Fantastical Beauty: What I’ve Learned

Fantastical Beauty is a relatively new system that I’ve been exploring as a way to bring an expression of my inner self into my Kibbe type. I’ve written about it here before, and in my latest update, I was settled in a type called Fae and waiting for more information on the darker Nixie subtype. At first, I felt like Fae was really helping me, and leading me toward better choices in things like jewelry. But then I realized that the things I thought Fae was adding to my style were things that were already in Flamboyant Gamine and I just hadn’t been honoring.

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So I went back to the drawing board and made some collages and morphs using Snapchat (a very fun way to waste time, by the way). Many suggested Valkyrie for me, so I got the guide, and there a few things from Valkyrie I like, overall, it didn’t feel right. Fae is whimsical, Valkyrie is powerful, and neither of these attributes feel like my defining characteristic.

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One of the things I realized I was doing was that I was looking for the type most compatible with Flamboyant Gamine, rather than me. I already have a set of FG recs that work; I don’t need another style type that just repeats them. It needs to add something different that will help me express myself within the framework of the FG recommendations.

Nymph is the type I didn’t want to be when I first found out about the system. It seemed kind of dull and stuffy for whatever reason.

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But in Kati’s blog post on bathing suits, the Nymph suit is the only one I would even consider. So a seed was planted in my head.

After thinking about the little personality description and scenarios in the guides I have, I couldn’t see myself as anything of the “characters” Kati describes. Whatever worked stylistically, the imagery that the styles are meant to evoke didn’t fit me at all. I thought about how I would describe myself above all and what drives me in life. I think the first thing people that know me would describe me as is “smart,” and what I am driven to do is collect and disseminate knowledge. This is something the Flamboyant Gamine doesn’t exactly express, and I saw that this is what Nymph could add to my self-expression.

I finally bought the guide, and here I could see myself in the personality and characters she describes. There are also moments where she describes what works for Nymphs where I got the sneaking suspicion she had sneaked into my closet at night and spied on what I owned.

Kati also has a subtype called Puck that can be found in Nymph, which is more boyish and has funkier makeup. It adds a little edge that Nymph lacks, and I feel that together with FG, I can create something that expresses all the facets myself that I want to express.

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So if you are going backwards from other systems when trying to find your Fantastical Beauty type, I would recommend trying a different approach. Yes, you should understand your s-curve and facial features, but I think you also should have a look at what you actually want to express with your style.

4 Comments on Fantastical Beauty: What I’ve Learned

  1. Jonna Burke
    July 10, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    I had the opposite experience, very unexpectedly. I had given up on Kibbe and came to FB with nothing of that in my mind. It was so refreshing to find a place, through a bit of trial and error, to start from and expand from that I wasn’t even looking at B5. I introduced my daughter to FB and a few days later she told me to check out the CR B5 board Kati has. I gave her several excuses and she finally said “Mom, just look at it”. Wow, was that an eye opener! It is perfect for me! I have resisted Kibbe Soft Classic for years for many reasons, the biggest being I thought it would be too plain, boring and I would disappear. Ugh, my biggest fear! Realizing that FB is not based on any other style technique, I was able to see the differences between CR and SC but also the likenesses. Taking those lines and putting them into my FB type is a smooth step, the effect of which ends up making it all easier to put together. I have been pleasantly surprised to have my decades old Kibbe search answered by way of this new system. And, mixed with FB, my B5 will never be boring!

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      July 13, 2016 at 12:14 pm

      It can be hard to see how you’re supposed to personalize your Kibbe and give it life. That’s where I see FB really being useful if you can’t get a full personal analysis.

      Reply
  2. Sigrid
    July 13, 2016 at 10:23 am

    Very interesting to follow your style journey! I have identifies as somewhere between Fae and Nymph as well, and I’m just very curious: how do you think the Nymph style makes you look smart? I don’t know if this is something that really can be conveyed with clothes. I’m also curious about how your closet can be full of styles described in the Nymph giude when you are a declared FG!

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      July 13, 2016 at 12:13 pm

      Sigrid, one of the main themes of the Nymph type is being academic/a “sage.” Each archetype has a descriptive phrase that each of their outfits are supposed to convey, and that is part of Nymph’s keywords. If you have the guide, you know what I’m referring to 🙂

      Any FB type can be combined with any Base 5. I go into how I am going to combine these ideas in my latest blog post.

      Reply

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