Alice loved her time shopping for a New Year’s Eve dress with her friends: Sam, Monica, Grace and Veronica. She thinks celebrating their accomplishments this year and bringing in 2022 is a great idea and offered to host it.
In the past, she didn’t look forward to shopping because she felt she had an odd body and finding what works on her was always hit or miss. Because she felt her body was odd, she chose clothes that hide it. Now that she has a better idea about what design lines work for her, shopping for clothes is like a treasure hunt she’s looking forward to because she’s looking for a dress with the right design lines.
Read below the results of Alice’s treasure hunt.
Alice’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Alice’s Body Element clues:
- Body Shape — V (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Angular clothes silhouette
- Horizontal lines — Place them at her waist and hips, and avoid placing them at her shoulders
- Vertical lines — Place them between her chin and bust, and avoid placing them at the waist and hips
- Face Shape — Rectangle (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Angular design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — Low Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Olive Green, Coral, Violet
- Color Combinations (other colors) — Analogous
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — Low contrast
- First Scale Clue — Small
- Body Proportions — Short between chin/bust, Long between waist/crotch (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Place them between her waist/crotch, and don’t place them between her chin/bust
- Vertical lines — Place them between her chin/bust, and limit them between her waist/crotch
- 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 — Small/Medium (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Decrease scale to small between her chin/bust
- Increase to medium between her waist/crotch
Shopping For New Year’s Eve Dress & Accessories
Shopping For New Year's Eve Dress -- Dress
The first treasure Alice found was this dress. When she saw it and knew it was the right one for the party. She always gravitates to halter top necklines because her shoulders don’t appear as wide. She’s tired of wearing black and since the fashion industry is making navy blue the new black, she decided to go with the trend.
What she really loves about the dress is the different textures: chiffon top and beaded skirt. As a bonus the pattern of the beaded skirt is angular. She always gravitated to angular patterns but had a hard time finding them. That being said, she’s going out of her comfort zone with the sparkly beading. She doesn’t like standing out. She likes being in the background supporting others. Her friends told her the dress is perfect because she’s celebrating all her accomplishments this year.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Alice is correct to believe halter necklines work to make her wider shoulder appear more in balance with the rest of her body. This type of neckline has the same lines as a raglan sleeve. It creates a vertical line which moves the eye from the neck/shoulder junction down to her armpit. As a result, the shoulders appear thinner.
Having these vertical lines at her shoulders is also good for her Body Proportions because she’s short in that area. Along with the vertical lines created by the gathering of fabric at the neckline, all the vertical lines create length in this area.
The silhouette of this dress is angular matching the clues her V Body Shape gives. Also her Body Shape gives her clues to place a horizontal line at her waist. By placing it here, her waist appears wider and more in balance with her shoulders.
Placing a horizontal line at her waist is also good for her body proportions.
Navy blue is a great neutral color for Alice. It pairs well with her favorite colors of olive green, coral and violet.
Alice’s angular Face Shape gives her clues for angular design lines. The bead work on the skirt is angular matching her Body Element clues.
There’s one design line that could’ve been a problem: the neckline. It creates two horizontal lines at the base of the neck and Alice is short between her chin and bust. With further analysis her shortness lies between the shoulders and bust. Given all the vertical lines created by the halter and pleats, this area isn’t shortened by the neckline.
Shopping For New Year’s Eve Dress -- Shoes
The next treasure Alice looked for is shoes. At first, she thought she should wear navy blue shoes; but all the ones she found didn’t match the navy blue of the dress. Then Monica said to look for a nude color; that’s what she wears with navy blue because she found it’s always hard to find shoes in the first place and then the right color of navy blue.
Alice tried on several pairs of nude shoes and sandals and found this pair felt the best. She knows she can wear them with many different outfits.
Design Line & Color Analysis
The overall shape of these shoes is perfect for Alice. They have a pointed toe, creating angular lines matching her angular Face Shape. However, the top that goes over the toes has a curved feel. This is a minor problem. If she were going to a work party she might look for ones with more straight lines.
The color works with her skin color and matches the dress so they work well. Her color contrast profile is low, and the shoes and dress together have a color contrast of medium/high. Wearing navy blue shoes, that match the dress, would’ve been ideal. But in today’s world nude shoes work.
Shopping For New Year’s Eve Dress -- Handbag
The final treasure Alice looked for is a clutch handbag. She thought about a necklace but didn’t find anything she liked. When finding this handbag, she knew it was the right one. First it matched the navy blue of the dress and second she liked the ribbon pattern.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Alice did a great job finding this clutch handbag. All the angular design lines are perfect for her rectangle Face Shape. The overall shape of the handbag is rectangular and the ribbon pattern creates an X pattern.
Since the color of the handbag is the same as the dress, it creates a low color contrast, perfect for Alice.
Summary
Dress
Alice did find a treasure when she discovered this dress. All the design lines together enhance her Body Elements. She has a great grasp of what design lines work well with her body.
Shoes
Finding navy blue shoes can be difficult and choosing nude colored ones is a great alternative. Because Alice likes to wear navy blue as a neutral, she should keep a look out for shoes with the right navy blue color and right design lines for her. That in itself, will be a treasure hunt.
Handbag
Since this navy blue clutch handbag is her neutral, she’ll be able to match it with other formal dresses. It’ll be a great addition to her handbag collection.
Final Thoughts
All the treasures Alice found when shopping for a New Year’s Eve dress are great additions to her closet. She’s well on her way to creating a closet full of clothes she loves to wear. Also by understanding her Body Elements and what design lines enhance them, Alice is starting to accept her body the way it is. She doesn’t feel the need to hide so she can start shining. Celebrating her accomplishments this year is a giant step forward for her.
In many respects Grace and Alice have the same relationship with their bodies: both wore clothes that hid them. As with Alice, Grace is starting to understand what design lines will work with her body. Grace also found treasures and in Shopping For New Year’s Eve Dress — Grace you’ll read about her items.
Wear Your Greatness!!
