Curvy Flamboyant Gamine

Update, 11/5/19: Please read this post. I no longer consider the ideas presented here to be valid.
Update, 4/26/20: I still see theses ideas pop up…

“Curvy Flamboyant Gamines” do not exist. FGs have straight body lines.

These posts remain on this blog for archival purposes only.

When I first realized that I was a Flamboyant Gamine, I thought it would be difficult for me to follow the recommendations because I am curvy, rather than shaped like Twiggy. If you are asked how I ended up an FG then, you can read my entire series on this topic, which was written as this discovery was being made, but basically, Kibbe does not have a category for yin in size/yang in face/yin in flesh, and I score as a “G” on the quiz. But the extra Dramatic in my face takes precedence over the extra Romantic in my body. I know this because I need bold geometrics, not the rounded shapes you find in SG.

So how do you do FG when you’re curvier than the average FG? What I have found is that it is not difficult at all. The narrow shapes and bodycon styles do enough to flatter curves, even if most of the example FGs are much straighter-looking than I am, for me to use the recommendations without having to make many concessions or alterations.

What doesn’t work for curvy FlamGams? The “blouson” style dress. I’m also not a fan of dropped waists in general. I love the flapper-dress look on other people, but I need more construction and for things to be tight.

(Sources: 1, 2)

I would also look at Gamine recommendations, but I think all FlamGams should, whether you have a yinnier face and a straighter body or a yangier face and a yinner body. The only thing I take from Gamine, though, is move the waist up to my natural waist, instead of a dropped waist. Despite my curvier figure, Gamine is actually still too delicate for me.

If you are still finding that FlamGam isn’t working that well for you, you may well be another type completely, and that’s okay. But in the meantime, I attempted to make my first-ever Polyvore to illustrate, using Kelly O., the patron saint of non-Twiggyesque FlamGams. I actually own the dress on the left, and it is gorgeous for a FlamGam who has a conservative event to go to.

curvyfg

(Set here)

One of the most interesting things about Flamboyant Gamine is that it is yin, sharp yang, and blunt yang. We have all of the elements of Kibbe’s system, and they are all in opposition with one another. A wide variety of Flamboyant Gamine bodies and faces is to be expected, so don’t worry if you feel like you don’t exactly look like the typical FG. The proof is in the recommendations.

12 Comments on Curvy Flamboyant Gamine

  1. Cordelia
    October 12, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    Fascinating. Kibbe’s Gamine descriptions seem to bypass me entirely, partly because I am small and narrow and have the features described as “sharp Yang” (basically, a D face), and FG seems to emphasize stockiness, straightness, and “blunt Yang.” But if you’re overall Yang-y but happen to be petite and fine-boned with a big head and overall animated/quirky presence…then where do you go?

    Straight G actually seems the closest match for me, but I gather Kibbe eliminated that category.

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      October 12, 2014 at 9:37 pm

      There’s a lot of variation in Flamboyant Gamine, and there are definitely FGs who are more fine-boned, such as Twiggy. These FGs have more D influence. So it’s not outside of the realm of possibility to be an FG with little or no N. The key is whether the clothing recommendations for FG work for you. If you’re not in the Kibbe Flamboyant Gamine group on facebook, you might find it helpful, although no one who is involved with Kibbe stuff online that I know of has been identified as an FG by Kibbe himself. From self-identified FGs, I can see an FG spectrum.

      Reply
  2. Avarati
    May 8, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    Hi! 🙂 I must to say that this is true.
    I am “curvy” Flamboyant Gamine with more Natural and Romantic influence. 🙂 My silhouette is extra yang, I’ve wide shoulders, long hands and legs, but big breast too and skinny waist. Many people descripe me like as very feminite and strong but I’m more Yang than Yin… Maybe I would be Soft Dramatic but I am too short for being Diva (1,57m).
    And I must say that I don’t like “blouson” style dress, I must wear really fit dress and skinny jeans.
    And better for me are long hairs and Natural pattern than geometry.

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      May 8, 2017 at 11:28 pm

      This is ancient and I don’t really think the way described in the blog post, but… I would say that it doesn’t sound like you’re an FG, from your description. Gamines aren’t the only ones who can be short. You sound more like a Soft Natural.

      Reply
      • Avarati
        May 9, 2017 at 9:34 am

        Hmm… Soft Natural’s style doesn’t work for me, oversize fashion make me look fatter, really 😛 My the best look is leather black jacket, skinny jeans 7/8 length or mini skirt and leopard printed top 😉 I must wear very fit and Yang fashions. Flamboyant Gamine’s cut is very optimal for me but I must modify my style and jewerly 😉

        (I’m sorry for bad english, it’s not my first language.)

        Reply
        • stylesyntax
          May 9, 2017 at 6:20 pm

          SN doesn’t get oversize. The outfit you describe could really work for anyone. SN’s key, from people who have gone to see him and not Pinterest, is clothes that show the body and allow for freedom of movement. What people get has changed a lot since the book was written in the 80s because clothes are made so differently now. David said in the FG group on facebook that if you have larger bones/a larger build, you’re likely SN and not a G type. G types are built small, not in height or even elongation (FG will have some), but in bones. So if you’re saying that you look strong and have a lot of width in areas like the shoulders, and you can’t do gamine hair or patterns or jewelry (all of which indicates that your face isn’t gamine), SN is definitely going to make sense over FG because SN *now* gets clothes that allow for movement, i.e., stretch. I think you’d just continue to do what you’re doing, but it’s just not gamine; it’s actually natural. Look at Jane Fonda in Barefoot in the Park. Lots of miniskirts and she looks great, but she’s SN, not an SG or an FG.

          This post stemmed from people posting things for FG that didn’t work on me because they actually came from secondhand stylists on Pinterest and weren’t FG at all. I have a very classic FG body type, with straight hips and lots of angles; I’m not actually curvy at all. I don’t know why I said blouson doesn’t work, because it does–what doesn’t work is unconstructed a-line dresses recommended by someone else and then in the book it says for FG to avoid wide, unconstructed dresses and to go for sculpted ones! So it really just stemmed from other people’s misinterpretations clouding Kibbe’s vision.

          Reply
          • Avarati
            May 10, 2017 at 7:37 am

            Hmm… I wonder why you said that I am SN without check any photos or sizes! When I was analysed by Greta Kredka, I must send her many photos in various styles, cut and prints!
            I know Natural women (propably, I don’t know for 100% percent) who looks in oversize sweater really great! I am shorter and less built than her but I am stronger than petite Gamine girls. Many Soft Natural women are “soft and tends towards fleshiness” but I am more musculature and sporty.
            By the way I don’t see myself as “Fresh and Sensual Lady”. This is not my vibe, I’m more energetic and androgynous. And my nose is not small 😉

          • stylesyntax
            May 10, 2017 at 11:40 am

            Why would SN have a small nose? David told one of the SN girls that every SN celeb with a small nose had it done 🙂 I’m also not sure where the ideas that SNs wear oversize clothes comes from. I’ve certainly never seen any of the SNs I know who have gone to see David get oversize clothes.

            I don’t analyze people; at least, not the way that someone like Greta Kredka (whoever that is) does. But I do know what David has said are no gos for FG, and how you describe yourself rules you out of FG. Braod-shouldered and busty are not FG traits. He says FGs are waifs, and that if you have been calling yourself an “FG who needs extra N,” you’re SN, and it’s common to have a kind of gamine spirit but just not be that waif type. If you’re saying that you’re petite but also broad, muscular, sporty, and look bad in short hair and need Natural prints–it’s just obvious that there’s only one thing you can be. It wouldn’t happen that you’d go to David and he’d say, okay, you’re FG, but we’re going to give you prints and hair and from SN or FN. These things are essential to the FG image id.

          • alice
            June 6, 2017 at 3:57 pm

            I do not think you understand FG. Initially the most important were hight, line, bone structure. How can a person who is short can be N (Sarah Jessica Parker could be FN with163)? I understand, that the fashion is different now, but the hight?
            “Height: medium to slightly high, up to 5 feet 8 inches” Really, everyone with wide arms is N / SN / FN? What about vibe?

          • stylesyntax
            July 8, 2017 at 1:01 am

            David Kibbe is the one who said that SJP is FN. You find shorter people in the “tall” types if they have enough elongation in their bone structure. As for “wide arms,” I’m not sure what you mean by that, but again, DK has told us in the FG group that if you think you are a Gamine but have wide bone structure, you’re likely SN but definitely not a Gamine.

          • Emma
            July 7, 2019 at 12:03 pm

            Hi!
            I know this is an old thread by now and maybe by now you already know this, but even Kibbe himself has said that we should disregard the rules about height and just focus on how tall you LOOK like you are (Your vertical line).
            The height specifications are more like guidelines than rules.
            You might not look as short as you are.

          • stylesyntax
            July 8, 2019 at 5:19 pm

            That is not quite accurate. I’m not sure how this rumor got started. I cover this in my Kibbe FAQ briefly. Basically, if you’re short, you can technically be anything, but you need to have to accommodate a vertical in order to be one of the “tall” types, which to me isn’t the same as “looking” tall or not. If you’re tall, you automatically have that length and that vertical, and you have to be either FN, D, or SD. You can still see the SJP is short compared to her castmates, but compared to herself, she has length throughout her body. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/files/2008/09/sex-and-the-city.jpg

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