her knees. This is a perfect place to put these design lines.
Building Dream Closet -- Necklace
Veronica looked for a simple necklace to go with the top. She knew she wanted one that created vertical lines to create length in her torso area. When she saw this one, she knew it was the one and as a bonus, the pearls matched the sandals she had been eyeing.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
Because Veronica’s torso is shorter than her legs, she knew she needed to create length in her torso through vertical design lines. She looked for a necklace that had strong vertical lines. This lariat or Y-necklace was perfect. It started the progression of vertical lines.
Shape Of Design Lines
With Veronica’s Face Shape being heart, she looked for necklaces with curved design lines. The pearls give her that.
Building Dream Closet -- Shoes
Veronica looked for sandals with some kind of ankle strap, because they create a horizontal line at her ankle. This creates one more horizontal line in her leg area. She’s never worn a shoe that ties and loves the look of these. They’re totally different from anything she has in her closet.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Horizontal Lines
The number one reason why Veronica bought these sandals is because of the ankle strap, which creates a horizontal line at her ankles. They create one more layer of horizontal lines to make her legs appear in balance with her torso.
Shape Of Design Lines
With Veronica’s Face Shape falling into the curved category, she looked for sandals with a curved toe. Finding a sandal with a curved toe and ankle strap wasn’t very easy this season, but these sandals are perfect. The pearls also add one more dimension of curved design lines.
Final Thoughts
Veronica is excited that she’s figured out the puzzle of balancing her torso and legs. It’s simply by placing vertical design lines in her torso area and horizontal design lines in her leg area. It’s not always easy to find this combination; but she’s learning tricks to create them. As a result, she’s able to be more present at work, home and with friends. She can more easily share her gifts to create impact.
The next blog post starts a new series of posts. Monica won a weekend wine trip in late September. The trip includes staying at a bed and breakfast and a limo car to take them to different wineries. They’re each getting a new outfit and night clothes. The following post will be for each friend: first the new outfit and then night clothes. First up will be Sam’s new outfit. The post is called Understanding Design Lines — Sam.
Wear Your Greatness!!
