Sam felt a little apprehensive about determining what to wear this fall. She’s never been a clothes person like her friend Monica because fashion never interested her. However, now that she’s learned what design lines and colors help her feel like she can conquer her day, she’s interested in making sure she feels that way every day.
Sam surprised herself because she tried on and bought a color she had never worn before. Over this last year, she’s learned a new skill set, which she never thought she could learn. She thought knowing what to wear was a gift: either you had it or not. She didn’t have the gift or any interest in it. Now she understands how clothes change the way she feels, and she’s willing to put the time and effort into creating a closet full of clothes that will help her step into her greatness every day.
Keep reading to learn what fall color Sam will be wearing.
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 This Fall -- Jacket
Sam found this jacket and fell in love. It’s outside her normal style but she loves the length. She saw a lot of jackets this length. She found out from Monica, Alice and Veronica that long jackets are on trend this fall. She thought this is a trend she can follow. Her friends told her she could wear it with most of her pants including jeans.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam learned that the first design line she should look at is the silhouette. The silhouette is the difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. Silhouettes have two categories: angular and curved. In an angular silhouette, the shoulders, waist and hips all appear to be the same width. While in a curved silhouette, the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and waist.
Sam’s Body Shape gives her clues as to which category works best for her. She has an H Body Shape, which falls into the angular category.
When looking at the jacket she noted the waist was slightly smaller than the shoulders and hips. Sam tried on the jacket and thought it worked for her. In the past, she found that sometimes she can wear a slightly curved silhouette and sometimes not. This time it worked.
Horizontal Lines
Sam also learned that horizontal design lines are critical. These lines 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 horizontal lines.
For Body Shape, one doesn’t want horizontal lines in one’s widest area because they’ll emphasize this area, make it appear wider and more out of balance with the rest of the body. However, one doesn’t want them in thinner areas because they emphasize these areas, making them appear wider, creating balance with the widest areas.
For Body Proportions, one doesn’t want horizontal lines in their short areas because they’ll make these areas appear even shorter. On the other hand, one does want them in one’s long areas because they’ll make these areas appear shorter, creating balance with the other areas.
Sam learned she doesn’t have to be concerned about horizontal lines for her H Body Shape because she doesn’t have one area wider than the rest. However, she does need to consider her Body Proportions. She is short between her chin/bust and long between her waist/crotch. This means she doesn’t want horizontal lines between her chin/bust because they’ll make this area appear even shorter. She can place them in any other area. Placing them between her waist/crotch will make this area appear shorter which will help create balance.
This jacket has four horizontal lines: sleeve hem and cuff, set-in pockets just below the waist, and hem of the jacket. The sleeve cuff and hem along with the pocket just below the waist are perfect for Sam because they’re between her waist and crotch. The hem of the jacket is mid-thigh which also works for Sam.
Vertical Lines
Sam learned vertical design lines are another important design line to consider. They move the eye up and down and make the area appear thinner and taller. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions also give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
For Body Shape, one does want vertical lines in one’s widest area because they move the eye away from the area and make it appear thinner. However, one doesn’t want vertical lines just in one’s thin areas because the thin areas will appear even thinner making the wider area appear even wider.
For Body Proportions, one does want vertical design lines in their short areas because they’ll make the areas appear longer. On the other hand, one doesn’t want vertical lines just in the long areas because they’ll make these areas appear even longer.
As with horizontal design lines, Sam doesn’t need to consider her Body Shape for vertical lines because she doesn’t have one area wider than the others. She still needs to consider her Body Proportions.
The jacket has one vertical design line and that’s the center front opening. It starts from the shoulders and goes down to the hem of the jacket. This works for Sam because it’s on a continuous line down to the hem, which is located mid-thigh.
What To Wear This Fall -- Top
Once Sam found the jacket she looked for a blouse to go with it. She also wanted the blouse to stand on its own without the jacket. Many times jackets don’t work well when visiting construction sites or working in the office on architectural drawings. This blouse works well with a jacket and on its own.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
When looking at the silhouette, Sam noted it was angular, which works perfectly for her Body Shape.
Horizontal Lines
Sam next looked at the horizontal design lines. She noted they’re at the sleeve hems and bottom of the blouse hem. They all end just above the hip area, which is perfect for making the area between her waist/crotch appear shorter, creating balance with the rest of her body.
Vertical Lines
Then Sam analyzed the vertical design lines. The only ones she found were the V-neckline. This is the perfect place for vertical lines for her. She’s short between her chin/bust and they’ll make this area appear longer, creating balance.
Shape Of Design Lines
Another aspect of design lines that Sam needs to consider is their shape. Design line shape is found within clothing details like collars, cuffs, pockets and plackets to name a few. She can also look at design line shaping in accessories and prints. Design line shapes fall into two categories: angular and curve. Angular design lines have angles while curved design lines don’t have angles.
She learned that design line shape is determined by her Face Shape; Face Shape fall into the same two categories. She has an oval Face Shape so she needed to look for curved design lines.
This blouse has two areas with design line shapes: the V-neckline and the print. The V-neck has an angular shape while the print’s shape is curved. When it comes to the neckline, she needs the vertical lines to visually lengthen this area. This top will work for her as long as the other design elements are right for her. In this case they are.
The print floral has mostly curved lines, which is perfect for Sam.
Color
Sam learned that the color component is made up of three different elements: main color, color combinations and the relative lightness and darkness of the colors. These are all determined by the Color of her Skin, Hair and Eyes.
Burgundy isn’t a color Sam usually wears; however she likes this color. When she tried on the jacket and the blouse together, she felt light in them. Maybe she has a new favorite color.
The contrast of color between Sam’s Skin, Hair and Eyes, or color contrast profile, tells her the color combinations and relative lightness and darkness of those colors that work best for her. Her color contrast profile is high. She learned this means she can wear triadic and complementary color combinations because the relative lightness and darkness is high in those color combinations.
The color combination of the print is burgundy/violet, tan and white. The tan has a lot of gold in it which makes it so it’s a complementary color to the burgundy/violet, which is a perfect combination for Sam. The dark burgundy/violet and the white have a high color contrast, which is also perfect for her.
Scale
The last design component of the blouse Sam evaluated is the scale of the print. Scale of prints range from small to large. She learned that the color of her Skin, Hair and Eyes and Body Frame Size give her the best overall scale and her Body Proportions tell her if she should increase or decrease it in a given area.
Sam’s overall scale is medium/large.
Sam evaluated the print on the blouse and determined it was in the medium/large range, which is perfect for her.
What To Wear This Fall -- Pants
Sam next looked for pants. She doesn’t wear skirts. As an architect, pants are the most practical because she’s on construction sites often. Also, she only wears a few skirts and dresses and it has to be a really special occasion for her to wear them. She tried on pants that matched the jacket but it was too much burgundy. When she tried on this golden-tan pair she knew they were the ones.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam determined the silhouette of the pants to be angular. She has learned that most pants in the ready-to-wear world have an angular silhouette. She feels lucky because her friend Grace who has an A Body Shape (curvy silhouette) has a hard time finding pants to fit her Body Shape.
Horizontal Lines
The main horizontal line is the waistband. The band is considered high waisted; however on Sam it’s at her belly-button because she’s long in this area. This works in her favor because she can wear the blouse tucked in or out.
The hem on each leg also creates horizontal lines which hit Sam between her ankle and the floor. This is perfect for her because she only wears flat shoes.
Vertical Lines
Sam noticed there are five vertical lines on this pair of pants. The first one is the center front opening. The second and third are the pockets on each side. Four and five are the center crease lines on each leg. Because the waistband hits Sam at her belly-button the center front line, along with pockets work for her. When worn with the jacket the eye just keeps moving to the hem. If she didn’t feel light when tucked in, Sam knew she always had the option to wear the top untucked with the pants.
For the crease lines on each leg, Sam learned they work for her because her legs and torso are the same. Her friend Veronica has to stay away from them because her legs are longer than her torso.
What To Wear This Fall -- Necklace
After Sam picked the jacket, blouse and pants, she looked for accessories. This isn’t something she would’ve done before she understood what design lines work for her. She started with a necklace and looked for one with a curved pendant. She saw this one and knew it would work for her.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
Because she is short between her chin/bust area, Sam knew she needed to find one that created vertical lines. Necklaces with pendants do just that. The pendant hits her just below her bust which is perfect because it helps her lengthen the area with another vertical line.
Shape Of Design Lines
The pendant is a love knot which creates a curved design line, which is perfect for Sam.
Color
She chose a gold tone metal because the undertones of the tan are gold.
What To Wear This Fall -- Shoes
Sam looked for flat shoes. They work best in her life on and off construction sites. She liked these because they match the color of her pants and the design lines work for her.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam learned the most important aspect of design lines on shoes is the shape of the toe. Because she has a curved Face Shape, she looked for shoes with a curved toe, which is one of the main reasons she picked these flats. The design line details for the buckle are also curved.
What To Wear This Fall -- Handbag
Sam has had her eye on this Kate Spade handbag for a while. She loves the fact that it can transform into a crossbody bag.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Horizontal/Vertical Design Lines
Sam learned that when picking out handbags she needs to consider where the horizontal and vertical design lines hit her. She thought this was fascinating. This handbag has a crossbody strap along with the two handles. She knows she’ll be using the crossbody strap mostly so she tried on the purse with the strap.
The crossbody strap creates a vertical line from the shoulder to just below her belly-button. Then the handbag itself creates a horizontal line just below her belly-button and another one at her hips. These lines are perfect for her Body Proportions.
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam picked this handbag because the top is curved. She had a hard time finding a crossbody handbag with curved design lines and to find one in the right color she felt like she hit the jackpot.
Scale
Sam determined this handbag to be in the medium range, a little small for her. She bought it because all the other elements work for her.
Final Thoughts
Sam is amazed how much she has learned over this past year about what design lines and colors on clothes and accessories work for her body. More importantly, she’s amazed by how much more confident she’s feeling in these clothes. As a result, she’s pursuing projects she shied away from in the past. It all happened because she built a skill to look at clothes in a different way.
In the next blog post, Monica will be sharing what she found to wear this fall. She has always loved clothes and shopping for them, but wasn’t always able to find ones that work for her body. Now that she has a better understanding of what works for her body, she’s building a closet full of clothes she loves to wear. To learn what she’s wearing this fall go to: What To Wear This Fall — Monica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
