Sam and her friends: Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica, are out shopping for what to wear for leisure activities. They’re taking a weekend trip to the coast to work on their goals for 2023. Over the last year their confidence has increased because they’re wearing clothes that help them feel more confident. As a result, they’re thinking about projects they only dreamt about doing. They want to start putting a plan together to make the projects a reality.
They decided that they want to be comfortable when working on developing a plan and at the same time make sure the clothes reflect their body’s clues. Over the last year and a half they learned how clothes change how they feel and wanted to make sure the clothes they wear for leisure activities help them feel like they can conquer their world.
Sam’s dream project is working on a mixed use housing project which brings people together, uses sustainable materials and low carbon footprint. She had heard that a few developers are in the beginning stages of creating this type of housing project. She would like to be an architect on the project.
Sam likes wearing comfortable clothes like sweatpants and sweatshirts but didn’t know she could feel both comfortable and confident. Now she understands which designs work best for her body, she’s feeling both.
Keep reading to learn which designs work best for Sam’s body.
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
What To Wear For Leisure Activities -- Hoodie
Sam started her hunt for clothes to lounge around in looking for hoodies. It’s her go to top because she gets cold easily and tends to layer clothes. She found this faux fur hoodie and loved the feel of it and the green color.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam learned that the silhouette of clothes is an important design aspect. It’s the outside line of an outfit. The difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. It comes in two categories: angular and curved. An angular silhouette the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. While a curved silhouette the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and hips. Her Body Shape gives her clues as to which category to look for.
Sam learned that Body Shapes have the same two categories. An angular Body Shape waist isn’t significantly smaller than both the shoulders and hips, while a curved Body Shape the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and hips. If she had an angular Body Shape then she would wear an angular silhouette. On the other hand if she had a curved Body Shape she would wear a curved silhouette.
Sam learned she has an H Body Shape where the shoulders, waist and hips all appear to be the same width. This Body Shape falls into the angular category which means she should wear angular silhouette clothes.
Sam looked at the silhouette of this hoodie and found the side seam under the arm went straight down to the hem. This meant the silhouette is angular, perfect for her.
Horizontal Lines
Another design aspect Sam learned about are horizontal lines. They stop the 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 lines.
For Body Shape, Sam learned that they shouldn’t be placed in areas where one is the widest because it emphasizes that area and makes it appear even wider creating more out of balance. However, when placed in thin areas horizontal lines emphasize these areas and make them appear wider creating balance with the wider area. Since she has a H Body Shape, she doesn’t have one wide area meaning she can place horizontal lines anywhere.
For Body Proportions, Sam learned that they shouldn’t be placed within a short area because they will make that area appear even shorter. On the other hand, placing them within long areas makes that area appear shorter and as a result that area appears balanced with the rest of the body. She is short between her chin/bust and long between her waist/crotch. This means she should avoid them between her chin/bust and welcomes them between her waist/crotch.
Sam noted this top has four horizontal lines: top of pocket, bottom of pocket, sleeve hem and body hem. All of these lines are between her waist/crotch area and are perfect for her.
Vertical Lines
Sam learned another design element that is important are vertical lines. Vertical lines move your eye up and down and make the area appear thinner and taller. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of this design element.
For Body Shapes, one wants them through the widest area because the eye is moved away from the area and makes it appear thinner. However, vertical lines shouldn’t be placed in just thinner areas because that area will appear even thinner making the wider area appear even wider. Since Sam has a H Body Shape and doesn’t have one area wider than the other she can place vertical lines anywhere.
For Body Proportions, one wants vertical lines through the short areas because they will make the area appear longer. On the other hand one wants to avoid them within a long area because they will make that area appear even longer. Sam is short between her chin/bust area so she wants them in this area. However she wants to avoid them between her waist/crotch because vertical lines will make the area appear even longer.
Sam determined that there are three vertical lines on this hoodie: the zipper opening and on either side of the pockets. It runs from the center front neckline just below her waist. The zipper opening is a perfect place for a vertical line because it makes the area between her chin/bust appear even longer. On the other hand, the vertical lines created by the pockets aren’t because it can make the area between her waist/crotch appear longer. Sam learned that magic happens when using both horizontal and vertical lines together. There are three strong horizontal lines in this area which counterbalances the vertical lines.
Color
Green is one of Sam’s favorite colors and this green is a lighter version of it.
What To Wear For Leisure Activities -- Bottoms
When choosing the hoodie Sam notices there are pants to go with it. She really likes the look of hooding and pants being the same color. However, over the last year and half she learned she feels better when wearing more color variation. More specifically, she learned that she needs to wear light colors and dark ones together. She plans to bring in color variation into the other pieces of the outfit.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
With Sam’s H Body Shape, she looks for pants with an angular silhouette. She learned most pants are created with this silhouette. These pants fall into this category and are perfect for her.
Horizontal Lines
Sam noted that this pair of pants have two horizontal lines: the waistband and the hem. The waistband falls below her natural waist which is perfect for her because it will make the area between her waist/crotch appear shorter. However most of the time the waistband will not show because she will be wearing the hoodie. The hem of the hoodie falls below the waistband.
The hem of the pants is gathered at Sam’s angle. She can place horizontal lines anywhere in her leg area because her torso and legs are the same length.
Color
The color of the pants are the same as the hoodie. It’s a lighter version of one of her favorite colors.
What To Wear For Leisure Activities -- Top
Sam wanted to find a shirt to wear under the hoodie for more warmth. She looked for turtlenecks so she could keep her neck warm.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam looked at the side seams of this turtleneck top and saw the width of the shoulders, waist and hem are all the same which puts this silhouette in the angular categories. It’s perfect for her H Body Shape.
Horizontal Lines
Sam noticed four horizontal lines: top of the turtleneck, bottom of the turtle neck, sleeve hem and body hem. She was concerned about the turtleneck horizontal lines. In the past, she has stayed away from them because she’s short between her chin and bust. On further inspection she figured out her neck area isn’t short, it’s the area from the shoulders to her bust. A turtleneck works perfectly for her neck area. When she put on the hoodie with the top, she noticed the zipper opening created the vertical line she needed to create length in her short area. Sam figured out she can wear a turtleneck only when there’s some kind of vertical line starting where the neck/shoulders meet to below the bust.
Color
Sam chose a white turtleneck top to bring in more color variation into the outfit. The other piece of the color variation puzzle will come in through the wrap and socks.
What To Wear For Leisure Activities -- Wrap
(macys.com: Steven Madden Women’s Solid Woven Blanket Scarf, UPC 800445713691)
Sam can get cold easily so she likes to wear a wrap. She looked in the cold weather department and found this wrap. It can also be used as a cold weather scarf. She loved the color and thought it blended with the color of the hoodie and pants.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
The wrap worn this way creates diagonal lines. Diagonal lines can be either horizontal or vertical lines depending on the slope. In this case they are vertical lines. The eye goes from the right shoulder to the left hip and then from there to center front mid-thigh. Sam determined these vertical lines work great for her short chin/bust area and long waist/crotch area.
Color
Sam chose a dark green wrap because it gives the overall outfit a high contrast color variation. She learned that because she has light skin and dark hair and eyes, they give her the clue she should wear colors with high contrast: dark and light color. The white and dark green create that high contrast.
Over the last year and a half she has experimented with that and found that her confidence increases when there’s contrast. She’s amazed this fact is true for her.
What To Wear For Leisure Activities -- Socks
Sam wears socks over slippers to keep her feet warm. When she gets home from a long day at work, her shoes are the first thing to come off. She found that wearing thick socks are the best way to keep her feet warm and cozy.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Color
Sam chose these socks because they create a high color contrast with either the dark green or while.
Final Thoughts
Sam is excited about this weekend with her friends: Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica. She’s looking forward to what unfolds in determining how she will start pursuing her dream of creating a mixed use housing project which brings people together. She is grateful that she has learned to tap into her confidence and personal power through clothes because her confidence in herself and skills has increased and has brought her to this place of now starting the process of pursuing her dream.
In the next blog post, Monica will be sharing which outfit she’ll be wearing to the coast. She’s also excited to determine how she’s going to grow her social media company. She has some ideas but isn’t sure what’s the best next step. Over the last year and a half she’s learned that clothes change how you feel and has started to create a closet full of clothes that help her feel like she can conquer her day. She’s ready to implement it through clothes she’s comfortable in. The post is called: What To Wear For Leisure Activities — Monica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
