Hello Fashionistas and Stylinistas;As I mentioned in the post identifying the five design elements, proportion is somewhat confusing to many women, and the one that is probably one of the most important to your pocket book.and your styling triumphs or mistakes. Simply put, equal proportions are not desirable in a garment; Uneven proportion; a long top with a short skirt, a short top with a long skirt, etc. are usually the most flattering on your body. For those of you who were art students, you may remember that as long ago as Greek and Italian craftsmen ruled the art world, proportion was an element of pleasing design. The generally recognized balance of proportions for overall pleasure to the eye was 1/3 to 2/3 or simply put, a ratio of one to two. his art principle still holds true today, tomorrow, and the next day.
What does this mean? For those of you who are at least as old as I am, It was "a rule" that your hat, gloves, shoes, and handbag all were the same color You might have had a fur collar or other elements of the garment that were the same color as the accessories. Some
times this worked; sometimes it didn't. Many women did not know that artistic composition would not favor a balanced use of two colors. The biggest offender of this artistic given was black and white; a problem that still exists today with many women. ALWAYS the proportions of a black skirt, and a white blouse will be enhanced with a black sweater and black tights and black shoes rather than a white sweater and white tights with the same black shoes. ( a fashion "style when I was a young woman, traditionally called "patrician"-because so many wealthy women were so badly dressed according to the reigning artists)
The "golden mean" as the proportion ratio is called, has been an artistic visual value since ancient times and is prevalent in all art forms. (gleaned from six years of art classes as a young woman) This rule holds true to color proportion, size proportion, etc. Simply put, if you are wearing a long jacket, it usually looks better over a short skirt; if you are wearing a short jacket, it looks better over a long skirt. HOWEVER, another one of the big howevers, the color of your hose, if the same as the color of your skirt, extends the proportion, as does the color of a neck scarf, your hair if worn around the face etc. to the top garment.
Now, stylinistas, although fashion design and styling is an art, you are perfectly aware that all these design elements can be, and one or more is usually mangled almost any given season. The garments or "looks" that mangle the designs are the ones that are "fads" and become dated before you can get your moneys worth out of them. (do you really think the "deconstructed" shirts are going to be worn for very long?) Unless it is Tim Gunn, critiquing an upcoming designer, most person's who discuss fashion rarely mention proportion at all.
Almost every high fashion designer dresses models in examples that clearly ignore the "golden mean". What this means for you is to judge your styling accordingly for what is a trend and what is a lasting combination for purchase. An ensemble that is truly proportional, in its shapes (no extra wide collars, sleeves, etc.) usually only needs updated accessories to become updated in a quietly conservative way. You can truly buy a very expensive garment that will last you as long as you are the same size. You can truly judge what is a "classic"; it is not always what the salesperson says.
The pictures to your left demonstrate this principle. Even at first glance the ensembles are more cohesive in the bottom two. In the first two pictures, the ensembles are meant to be worn with cardigan sweaters or jackets if a business occasion. the plaid skirt and sweater will be worn with black tights and a black 3/4 length leather jacket or a heavy cashmere below the hip cardigan; the grey slacks and pink sweater is (was) worn with a men's length grey v-necked ribbed cardigan or a grey wool jacket that is the same length as the pink sweater. The accessories were grey boots and a gray snakeskin handbag. In both cases, you can see the results would become exactly the same as the bottom two examples. Timeless, classic, yet modern, sophisticated, and youthful, and suitable for my age and lifestyle.
This post concludes the five major design elements, color, line, scale, texture, and proportion; there are a few other design considerations, but if these are mastered and you have the right fit, and choose garments suitable to your body type, every ensemble you create is guaranteed to make you happy with the results.
When I complete the posts on body type, we will again address the garments in your closet. If you recall, when we did the closet inventory, one of the first suggestions was to get rid of anything that did not fit or would be made to fit , should go, no matter how much you like it. In a few weeks, I will be releasing my posts on the spring 2016 collections. We can re-address the items in our closets in order to assess what we need to get rid of based on the suitablility of those design elements. Does the color flatter you? are the lines (silhouette and inside lines) of the garment flattering? if patterned, does the pattern scale overwhelm your body size or shape?, is the texture flattering or disguising? Most of those questions fall under the heading "does it flatter your body type". Notice I left out proportion from this assessment because that will be attended to by how you wear the garments or if the proportions are outlandish, the fad will soon out run its course and you will get rid of it when it passes.
Its the little things:
Although you will hopefully curate your closet before the spring season, you may wish to get a head start at the beginning of the new year. Now that you fully understand or are reminded of what you should be looking for, you might want to get rid of them sooner. (just in writing this blog, I have had to part with a few things I really wished were more flattering or versatile). We can get a head start on what might need to be added or replaced.
Happy Styling.............Geneva.............Rockmyages@aol.com
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