This is the first time Sam has gone shopping for design lines. She and her friends: Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica have just learned which design lines enhance their natural beauty. They want to put this newfound knowledge to work.
Sam’s looking for tops and pants she can wear to work. As an architect, she needs to visit construction sites and clients all in the same day. Her goal is to have a wide variety of each so she can mix and match them because she feels like she’s wearing the same outfit every day and wants to change that.
Sam has learned clothes change how she feels and in order to feel more confident, she needs to understand the design lines and colors of clothes. She’s excited to share the clothes she found.
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
Shopping For Design Lines -- Outfit
Sam has always been more of a tomboy and wasn’t interested in clothes. She grew up playing softball and helping her dad in his construction business. Until she became an architect she mostly wore athletic clothes.
She loves wearing clothes that don’t restrict her. As an architect, Sam sits at the drawing table creating designs, meets with clients and contractors, and goes to the job sites to make sure everything’s going as planned. In one day, she can go from a job site to meeting with clients so her clothes need to be versatile. Sam’s drawn to classic design lines which have stretch allowing her to move easily.
Based on what Sam’s learned about which design lines and colors help her tap into her confidence, she first found the Anne Klein Cardigan. She loves this pink. Then she looked for a ponte roma slim leg ankle pant. It was hard to find but she found a pair in Charter Club that works perfectly for her. Next she found the Anne Klein turtleneck sleeveless sweater. She loves the simplicity of it. Finally, Sam surprised herself. She found this V. Fraas scarf and was truly amazed. She thought the colors tied the whole outfit together.
Shopping For Design Lines -- Cardigan
When Sam saw the Anne Klein cardigan, she knew she had to have it. It’s one of her favorite colors and she thought she could wear it with other tops she has in her closet. She learned that she needs horizontal lines between her bust and crotch because she is long in this area.
Design Line & Color
This cardigan has a horizontal line at the waist which is perfect for Sam. She chose well. Not just because of the color and the horizontal line at the waist. The silhouette is angular matching her angular H Body Shape.
The neckline and center front opening is a type of shawl collar which creates a curved design line. She should look for curved design lines.
Sam’s Body Proportions between her torso and legs are equal and as a result the length of the hem works for her.
The center front opening creates a vertical line, which is great for her short Body Proportions between her chin and bust. It creates the appearance of length in this area. The eye stops at the waist horizontal line, creating the appearance of shortening the area between her bust and crotch.
All in all, Sam has done a great job choosing this cardigan.
Shopping For Design Lines -- Pants
Sam learned she loves pants made out of a ponte roma knit fabric. They look professional and can go from being at a job site to a meeting with potential clients. She also likes pants with a slim leg because it is easier for her to move around without worrying about the legs. Her shoe of choice is a flat so the length of ankle pants work best. She found Charter Club ponte roma pull on pants and they fit her perfectly. They have slim legs and are ankle length.
Even though black is her go to color, Sam saw other Charter Club slim leg ankle pants in a charcoal color that she might pick up next time.
Design Line & Color
Now that Sam has found a manufacturer that creates slim leg, ankle length, pull-up pants that fit her well and are made out of a ponte roma fabric, she’s found her first stop when looking for pants in the future.
Because she has an H Body Shape, most pants will work for her. Sam’s issue was with the type of fabric. Not all manufacturers create pants out of her preferred fabric.
The unique design line on these pants is the waistband. It’s wide, creating another horizontal line. Having both the band at the waist and 2-3 inches below that creates two horizontal lines between her bust and crotch. This makes this area appear shorter.
Sam can play around with different neutral colors for her pants and even ones made out of her favorite colors: blue, pink (red/violet), and green. She can mix and match them with other tops and cardigans, creating a wide variety of outfits.
Shopping For Design Lines -- Sleeveless Sweater
Sam chose this sleeveless turtleneck sweater because it can go under a lot of her cardigans. She likes wearing white with her favorite colors. For some reason it brightens up her coloring.
Design Line & Color
This white sleeveless turtleneck sweater compliments the cardigan and pants Sam chose. Design line wise, there are three horizontal lines: top of the turtleneck, bottom of the turtleneck, and the hem of the sweater.
Sam has an H Body Shape and any horizontal works for her. However, she needs to consider her Body Proportions. She’s short between her chin and bust and long between her waist and crotch.
The placement of the hem is perfect for her because it creates a horizontal line between her waist and crotch making this area appear shorter and more in balance with the rest of her body.
White is a good color option for Sam. She has a high contrast color profile so pairing it with the pink cardigan and black pants creates a high contrast color combination.
Sam needs to understand exactly where she’s short between her chin and bust. Is her neck causing this area to be short? Or is the shortness created between her shoulders and bust? Or are both areas short? If she’s just short between her shoulders and bust, the horizontal lines created by the turtleneck are OK but not great. However, if she just has a short neck or is short in both areas, then this turtleneck isn’t good for her. The main reason is because it creates two horizontal lines in the area. She should look for a sleeveless sweater with a scooped neck which would create only one horizontal line. For example, this Charter Club Sleeveless Sweater or Tahari Solid Crewneck Top:
Shopping For Design Lines -- Scarf
When Sam saw this scarf, she loved it. It has her favorite colors in it so she can wear it with other outfits. When she put it on with the Anne Klein cardigan and turtleneck, and Charter Club pants, it seemed to tie everything together. Before going through the process of understanding the best design lines and colors for her, she wouldn’t have chosen this scarf or any scarf for that matter. Sam feels she’s making progress in understanding how to put together outfits she feels great in.
Design Line & Color
Sam did a great job in choosing this scarf. Yes, it has all the colors she loves to wear. The color contrast is perfect for her. Her color contrast profile is high and this scarf’s colors create a high contrast.
Her Face Shape is curved giving her the clue that prints should have an overall curved shape. This scarf does just that.
Finally, her Body Elements give her a scale clue of medium. The scarf appears to be in the medium to medium/large range. Sam should try on the whole outfit and ask herself if she feels light or heavy. If she feels light then she’s done a great job.
Summary
Cardigan
Sam did a great job picking this cardigan. It’s one of her favorite colors and all the design lines were perfect for her. She’s starting to understand what design lines work best for her Body Proportions. Having a horizontal line at her waist works well for her in this area.
Pants
Sam found pants that fit her body well. They’re made of the fabric she loves to wear. She now knows what time of year to look for it and that it comes in other colors so she can change the look of an outfit.
Sleeveless Sweater
The sleeveless turtleneck sweater was a little bit of a miss because the turtleneck creates two horizontal lines in one of her short areas. Sam now knows always to pass on anything that has a turtleneck. Otherwise the hem placement and color was perfect for her. She plans to return the Anne Klein Turtleneck Sweater for the Tahari Solid Crew-neck Top.
Scarf
The scarf was a homerun because it tied all the pieces together. In the past, Sam wouldn’t have chosen a scarf and especially one with a print. It had all her favorite colors so she can wear it with other outfits. The high color contrast brightens up her face, hair and eyes. She can wear it several ways, which creates horizontal lines between her waist and crotch. The one area Sam needs to be aware of is the scale of prints. This scarf might be closer to a medium/large print scale and her best scale is medium. With practice she’ll learn to recognize what size is best for her.
Final Thoughts
Starting this process, Sam didn’t like going shopping and had no idea what clothes looked best on her. She had no interest in clothes or fashion. But now she’s starting to understand that the clothes she wears are important because they change how she feels. She’s always been confident in her abilities. Sports helped her with that. But now she’s able to go to a whole new level. She’s thinking she might take on bigger projects. The world is opening up for her.
In the next blog post, it’s Monica’s turn to show what she found shopping with the girls. She had so much fun and is excited to share her new found knowledge. It’s called: Shopping for Design Lines — Monica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
