Happy Summer!

It’s the first day of Summer & I am really excited about it, yeay.  I love summer clothes, I love wearing white, which is BIG this year, and I love swimming… I hope everyone will have a wonderful summer. What do you love about this season? Which fashion trends are you excited about? Please share :)

what’s your Season?

I was just going through some of my computer folders, cleaning and deleting stuff and I came across this information. I thought I’d share for those of you who are interested in finding out about your base coloring.  It helps when shopping for clothes to buy things that will be 1) enhancing your features 2) coordinated with everything else in your closet.  I will be posting the colors for each season later. For  now, you can use this to figure out your season.  There is also a simple test that will give you a clue if you have cool or warm undertone which I will share with you in another post.

WINTER-Base	SUMMER-Base
Hair:    Blue-black Medium to dark brown Gray Platinum blonde (white)	Hair:    Ash blonde & ash brown Platinum blonde Gray (bluish) Dark brown (cool)
Eyes:   Black or dark brown Gray blue or gray green Blue Hazel	Eyes:   Blue Hazel to gray Soft brown Gray blue or gray green
Skin:    White Beige Olive to deep Blue black	Skin:    Pink Pale beige
AUTUMN-Base	SPRING-Base
Hair:    Red or auburn Chestnut or copper Golden blonde or brown Golden gray	Hair:    Strawberry blonde Auburn or redhead Golden yellow or brown Golden gray
Eyes:   Dark or golden brown Hazel Green Aqua	Eyes:   Blue Green Aqua Light golden brown
Skin:    Ivory Peach Golden beige – light to dark Golden black Golden bronze	Skin:    Ivory Peach Golden Beige Golden brown

Five figure issues and how to minimize by dressing correctly

I get a lot of questions about these five issues, so I thought it would be a good topic to talk about.  This one is very brief, but I will be talking a lot more about the specifics in my future blogs.

1) Full upper arms:
Use sleeve designs that will cover the arms, like dolman or kimono, stylish and covered;  also you can use three quarter length sleeves. Avoid sheer, short or tight sleeves. If the weather is hot & you have to wear short sleeves avoid any cuffs. You can also use dominance elsewhere to divert the eye away from your arms.  I have seen a product that I think is a great addition for many dresses, it is called Amazing Arms. My friend used it and she loved it. I’m planning on buying those for my mom. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h36dHeXNQq4

2) Protruding abdomen:
Wear tops that come over your lower garment. Do not tuck in your top. Avoid tight
waistbands or belts. Make sure the skirt is not bulky, gathered at waist or bias-cut.  Basically, avoid any excessive fabric in that area. Skirts are better than pants.

3) Large thighs:
Try to conceal them with A-line skirts or pants with straight legs with plenty of room.
Choose fabrics that are lighter and move easily.

4) Small bust:
Add volume in that area, wear shirts with ruffles or tucks, patch pockets or any layered
looks. The undergarments can play a role as well, wear padded bras.

5) Short neck / double chin:
Try to elongate your neck (visually) by wearing open necklines, V-necks are great. Keep your hair short and off the neck. Necklaces have to be longer (depending on your chest size.) Avoid turtlenecks or any high collars.

I hope this helps.  If you have a question, please be sure to post it in the comments area.  Thanks for reading and happy Mother’s Day!

How to pick the right swimwear for your body type

It’s almost swimsuit season, and if you are like me, you are probably looking in the mirror, assessing your body and thinking where and how many pounds you need to lose to look great in your swimwear :) But, in my case, I don’t always succeed, but I know the tricks when it comes to choosing the right swimsuit to make me ‘look’ right, so I wanted to share those with you:

Color/Pattern/Details
When choosing the color of your swimsuit pick one with darker colors on areas you want to camouflage or make it look slimmer or smaller and pick lighter colors in areas you would like to highlight.
Also choose the right print & print size for your body type. If you are petite choose smaller prints, a print with dark background will have a slimming effect and an allover print will be great to camouflage bumps and bulges.
When it comes to details like ruffles, metal rings, bows and ties, use them where you want the attention or where you are smaller and need to add volume, for example, if you have a small bust and you need a little bit of oomph use a top with ruffles.

Body Types:

There are many articles and blogs covering the horizontal body types and what works best and what to avoid, but I didn’t find many covering the ‘vertical lines’ in our bodies which is equally important. So, I am not going to cover the horizontal areas such as Full or Small bust, Bottom-heavy, etc., instead I will include a couple of links that I thought did a great job.

http://www.oprah.com/style/How-to-Choose-the-Right-Swimsuit-for-Your-Body-Type-Find-a-Swimsuit

http://fashion.about.com/od/swimwear/a/findswimsuit.htm

And be sure to read my blog about body types here.

Short-Waisted:
– Look for bottoms that sit lower than your natural waistline
– Higher necklines (if you are not full-busted) to make the torso appear longer
– Any vertical lines in the torso area, look for vertical stripes, topstitching or seaming.
– Avoid high-waisted bikini bottoms and horizontal lines in the torso area.

Long-Waisted:
If you are getting a one-piece, make sure it is long enough so it fits right and you are comfortable. It is best if you chose a tankini since it creates a horizontal line and will make the torso appear shorter. Also, look for horizontal lines/details in the mid-section such as belts, stripes or patterns. Don’t forget to consider your horizontal features, if you are big busted you don’t want to have horizontal stripes to make them look larger (unless you want to :); the other option would be to go for higher leg cut bottoms to give the illusion of longer legs. Avoid boy-leg briefs, surplice style one-piece, dropped waist, ruffled or pleated bottoms.

Mid-Body short:
If your body falls in this category, fortunately you don’t have to worry about balancing upper & lower body proportions, however you will have to keep the focus away from the shorter proportions (bust-to-hip or hip-to-knee), so avoid focusing attention on the area between the bust and hips. Choose same color matching belts or tankinis instead of contrasting colors. Avoid raised waists and too much going on in the mid-body section, keep it simple.

Lastly, what makes the biggest difference in how you look is your posture. A good posture will make you look thinner, perkier and younger. Keep your chin in line with your sternum, shoulders back and relaxed & chest high. Practice and be conscious of it. If you need help, ask a friend to remind you to stand up straight and stop slouching.

Perfect proportions:
Well, you are lucky, at least vertically lucky :) just make sure you select a swimsuit that flatters your body’s horizontal lines and have fun.

If you still have questions you can leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help you.

 

DIY mellow yellow Easter ensemble

Although I am usually a sheath dress and a pencil skirt kind of a woman, but for some reason when I saw the BurdaStyle 02/2014 off-the-shoulder top #104 and the pleated yoked skirt #105 I knew I wanted a version of it. I didn’t want to use any heavy fabric as there is no use for it in our climate , so when I saw this mellow yellow linen/cotton blend fabric at Michael Levine I thought it would be perfect. At first I wanted to combine the pieces into a dress, then I thought the skirt is too cute to limit the use of it. So, I made a crop top so I can wear it with other things (I can see it with a high-waisted skinny pant)… It was a big hit at my parents’ Easter party & I felt kind of girly in it :))

Note: Because I made it a crop top I had to put the side zipper upside down so I can put it on.

 

Clutch: Guess

Power of Clothing

How clothing affects our behavior

It is a known fact that clothing reflects the personality of a person. Also, several studies show that what you wear affects your behavior, confidence level, and how you feel (your mood). This is besides the fact that how you dress can have a significant impact on how others observe you. According to a study at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Clothing can have systematic and profound behavioral and psychological consequences for their wearers. The professor who conducted this study, Galisky, has coined a new term “enclothed cognition,” that in my opinion will soon replace “dress for success” in every workplace in America. The term suggests that what you wear can influence your behavior; focusing on the effects of clothing on you rather than others’ perception of you. In his study, Galinsky asks: “Does wearing the robe of a priest or judge make people more ethical? Does putting on an expensive suit make people feel more powerful? Does putting on the uniform of a firefighter or police officer make people act more courageously?” While he doesn’t answer with a definite ‘yes’, however, the study shows that certain uniforms make the wearer take on the role and makes them more assertive and more attentive. The author concludes: “Although the saying goes that clothes do not make the man, our results suggest that they do hold a strange power over their wearers.” Dressing is additionally a test of your certainty. It’s a sign of confidence and a sense of self. Mae West, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1893 with a successful film career, was a model of self-awareness that caused her to stand out, she said it best: “It’s not what I say, but how I say it; and it’s not what I do, but how I do it; and it’s how I look when I say and do it.” Clothes invade the brain and body, thus putting the wearer into an alternate psychological state.

Find the study here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103112000200

 

Daily Prompt: If You Leave

Flatter your figure

Body Type

How do you choose the clothes you wear or sew? Do you just buy what is on trend? Do you know whether that garment flatters your figure or does the opposite? To answer these questions you have to know your body type.  Once you know that then you can dress your body any way you want, create the flawless silhouette, enhance your features or camouflage them, your choice. Most blogs talk about the basic six body types:

The Rectangle, Oval, Figure-Eight, Hourglass, Triangle, and Inverted Triangle

And there are several different names for each as well, such as Pear shape for Triangle, or Boyish for Rectangle or some scientific names like Ectomorph, etc., however, I have noticed that less people are aware of another classification of Figure Types:

1) Vertical Figure Types, these proportions are inherited – it has to do with the alignment of your bone structure from head to toe:

O = The ideal silhouette – perfect vertical proportions,

A = short torso / long-legs. The body is longer from hips to feet than head to hips.

B = Long-torso / shorter-legs

C = as “mid-body” short

2) Horizontal Figure Types:

“1” – fullest proportion is in the bust

“2”-  fullest proportion is in the waist

“3” – fullest proportion is in the hip

“0” – Ideal, well proportioned

Here is a picture to help you visually.

Vertical Figure Types

So, a woman can be C3,’mid-body short’ and fullest part in the hip.  This will help her better determine what clothing will be best for her figure both horizontally and vertically.  I will write a series of posts to teach you about each combination and how to dress to create a flawless silhouette.

There are so many details to consider as well. For example not all pear shaped figures are the same you need to take into consideration the vertical type and also the profile details such as protruding derriere and/or swaybacked vs, flat derrier. Long neck vs. short neck, rounded and/or sloping shoulders.  My goal is to help you understand your contours and the best clothing choices to maximize the parts of your body that you like a lot, and move the eye away from a challenging area.  This is called ‘the art of illusion’ – creating a body that looks ideally proportioned.  I will try to illustrate that with everything I sew (own or purchase),  will tell you why I chose the style and what body type will benefit from it or who should stay away from the design.  I will also show you how to figure out your own body type with the help of a friend if you do not want to hire an Image Consultant.  So, stay tuned.

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