Shopping for swimsuits is a fun process for Alice; as a result, she has several suits. She loves the beach because it’s her happy place. Whenever she feels stressed or just needs to reset, she and her family go to the beach for at least the day, but mostly weekends.
When it was suggested to take a trip to Hawaii to celebrate Grace’s 15th wedding anniversary, she was all in. The decision to go shopping for a new swimsuit was a no brainer. It also gave her an opportunity to spend more time with her best friends.
Read further to learn which swimsuit Alice picked and why.
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 her 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 Swimsuits
This time, shopping for swimsuits was a little different for Alice, because she was looking at the design lines before she tried the suits on. Before she started to understand her Body Elements, she went into the dressing room with an arm full of swimsuits and maybe came out with one.
On this shopping trip, the design lines she looked for were vertical lines between her chin and bust. She has recently learned that these design lines can most importantly make her shoulders appear thinner. When she looks at her favorite swimsuits she owns, they all have vertical lines in this area. This swimsuit is one of few which had these design lines in this area along with her favorite colors. When she put it on, Alice knew it was the one.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Alice’s V Body Shape falls in the angular category and she should look for swimsuits with an angular silhouette. Because this swimsuit, like most swimsuits, is made out of a Lycra knit, it’ll easily mold to her body.
Horizontal Lines
When considering the placement of horizontal lines, Alice should look at her Body Shape and Body Proportions. For her Body Shape, she doesn’t want horizontal lines at her shoulders but rather between her waist and hips. The same goes for her Body Proportions. She doesn’t want horizontal lines between her chin and bust because she’s short in this area. However she does want them between her waist and crotch because she’s long in this area.
This swimsuit has two horizontal lines: the first is at the neck and the second one is between her waist and crotch. The neckline of this swimsuit creates a horizontal line at the base of Alice’s neck. Because the line is short and just above her shoulders it doesn’t make her shoulders appear wider. For her Body Proportions, her shortness is between her shoulders and bust. This horizontal line has a neutral effect on her body.
The horizontal line between her waist and crotch is perfect for her. This line is created in the area where the print changes to solid black. The placement of the horizontal line is perfect for Alice.
Vertical Lines
Alice’s Body Shape and Body Proportions also give her clues as to the placement of vertical lines. For her Body Shape, she wants vertical lines in her shoulder area because they make this area appear thinner and in balance with the rest of her body. She also wants them in this area for her Body Proportions. She’s short in this area and these lines will make it appear longer and in balance with the rest of her body.
This swimsuit has two different vertical lines: the halter shaped neckline and the center front slit. When it comes to the placement of vertical lines, this swimsuit is perfect for Alice.
Shape Of Design Lines
Alice’s Face Shape gives her clues as to the shape of design lines. She has a rectangle Face Shape which puts her into the angular category. To determine the shape of design lines on clothes, she should look at:
- Sewn in design lines, for example, necklines, collars, pockets, plackets
- Prints
This swimsuit has two areas that create design line shapes: neckline and print. The neckline has an angular feel because it looks like half of an octagon. The shape of this neckline is perfect for her.
On the other hand, the print is not. This floral print has a curved feel to it. Fortunately, because this is a swimsuit she’s wearing to the beach with her friends, this is a minor problem. What’s important is how Alice feels in this swimsuit and she feels light in it. If this print was on a blouse she plans to wear to an important meeting, it wouldn’t work well because Alice wouldn’t fully tap into her confidence.
Color
Alice’s favorite colors are olive green, coral, and violet, and she has a low color contrast profile. Her favorite color combination is analogous and she likes the relative lightness and darkness of the color combinations to be low.
The floral print has all her favorite colors in it and this is the only thing that’s right about the colors in this swimsuit. The color combination is triadic which is best for medium or high contrast profiles. The relative lightness and darkness of the colors falls into the high contrast category. The colors go from almost white to black.
Because this swimsuit has Alice’s favorite colors in it, she likes it. She doesn’t typically gravitate to black clothing, but couldn’t find another swimsuit with the right horizontal and vertical design lines.
Scale Of Print
Alice’s overall scale strategy is medium/small. Because she’s short between her chin and shoulders, she should decrease the scale to small in this area. She’s long between her waist and crotch, so the scale should increase to medium in this area.
The scale of the print is interesting. It starts out small at the neck and then gradually gets bigger as it gets to below the waist. This print works perfectly for Alice.
Summary
Alice is unusual in that she loves shopping for swimsuits. This in itself makes the process easier. She did a great job finding this swimsuit. Because she looked at the design lines before she went into the fitting room, she made it even easier. She has a great understanding of where to place horizontal and vertical design lines for her Body Shape and Body Proportions. She can use this knowledge when looking in her closet or shopping for new clothes.
When it comes to color, it might be hard for her to get the right color combinations. Because she has a low color contrast profile, finding the right color combinations can be difficult. In the past, Alice finds it easier to stick with solid colors. In the future when shopping, she should always have an eye out for clothes with her perfect color combinations.
In the next post, it’s Grace’s turn to share how she’s learning to understand the clues her Body Elements give her and which swimsuit she found. The post is called: Shopping for Swimsuits — Grace.
Wear Your Greatness!!
