What to wear as light spring with oval body shape?

I am a Light Spring, but my body is Oval, and I have long legs/short torso. Color analysis says wear light colors, body shape says wear dark colors. When I wear a solid ivory shirt, I feel huge! What color should my core wardrobe be?

Jane's answer... Great question! What you have noticed is that light colors make the area they are worn over look larger. The same applies for white, bright colors, fabrics with shiny surfaces and, to a lesser extent, fabrics with a sheen surface.

Conversely, dark colors and matt fabric surfaces make the area they cover look smaller. Many people think this means wearing black to look smaller, but wearing any dark color has the same effect. I don't recommend you wear black (at least not near your face) as this is not a good choice for your light spring coloring.

Medium colors have a neutral effect, that is they make you look neither smaller, nor larger.

As you point out, your light spring colors are on the whole lighter colors, which creates your challenge. However, the trick is to wear the darker colors from your range of best colors on the areas you want to minimize. On the color swatches I supply, as part of a color analysis, each color chip indicates the core colors in your range. For a light spring these will include the medium to medium-dark warm greys, warm browns, warmer blues and purples.

In addition it will help you to understand how to apply design lines and color co-ordination to help you create the optical illusion of a longer, slimmer torso. Rules that take into account all of your body proportions and figure challenges are included in a personalized eStyle program. It will include recommendations such as...

Example of flowing color up the outside of body.

• Flow similar medium to medium-dark colors up your body -- this creates a slimming monochrome look


• Flow medium to medium-dark colors up the outside of your body (see example in above picture) -- that is, wear darker bottoms and an open top or jacket with a lighter colored top underneath. This creates slimming vertical lines on your torso


• Wear your tops longer -- around crotch length -- and un-tucked. This makes your torso look longer and slimmer


• Wear high focal points, such as necklaces and scarves, to attract attention to your face


• Avoid large patterns and those with obvious repeats -- they will emphasize your size