The Art of Dressing: Diving Into Design, Proportions, and the Power of Fashion

In this solo episode of Style POV, I dive into what really makes an outfit work—from the inside out. I explore the foundations of fashion design, including how structure and detail shape the way clothes function and feel.

We’ll look at body proportions in a more empowering light, and I’ll share how understanding your lines, movement, and rhythm can shift not just how you dress—but how you feel. I also talk about using illusion with intention, dressing to support your emotions, and tapping into the idea of fantasy style—dressing like the version of you you're growing into.

This episode is part design guide, part style therapy, and full of ways to help you reconnect with your clothes and your sense of self.

full show notes: https://gabriellearruda.com/the-art-of-dressing-style-pov/

Resources 

Style Pillars Playlist

Dream Style Video

Creating a Style Story Episode 

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome to Style POV
 01:03 – Understanding Design in Fashion
 03:59 – Body Types and Proportion
 07:24 – The Power of Lines in Clothing
 15:08 – The Illusion Game: Empowerment Through Clothing
 18:43 – Dressing for Emotion
 21:27 – Fantasy Dressing: Exploring Your Style
 23:37 – Conclusion: Embrace Your Style Journey

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Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.

Transcript

Gabrielle: [00:00:00] Hello friends, and welcome back to the Style POV. I'm Gabrielle, personal stylist, color consultant, and someone who spent a lot of time thinking about why we wear what we wear today. We're diving into the art of dressing, not just putting on clothes, but really understanding how clothing works, design wise, body-wise, and yeah.

Even mood wise, because fashion isn't just about trends or rules, it's about expression, connection, and sometimes, let's be honest, survival, that outfit you reach for when you don't want to be seen.

That's a design decision, that one dress that makes you feel like yourself again after just a weird or tiring week. Also design. So whether you're a tactile dresser who lives for fabric, or someone who wants a better grasp of why certain silhouettes work, we're going to get into it today.

We're talking structure, movement proportion, and how to feel more you in your clothes. Not performative, not [00:01:00] perfect, just real style. On real bodies in real life.

So let's start off with the concept of design, not the make it cute for Instagram design, though. Hey, that does have its place, , but the kind of design that quietly shapes how we move through the world because good design and clothing . Isn't just visual, it's functional.

It supports you, it frames you, and it can either distract or direct attention At its core, design and fashion is the relationship between form and function. It's a beautiful symbiotic relationship. Think of it as a conversation between your body and how the garment moves, how something is built, how it's meant to move, and how it sits on your frame.

Also, how it makes you feel.

The inner architecture of your favorite jacket, that's not accidental. Someone designed those seams, that shoulder line, that waist dart create to create shape and structure. So let's break it down a little bit. There's [00:02:00] structural design, which is basically the bones of the piece, 

the way it's constructed, what the fashion designer had in mind and what the seamstress did to create it into a real garment. It's why some jackets make you feel instantly polished. They work with your frame while others might deflate you. It's also why a well placed seam can completely change how you view your hips or your waist.

You don't need to know how to sew to understand this. You just need to start paying attention. Then there's decorative design, what most people jump to first, it's the buttons, the trims, the details, the ruffles, the patterns, the embellishments, all the extra. And don't get me wrong, I do love a good detail, but the details without structure, that's like decorating a cake before it's fully baked.

Decorative design enhances, but it can't replace the foundation. Which is also why fast fashion sacrifices in the structural elements of the, of design and fit, and here's the part that [00:03:00] gets missed in most fashion talk. Good design honors the body. Its dressing. It adapts to movement. It reflects the wearers intention , and it balances both aesthetics and utility.

 For instance, the wrap dress. Diane Van Furstenberg was a. Genius structurally, it's just fascinating. It gives you a waist. It accommodates curves, it moves with you decoratively. It can be clean or bold depending on the fabric and print, but it works because it was designed with a real human body in mind, not just a mannequin or for vogue.

Shoot. So the next time you put on something and it feels off, pause and ask yourself, is it the design? Is it the structure clashing with my body? Is it the decoration that's overwhelming the shape or pulling focus? Once you start seeing in this way, you'll stop blaming your body for the bad fit and start getting curious about the design choices instead.

Let's move on [00:04:00] to the human form. We're gonna talk about body types and proportion.

All right, so now that we've talked about the bones of design, let's shift focus a little bit to you, your body, your proportion, the real life canvas that clothes are working with every day, because here's the truth, design doesn't exist in a vacuum. It meets a person, it meets you, , and this is where it actually starts to matter.

I think one of the biggest myths that people carry around.

Sometimes without even realizing it, is that there's this one ideal shape that clothes are supposed to flatter. , like some invisible gold standard of proportion or body shape or, look, we're all supposed to line up with. Believe me, this changes over the decades and if you don't align with that look well then your body, that's the problem.

Let me gently but firmly say that this is nonsense. Fashion is often treated the human body like it's supposed to serve the garment rather than the other way [00:05:00] around. And that's where the disconnection happens because if something isn't sitting right on you, if the shoulder line isn't falling in the right location or the waist is pinching, or the pants are bunching.

It doesn't mean that your body's wrong. It just means that the proportion or the design framework wasn't designed with your shape in mind.

And here's where things get interesting. Your proportions, not your weight, not your height, not your dress size, but your proportions are one of the most overlooked but powerful tools in dressing well. It's about how your body is distributed and there's no wrong distribution where your waistline sits, the length of your torso compared to your legs, the balance between your shoulders and hips. That's what great styling is built upon, noticing these elements and this relationship. Let me give you a quick example. I had a client once and she was petite. She was brilliant, [00:06:00] so stylish, but she kept on saying nothing ever fits.

Me and like, why am I not the right size? And it wasn't her size. It was that everything she was buying was made for someone who was five or six inches taller than her. Once we shifted the focus from size to proportion, like where her waist hits naturally . And how high a rise she needed in pants, the length of her sleeves.

 It was like watching a light bulb go off. Suddenly her clothes weren't fighting her, the clothes were matching the body in scale and in connection. They were cooperating and matching one another. So when we talk about body types or lines, we're not assigning you a fruit or a shape or any label.

 We're just trying to understand your visual balance. That's all proportion is it's visual rhythm. And once you learn it, once you start playing with proportion, consciously . It's actually fun. You start to see how a cropped jacket can elongate your legs.

Especially if you're petite [00:07:00] or how a fuller sleeve can balance a narrow shoulder. It becomes a little bit like styling Tetris, except the goal is to feel good and not be perfect. And maybe more importantly, knowing your proportions gives you freedom. Freedom to break the rules when you want to understand why a certain outfit is working, why it doesn't, because you're no longer dressing reactively.

You're dressing with awareness. The next section we're gonna talk about is the power of lines, and this is how you express yourself through clothes. So let's talk about something that is deceptively simple style lines, and not just in the kibbe style lines way, but what they mean from a design perspective.

It sounds very basic, right? A line, it's. Just a line. But in clothing lines are one of the most powerful tools we have visually, emotionally, and stylistically. They create shape, so they're connected. Remember when I talked about those four pillars of your style? Lines and shapes are [00:08:00] interconnected in fashion design.

They guide the eye, they suggest movement. Energy, stillness. They're everywhere in fashion, whether you're aware of them or not. Lines are like the unspoken language of clothing and once you start noticing, it's hard to unsee them. So let's break this down a bit. And again, I'm not talking strictly in a kibbe sense.

So if that's your frame reference for style lines. We're gonna adjust it a little bit, but it does relate in some degrees. Vertical lines draw the eye up and down. They elongate. They suggest steadiness direction, maybe even authority. A well-placed vertical line can make you feel taller, more aligned, and even more put together.

That's why things like pinstripe. Center seams, long lapels are often used when someone wants to feel sharp and commanding. Often found in corporate worlds as well. Now, horizontal line, they do something different. They can create or enhance width or openness. Again, not necessarily in [00:09:00] the kibbe world. They anchor the eye, they bring stillness.

That's why a horizontal stripe at the shoulder can broaden that area or why a belt might act like a horizontal line. Defines and visually grounds your waist depending on where you place them. Horizontal lines can shift your proportions dramatically and this can have great effects and can create a very grounding and stable and natural approach.

And then there are diagonal lines, which are honestly some of the most dynamic of the bunch. Diagonals create movement. They energize the wrap dresses, the asymmetrical neck lines, slanted hem lines. They guide the eye in motion, which can be incredibly flattering and expressive. And then we have curved lines, the soft drape of a silk blouse.

The arch of a sweetheart neckline the gentle flare of a skirt curve. Lines often speak to ease, grace, fluidity. They can feel romantic or approachable or. Even a little [00:10:00] bit mis mysterious depending on how they're used. What's fascinating is how much these lines reflect emotion. Let's say you're feeling strong, clearheaded and focused, there's a good chance you'll gravitate towards straighter lines, structured shapes.

Something like a blazer, a sharp pant, clean edges, that's not an accident. You're mirroring your internal state. On the other hand, if you're craving, softness, connection, or comfort.

You might reach for clothing with rounder shapes, drapey fabric, curved neck lines, soft textures that fall over your shoulder, something that flows with you and holds you in. And here's the really fun part. You can use lines to, to set the mood intentionally. You don't have to wait to quote unquote, feel a certain way.

You can dress your way into it. Need confidence for a big meeting, try a strong shoulder or a long lapel or a sharper edge. Want to feel more relaxed and [00:11:00] grounded? Go for curved silhouettes or fabric that moves easily with you. This isn't about going against your body shape, but it's using the tools from your style toolbox to imbue a new essence into your look.

To transform your look into a slightly different domain than it's been. This is where fashion starts to feel like language. You don't have to be loud to make a statement. You just have to understand what your clothes are saying. Fashion is an extension of your personality.

So let's talk about rhythm, not just in the way the clothes move, but in the way they're seen. We often think of style as static. Does it fit? Is it flattering, but real style, expressive style. Has rhythm and rhythm shows up in two ways. How your clothes move with your body and how the eye travels across the outfit.

Let's start with the body first. Clothing has rhythm in the literal physical sense. It follows you around all day. When you walk, sit, [00:12:00] lean, stretch, and some pieces move with you in a way that just feels right, like a natural second skin, like a coat that flares slightly when you walk, or a silk blouse that ripples when you turn your shoulders.

Or it could be even be a stiff denim jacket that holds your frame in place and makes you feel grounded. Every garment creates a kind of tempo though, as well. A tighter skirt might have a slow composed rhythm wide leg. Pants might feel like jazz, loose and playful with a little improv 'cause you don't quite know where they're gonna go.

A swingy dress, that's a Walt. Something sharp and sculptural might feel like a march. Precise and powerful, but rhythm doesn't stop at movement. There's also visual rhythm, the way the eye moves across an outfit, and this might be one of my favorite parts to play with, and I think people overlook it. Your outfit tells a visual story and the eye reads it almost like language or music.

Think about a look [00:13:00] with a bold collar and a detailed belt and statement. Shoes. The eye bounces, collar, waist, feet like an upbeat rhythm, full of visual accent. It's lively and perky, energetic, maybe even with a bold drum undercurrent. There's contrast and tension. But some playfulness as well. Now compare that to an outfit built around long fluid lines, maybe a monochromatic set with a subtle texture or a dress that creates one seamless sweeping motion from top to bottom.

That's a different rhythm. It's a different music composition. It gives us a different feeling. It might feel more like a tango, intentional and smooth and connected. Very different from a pizzicato that you might find in a Wes Anderson film. Nothing interrupts the flow in a tango, but the pizzicato , is made to.

Excite and energize you. The way you combine shapes, colors, textures, that's what sets the rhythm visually. Is it staccato and detail, [00:14:00] rich or slow and cinematic? Is it symmetrical and balanced or does it pull you slightly off center in an interesting way? And here's what's fun.

These rhythms don't have to match. You can have fluid, visual rhythm in an outfit that moves sharply on the body or vice versa. You can intentionally contrast them, but it has to be done once you understand the rules. Think of a crisp button down tucked into flowy pants, structured top, relaxed bottom, or a drapey dress with a single bold necklace that stops the eye just for a beat.

That's visual rhythm. Two, you're conducting the gaze and how people take in your outfit. So when you get dressed, try asking yourself two things. How does this outfit want to move? And secondly, how does the eye move through it? Because that's where the magic is. Not just wearing something nice, but in curating an experience, [00:15:00] one that starts with how you feel in your clothes and extends all the way to how the world sees you move through space.

Okay, so we're gonna move on to the Illusion game, but it's not what you think. It's actually more about empowerment through clothing. So let's talk about something that gets a little bit of a bad reputation in fashion, but actually when used with intention is one of the most empowering tools we have, and that's the tool of illusion.

And no, I'm not talking about tricking people or hiding things I'm talking about visual strategies, how lines, shapes, color, placement, and structure can work with your body to either emphasize. Thematize balance, lengthen or ground your outfits, whatever you want them to do, because here's the truth, every outfit creates some kind of illusion, whether you're conscious of it or not.

You are always sending visual signals, so why not participate in that process? Why not learn the [00:16:00] language? Okay, so let me give you a simple example. If you wear a high rise pant with a tucked in shirt, you're visually raising your waistline, which lengthens the legs.

Classic proportion shift, not because your legs were quote unquote, too short, but because you're creating a certain effect.

Same goes for something like a well-placed shoulder detail. It can add strength, presence, a little bit of drama to your frame. That's not deception, that's actually intention, and I want to reframe this for a second, because illusion isn't about hiding. It's about directing attention.

You are saying, here's what I want to highlight today. Here's what I want you to pay attention to. Just like directors and movies do this or writers do this, they tell you what you need to pay attention to, and that answer can change. Some days you want to emphasize the waist. Other days you want to disappear into those.

Soft lines of an oversized sweatshirt or knit fabric. [00:17:00] Both are valid. Both are you. You get to decide what feels good on that particular day in that particular mood for that particular version of yourself. And when you know how illusion works, it stops being about fixing or covering, and it becomes like a visual alchemy.

You can lengthen, soften, strengthen, sharpen, not to change your body, but to work with it and to express through it. A few quick examples of this just to ground it visually for you. So let's say you want to create vertical flow. Try a long open jacket or a vest. It carves a line down the center of your body.

If you want to balance a fuller hip. Or you add volume or detail to the upper half, maybe a boat neck or a puff sleeve to bring proportions back to that center balance. Want to create curve on a straighter frame? Draping a ruching. Curved. seam lines are gonna be your best friends. Want to create [00:18:00] presence in a subtle way.

Texture can do that beautifully, even more than color, sometimes. Matte versus shine , soft and textured versus clean and sharp. None of this is about hiding. It's about shaping the energy of the outfit. It's about how you want to show up, and I'll say this again because it matters.

There's no one size fits all strategy. What feels empowering to one person might feel restrictive to another. That's why illusion is something you learn to play with and not necessarily obey. It can be part of your style toolbox, but the more tools you have, the more expressive you can be and the more you can learn to say no to a certain tool.

It's a choose your own adventure. Okay, so next we're gonna talk about dressing for emotion. What we wear when we feel things, right? We feel things every day. We've talked about the architecture of clothes, the lines of movement, the design principles. But let's get real. We don't always dress for logical [00:19:00] reasons.

We get dressed based on how we feel sometimes, or how we want to feel or what we need emotionally. Sometimes it's subconscious. You wake up and you pull on an oversized sweater, or you're worn in jeans and only realize later oh, I needed comfort today. Or maybe you reach for color, something like loud and expressive and bubbly because internally you're trying to , shake off like the weight of a.

Heavy mood, which there's a lot of them these days. So this is where style becomes an emotional language and kind of emotional therapy to a certain point as well. The more we notice it, the more we can start using it intentionally. There are days you dress to reflect your mood when you want your outfit to echo what's going on inside of you.

 That could be quiet clothes for a contemplative mind, or maybe something bold and wild when you're feeling like chaotic in the best way. And then there are days you dress to shift your mood.

You're feeling smaller, so you put on structure, a kind of [00:20:00] invisible support system. You're feeling stuck, so you wear something with movement. You're tired of blending in, so you wear the red shoes. This doesn't have to be dramatic. It can also be subtle, intuitive, even, but it's powerful, especially when we start noticing it, because clothes aren't neutral.

They touch your skin, they enter the world with you. They color how people respond to you, and more importantly, how you respond to yourself.

 I always encourage clients to start paying attention to this, not to overanalyze, but just to notice what am I reaching for when I feel low? What do I wear when I want to feel powerful? What makes what fabrics make me feel held? What gives me that extra I. Power position that makes me feel so strong for the day.

What silhouettes help me feel expansive because when you understand how clothing supports you emotionally, it becomes more than style. It becomes self-care [00:21:00] and it becomes presence. And there's no single like confident outfit, no universal. Sad day uniform. You define that based on how you relate to your clothes.

It's your emotional style toolbox as well. And if you're not sure where to start, try this next time you're getting dressed. Pause, ask yourself not just what you feel, but what you need to feel. Let the clothes do part of that work for you.

Okay. Before we close out, I want to offer one more kind of playful idea, and I've talked about this in my fantasy style video, which is linked in the show notes if you want more on this. But you don't always have to dress for who you are today. Sometimes it's just as powerful, maybe even more so to dress for the version of yourself you're growing into.

Or you fantasize about being the fantasy might be a future job, a future lifestyle, or even something from a movie or   or fantasy world that you love. This might sound a little silly, but just hear [00:22:00] me out, maybe your fantasy self wears bold shoulder plaids, and the power suits and like glides into meetings like the boss, CEO, or maybe she wanders around antique bookstores and linen dresses, and always smells of oli and old paperbacks. Maybe he's all like clean lines and well worn boots. Maybe they wear silver rings on every finger and long coats that catch the wind.

The details don't matter. What matters is the overall energy and how it makes you feel and what it makes you believe is possible. Clothing lets you try on those roles, not because you're. Faking it, but because you're exploring and expanding your self-concept through fabric and form, you don't have to commit to that version forever.

But trying it on even for a day or getting inspired by the energy around that fantasy world, that can shift something in you. Fantasy dressing can also be very grounding too. It's not escapism. It can be, but it doesn't have to be. It's more [00:23:00] like intentional mood setting. A way to experiment with identity in a safe, creative space.

The key is to ask yourself, what does this version of me know, feel and do differently? And how can the clothes help remind me of that. So if you ever feel stuck or uninspired. Try dressing like a character in your own story. And you might also enjoy my style story episode, which I'll link in the show notes as well. 

This isn't about being someone else, but exploring maybe a different side of you uncovering elements that you've hidden the way or seeing yourself in a new light.

Gabrielle: Okay, so we've covered a lot. We've covered design and proportion, and line and rhythm, illusion and motion, imagination. These are all elements of style. Yes. But they're also tools for self-awareness. Tools for care, for creativity, and for becoming. Style isn't about perfection. It's about presence and choice. Play. So [00:24:00] wherever you are in your style journey, I hope this episode reminded you that getting dressed can be more than routine.

It can be a ritual, it can be resistance, and it can be joy. And sometimes it's not joyful, and that's okay too. Thank you for spending time with me today on style POV. If this sparked something for you, I'd love for you to subscribe to this podcast.

Until next time, keep dressing like it means something because it does.