Necklines

What is a neckline of a garment?

It is the top edge of a garment that envelopes the neck. It is mostly a line that dictates the type of the garment.

Here are a few common necklines that are available.

Cowl Neck: It is a neckline that is unstructured and drapes below the collar bone. These types of neck lines are flattering to women with a small bust and helps in adding volume.

Halter neck with a Cowl

Ruffles: It is a strip of fabric, lace or ribbon tightly gathered or pleated on one edge and applied to the garment.

Ruffles

Keyhole collar: As the name suggests, the collar has a keyhole.

Keyhole Collar

Polo: These are close fitting collars that wrap around the neck and end just below the chin. This is a very abrupt and harsh neckline.

Polo Neck

V-Neck: 2 diagonal lines from the shoulders meeting at the chest.

V-Neck

Boat (bateau) neck: they start after the collar bone and sits loosely on the shoulder and is shaped like a boat.

Boat (Bateau) Neck

Sweetheart: These are shaped like the heart and therefore the name.

Sweetheart Neck

Round: These are the most common necklines found in t-shirts. As the name says they are round and sit snugly around the neck.

Round Neck

Peter Pan: It is a flat, round cornered collar that is usually found in girl’s dresses and frocks.

Peter Pan Collar

Strapless: has no collar. The dress usually sits on either the arms or snugly around the bust.

Strapless

Slot: The side edges are very close and are shaped like a slot and hence the name.

Slot Neckline

Shawl: Its is a rounded collar without lapels that extend down the front of the shirt.

Shawl Collar

Mandarin Collar: It is a small and close-fitting upright collar that originated in China. Hence the name.

Mandarin Collar

Cut-in-One Collar: It is a collar that has very harsh lines like those of a sailor’s uniform.

Cut-In-One Collar

Jabot Collar: In the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean”, Jonathan Pryce (Governor Weatherby Swann) wears this. It is very old and originates in the 17^th/18th century. This basically is a shirt that has frills or ruffles decoration at the front of the shirt.

Jabot Collar

I drew the collars, so please excuse the tardiness. Not too good at it. :-)

Hopefully this has given you some insights into different collars available.

Kristen Bell, an actress said “I am not a risk-taker. I don’t do plunging necklines or really short skirts. I try to stay as classy as possible and provide a little mystery.”

Jewelry (Jewellery) as an accessory

Since the time mankind has learn to melt metal, women have been wearing jewelry of some shape or kind. In fact, even before metal was found to be malleable, women have used flowers, animal hide, bones, teeth, and feathers as embellishments.

Humans have various needs as is depicted in the Maslow's hierarchy:

As human beings, we tend to move higher up the hierarchy, once our basic needs are satisfied. It has been found that women wear jewelry for 4 reasons:

• To attract men (for reproduction)
• As a Social need (a part of the Love & Belonging section of the pyramid), to fit in
• For self-esteem
• To showcase creativity (or as self-expression)

What can you do to maximize the effect of wearing jewelry?

• Remember the maxim “Less is always more”. It is easy to overdo the jewelry.
• Identify the kind of outfit you are wearing, especially the neck line of your outfit. (Is it elegant, frou-frou, simple or fancy?)
• Identify all the bare areas that your outfit is showing.
• Understand where you would like to get the maximum attention.
• Choose whether you want to wear a matching bracelet to the necklace or would you want to stick to a watch.
• Allow yourself some leeway on wearing faux gems and not just original pieces of jewelry.(Unless of course, you have an allergic reaction to some of the metals out there). Please don’t mix and match faux and original stuff.
• Ankle bracelets can be work, but be wary of the occasion. It doesn’t bode well to wear one, if you are at work. You don’t want the attention drawn towards your legs.
• Treat yourself for manicures if you are sporting a ring.
• Earrings are just as important, based on the occasion, you could pick danglers or studs.
• Above all, ensure that your jewelry, bag, shoes, scarf all work well together.

For formal occasions such as your workplace, pearls are considered the most formal. Think about Michelle Obama or Indira Nooyi (the CEO of Pepsico) and how they carries off pearls.

Diamonds have the next highest formality followed by Platinum/Silver, but it is important to keep them simple especially if it’s a formal occasion such as your workplace or a black-tie dinner.

Some tips based on necklines:

• Collared shirts that you wear to work, keep it simple. A string of pearls can do wonders and ensure that it sits within the shirt. It is important that you don’t draw attention to your bust at your workplace.
• You might want to wear a longer length necklace with Cowl necks and Boat necks. Alternatively, pearls work very well too.
• For a strapless dress/gown, you don’t really need anything at all. Try and pair them with a dangler earing and a hair piece. You could wear a choker as well.
• For a V-neck, use something that will fill space and mirrors the shape of the neckline. Large pendants work very well as they shape the necklace.
• For a Polo/Turtle necks, use something long that will sit on the bust. A turtle neck leaves a harsh visual at the chin and the long necklace mitigates it very well.
• For cowl necks, a necklace with long length, creates a more flattering look.
• For a keyhole shirt, try omitting wearing a necklace as the keyhole is a great embellishment by itself.
• For a slot collared shirt, once again there is no need to wear a necklace as the collar itself is designed like one as is the same with a Peter pan collared shirt.
• For a shirt with ruffles, a classic item with beads or pearls look great.

Mark Twain commented “Let us not be too particular. It is better to have second-hand diamonds than none at all.”

We provide these kinds of inputs on a personalized basis when you opt for Image Consulting services.

In my next post, will try and describe necklines. :-)

Do keep reading and spreading the word.