The next ingredient in our style recipe is line. There are many types of lines. Stripes are a type of pattern that function as a line. We’ll talk about ALL types of patterns in my next post, but today, we’re going to talk about line.
Nearly every capsule wardrobe I’ve seen on Pinterest has a horizontal striped t-shirt. Why is the horizontal striped t-shirt so popular? What should you be wearing for your shape. Are vertical stripes flattering for your shape? Are horizontal stripes slimming? I’ll let you in on the secret of how to wear horizontal stripes.
What is line and how do we use it in design?
Line is just what it sounds like. If you were going to draw your outfit anything that you would draw is a line. Just imagine a line drawing of a garment or an outfit. Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, straight and curved. You could also describe the line with different terms such as light, heavy, fluid, organic or angular.
Edge
A line can be formed by the edge of a garment or the hem.
Design element
Design elements like pockets, seams, pleats, plackets, gathers darts and even pressed creases create lines.
Outline
Lines are also formed by the outline of the garment. This is very similar to the silhouette, except the silhouette is filled in.
Patterns
Patterns or prints will be talked about in depth in the next post that is focused solely on patterns, but patterns can create lines for our outfits as well.
How do lines affect the design of ourselves?
Body shapers can only do so much to sculpt or refine our figure. I find it’s better to find flattering clothes than it is to rely on women’s body shapers. You can do that by controlling eye movement. In the same way that your eyes see the headlines or pictures on a newspaper first before you focus in on the fine print, you can control what others see about you first. Think about the elements of your outfit as being dominant, subdominant and subordinate. The dominant feature will be the focal point. This is what you want everyone to see.
A great focal point is the face. Make it a focal point by wearing v-neck blouses and dresses. The “v” acts like funnel opening up toward and drawing attention to the face.
Lines are a great tool for directing eye movement. Our eyes naturally follow lines. Lines draw eyes up to our face or right past an area we’d like to de-emphasize. Lines can be used to break up a section that is large, elongate an area that is short, emphasize or “visually” increase width and many others as well.
Here are some basic guidelines to follow:
- If you want to make it look wider, put a line around it. The eye will travel horizontally around it increasing it’s visual impact. The wider the line, the more impact.
- If you want to diminish it, draw a line through it or over it to chop it up.
- Using a series of diagonal lines in sort of offset v-like pattern draws the eyes to the center. This can be used to make you look thinner.
- Using vertical lines elongates the figure.
It’s very important to notice the line in your garments when you’re looking for the right dress style for your body shape. Different body types will need to use line differently to balance the figure. There are body flattering dresses for every shape. A woman with a rectangle body may place lines around the hip and across the bust to create visual width in those areas in order to create the illusion of curves. This can be done by wearing a drop waist dress with a stripe across the bust. The drop waist emphasizes the hip and makes it look visually wider and the stripe going across the bust makes it look wider as well. Where as the most flattering dresses for an apple body shape, would want to avoid horizontal lines and instead opt for a dress with vertical seaming that fits in the bust and flares out under the bust.
Example
The neckline and shoulder construction of this dress created a horizontal line across the shoulders which makes the shoulders look wider. The lines of sequins converge at the center of the garment which bring the eyes in and make the figure look thinner. The round lines at the bust area accentuate the curvature of the bust and make it look bigger. The angle of the lines at the hip also make the hip look wider. This dress creates an illusion of curves. Great for a rectangle or to amp up the curves of an hourglass.
Stripes or no stripes
Let’s go back to the stripe conversation from the top of the post. Why do so many people have shirts with horizontal stripes?
Here are my thoughts: I wouldn’t recommend horizontal striped tops for everyone. There is really only one body type that it really looks flattering on. It just happens to be the most common women body shape that there is, so that’s probably why the horizontal stripe top is so popular. It also follows along with the current “more volume on top with skinny jeans” trend. If you are a triangle AKA pear body shape, this is a style for you. Wear horizontal striped tops to your heart’s content. The horizontal stripes add visual weight to the top half of the body to balance the wider hip bottom and thighs. If you just love horizontal stripes but aren’t a triangle, opt for a top with thinner stripes as their effect will be lessened. Or pair the top with a belt over the top if you have a defined waist.
Body Shape
I’ve talked a lot about body shapes in this post. If you don’t know your body shape, read this post, use the body type calculator, or check out the style recipe exclusively for your body type. Whether you’re an hourglass, a rectangle, inverted triangle, triangle or an oval, there is a recipe precisely for you.
Check out the line section of my Style Recipe board on Pinterest for additional inspiration.
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