I’m excited to see that more people are discovering “A
Stylish Transition”. We just past 1000 views, and are just past 80 Facebook
fans. Yay!... if you’ve newly
found us… Welcome!
One of the most popular posts thus far has been our
discussion of the most flattering neckline styles. I thought I’d rekindle and
expand on the topic to discuss face shapes and how to best work with each one
to achieve a more feminine image. We’ll look at necklaces and how to pick just
the right one for whatever your favorite outfit may be. When paired with the
right neckline, necklaces can do wonders to soften a strong jaw line or square,
rectangular or triangular shaped face. Trans-women don’t always fall into these
categories, but if you do, it may be something you’d like to soften up. I have an oval or oblong shaped face for example… its not overly angular but still
benefits from a little softening (don’t we all right?). As always, there are
plenty of ways we can make our jaw lines softer while making our necklines
dazzling. If you are unsure of your face shape, compare it to the picture
below. As you can see... rectangular, square and triangular all have “strong” more
masculine jawlines. Face shapes are also very important to consider when
choosing a flattering hair style, however we’ll save that for another post!
Before we get into the specifics, let’s look at the basics
and learn the lingo (so we can at least sound like we know what we’re talking
about!) Necklaces are classified generally by length. Below you’ll see
the 6 most common necklace lengths:
I find a graphic like this to be especially helpful for
reference when buying jewelry online. Sites will always give you at least the
necklace length, so you can get a general idea of how it’ll fall when you wear
it.
As you will remember from our discussion on flattering necklines, if we’re looking to shrink broad shoulders we’re typically looking
for scoop, v-neck or perhaps even cowl neck styles, anything to break
up the shoulder line. For the group of face shapes I mentioned above, we are
looking to soften the hard angular lines of the face by:
- Adding the appearance of length to the face to give the appearance of stretching out those hard angles
- Add more curved lines around the neck to create a softer “framing” for the jaw.
We’ll start by
pairing necklaces with our “go-to” necklines, but also take a look at others
since you certainly shouldn’t limit yourself to only those styles. In fact, with the right necklace, some
of the less flattering choices can become much more friendly.
Before we start, here are a few general necklace guidelines
I always try to be conscious of:
- Avoid
lengths where the bottom of the necklace hits right at the neckline. It will
simply get lost in the lines of the top and look unpolished. If this happens,
you can adjust the length either with a built in clasp or by using an extender.
- Think
of your neckline as a frame for your necklace. Consider: How does the shape of the neckline
showcase the necklace?
- Not
every outfit needs a necklace! Having too many competing pieces in an ensemble
detracts from everything.
Without further ado, let’s jump into some examples:
First, we have a teal, v-neck sweater with a princess length, heart pendant necklace. With pendant style necklaces, the line created by the
necklace chain is typically a “V” shape. This pairs well with v-necklines and
just like the neckline, helps to elongate the jaw and face vertically,
softening any hard edges. Take a look:
Notice how the neckline frames the nicely centered heart.
This is typical the type of look I wear most when choosing a princess length
necklaces. It is very “classic” cute… and will work on most everyone. Be
careful wearing really thin chains and tinier necklaces if you are especially
built in the upper body as it may exaggerate things through contrast. Instead,
chose something less fragile looking to avoid the necklace looking out of
place.
Just as a pendant creates a “V” shape, a necklace that is a simple chain alone will create a more curved shape as it rests against your
chest. For example:
This silver chain is paired with a fairly deep scoop neck
top. The curved lines of the top and the necklace compliment each other and
also help the eye to “expect” curves rather than sharp angular lines. This
effect can help soften harder jaw line. The opposite holds true as well…
typically you’ll want to avoid angular, geometrically shaped necklaces if you
have a more rectangular jaw line.
Let’s explore another look:
Yes, you are seeing clearly… there is no necklace here! I wanted to make sure I re-iterated my point from
earlier, not every outfit needs a necklace. Don’t feel pressured into
accessorizing every possible option. This deep plunging V-neck does a fabulous
job of lengthening my face and jaw line vertically; many necklace choices with this outfit would just break up that lengthening effect and create clutter. Could one wear
a necklace here? Yes, but my style choice is always on the side of less is
more.
If you recall from the flattering necklines post, crew necks
did not rate super favorably when compared to the other, more flattering
choices. Let’s take a look at how a necklace can enhance the value of a
neckline that doesn’t do much for us:
Here, this long, rope or lariat length necklace serves to
create a stretched vertical line that in essence, creates a new neckline for
the top. Try pairing longer necklaces with necklines that are more horizontal
such as crew or boat necks to add that helpful vertically stretching line.
Just for fun, our last example is a choker length statement
necklace:
Again, this necklace exhibits both curving lines and
extending vertical lines for all those jaw-softening effects. Bold statement
necklaces, especially those with some bulk and volume also can make a jaw line
appear smaller by contrast (that whole make something look smaller by putting
something big next to it effect!). Let flashier pieces of jewelry such as this
be a breathtaking focal point of an ensemble… they will get noticed and work
best when not competing for attention with other parts of an outfit.
Thanks for checking out this post! Be sure to Like “A
Stylish Transition” on facebook and share it with all your friends.
Cheers,
Kayci