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Dressing principles
MY study on personality development, especially on wardrobe,
convinces me that everyone has the power to look his or her
best. Height, body structure, and figure proportion are natural
characteristics we have no or little control over (what with
surgery, liposuction, etc), but we can manipulate the design
– cut, fabric, color – of what we wear not only
to create an illusion of height and cover figure flaws, but
more so to highlight our best features. Let us discuss some
of the basic principles in dressing.
LINES
Research reveals that the eye naturally travels down an object
from top to bottom and up again. However, when a horizontal
line crosses it at some point, the eye first traces the line
before it continues its trip vertically. Thus, vertical lines
make the wearer appear taller and slimmer while horizontal
lines are widening.
Stripes easily illustrate the vertical and horizontal lines.
But it is not just stripes that define these lines. Pockets,
hemlines, bottoms of jackets, belts and square necklines create
horizontal lines and thus draw attention to the body parts
where they are found while a row of buttons, seams, scarf,
vertical pockets and narrow V-necklines are examples of vertical
lines, which are slimming and lengthening.
To apply this first principle, you wouldn’t wear pockets
on blouses if you have large busts – unless you want
to draw attention to it; nor would you wear a blouse with
a deep V-neckline if you have a rather long neck (although
a remedy would be to wear a choker). You might also want your
hemline to cross the slimmest part of your legs.
 FABRIC
Fabric can also highlight or downplay height, weight and body
proportions. In choosing the type of fabric for clothes, remember
these principles:
Shiny fabrics reflect light so they draw attention to themselves.
Parts of the body they cover appear larger. Examples of shiny
materials are satin, brocade, metallic textiles and sequins.
Matt fabrics like crepe, cotton and linen, on the other hand,
absorb light and reduce the size of the body parts they cover.
Sheer and stretch body-hugging textiles emphasize your shapely
(or shapeless) figure. Examples are chiffons, knits, jerseys
and other thin and clinging fabrics.
Bulky or heavy fabrics add weight to your appearance. Thus,
a man wearing a business suit will appear sturdier than he
really is. Examples of heavy fabrics are wool, tweeds, heavy
knits and corduroy.
Using these concepts, a thin lady would benefit by wearing
a silk blouse or dress, a woman with large behinds must use
only matt fabrics for pants and skirts, and those well endowed
with weight would do well by avoiding tight blouses.
COLOR
Light colors have more reflective qualities and thus make
areas appear larger while dark colors absorb light and make
areas appear smaller. And like shiny and matt fabrics, use
light and dark colors in areas you want to highlight and diminish,
respectively. Black is the best slimming color and your wardrobe
is not complete without your black pants, skirt and dress.
For a less stark effect, use navy blue as your slimming color.
White and other pastel colored tight pants or capris, which
are the trend now, are best worn by the slim and slender.
Look taller by wearing a single color or a combination of
its shades and tones in your attire from head to toe. The
color will create a vertical line, which is more pleasing
to the eye. Just be careful that you don’t create a horizontal
line with a contrasting colored belt – a common mistake
in dressing for shorter persons.
Shorter persons should also avoid wearing contrasting colors
for tops and bottoms, e.g. white shirt tucked in dark pants
as this will cut them in two and give the impression that
they are shorter than they really are.
In the next issue, we shall discuss patterns and scaling
plus tips to hide figure flaws. *
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