Grace loved Monica’s idea of determining what to wear to the gym based on understanding design lines and colors for her body. She’s seen a big change in her confidence by wearing clothes with the right design lines and colors for her. She wants to continue being confident in other parts of her life.
Grace and her husband have noticed how their parents’ strength has been decreasing over the years and don’t want the same thing to happen to them. Her husband read about research that said strength training is the best way to stop the decline in strength. As a result, they hired a trainer to work with them to create a strength training regimen.
Based on experience, Grace wasn’t sure if she could find workout clothes that would fit her body let alone reflect her body’s clues. But with tenacity, she did.
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
What To Wear To The Gym -- Top
When Grace was shopping in the Macy’s store for tops to wear to the gym, all she found were angular silhouette tops. This is what happens most of the time shopping for clothes. So she went to macys.com to see if she could find more choices. She came across this top and thought it had possibilities because of the ruching at the side seams which turned an angular top into one that molded to her curves. She also loved the natural taupe color. So she ordered it.
When the package arrived, she tried it on and Grace loved how it fit and the color.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Like her friends, Grace learned the silhouette is the outside line of clothes. It’s the difference between her shoulder/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. There are two categories: angular and curved. In an angular silhouette, the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. In a curved silhouette, the waist is significantly smaller than the shoulders and waist. She learned that her Body Shape gives her clues as to which category works for her. Grace learned she has an A Body Shape which falls into the curved category.
When looking at the top, it looks like an angular silhouette, but when she put it on, it formed to her waist transforming it into a curved silhouette.
Horizontal Lines
Grace also learned that horizontal lines stop the eyes, emphasizes the area and makes it appear wider and shorter. She knows horizontal lines are neither good nor bad; their value depends on where she places them. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
When it comes to her A Body Shape, Grace wants to avoid horizontal lines in her hip area; but should place them in her shoulder, waist and mid-hip areas. By placing them in these areas, the horizontal lines will emphasize these areas and make them appear wider, balancing her hips.
For her Body Proportions, Grace is short between her bust/waist and knees/floor. She’s long between her waist/crotch. She wants to avoid horizontal lines between her bust/waist but should place them between her waist/hips.
Grace determined that this top has two horizontal lines: hem of the sleeves and the body hem. The hem of the sleeves falls just above her bust and she thinks they magically make her shoulders appear wider, balancing her hip area. When she tried on the top to determine where the body hem landed on her, she determined that it was perfect, just above her mid-hip.
Vertical Lines
With horizontal lines, Grace learned that not all vertical lines are good. It’s a matter of where she places them. She learned vertical lines move the eyes up and down, along with making the area appear thinner and taller.
Grace looked over the top and determined that the only vertical lines on it are at the neckline. The neckline has a v-shape which creates vertical lines. She learned that this isn’t necessarily a great place for vertical lines on her body. However when she put the top on, she noticed that the place where the shoulders and sleeves meet is below her shoulders. As a result, her shoulders appear wider than they are. This counterbalances the V-neckline.
Shape Of Design Lines
In the last nine months, Grace learned that her Face Shape gives her clues to the shape of design lines. Design lines come in either angular shapes or curved shapes. If one has a curved Face Shape, then one should look for curved design lines and if one has an angular Face Shape, then one should wear angular design lines. Grace’s Face Shape is rectangular, putting her into the angular category.
The main design line on this blouse is the neckline which is v-shaped; which puts it in the angular category. However, Grace noticed that the hem has a curve to it caused by the ruching on the sides. Because all the other elements work for her, she determined that it didn’t detract from the overall angular feel.
Color
Grace’s favorite colors are orange and green. She couldn’t find a top in either of these colors. When she found this top, she determined that it was a good neutral for her and she could add her favorite colors into the bottoms.
What To Wear To The Gym -- Bottoms
When Grace was looking for the top, she also looked for leggings to go with it. She chose leggings because she didn’t feel comfortable wearing shorts to the gym. She also looked for bottoms that have vertical lines through the hip area and down to the hem. Grace learned that vertical lines in her hip and thigh areas made these areas appear thinner and when the vertical line goes down to the hem, it’ll make her legs appear longer which she loves.
These leggings have vertical lines and appear to coordinate with the top she chose.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Grace really didn’t look at the silhouette of the leggings because she knew they could be curvy. Because they are made out of spandex, she knew they would mold around her hips and waist. She loves pants with stretch for this reason.
Horizontal Lines
Grace learned that she wants to avoid horizontal lines in her hip area for her A Body Shape, but placing them at her mid-hip and waist is perfect. For her Body Proportions, she should place the waistband below her natural waist to give length between her bust/waist and at the same time shorten the area between her waist/crotch. She also needs to avoid placing horizontal design lines between her knees/floor because she’s short in this area.
When Grace tried on the leggings she noticed the waistband hit below her natural waist, which is perfect if she decides to wear a shorter top. However, most of the tops she wears will fall around mid-hip. The lower part of the band hits mid-hip, which is also perfect for her. Both of these horizontal design lines will help make the area between her waist/crotch to appear shorter, which is perfect. There’s a pocket that begins on the side of her leg at her hip. But because it’s sewn to a vertical line, it doesn’t bring focus to this area. Finally, the hem of the leggings is at her ankles, which is perfect for her.
Vertical Lines
During the process of learning about the best design lines for her, Grace learned that vertical lines are perfect in her hip area because they move the eyes away from this area and at the same time make it appear thinner. Now she’s always looking for vertical lines in this area.
Grace noticed that there are vertical design lines on these leggings which begin mid-hip and go the full length of her legs. They’re placed closer to her sides which visually makes her hips and thighs appear thinner. The added benefit that is these vertical lines also give her legs length. Her legs are shorter than her torso, so the lines make her legs appear to be closer to the same length as her torso, which she loves.
Shape Of Design Lines
With her face being rectangular she knew that she needed to look for prints that have an overall rectangular feel. When looking at the leaf shapes, she felt they had both a rectangular and curved feeling. She determined it would work for her.
Color
The colors in the print are coral, olive green, taupe, gold and white. These colors are a combination of analogous and triadic color schemes. This is perfect for Grace’s color contrast profile of medium. She loves all these colors and will keep a look out for tops with coral and olive green.
The relative lightness and darkness of the colors is in the medium range, which matches her color contrast profile.
Final Thoughts
Grace was surprised how easy it was to determine what to wear to the gym. In the past, shopping for clothes was overwhelming and, in the end, she went home empty handed. By understanding which design lines and colors work best for her body, she can focus on looking for them, making the shopping process manageable. As a result, she’s in the process of building a closet full of clothes she loves to wear, which helps her start each day feeling confident in her abilities.
Next week, Veronica will be sharing her experience in determining what to wear to the gym. She’s always had trouble figuring out what to wear for her long legs and short body. Over the last nine months, she’s learned what design lines help her to create balance. Read What To Wear To The Gym — Veronica to learn how she creates balance.
Wear Your Greatness!!
