Fashion Basics: Flattery

Of course, everything a woman wears should ideally be something she likes and express one's style personality, but if a woman wants to be "all she can be", she should not wear just everyhing she likes!! (unless she is a high fashion dress model!!) Every woman has a different body, complexion, fabric sensitivities, etc. and the same garment will not look the same on every woman. (look at all those "who wears it best" pictures!  No matter her age, she has complete control over styling elements that can and WILL add or detract from her appearance based on her individual body type and the five clothing design elements.  These design elements are line, color, texture, scale, and proportion.

Line is very important because eyes follow lines. There are basically two different types of lines when we discuss styling a woman's figure, the silhouette of her body and the lines of the garments itself.  A stylinista creates a bit of magic in using both types of lines to flatter her figure and to add comfort to her garments.  Body silhouette lines are based on geometric shapes, a triangle, an inverted triangle, an oval, a rectangle, and the hourglass (inverted triangle over a triangle) . The garment lines are inside lines such as seams, decorative items such as a row of buttons, or the patterns on the fabrics (stripes, etc.) These lines will affect the illusion you wish to project to a certain portion of the body; they may be curves, asymmetrical and of course, vertical or horizontal. Other garment  lines indicate the general shape of the garment, also called  the garment silhouette. (a-line skirt, column dress, etc.). We will clarify this a bit more in the next post.

Eyes are attracted to color; the brighter the color, the more the eye is attracted to it; the reverse is also true. Strategic use of color, its values, tones, etc. just by itself can effectively be used to flatter any type of figure or any section of the body..

Fuzzy or shiny textures can make a portion(or the entire body) appear bulky; smooth and dull textures can make the body or body part appear smaller.  The choice of fabrics for specific garments can (and do)  create illusions of a slender or heavy body part and can even be used effectively to provide the illusion of  weight loss.

Small design detail (collars, buttons, cuffs, etc.-not the print of the fabric) usually 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.  

The last design element, proportion is somewhat counter intuitive; equal proportions are not desirable in a garment. Uneven proportion for various garments; (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. (The Golden Mean) This art principle still holds true today. (try it sometimes with two colors, say red and black...use identical amounts of each color between all the garments and accessories...take a picture of yourself...then reduce either color to 1/3 of the whole and increase the other to 2/3 of the whole..take another picture). You will usually be more attracted to the second combination-One reason why too much "matchy matchy" does not look as good as limited use of contrasting colors in accessories, etc.

In the somewhat fuzzy pictures above, you can see how each of the design elements are used to plan this ensemble.  I have tried to maximize each of these design elements to disguise or enhance my own age, figure type, somewhat heavy mid-section and arms.and rather short height and legs.  (remember, there is only so much one CAN do), but I am pleased with the result.  The pictures also demonstrate how much heavier my figure looks when I put on the black jacket over the matching shirt and skirt.  Adding either all black or all grey purse, hat, and gloves would put proportion back into balance and I would look taller and slimmer (I used black).  The proportion factor can be addressed instantly and up a stylinistas fashion game.

In future posts I will expand upon each of these elements, explore body types, and other styling principles to create a reference that each stylinista can use to make the most of her assets and minimize body features she chooses to disguise.  I created this blog for that purpose because each element has too many details to explain all at once.

.....................Geneva.................Rockmyages@aol.com