Understanding design lines on clothes has been a game changer for Grace, allowing her to create a closet full of clothes she loves to wear. It’s not because she loves clothes, but because the right design lines and colors help her feel like she can conquer her day. Over the years as her body changed and life happened, she lost confidence in her abilities. Now she’s feeling like her old self and is ready to take the steps to pursue her passions.
By understanding the best design lines for her, Grace learned that the style of clothes she loves are flowy skirts with a top. For a time, she felt frustrated when wearing flowy skirts because she thought the reason she had to wear them was because she couldn’t find pants that fit her body: in order to fit her hips and thighs, the waist was always too big. Now she knows that wearing flowy skirts makes her feel more feminine, which is a great attribute for her job managing customer service in the health industry. Just understanding this one fact has increased her confidence.
As a result, Grace wants to wear more flowy skirts in other parts of her life. When shopping for an outfit to wear on the wine tasting trip with her friends: Sam, Monica, Alice and Veronica, she looked for an outfit with a flowy skirt.
Keep reading to find out which flowy skirt Grace picked.
Grace’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Grace’s Body Element clues:
- 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 her 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 her 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 knees/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
Understanding Design Lines -- Skirt
Grace saw this skirt and loved it. It’s different from everything else she has in her closet. It’s fun and a little sassy. She thought it would be a great skirt to wear on the wine tasting trip.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Grace learned that the first design line she should look at when a piece of clothing catches her eye is the silhouette. The silhouette is the outside lines: the difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. Silhouettes fall into two categories: angular and curved. When the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width, that means the silhouette is angular. On the other hand, when the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and waist, the silhouette is curved.
Grace also learned that her Body Shape gives her clues as to which category is best for her. Body Shapes have the same two categories. If a Body Shape falls into the angular category, then that Body Shape should wear an angular silhouette. But, if a Body Shape falls into the curved category, then at Body Shape should wear a curved silhouette.
Grace has an A or pear Body Shape. Her waist is smaller than her shoulders and her shoulders are smaller than her hips. This Body Shape falls into the curved silhouette category.
Because the skirt is gathered at the waist, it can be worn as either an angular or curved silhouette. The gathers give enough width at the hips for A Body Shapes like Grace.
Horizontal Lines
Over this last year, Grace’s understanding of horizontal design lines has been a game changer for figuring out which clothes work best for her body. Horizontal lines are neither good nor bad. It all depends on where they’re placed. She learned that horizontal lines stop the eye, emphasize that area and make the area appear a little wider and shorter. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
For Body Shape, she doesn’t want to put them in her widest area, her hips; but should put them in her thinner areas, her waist and shoulders. If she puts a horizontal line at her hips, it’ll bring attention to this area and make it appear a little wider. On the other hand, when she puts them at her shoulders, they’ll bring attention to this area, making it appear wider and more balanced with her hips.
For Body Proportions, Grace is short between her bust/waist and knees/floor, while long between her waist/crotch. She doesn’t want to place horizontal lines between her bust/waist and knees/floor because they’ll make these areas appear even shorter. However, she does want to place them between her waist/crotch to make this area appear shorter. Another benefit of placing horizontal lines in this area will be they’ll make the area between her bust/waist appear longer.
This skirt has four horizontal design lines: waistband, upper thigh, knees and hem. A great place Grace learned to wear skirt waistbands is just below her belly button. When she wears a top tucked in, it shortens the area between her waist/crotch and lengthens the area between her bust/waist. Learning this fact has been a game changer for Grace. By wearing the waistband of skirts below her belly button, she’s better able to tap into her confidence and personal power.
The other three horizontal lines work well for Grace’s Body Proportions.
Vertical Lines
Like horizontal design lines, Grace learned that vertical design lines are neither good nor bad. It all depends on their placement. They move the eyes up and down, de-emphasizing an area and making it appear thinner and taller. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions also give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
With her A Body Shape, Grace wants vertical design lines in her hip area to make it appear thinner but she doesn’t want vertical lines placed only in her shoulder and waist areas. For her Body Proportions, she does want them between her bust/waist because this area is short; but not between her waist/crotch because she’s long in this area.
This skirt has a vertical line created by the slit starting at mid-thigh to the hem. Because of Grace’s Body Proportions, she’s short between her knees/floor, and the slit creates length in this area.
Shape Of Design Lines
Grace learned that her Face Shape gives her clues as to the shape of design lines. She looks for design line shapes in design details within the garment, accessories and prints. A Face Shape that falls into the angular category wears angular design lines, but a Face Shape that falls into the curved category wears curved design lines.
Grace has a rectangle Face Shape and learned that she should look for angular design lines. However, when it comes to prints, she loves florals. They just make her happy. She figured out that if she makes sure all the other elements match her Body Element clues, then the outfit can work for her.
This skirt has a floral print which she’ll mostly wear on outings, like the wine tasting because she doesn’t need that extra boost of confidence.
Color
Grace’s favorite colors are orange and green. She learned that the color of her Skin, Hair and Eyes give her clues as to her favorite colors, the contrast between them, the other colors that go with orange and/or green, and the relative lightness and darkness of the colors. She determines this through the color contrast profile: the contrast between her Skin, Hair and Eyes. Grace has a medium color contrast.
This means that her best color combinations are analogous and triadic. The best relative lightness and darkness is medium, meaning she can wear a little variation in lightness and darkness.
The print in the skirt has a triadic color scheme: orange, violet and green. The relative lightness and darkness is medium. The colors in the print are perfect for Grace.
Scale
Grace learned that the scale of prints is another important design element she needs to consider. The combination of the Color of her Skin, Hair and Eyes and Body Frame Size give her clues as to her overall scale size. However, that’s modified by her Body Proportions in specific areas: it decreases when the print and/or accessory is just between her bust/waist and knees/floor; on the other hand, it increases when it’s just between her waist/crotch.
Grace determined that her overall scale strategy is small/medium. Since the skirt goes from her waist to the floor, she needs to look for a print scale of small/medium. The scale of this print is small/medium, which is perfect for her.
Understanding Design Lines -- Top
Grace looked for tops that match the orange, green or violet in the skirt’s print. She looked in several departments and found this one is the junior’s area. She was surprised that she loved the color. Another aspect that caught her eye was the lace details around the neck that flow below the bust.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
When Grace looked at the side seam between the underarm to the hem, she noted it was straight, making the silhouette of this top angular. However, the fabric is knit, so she knew it would mold to her curvy Body Shape. She finds that she purchases a lot of knit tops for this fact alone.
Horizontal Lines
Grace focused on the length of tops because she knows the hem creates a horizontal line. Because of her Body Shape, she doesn’t want the hem to land at her hips and for her Body Proportions, she doesn’t want it to land between her bust/waist because she’s short in this area. The problem she’s finding is that this season crop tops are trending. Not a good look for her.
She found this top and she thought the length would be perfect. On a well-proportioned body, the hem would hit at the waist. But because she’s short between her bust/waist, the hem hits below her belly button and just below where the skirt waistband hits her. As a result, this area appears a little longer.
The placement for the hem is also perfect for her Body Shape because it brings attention to her smaller waist and creates balance with her hips.
Vertical Lines
In looking at the top, Grace determined that it had several vertical design lines: the V-neckline and the cross over lace detail going under her bust. It creates a diagonal line that moves the eye up and down along with creating length. The vertical designs are perfect for her.
Color
Violet is a different color for Grace, but she learned that when paired with her favorite colors of orange and green, it makes a triadic color combination. By learning this information, it broadens her knowledge of knowing what colors go together. While orange and green are her favorite colors, adding a little violet adds variety to her closet. She’s learning that when she connects the dots of information together, she’s gaining more confidence in herself and her abilities.
Understand Design Lines -- Necklace
Once Grace found the skirt and top, she looked for a necklace. She wanted to find something with all the colors in the skirt. She found this necklace and thought the colors blended well.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
Since Grace’s Face Shape is angular, she looked for necklaces that have an angular shape. However, she couldn’t find one with an overall angular shape. This one has a mixture of angular and curved shapes and has the colors that match the skirt.
Understanding Design Lines -- Shoes
Finally, Grace looked for a pair of sandals. She wanted a pair she could wear with other outfits. She liked the fact these are flats, which gives outfits a different look.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
Because she has an angular Face Shape, Grace looked for sandals with an angular toe. This season, that’s an easy process because a square toe is on trend. This sandal has a square toe, creating angular design lines, which is perfect for her.
Final Thoughts
Understanding design lines and colors has been a game changer for Grace in so many ways. She learned that when she wears clothes with the right design lines and colors that reflect her body’s clues, she feels like she can conquer her world. Feeling like she can conquer her world helps her start pursuing her passions. She’s feeling like her old self again. Her husband, family and friends are amazed and happy to see the confident Grace is back.
In the next blog post, Veronica will share the outfit she purchased for the wine tasting trip. Like Grace, Veronica is feeling more confident and seeing life with a whole new perspective. To read about how understanding design lines has changed her life, go to: Understanding Design Lines — Veronica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
