What's your plan? Beginning your style blueprint is like designing a house.
House blueprints don’t just spring forth, fully formed. They take time, planning, arranging and rearranging until the design flows properly, rooms connect logically, living areas take on shape. Like a house blueprint, your style blueprint will go through many changes, shifts, erasures and rethinking before it becomes ‘final.’
Phase 1: We’re going to get you to look inward – or at least more closely at you, to develop the foundation. First, you’re going to take a good look at you.
- Get a friend to take a few pictures of you from the front and side, against a plain white background. Use a digital camera if you can.
- Import these pictures into a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop.
- Select the best front and side shots and erase detail to create outlines.
- Get a friend to take careful measurements of your chest, bust, waist, hips, inseam. Add those measurements into the graphic.
- Save and print a few onto plain white paper. You’ll be using these shape printouts to design your ideal look.
Phase 2: You’re going to take a look at your favorite outfit.
- Take your favorite outfit out and hang it nearby – leave it on the hanger for now.
- Draw that outfit onto one of your printouts, as you envision it on yourself. Use pencil, and don’t worry about being precise -just sketch its general lines.
- Now, try on that outfit and have a friend take a picture – then compare the picture to the sketch.
How close did you get? The first time may not feel very accurate. Don’t worry. Learn to view your outfit objectively – as others see it. Try this with a few other outfits.
Phase 3: Time to think outside the box and begin drawing design lines to discover what shapes work best for you.
- Sketch your body type in black marker or pen on several new print-outs. Refer to our body type posts or the Body Type FAQ.
- In different color pencils, sketch sleeve types, waistlines, hem lengths, necklines. Think in terms of lines and shapes, not color or pattern.
- As you discover design lines that feel like they work with your paper self, save them in a folder or notebook. You’ll be using them later.
Congratulations – you’ve just taken huge steps in defining the foundations of your new style blueprint. Objectivity is the key, and seeing the truth of plain lines on the outlines of your paper self helps to develop the objectivity you’re going to need as we proceed to Strategic Shopping.
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