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| Color and inside lines |
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| Blogging, sewing, errands |
Hello Stylinistas;
Today we are going to discuss how design elements can be used to affect the balance of a certain type of shape; The more you know about your body and how the design elements of the clothes you choose affect them, the more you will be able to choose the most flattering garments to wear.
We discussed the five basic body types, triangle,(pear) inverted triangle, circle (apple), rectangle and inverted triangle over triangle (hourglass). There are also five design elements that can be used to "fool the eye" by illusion. The five elements are line, color, texture, scale and proportion.
Eyes follow lines, there a two categories of lines; inside lines such as seams, decorative items such as a row of buttons, or the patterns on the fabrics (stripes, etc.) These lines can have different shapes that will affect the illusion you wish to project; they may be curves, asymmetrical and of course, vertical or horizontal. Outside lines indicate the general shape of the garment, often called the silhouette. (a-line skirt, column dress, etc.).
Eyes are attracted to color; the brighter the color, the more the eye is attracted and , of course, the reverse is true. Strategic use of color, its values, tones, etc. just by itself can effectively be used to flatter any type of figure or any body part.
Fuzzy or shiny textures appear bulky, smooth dull textures appear smaller. The choice of fabrics for specific garments can and do create illusions of a slender or heavy body part.
Small design detail (collars, buttons, cuffs, etc.-not the print of the fabric) make the body look larger, while large design detail make it look smaller. Design can be used to strategically call attention to our best asset. This particular tool is especially friendly to those of us over forty who may still have a part of their body that is especially attractive. I have a friend who has arms a 20+ woman would envy; obviously, it is to her advantage to wear clothing that bares her arms. Many mature women prefer to disguise (me included) our heavy or not so attractive upper arms!
The last design element, proportion is somewhat counter intuitive; equal proportions are not desirable in a garment;(one reason that so many people cannot just wear any white blouse with any ol' black skirt and look great!-we will discuss this in a later posting) 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. This art principle still holds true today. (This is one of those accepted "rules"; remember, it is situational, circumstances could exist where you deliberately make a choice to ignore it!)
In the above pictures, you will notice how the strong vertical stripes on the sweater elongate the waist. I wanted to wear boots in the same color tone to add length to the legs. In the picture to the right, the texture of the sweater is slightly fuzzy and somewhat loose fitting. Notice how much heavier I look around the waist. I have somewhat negated that illusion by
wearing the muti-colored very bright patterned blouse under the sweater and showing the collar. I also let the hem of the blouse peep out to just above the hip line (I have very narrow hips) to focus attention away from my (thicker than I would like) waistline.
Future posts will explain how one uses the above design elements to create desired results on different/all body types. I emphasize , the information will provide information on how to create the illusion, not whether that illusion is valid. I had a young friend recently tell me how she wished to emphasize the size of her butt. (J.Lo and Kim have a lot to answer for!) Each stylinista needs to determine which body parts she wishes to accent and which she wishes to disguise within her own body type. She may be a slave to the "rules", but she will lose some opportunities to "Rock Her Role".
Hopefully, you have determined your body type; now you need to determine which body parts you want to accent and which you definitely do not. You can then use these art principles to create your own masterpiece-YOU!...Happy Styling.......Geneva
Eyes follow lines, there a two categories of lines; inside lines such as seams, decorative items such as a row of buttons, or the patterns on the fabrics (stripes, etc.) These lines can have different shapes that will affect the illusion you wish to project; they may be curves, asymmetrical and of course, vertical or horizontal. Outside lines indicate the general shape of the garment, often called the silhouette. (a-line skirt, column dress, etc.).
Eyes are attracted to color; the brighter the color, the more the eye is attracted and , of course, the reverse is true. Strategic use of color, its values, tones, etc. just by itself can effectively be used to flatter any type of figure or any body part.
Fuzzy or shiny textures appear bulky, smooth dull textures appear smaller. The choice of fabrics for specific garments can and do create illusions of a slender or heavy body part.
Small design detail (collars, buttons, cuffs, etc.-not the print of the fabric) make the body look larger, while large design detail make it look smaller. Design can be used to strategically call attention to our best asset. This particular tool is especially friendly to those of us over forty who may still have a part of their body that is especially attractive. I have a friend who has arms a 20+ woman would envy; obviously, it is to her advantage to wear clothing that bares her arms. Many mature women prefer to disguise (me included) our heavy or not so attractive upper arms!
The last design element, proportion is somewhat counter intuitive; equal proportions are not desirable in a garment;(one reason that so many people cannot just wear any white blouse with any ol' black skirt and look great!-we will discuss this in a later posting) 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. This art principle still holds true today. (This is one of those accepted "rules"; remember, it is situational, circumstances could exist where you deliberately make a choice to ignore it!)
In the above pictures, you will notice how the strong vertical stripes on the sweater elongate the waist. I wanted to wear boots in the same color tone to add length to the legs. In the picture to the right, the texture of the sweater is slightly fuzzy and somewhat loose fitting. Notice how much heavier I look around the waist. I have somewhat negated that illusion by
wearing the muti-colored very bright patterned blouse under the sweater and showing the collar. I also let the hem of the blouse peep out to just above the hip line (I have very narrow hips) to focus attention away from my (thicker than I would like) waistline.
Future posts will explain how one uses the above design elements to create desired results on different/all body types. I emphasize , the information will provide information on how to create the illusion, not whether that illusion is valid. I had a young friend recently tell me how she wished to emphasize the size of her butt. (J.Lo and Kim have a lot to answer for!) Each stylinista needs to determine which body parts she wishes to accent and which she wishes to disguise within her own body type. She may be a slave to the "rules", but she will lose some opportunities to "Rock Her Role".
Hopefully, you have determined your body type; now you need to determine which body parts you want to accent and which you definitely do not. You can then use these art principles to create your own masterpiece-YOU!...Happy Styling.......Geneva
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