How to Tell You’re in the Wrong Kibbe Type

This is something that most of us who have played around with Kibbe have experienced at one point or another; I find it’s rare that people can look at the info and then immediately place themselves where they belong. So most of us spend at least a little bit of time dressing ourselves in the wrong Kibbegory–hopefully without purchasing an entire new wardrobe in the wrong type!

kim-audrey
R Kim channeling FG Audrey
(Source)

With that in mind, I thought I’d share some of the things I noticed when I had placed myself in the wrong type.

1. You now hate shopping. You go to the store, find the stuff in your type, and it makes you want to turn around and go home. This is what I experienced when I considered myself a Soft Gamine, although it could have been because I was only looking at the kind of things that people pin, which usually lean Ingenue. Regardless, the version of Soft Gamine I was looking at wasn’t working for me. Which is lucky, really, because I didn’t end up spending money on clothes I’ll never wear.

2. Something feels off. You may feel restricted. Or, like me in Soft Natural, I was comfortable, but I felt like I was in my pajamas. Your energy level is down. The clothes feel heavy. Something just isn’t working, even though the clothes look fine.

3. There is something missing that you feel like you have to add. When I was dressing Soft Natural, with every outfit I put on, I kept on feeling this urge to add something geometric and bold. At the time, I thought I was adding a Flamboyant Natural influence, so it was OK. Now I realize that it was because of the geometry of my face, which requires some bold geometrics, but of the FG variety.

4. You would not be able to use Kibbe’s title for your Image Identity with a straight face. I would never be able to use Soft Natural’s title of “Fresh and Sensual Lady” without cracking up. I am none of these things! FG’s “Sassy Chic”? Sure.

Did I miss anything? What has helped you figure it out when you were in the wrong type?

11 Comments on How to Tell You’re in the Wrong Kibbe Type

  1. Tordis
    September 2, 2014 at 9:27 am

    How about clues for wearing the wrong type’s clothes before one got a (first) diagnosis?

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      September 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm

      Hmm, well, I think that people who seek out Kibbe generally fall into two groups:
      1) You’re in the right (base) type, but have the lines wrong. I feel like this would apply to me, as long as I don’t change my mind again, because I’ve dressed in a gamine style ever since I got over late/mid-1990s JNCOs and Korn shirts. But the lines, proportion, etc. may be off.

      2) You dress to compensate for what you perceive as your flaws: you try to dress in softer lines because you feel like your angles are masculine, or you dress in severe lines because you feel like you’re too curvy for people to see you as anything but sexy, or you dress in a very classic way because you look so young for your age, etc. So I think any time you try to use the way you dress to change something about your essence, that is the biggest clue that you’re in the wrong type before you even start looking at Kibbe.

      I would also say if you feel like you fade into the background, or feel like you’re not attractive, you’re also not wearing the right type. Someone who seeks out Kibbe is probably going to be in the wrong type or the wrong lines, though, because if you were totally happy with your wardrobe, you wouldn’t end up finding Kibbe in the first place.

      Reply
      • Tordis
        September 2, 2014 at 11:45 pm

        Good points, too!
        I know people (myself included) who tend to look just at other people. Seeing stuff on other people, liking it, buying it, wearing it. Not being critical enough to really look into a mirror. Living an illusion, seeing more what we want to see, more the other person we liked in this dress, not ourselves. This could be aproblem especially Intuitives face, or it’s when my Ni-Ti have a party without telling Se. (Sorry, I’m often reallybad at explaining precisely what I mean in english)

        Reply
        • stylesyntax
          September 3, 2014 at 7:03 pm

          I have noticed that there are very few Sensors in the Kibbe groups.

          Reply
          • Miranda
            August 3, 2015 at 1:46 am

            I am also Intuitive and stumbling through Kibbe. My brother, who is a Sensor, can point out right away what is wrong with my outfit. Or hair. 🙂

  2. Carolyn
    January 18, 2015 at 9:34 pm

    I think I’ve narrowed down my type to one of the Gs. Having lived as both an SG and an FG, do you have any advice on choosing between the two?

    Thanks!
    Carolyn

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      January 19, 2015 at 3:01 am

      Compare the recommendations for both, and see which feels more natural. Also bear in mind that SG=curves and FG=angles, and this will be reflected throughout, from necklines to accessories to overall shape.

      Reply
  3. LM SG
    May 27, 2015 at 12:30 am

    Great post – exactly fits my experience trying out Soft Classic for several years (I’ve determined I’m SG).

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      May 28, 2015 at 6:55 pm

      Cs and Gs can be so close!

      Reply
  4. Zandra
    August 3, 2015 at 9:35 am

    Thank you for this! I initially typed myself as a G, but got the feedback on a forum that there was “nothing Gamine” about what I was wearing.. I’m very analytical and everywhere I look I see that my outfit really WAS a good interpretation of a G outfit, but that got me scared off G for a couple of years. Now that I’ve been trying to live C and feeling like a small drowned rat in a grown-ups clothes and looking like an office slave, I’m back to G again. What I really think is that I didn’t look like that particular commentator’s G relative and t h a t, for some reason, got her upset with my “claims” and acting out unusually rude, suggesting instead that I was an FN (which I had already ruled out – swamped!!). Anyway.. I’m now starting to think that FG very well could be MY Kibbe type. I wasn’t open to it before, but it makes so much more sense than the other types once I began gathering the clues (I’ve been taking photos of myself and my outfits for some time and a lot of things that shouldn’t work for a C does – and vice versa.. LOVE cropped pants!! for example, lol, and angular jewellery; my favourite pair of earrings are square spikes attached to square studs). What got me confused to begin with was that I’ve been skinny due to health issues for a few years – when I think back and see pics, I have a broader torso to go with my looong legs and arms (while still being rather straight). So it now seems to me that you made a really good point about the weight and G-FG definitions. Cheers!!

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      August 5, 2015 at 12:03 am

      Other people’s opinions should always be taken with a grain of salt. They are often based on things like, indeed, a relative who they presume is a G. Have fun with FG! 😀

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Tordis Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *