Finding Your Kibbe

The first thing about finding your Kibbe, your Season, your Dressing Your Truth type, whatever… is that it’s not easy to do on your own. And in the case of season, where there are plenty of experts in business, many people will type you as different things. You can go to Kibbe’s studio in NYC or Carol in Utah, and you can get what they think is right. But regardless, you will have to live in this type or this season and see if it works for you.

I’m not really planning to get into seasons, even though I think it’s equally as important to finding your style personality, or as Kibbe calls it, your Image Identity–one doesn’t work without the other. But there are already plenty of great resources out there on how to find your season, which I have linked on my Resources page.

Now, if you are familiar with Kibbe at all, you will know that a quiz exists to help you out. But the quiz can only give you a general idea of where you fall on the scale of yin/yang. Here is the quiz, and here is a scoring system. But the system has flaws. If you look at it, you have SG and SC, for instance, scoring one point away from each other. But, and this is especially clear from the chart I did in my last post, they are actually opposites in how they combine their yin and yang. So using that one point to determine Soft Gamineness or Soft Classicness obviously wouldn’t work.

So the only thing you can do, I suppose, is just try out different outfits and see what works and what doesn’t. What kind of lines flatter you? What kind of jewelry? What hairstyles? When do you get compliments on how you look, and not your outfit? You can also do things like photoshop your face and body into one of the Kibbe celebrity collages found on Pinterest, Polyvore, et al. I am currently in the process of this. I had typed myself as Soft Gamine, but I was having trouble buying Soft Gamine clothes, so I decided to start over to make sure.

I do think it is worth thinking about the essence you put out into the world as well and how others see you. Related to what I mentioned above, however, I feel like I am mostly seen as a Gamine in the world. If someone compares me to a celebrity, it’s usually a gamine one, and I look very young for my age and seem shorter than I actually am. But, I think I am discovering, this does not mean that I am a Flamboyant Gamine or a Soft Gamine. It could be that when I find my correct Kibbe type, I won’t be seen as young and small, but as a woman of my own age with my full height and power. Or I could go through the entire process of analyzing my entire wardrobe and the natural lines of my body and find that I am indeed a Soft Gamine, and emphasizing these SG lines to the best of my ability will lead to the fullest expression of myself.

Where are you on your Kibbe journey, if you’ve started it?

4 Comments on Finding Your Kibbe

  1. Tordis
    June 30, 2014 at 11:00 am

    I’m still not 100% sure about my type, but I get closer and more sure every week.
    I scored a TR in the test two years ago, right at a time when I wanted to move away from my previous teenage/early twen Goth style (the velvety frilly corset sort) and tried to establish some sort of boho Soft Summer SN-style. Getting such a result (not only TR but definitely Cool Winter too!) seemed like a great backlash.
    But the evidence get’s clearer and clearer, that I indeed am a TR. I put my face and body into these collages and it really was crazy, when I came to TR: my eyes immediatly switched between Jane Seymour (jaw shape, head shape) and Ann-Margret (vibe). Ann-Margret’s body shape on that collage is SO much like mine, it’s terrifying! There are other evidences like the dresses and earrings I get compliments for and I seem so empty without jewellery, like I was still in my pyjamas…
    It’s definitely a process, but I have this feeling that once you have your general direction, it’s time for tweaking and individualising. Maybe not everyone really fits tightly into one category. I think that typology (esp. Kibbe and Seasonal Colors) are damn great, but everyone will reach a point where pondering about one’s category won’t help anymore. It will be a point where we will have enough understanding of lines, shapes, vibes, colors, scales etc. that we can apply it individually on our individual bodies. That’s in my humble opinion how we should utilize such typing theories in the end 🙂

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  2. stylesyntax
    June 30, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    @Tordis: ha! TR + CW would definitely be perfect for a goth. Have you seen Grown-Up Goth on Pinterest? http://www.pinterest.com/zellaind/grown-up-goth/ I know you want to move away from it, but some things resonate with you because they suit you.

    I also have some gothic inclinations, mixed with punk, and that’s also why I sought out things like Kibbe and systems based on season, because I have absolutely no clue how to wear colors but black and gray, and I am decided not a winter of any kind. (Currently I think I am Light Spring, but Soft Autumn is a potential season as well).

    I think all of these systems are helpful because it’s so overwhelming, at least for me, to know that there’s an infinite number of styles out there, but probably only 20% will look okay on me and 5% will look great. Kibbe and the like can be a shortcut to finding that 5%, and also to putting together a cohesive style that will later become second nature and something you can make your own. That’s what I hope to get out of Kibbe once I nail down my type and my season.

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  3. Tordis
    July 8, 2014 at 8:52 am

    That’s one interesting pinterest board! Thanks!
    But there are mostly D, SD and other very yang clothes on it. I know that they don’t work on me. My version of “grown up goth” would be very vintage. Currently I’m thinking about and trying things out to incorporate Victorian style things (and maybe a bit steampunk for fun) into my wardrobe. Before that I tried to figure my kind of ethnic. I found out that it’s big oriental style chandeliers with lots and lots of beads and certain patterns (curly lines with maybe a few sharp edges, but blended colors; and NOT small sized). Somehow it’s easer with jewellery and accessories.
    TR is really tricky when it comes to visuals (pinterest and so on), because they are all so elegant, luxurious and grown up. I tried out such earrings once (no real diamonds though) and they looked wrong, too elegant and too grown up on me, like a child playing aduld or red carpet or princess. I went back to text only and thought about my favorite earrings which are all large, rounded, intricate, a bit shiny and a bit dramatic, but still romantic. So “oriental” is my TR-version of ethnic (whereas “african” would probably rather be FN or N I guess). I don’t have to be “dripping in diamonds”, colorful glass beads suffice 😉

    Kibbe (and seasonal color types) really helps reducing complexity, that’s why I like the system, too (and because INFJs are crazy about intuitive systems and how they work :D). Have you seen the TED talk about the paradox of choice?

    Light Spring or Soft Autumn could be a tricky one when you go by appearance, but you have to drape yourself to find out. Have you tried soft brass versus shiny gold?

    Reply
  4. stylesyntax
    July 10, 2014 at 3:41 pm

    Just think of TR lines. And you can find accessories that would work with TR perfectly that would fit with more a goth aesthetic, I think. It’s also kind of difficult because very casual, jeans-and-a-tshirt looks just don’t exist in the TR world.

    I’m an INTJ, so we also love our systems and analyzing things. Haven’t seen the TED talk; will have to check it out.

    I agree that the board is pretty D/SD; I’m actually planning on trying out SD in the near future since I am struggling with SG. But I think a TR grown-up goth looks would just look less costumey than a regular Victorian goth look. It’s a pretty easy adjustment, I think. And like I said, as a winter, you’re lucky because you can wear black!

    I don’t have any brass jewelry; I’ll have to keep it in mind.

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