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July 26, 2014

Spring or Autumn?

Somehow, I feel like every time I write something about where I am on this journey to discover my natural colors, lines, and style personality, I soon figure out that I’m not what I thought it was at all. If you read my Banning Black post, you’ll know that I considered myself a Light Spring. I don’t think that anyone looking at me would think otherwise, except to perhaps suggest Light Summer. But as I also wrote about in that post, I have been having a hard time connecting to the Light Spring palette. So I decided to do some drapes using actual fabrics, not just photoshopping colors onto myself.

What I discovered is that my skin is EXTREMELY reactive to colors. In the span of five minutes, with photographs taken in the same spot, I went from looking on the sallow side to like I had a sunburn, all depending on what color I was wearing. (I have also learned that just because you have natural light golden blonde hair does NOT mean you can wear Barbie pink.)

So all of my previous drapings, opinions, etc. meant nothing. I can only understand how colors look on me when they were reacting to my face in real time. I also realized that the only way I can confirm this is to be analyzed professionally.

What I am pretty certain of is that I am probably not a Spring. What was suggested for me is True Autumn. True Autumn was a palette I never considered because I look nothing like the stereotypical True Autumn woman. Their colors tend to be deeper. They have brown or auburn hair. But your skin doesn’t lie (although the camera does, so like I said, I’m going to do an in-person color consultation eventually).

One thing I also realized is that I was only connecting to Light Spring’s neutrals. True Autumn’s neutrals are quite similar:

The grays are warmer, there’s more yellow, but a lot of the colors I like–the warm grays, the corally peaches, the olives–are still there.

I’d also always thought of Autumn palettes as containing a lot of orange and brown. While there’s some of that, looking at True Autumn palettes, there were a ton of colors–actual colors!–I connected with, and can’t wait to try on:

(Source)

I find myself loving those deep, rich colors.

I think it’s important, for both color analysis and Kibbe, to let go of preconceived notions of what a certain type should look like and how they should dress. Each Kibbe and each palette has a very wide spectrum of how it can be used and applied, and there is no one way for a person of this Type or Season to look. When it works, it works. Anything that tries to use a flowchart to determine something as variable as natural color, just click the “x” at the top of the screen. It can’t tell you how your skin will react.

I’m not sure if I’ve found my seasonal home yet. It may take a long time, and maybe even multiple professional analyses. But I do feel like I have learned a lot so far. I also think you have to listen to your inner voice. I spent all spring wandering around stores, looking at Light Spring colors and not wanting to try on any of it. Autumn clothes start trickling into stores, and I’m in a store for five minutes before I’m standing in line to pay for a dress. Fall has always been my favorite season to shop–perhaps this is why.

(Also I’m a Type 3, and True Autumn colors=Type 3 colors, so this is getting spooky.)

Are you settled in your season or are you still looking? Were you surprised by what you found out?

July 24, 2014

My Kibbe Journey, Personal, Soft Natural | 2 Comments

My Kibbe Journey: Part 2

My last post on my Kibbe journey was only twelve days ago, but reading it again, it feels like a lifetime ago, in terms of where I’m at with Kibbe’s system. Basically, I still see the things in me that led me to believe that I was a Soft Dramatic, but after trying on clothes, I now believe that I actually fit with the Soft Naturals.

This makes sense, because I think it seems to be fairly common for Soft Naturals to misdiagnose themselves as Soft Gamines, and vice versa. This pin by Rachel Nachmias has been a revelation for me. Yes, I am youthful looking, but my bone structure is too substantial and my face is too yang.

Looking around for Soft Natural clothes has been a breath of fresh air. I don’t feel at all like I did when I was looking for Soft Gamine clothes, like I was trying to put myself in a box that wasn’t right for me at all. Part of this stems from my most major Kibbe revelation of all: Image Identity does not define your style.

When I look for sets and boards for various Image Identities on Polyvore and Pinterest, I find that most of Identities are seen in a very narrow way. For Soft Natural, this seems to be Boho Chic with a dash of Jennifer Aniston. I don’t even like Jennifer Aniston, except for her Living Proof line at Sephora. I had spent all of this time I’ve been looking at Kibbe feeling turned off by Soft Natural because it was presented in this very narrow way. But as I read about Kibbe’s clients’ experiences, it became clear to me that there were no set styles. Obviously, it’s easiest to dress in your “native” type, so a Soft Classic in a Classic style or a Romantic in a Romantic style. Some things are more challenging, like making Dramatic Classic boho (as was recently discussed on Seasonal Color. But Kibbe seems to dress everyone differently to work with the individual.

I think it’s important to not look at “examples” of dressing for a type because it can really throw you off. You get mired in thinking that a Soft Natural, or whatever you think you might be, has to dress in certain ways. Just look at the guidelines in regard to print size, fit, cut, etc. and try things on. Ask for objective opinions. See how you feel.

I know that my Soft Natural will look different than the Pinterest boards. So will my Light Spring. But it’s the one that will work for me.

For some Soft Natural non-Boho inspiration, I’m on the fence as to whether this works, and it’d probably on work on SNs who are super skinny, but I like the mix of textures and the fit of the dress that Carine Roitfeld, my favorite SN who doesn’t often dress SN, is wearing:

(Source)

July 21, 2014

Color, Personal | 15 Comments

Banning Black from My Wardrobe

If there’s one look I love, it’s a dramatic, non-romantic, modernized post-punk goth style. I think the person who best exemplifies this look is Wes Eisold of Cold Cave:

(Source)

This picture has been the cover of my personal Pinterest fashion board forever:

(The Pinterest source says it was on a tumblr blog, but I can’t find it anywhere but Pinterest)

I would love to dress like this. But the chances of me actually looking good in this outfit are about the same as me owning a Birkin: it’s not gonna happen. I don’t have the ultra-skinny and dramatic body type, and my Light Spring coloring makes me pretty much the opposite of someone who looks good in black. So I’m going to figure out how to incorporate the spirit of this look using accessories, and in the meantime, I have two major things I have to do:

1) Stop buying clothes in this style. It just doesn’t flatter me, and it makes me sad. I’ve been dressing as Soft Natural as my wardrobe can get for the past couple of days, and I can immediately feel a difference. I feel much better about myself, which is the point of Kibbe–he is all about working with and emphasizing what you have, and not trying to be someone else.

2) No buying black for fall. I am going to stick to my Light Spring neutrals:

(original Light Spring Sci/Art palette found here)

Light Spring non-neutrals will be for my accessories. I can’t bring in too much color into my wardrobe at once, or it will be too big a shock to my system.

I may find that I don’t feel like myself without black, and that’s okay. I can always go back to buying black. But maybe I’ll find that, like with Soft Natural, I’ll just feel better and like my true self in my Light Spring neutrals.

Do you, too, have a Problem with black? Or are you a Winter that hates black and you’re jealous of my Light Spring palette?

July 12, 2014

Kibbe's Metamorphosis, My Kibbe Journey | 2 Comments

My Kibbe Journey: Part 1

When I started looking at Kibbe, I was fairly certain I was a Gamine of some kind. I’m small in general, with especially small feet and hands, short legs for my height, and what I felt was a gamine energy. When a friend compared me with a celebrity, it was usually someone like Jean Seberg, who is obviously ultra gamine:

(Source)

At first I thought I was a Flamboyant Gamine, since those are the clothes I’m drawn to naturally and what my closet is already full of. But as I read the description, I realized that I was in no way leggy and lacking curves, the way a FG would be. I figured then I was a Soft Gamine, since I have curves, short limbs, and feel heavy even when I’m not, since I don’t build muscle easily and am always soft.

But when I would go to a store and look at Soft Gamine clothes, I didn’t even want to try them on. They just felt wrong. At first, I thought it was just a classic case of resistance to my Image Identity. But I liked the idea of Soft Gamine. I had no underlying psychological issues about being Soft Gamine. The clothes just didn’t seem right.

So I went to Seasonal Color, and asked for some opinions. I found, with the help of the very helpful members there, that the broken, staccato silhouette of the Gamines doesn’t work for me. I need a continuous line. I also found that my face while my face has a lot of volume, it still is quite yang in structure. (This makes sense, considering I’m a Type 3/4.) It lacks the sweetness and doll-like qualities of a Soft Gamine face.

Where my face does fit is with the Soft Dramatics. I have full features and a prominent nose. I also have the high hip common to Soft Dramatics, and I can relate to the idea of my curves being “circles placed onto a square,” the source of which I can’t find at the moment. But my limbs are shorter. Also, it’s far harder than I imagined it would be to find Soft Dramatic clothes in stores; I think I am going to wait until fall clothes are in so I can find some nice sweaters with SD lines. I also think I’ll probably have more luck in expensive stores, so I am going to have dress up nicely and brave the snobbishness and try stuff on in fancy places.

There are also the Classics and the Naturals to experiment with. I don’t relate to the Classics at all, though, because my features are not even. “Symmetrical” is not a word I’d used to describe myself. But the only thing to do is to try things on and see what works and what doesn’t.

How are you doing with Kibbe? Do you know your type and happily go to the store and buy all the clothes and love it? Do you know your type but are unsure if you can live your life in that type? Are you completely lost, like I am?

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