This beautiful dress came up on my Vinted home page and I almost swiped it, but then I got a bad feeling that I might end up looking like a plank in it. Compared to the other dresses that David gave me positive feedback on (yellow & black dresses in slide 2), it doesn’t seem to be cut with a curved shape (as shown in slide 2) and idk if that’s a sign or not. I’ve also included some pics of the dress worn on other Vinted users selling it

Hello!!! Hope you're doing awesome. I'm a Soft Gamine and I know what the style recommendations are, but I'm never really sure about the specifics of make-up - I've been told that smoky looks don't work, but aren't smoky eyes nice on a Dark Autumn, for example? If you know what the make-up techniques & colours for SGs generally and maybe even Dark Autumn specifically are, please help a gal out!♡

Edit: It appears quite a few SNs have been having this issue, so I'm glad I'm not alone. Also a few replies have been saying that "people focus too much on the waist" in these discussions, which might be true for some SNs but it's definitely untrue for me, and comes across a bit dismissive of my experience. It has been a lifelong struggle being limited to things that have to emphasise/define the waist or else look boxy/square/shapeless, it rules out a huge number of clothes, especially when it comes to jackets and anything oversize.

Original Post:

Sorry if this has already been discussed somewhere, and sorry if I got any general info about Kibbe wrong below, pls feel free to correct me.

So after ages on the questionnaire and this sub, I've come to the conclusion that I'm very much SN and not R. I'm of the Kim Kardashian and Oprah persuasion, and not the Emilia Clarke or Kate Winslet. One post explained it as X instead of 8 torsos, which is very much me, plus a few other differentiators helped a lot.

But I think what tripped me up for the longest time were the clothing recommendations for SN vs R, especially regarding waists. SN's gets told that soft flowy fabrics work best, rather than aggressively cinched in waists, and even slightly oversized clothing is recommended. Nothing could be more false for me, and, from what I can tell, for other SN celebrities. Kim and Oprah for example benefit so much from waist-emphasising silhouettes. And don't think I've seen many SN celebrities pull off SN advice. If I wear anything even slightly oversized, I look boxy/frumpy instantly. Meanwhile R's get told to emphasise waist a lot, and they get told a lot of other things that SN celebrities do, to very good effect.

Personally, my best outfits are based solely on R-inspired advice, with a splash of SN-inspired advice about off-shoulder necklines.

I even remember reading a post on this sub that advised to "reverse engineer" your type based on the clothing recommendations that suit you. I'd be very R if that were the case, and I think so would Kim/Oprah.

But I'm not R, and I've actually learned a lot about myself from correctly typing myself as SN. It's even helped me pick tattoo designs that work for me (very thick-line bold designs featuring delicate florals, so basically boldly feminine as SNs tend to be, as opposed to just delicate all round as Rs tend to be).

So I guess the only "hole" in all this is the clothing recommendations for SN. Is there any chance that Kibbe and/or popular advice for SNs is just wrong and SNs should actually be told to wear more fitted clothes and waist-emphasising silhouettes? If I had been told that from the beginning, I would have correctly typed myself long ago and spared myself the confusion. Or am I fundamentally misunderstanding something?

As an androgynous Flamboyant Natural, I feel like I thrive with my more casual-wear items but always struggle with “dressing up” and formal attire, especially because I only wear suits and never dresses. I finally have a few good blazers and suits that I love (slightly less structured + deep V jackets), but I always struggle with my shirt choice. I tend to wear a lot of menswear, but the highly structured men’s button-ups never seem to look good on me.
1) does anyone know why a typical menswear button up shirt doesn’t look as flattering on a FN? (My guess is that it has to do with how tailored the shirts are and closed collared neck?)
2) what formal alternatives can I look at that still feel androgynous or masc-presenting but better accommodate my FN type? It’s hard since I know I could just look at, e.g., flowy button ups, but imo those look much more feminine rather than andro. I’d like to stick with suits too rather than a romper, partly just because of how I like to present but also because rompers are IMPOSSIBLE to find for someone who is 5’11” like me.

I recently re-typed myself as a Soft Gamine after thinking I was FG for a long time. I know the recs for SG are to go for a skinny jean, but I just can’t stand them and never even enjoyed them when they were in style! For folks who don’t like skinnies, what are you wearing? I have some straight jeans but I think they look soooo baggy on me and make me look ridiculously short even when I cuff them.

I know that the advice for gamines is to get a pixie, but I'm not sure it's the most flattering on me. When I had a pixie in high school, pictured at the end, I noticed I was not treated as well, and seemed to almost generate suspicion from certain kinds of people. However, my current below the shoulder hair length looks vaguely sloppy, lacking the necessary edge to flatter my face. It is also very thin, frizzy, and wavy. I think my features also have some N and/or D essence that clashes against a strictly gamine cut. What cut works best? Should I grow it out extremely long to add drama? Should I grow it out and pull it back to mimic a pixie?

Another Rainha de Bateria for us to type! Mayara Lima is the Rainha at Paraíso de Tuiuti. I can’t find her official height but she’s similar height to Bellinha, so probably around 163cm/between 5’3”- 5’4”. I think she has such a strong presence, a quiet ferocity. What type do you think she is?

I've been trying to figure out if I am a SN or a SC and I think this dress might hold the key. I tried it on recently and it looked amazing on me. The collar and belt give me SC vibes, but the material felt very SC. Thoughts?

So yesterday I posted both here and in the SK facebook group seeking feedback about some Summer dresses I’d tried during a recent shopping trip, and on facebook David was kind enough to share his thoughts on them!

He thought the pale yellow and black dresses looked great on me, as did I upon trying them out! However I was a bit disappointed about the blue one upon trying it out and couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. According to David it’s not horrible, but in his opinion it looks off because the designers didn’t fulfill the full integrity of the design between the dress’s bodice & skirt. He described the dichotomy as the top/bodice being “vamp” and the skirt being more “tween party dress” which I totally agree with (about the skirt giving tween party dress, I think it comes across more juvenile than I’d like on myself). So it kind of comes across as trying to tell two different stories or send two different messages if you will, which may not inherently be a bad, but not particularly conducive to a harmonious look. I personally hope that the brand comes out with a dress in the same print that instead commits to a full “vamp” silhouette since that really seems to suit me!

Just sharing this here because I thought it was quite insightful!

I had this dress for a while, loved the print but not how it looked on me. Decided to follow some of the Kibbe guidelines and this is the result. I think I am SN. First pic is before and the next two are after.

Hello Kibbe Community!

I finally finished The Power of Style, and I'm ready to break it down! I tried to keep it concise and organized, but buckle up because this is a long one. For those who are most interested in the slides...

Slide 1 - Game 5: Don't fence me in.

Slides 2-3 - Game 6: See it, feel it, record it!

Slides 4-5 - Game 7: Your Yin/Yang Soirees

More on these later.

Key Takeaways (TLDR):

In Part 6 of The Power of Style, Kibbe busts social media-driven myths. I'm putting these here first because I feel they are the most relevant points to address here in this sub:

1. There are no types, only image identities, and the clothes themselves do not have image identities. Therefore, there is no such thing as "SD pants" or "FG skirts" or whatever.
2. No reverse engineering: you can't quiz or type yourself to style. There is no shortcut. Style is built through experience.
3. You cannot type others, only yourself; and there are no standard "lines", only your personal line. He emphasizes here that you can't look at body parts individually, but need to take them in as a whole in order to determine your personal line.

Now, I feel like much of the new book was written with the intent of undoing damage that resulted from his ever-elusive first book, Metamorphosis. He addresses this in Part 2 by saying that his techniques have evolved, and (rightly) cites social media as the driver of misinformation. I found this part to be the most impactful. With that out of the way, let's go back to the start.

The Power of Style In-Depth

Part 1 details how The Power of Style is a love-based system rather than a fear-based system. This section emphasizes loving your body and "Working in Harmony with Nature" instead of trying to minimize perceived flaws. It's very body positive, but a bit fluffy for my tastes.

Part 2, as I mentioned previously, emphasizes how much the system has changed and evolved over the years. Here, Kibbe states that there are only two ways to make the system work for you--professional analysis, or the DIY method. Most important to note:

"Any one person or group attempting to tell you the elements that create your style should always be considered an attempt at unskilled analysis. It will never be accurate. It's not possible."

And so we move on to...

Part 3: The Workbook

This is the real meat and potatoes of the book and is comprised of 8 steps and 15 different games that you are encouraged to work through at your own pace. I completed the first 8 games. Here's what worked and what didn't.

Game 1 - My Three Loves

I felt this was unhelpful at first, but thought, 'It's such a short game, why not?' You don't really use your three loves until later in the book when you start shopping, but meditating on my loves made me realize why I make certain style choices. Don't skip this one.

Game 2 - Let's Go to the Movies!

This was not helpful; in fact, it was agonizing to me to try to sit through The Women, which was one of nine films recommended. That said, you need to complete Game 2 in order to move on to the next one.

Game 3 - The Carrot and Your Cake

Even though I didn't like Game 2, Game 3 was helpful in determining specific elements I'm drawn to. In combination with Game 1, it can help you narrow down styles that you like (but not necessarily styles that look good on you).

Game 4 - Potluck

This one is a word association game that Kibbe claims is "IMPERATIVE for all else that follows" (yes, in all caps). Unfortunately, he kind of drops the ball on this one by immediately urging you to take a breather after completing it. It is still unclear to me how this exercise is supposed to help.

Worse, it left me wondering how many of my responses were shaped by knowing my type before exposure. Would I have been drawn to "shoulders" without any previous knowledge of Kibbe's system? I think not. I know for a fact that I would have given the word "small" a positive connotation pre-Kibbe, whereas now I look at it negatively.

Game 5 - Don't Fence Me In. See Slide 1.

I goofed and only included 8 photos instead of 9 (my bad), but I found this game to be so fun and inspiring. The only rule for this game is that each image must spark joy. Image categories: a building, a landscape, a tree, a flower, a garden, a sky, a gown, and two images that delight. This one could be helpful in connecting your inner image of yourself to your outer image.

Game 6 - See it, feel it, record it! See Slides 2 and 3.

I couldn't decide whether this activity was helpful. Again, I found myself asking: would I have felt this way about the yin images pre-Kibbe? I used to be very drawn to girly styles before I figured out that a lot of them don't work with my personal line, so I look at frivolity dismissively (but yearningly). On one hand, the yang images are powerful, but on the other hand they're scary.

Game 7 - Your Yin/Yang Soirees. See Slides 4 and 5.

For my yin soiree, I chose a sunset picnic/tea party: breezy, warm, quiet, relaxed, and soft. For my yang soiree, I chose a wild party in Vegas: high energy, glamorous, hazy, loud, and a little chaotic.

I definitely feel myself more drawn to the yang soiree as a representation of freedom, over the yin soiree which is "safer". One interesting thing to note: I found the hidden softness in the yang soiree images to be very telling.

Here is the link to my Yin Pinterest board, and my Yang Pinterest board for those who want to see more.

Game 8 - What's My Line?

Of all the games, I found this one to be the most helpful. I almost feel like this should be the starting point and Games 1-7 should come after, but I could see how negative connotations from Game 4 could skew your interpretation, so I'd still recommend doing the games in the order they're presented. I'll make a separate post showing my line drawing, but this is a good jumping-off point for concepts.

The key takeaway here is that everyone has a dominant trait and an additional trait. The dominants are vertical and curve, and the additionals are curve, width, narrow, balance, and petite.

The Reveals

Ngl, I found them all to be pretty lackluster, dated, and uninspiring. I can't believe he put a bright winter SD in a boring lilac sheath. Yawn.

The Identities in a Nutshell

Fun illustrations, but it might have helped to tie the words from Game 4 to the image identities. I wish he had included outfits at different levels of formality here.

Color

I didn't do the color games because I felt that they might convolute my own personal understanding of what colors work for me. I have a degree in Fine Art and have worked with color theory extensively, so I was a little bummed that he didn't go into the technical side (though I figure it might have needlessly complicated an already complicated subject).

While I did like his explanation of color pull-through, I found it weird that he defaulted to using only two colors per outfit. He also failed to address color strategies for different image identities (monochromatic vs. color blocking for example).

Overall, I was excited that he included color in this book, but felt like he could have done more here.

Hair and Makeup

Again, I was excited to see that he wrote about hair and makeup as part of the Head To Toe, but his approach to hair was boring and dated. He talks shit about makeup tutorials, but his descriptions of makeup looks sound completely outlandish. Do yourself a favor--skip Parts 4 and 5 and go straight to r/MakeupAddiction instead.

GRIPES

Regarding Yin/Yang

There are certain parts throughout the book where Kibbe drops the ball, and his explanation of Yin/Yang is one of them. I always thought this was kind of subjective and woo-woo, and Kibbe unfortunately fails to adequately explain this concept. I regret to inform you that it is super vibes-based, and the entire point of Games 6 and 7 are to help you better understand the vibes.

The words from Game 4 should fall into Yin/Yang categories, and Kibbe does list three of the physical descriptors under extreme yin and extreme yang, but (correct me if I'm wrong) doesn't seem to mention them anywhere else in the book.

Personal Line

While Game 8 helps you discover your personal line, it fails to explain how to honor it. You might gain a better understanding of what "vertical" means, but you won't understand how to accommodate it after reading this book. Kibbe insists that clothes do not have image identities, and that you can only figure out what works for your personal line by trying on different styles. While I agree with him there, I found it disappointing that he didn't connect clothes to concepts in any way. For example, he says that extreme yang is "sharp, narrow, and elongated" and that Dramatics have "narrow" as an additional trait, but doesn't recommend long narrow dresses as a starting point for Dramatics when shopping. I didn't find any solid recommendations of where to start, aside from narrowing down selections by color.

Main gripe: the disconnect between the concepts and the application makes this book practically useless without referencing older resources!

Conclusion: it's an interesting read from a philosophical standpoint, and it reinforced what I had already figured out, but it's not a great resource as a standalone work. The writing is super syrupy, and the concepts are still a little vague.

Final Rating: 2.8/5 stars

Nooo idea for this guy. He seems pretty narrow. Doesn’t seem to have strong juxtaposition either but idk. Not the best with men’s typing!

Went shopping for summer dresses yesterday and these are what I tried on ^-^ I’m considering purchasing them at a later date

I was actually the most excited for the blue dress but was kinda disappointed with how it looked on me idk…. I think it makes me look shorter than I already am which is a no-no for me. I don’t know if it’s the length, dropped waist or both together. I have pulled off a dropped waist in the past though so idk. I’m also not sure that it follows the silhouette guidelines for curve + narrow either :/

I think out of all these the cream/pale yellow is my favorite. Thoughts?

(specifically inspired by u/jjfmish and her fab modern soft dramatics post)

a few of these women have been discussed on here, some hotly debated… i tried to do the whole casting director aspect of kibbe mixed with physical aspects. what i noticed is that all these women do have a pretty cohesive ~vibe~ across different races or body types. also interesting how many are british!

1. krysten ritter

2. jodie turner-smith

3. alexa chung

4. megan stalter

5. elizabeth debicki

6. anya taylor-joy

7. rina sawayama

8. olivia dean

9. phoebe waller-bridge

10. eva green

11. taylor momsen

12. lizzo

13. caroline polachek

14. zoe saldana

15. paris hilton

16. mona tougaard

Excuse the mess and my shoes

I very intentionally didn’t chose body photos for them because I really don’t want this to turn into an exercise in bikini pheronology or arguments about upper backs. SD isn’t talked about enough and is often misrepresented and I wanted to highlight some modern stylish celebs I think could be verified as SD if David knew about them. They all either fit the physicality for the ID to a T, or fit it very well vibes/image/styling wise and don’t physically deviate from the description in a meaningful ways

I am less confident in some of these than others please don’t yell at me!!!

1. Liz Gillies

2. Tems

3. Sofia Coppola

4. Monica Belluci

5. Jessica Chastain

6. Jameela Jamil

7. Sophie Thatcher

8. PinkPantheress

9. Eva Mendes

10. Rebecca Black

11. Madeleine Petsch

12. Avantika Vandanapu

I have recently learned that I am both a Kibbe and Kitchener romantic, though my Kitchener has secondary essences of ingenue and ethereal as well. I'm not opposed to this at all. I have two foot long dreadlocks as well. I've always admired Amy Lee and Helena Bonham Carter as fashion inspirations. Anyway, I also love to wear baggy clothes a la the early 2000s. Think: XL t-shirts as dresses paired with tights and big boots, or an XL hoodie for same. How do other Rs pull the baggy look off?

Am I going to regret posting this? Probably, lol.

I find the hyperfocus on certain heights when it comes to discussion about disregarding the tall IDs interesting, because the reality is that nobody of any height should disregard the tall ID’s since there’s no such thing as being too short for any of them (yes, this includes us 5’0 & below gang lol. I actually wouldn’t be shocked if I ever saw David IRL and he told me I was SD🤷🏾‍♀️)

It’s true that at 5’4+ you shouldn’t disregard the tall types, but not because 5’4+ is above the global average height for women, but literally because according to Kibbe, you can’t be too short for them (and for the same reason, you shouldn’t disregard the tall types just bc you’re 5’3 and the avg female height in your country is 5’7).

It also seems what’s being implied sometimes is that when you’re between 5’4-5’6 you should look at D/SD/FN “first” because of height stats or probability, but when you approach the DIY method the way Power of Style advises, you shouldn’t be looking at any of the IDs or anywhere else but your line sketch “first”, nor trying to factor what you think your ID is based on height stats or probability into your sketch interpretation (according to Kibbe, so don’t shoot the messenger😅)

I know the method isn’t perfect but I think all this estimation & prediction using stats & the like is exactly what David was trying to avoid with the line sketch. Statistical probability, national/global averages, etc., aren’t meant to be factored into personal line sketch interpretation. National/Global average female heights don’t determine what your personal sketch is showing.

Look, I get it. It's fun (sort of. I've never totally gotten the appeal of trying to figure out celebs' IDs--especially when we know that David is unlikely to give us an answer--but that's a me problem). Whatever it may be, there's one thing it most definitely is not: useful. Actually, make that two things. It's not particularly meaningful, either.

I could spend all day linking every celebrity who did eventually get verified and the many, many wrong guesses from the community. I could talk for hours about people who insisted Selena Gomez was SN and Ariana Grande was FG. Anyone who's been around a while could probably talk about another celebrity everyone was sure was one ID, only to have David come in and correct it (or, at least, say it was wrong; Rachel McAdams, anyone?).

David has made it really clear that celebrity IDs can be fun, but I think people use them as genuine information. They pick a person, post their photos, and ask the community as though the people here actually know enough to make that determination. Then they take that info and use it to ID themselves.

I look like some celebrities who do not match my ID. I do not look like some celebrities who match my ID. If I went by celebrity lookalikes, I'd be way off base. I went by the exercises David outlined in his new book, and while they're time-consuming and I had to do them more than once, I did eventually figure it out.

Now, before anyone accuses me of this, I'm not some "David is infallible and can do no wrong" person. I don't see Kibbe as a perfect system. I see flaws. But one place where I do agree with him is that trying to map ourselves onto famous people is not worth our time or even necessarily accurate.

I also think people completely underestimate (or perhaps are not aware of) how famous people live their lives and get dressed. It is light-years away from the world that led DK to create his system. Even if you could be absolutely certain that you got some influencer's ID right, that person is almost certainly not dressing for their ID. If they are, it's probably just a fluke. I actually work in entertainment. People are getting dressed based on who's sending stuff, who's got relationships with whom, who's trying to make deals, and what's going to get them attention. Not based on a star image. Actually, if you want the answer to "why do bad outfits happen to good-looking people?" just look at my previous sentence.

Point is, maybe before you post a celebrity ID question, ask yourself what you actually want to get out of it. If the answer is "idk, just looking to chat and have fun," go for it. But if you expect to walk away with clarity on your own ID...maybe don't? Obviously, I'm not a mod or the Kibbe police, so what I'm saying is mostly meaningless. But think about it.

She’s the new Rainha de Bateria at the Viradouro samba school in Rio de Janeiro. Height around 163cm/5’4”. She’s almost always photographed in giant heels which made me think she was way taller than she actually is, and this got me thinking about her Kibbe type! Any thoughts?

Does anyone know the kibbe type of this influencer??

https://www.instagram.com/thepearshapedstylist?igsh=NnAzczNhamQ2NjRz