Thank you everyone for the responses so far! Keep them coming!
bunnycat and Croisette, you have especially given me something to think about that I hadn't considered before, and that's the fact that 99% of the time, I wear my CSGMs the exact same way that the model wears Alma. Sure I could experiment but I know that I will just default to my comfy way of tying most of the time. I'm only 5'1, so I feel like this is the only tie that doesn't overwhelm me in large volumes of cloth.
I actually love the way Alma looks on the model. It's classy, cozy and elegant. If I tie the JL the same way, however, the animals will be barely visible as bunnycat pointed out. The cats are indeed my favorite part of the design. I don't even like the little flowers crowding the borders, but they will be the most visible part when I tie the shawl like this.
I think I'm going to have to go to the store to try on the JL this weekend. Unfortunately I can't try the Alma in this cw but hopefully they'll have another cw available for me to compare.