https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 09:55:03 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-2152951 Sat, 07 Nov 2020 18:27:15 +0000 Matteo Salonia 2152951@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hi girls, my name is Matteo, I live in Italy and I'm a happy boyfriend. I have signed up this site cause I need your help. My girlfriend literally loves David Kibbe and his book and I'm trying to find it from 2018. Can someone help me? It will be good also to get photos/copies of the book in private (I can pay) but will be perfect to buy it used (new is impossible to find, I know...). PM me please </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439947 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 21:58:54 +0000 tulle 1439947@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I discovered Kibbe's book soon after it was published--in the public library--and found it extremely interesting and helpful (though I thought the photos were less convincing than the text.) Some of his advice to Gamines has stayed in my head all these years, and still helps me steer clear of inappropriate trends:&nbsp; smaller geometric prints are the only ones that really work for me; blocky heeled shoes &amp; boots are better than strappy spikes; narrow lapels &amp; collars are best; volume in clothing and hairstyle has to be controlled; piping and other trims work magic.&nbsp; I do think that the book feels dated now, (how could it not?) and wish that he had thought a bit more about how changes in weight and fitness influence&nbsp;the various body types. At 64, thicker in the middle and a bit&nbsp; fleshier everywhere, I often wish he had come up with a few revised hints for aging Gamines.&nbsp; Maybe the hint is simply "Lose those extra pounds."&nbsp; Not as easy as it was once!</p> <p>P.S. to Suz:&nbsp; I know what you mean about the Flamboyant Gamine category.&nbsp; It always felt a little too wild &amp; crazy for (also Summer) me.&nbsp; I ended up borrowing from both the true Gamine &amp; and the Flamboyant version for my own slightly-more-yang-Gamine look.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439941 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 21:47:29 +0000 Suz 1439941@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, thank you <b>AM </b>-- glad that was helpful!</p> <p>And thank you, <b>gauche</b>!</p> <p>You're right -- he uses words in his own highly specific way and that is what makes them difficult to parse at times.&nbsp;</p> <p>I've actually found Kibbe (what I understand of it) quite helpful. I'm just not sure I do understand all that well. What I really, really like and admire is first, what Caro says -- that he genuinely celebrates different kinds of beauty and does not ever seem to suggest that women should aim to "disguise" their features in any way; and second, his attention to elements such as line, and overall "energy." As someone who has a lot of yang in my makeup, this is really helpful. It helped me understand why I feel like such a poseur in most ruffles, for example. And why I like diagonals and angles so much and tend not to like soft florals on me (even though I like to look at those patterns, e.g. Monet.)&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439925 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 21:37:27 +0000 Anonymous 1439925@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Suz,&nbsp;</b>I haven't really investigated the types I definitely am <b>not </b>(Gamine, Classic), so it's hard for me to distinguish between their variants. You wear many kinds of clothes so well that Kibbe categories may just be superfluous&nbsp;on&nbsp;your style journey. And he does use words oddly. (As with "flamboyant,"&nbsp;"soft" in his world&nbsp;is not necessarily soft as we know it!)&nbsp;You always look pretty in your photos, though&nbsp;-- maybe that is the key to defining your&nbsp;type in Kibbe world?</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439903 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 21:03:45 +0000 AM 1439903@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks Suz for those web links earlier in this thread. I am a classic with just a bit (tiny bit) of dramatic based on those tests. Feels right but interested in more insight from the books caro listed. As someone called this ... maybe Kibbie light.</p> <p>Thank you again caro for great post! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439875 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 20:23:48 +0000 Anonymous 1439875@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Sheila</b>,&nbsp;I hope you don't mind my saying so, but&nbsp;from your profile pic (and&nbsp;if I saw you in a grocery store!) I&nbsp;would say you are definitely&nbsp;a&nbsp;Dramatic. That beautiful bone structure does&nbsp;trump other elements. Of course, I am in no way an expert, but that's my impression (as the diehard Kibbe-ite I seem to have become!). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439852 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 19:36:13 +0000 Suz 1439852@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks, Sheila. I agree, as you know -- I think that's why originally I had classed myself as Dramatic Classic. But on reflection, I&nbsp;think I'm probably some kind of gamine. And since Kibbe got rid of the regular Gamine, there's only Soft Gamine &nbsp;and Flamboyant Gamine. I'm definitely not "soft."&nbsp;That is E. to a tee, at least in her clothing...I think her face actually has a lot of yang and she might dress a bit differently as she grows older. </p> <p>That puts me in "flamboyant" which is definitely higher yang and more dramatic. I just need to take flamboyant to mean:&nbsp;&nbsp;"<span>(of&nbsp;a person or their&nbsp;behavior)&nbsp;tending&nbsp;to&nbsp;attract&nbsp;attention&nbsp;because of&nbsp;their&nbsp;exuberance,&nbsp;confidence,&nbsp;and&nbsp;stylishness," and not so much as "zany," or "wild." &nbsp;Because zany and wild conflict with my relatively muted colouring and contrast levels.&nbsp;</p> <p></span> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439829 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 18:46:07 +0000 Sheila 1439829@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I love/hate Kibbe. I am very interested in his types but am driven to frustration with myself. <br />I often see people in the grocery store and can pinpoint some right away... TR is easy to see, some dramatics, some FN's... <br />I find it difficult to accurately see myself though - although I believe I am high Yang- so somewhere is D, FN or SD ... <br />I like Gaylene and Betty Crocker I&nbsp;see a Yang face but a fairly Yin hourglass shape... so again a body at odds with a face. <br />I have taken some of these Yang elements and they work for me. A long solid line, not cut off at the waist, large jewellery to match large facial features, Points on jewellery, points on clothing, asymmetry. I can wear big patterns.. I need contrast, big contrast in clothing, usually geometrics and not florals.<br />I understand why frill and ruffles do not suit me. Why pearls would never work. <br />Why crew necks are awful,... <br />Some things I have been doing for years.. and it reinforces it.. others are new.. and they are also reinforced. <br />I think most of us are mixtures - I have a Classic Mouth, Dramatic Nose, Natural Eyes, Natural Hair, Dramatic Bones... so what trumps what ? What is the whole ? <br />And no, weight is not a factor... when you are a dramatic... you are dramatic.. the age and weight do not factor in. <br />I see Gamine and something Dramatic in Suz... not sure if that Dramatic takes it into that animated category but there is something there. You can see how asymmetry suits her... the collars etc... but there is something refined as well... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439501 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 00:53:38 +0000 AM 1439501@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wish I could sit down with you gals for an afternoon with some good food and beverage -- and get to "typing" each other. I see a very messy table with books and collages; and then more books and collages on the floor... and most importantly, lots of laughter. I know I want to do this but the time it will require&nbsp;is a bit daunting right now and I know I would carve out an afternoon if it was more of an event with style comrades. Now I have to schedule this time all by my lonesome. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439496 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 00:47:16 +0000 Suz 1439496@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Deb, while I haven't read the book, I know he does refer to types as looking this way or that as they gain (or lose) weight -- so it's as if he sees it as a lifelong constant.&nbsp;</p> <p>It makes me wonder about weight set points and type. I know that I never, ever, ever felt like "myself" with longer hair or at my higher&nbsp;weight. It wasn't just that I wasn't used to looking like that. It's that it didn't feel "natural" somehow. Obviously I don't have to remain exactly X pounds to feel okay -- there is a range. But too much higher (or presumably, lower) and I don't feel like me.&nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439482 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 00:26:01 +0000 Anonymous 1439482@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That's an interesting question. I have a different body shape now than I did when I was younger. I used to be more of an IT, I think, but after children my hips spread and those bias cut skirts I loved to wear didn't look good any more. I also have a slight tummy to deal with, and I'm 20 lbs. heavier. My body has morphed into a neat hourglass shape--not overly curvy, though, so definitely not a full hourglass who would have to emphasize the waist.&nbsp;So no, I don't and can't dress in exactly the same way, but it's not too much different. We're talking 4 more inches in the hips and 4 more inches in the waist. Keep in mind I used to be on the lowest end of my ideal weight; now I'm in the middle. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439481 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 00:25:13 +0000 Caro in Oz 1439481@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Obviously I can't answer deb as I haven't read the book. Interesting question hope someone can help </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439477 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 00:17:34 +0000 deb 1439477@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have a question ladies. Is it possible to change categories as we age and our bodies change? For instance, I used to be very thin, although large boned and the Gamine style fit me well. I was always more comfortable in short hair and androgynous clothing. Now that I am older, have gained wright and have more curves, this style of dressing no longer suits me. I also am loving my hair long which I <i>never </i>though would happen. I suppose this could also work the other way when losing weight. I have not read the books but, like others, have gained some understanding on the theory through discussions. Is Kibbe fluid and does he speak of these changes? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439117 Sun, 08 Feb 2015 06:48:15 +0000 Caro in Oz 1439117@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Good point <b>shevia</b>. If you can see the timeless construct in an 80s outfit then you can really say you've&nbsp;got the idea I have a few vintage fashion books from the 1930s I love looking through them. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1439043 Sun, 08 Feb 2015 03:17:19 +0000 Jaime 1439043@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have read it. I am nuts for a vintage fashion book - I feel like if I can discern the principle through the dated photos I have really got something. Plus I love looking at old pictures. So, I did enjoy it. That said I have found it very difficult to type myself, usually landing around theatrical romantic but never quite sure. Maybe I will dig it out and try again. That said, the Triumph of Individual Style is my absolute favorite along these lines. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1438899 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 23:04:36 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438899@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>gryffin</b> I came up with "organic creative" for my style statement. It has been very useful for me. Particularly the part about keeping the creative in check especially with my clothes Joking aside, it fits extremely well with my life &amp; aspirations not just my clothing choices. Ease is one of my mantra words too.<br />I think you will love 10 Steps to Fashion Freedom&nbsp;- its basic tenets are&nbsp;quality &amp; workmanship.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis/page/2#post-1438895 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 22:46:48 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438895@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Jules</b> I know what you mean - personality is important to me too, if I turn out to be a classic I'm still not wearing skirts Love your "bastardized Kibbe light".</p> <p><b>Gaylene </b>That's very interesting, lots of us seem to be drawn to a style/type that doesn't seem to work on our bodies. I wonder why? &nbsp;I know I don't want to wear clothes that fight with my body but equally I don't want to wear clothes that fight with my personality - can't wait to read the book now.<br />Glad you could verbalise what I was groping towards for <b>Suz </b>:) that's it exactly!</p> <p><b>bettycrocker</b> - I agree it would be great to see some modern examples of Kibbe. I would imagine they would be nothing like the book. Christine Scaman does some great explorations of Kibbe types on her website&nbsp;12 blueprints. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438892 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 22:45:15 +0000 gryffin 1438892@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Caro - just wanted to chime back in that I love "Style Statement."&nbsp; It was illuminating to me.&nbsp; I finally decided I am an "enduring classic" which really resonates.&nbsp; I think the ability to endure and continue to strive defines me in many ways and is really appropriate to the clothes I like which are classics often with a twist because the've endured too - but that's from pearls to moto jackets, tux shirts to jeans - things that last and show workmanship, quality, attention to detail.&nbsp; Combined with "simple isn't easy" I love the triad of "understated, appropriate, ease" again I found that very insightful and useful as a mantra.&nbsp; I've never heard of the third book so I'm off to amazon now!!&nbsp; Thanks for the suggestions! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438794 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 19:43:06 +0000 Anonymous 1438794@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My problem has always been the feeling that my facial features and body type have been at odds, lol. And yes, it's very hard to find modern versions of the clothing pictured in Kibbe's book. That's the confusing part for me. I want to see modern equivalents - from Kibbe himself, not from someone who thinks they know how to interpret his book. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438768 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 18:11:58 +0000 Gaylene 1438768@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Great post, Caro!!, I haven't read any of those books on your list, so I'm making that my project for the next month.</p> <p>Kibbe's ideas about our physical selves being the backbone for our style was a real breakthrough for me a few years back. It made me realize why some parts of my wardrobe worked so well while other items looked odd and felt uncomfortable when I put them on my body. It didn't help that I was drawn towards imitating the Natural when my physical features put me squarely in the Dramatic sector. </p> <p>I'd be interested in your review of Metamorphosis.</p> <p>ETA: After thinking on it a bit, I think Caro might be on to something, Suz, regarding the Flamboyant aspect of the Gamine style. It's so hard to translate those horribly dated images into a modern context, but thinking of instilling a kinetic energy through line, proportion, and movement into your outfits might be a way of getting that dramatic quality you're searching for into your style. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438731 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 17:17:13 +0000 Jules 1438731@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's funny because I feel I've done a mini course in Kibbe simply through discussions on this forum At first I really struggled with the idea (I gather) that one's type is determined by physicality - what about personality, likes and dislikes??? Then I eventually came around to believing I would probably fit into some soft/romantic/natural category, which is not what I have been attracted to... Yet, more and more I see that it suits me and why fight it?<br /> Lol - I'm sure it's bastardized Kibbe light! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438705 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 16:16:28 +0000 AM 1438705@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><span>gauche's comments regarding:<br />- "body type/facial features must influence your style choices"</span><span><br />- "fabrics, textures, jacket lengths, silhouettes"</p> <p>Those are areas that I would really like to mine for insight. Contemplating my next book...</p> <p>Again,&nbsp;thanks for this post.&nbsp;</span> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438590 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 07:14:47 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438590@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks so much <b>gauche&nbsp;</b>- that's very helpful.&nbsp;Nice to meet you too :)<span></p> <p>I'm looking for some (valid) information about exactly the kinds of things you mention. Fabric is a great example for me - I don't like thin, fabric on the top half of my body,&nbsp;but I love fabric that has&nbsp;drape - it took me ages to stop buying thin tees.&nbsp;</p> <p>I have just ordered the book &amp; look forward to reading it.&nbsp;</span> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438546 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 05:08:46 +0000 Anonymous 1438546@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Where Kibbe helped me was in&nbsp;clearly demonstrating&nbsp;how the&nbsp;reality of your&nbsp;body type/facial features&nbsp;must&nbsp;influence your style choices. For some reason, that concept was hard for me&nbsp;to grasp on my own.</p> <p>Those perennial magazine&nbsp;quizzes about whether you're Classic, Sporty, Glam or whatever have zero validity as far as I'm concerned. They just confused me for years.&nbsp;</p> <p>Aesthetically, I might love&nbsp;the gamine/Audrey Hepburn&nbsp;style, and adore tiny, intricate vintage jewelry, but&nbsp;as someone who's a 5'10"/180 pound apple,&nbsp;that is just never going to work, no matter how much weight I lose.&nbsp;</p> <p>In Kibbe's system I recognized myself as&nbsp;a Flamboyant Natural -- which I absolutely hated&nbsp;at first. (Who&nbsp;wants to be Bea Arthur? And I certainly didn't look anything like Carly Simon, another of&nbsp;his FN examples.)</p> <p>But trying out his suggestions on fabrics, textures, jacket lengths, silhouettes&nbsp;and so on, I found they worked -- simple as that. So that's why I think his book has validity, despite the datedness and the whole yin/yang thing.&nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438539 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 05:02:11 +0000 AM 1438539@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm playing along here. Checking out the Art of Dress too...</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438530 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:39:37 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438530@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks again Suz&nbsp;I read The Triumph of Individual Style &amp; got a lot out of it - it may be worth revisiting (pity I didn't keep my copy).&nbsp;</p> <p>I would love to see&nbsp;how <b>you </b>would interpret the "flamboyant" part of flamboyant gamine to suit/mesh with your body &amp; personality :)</p> <p>Off to explore The Art of Dress now.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438522 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:27:44 +0000 Suz 1438522@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yeah -- the photos from the book are so extreme they sort of boggle the eyes! :)&nbsp;</p> <p>But you're right -- it all has to be modified/ adapted anyway. For me, what's interesting in him, again, is the emphasis on line/ detail/ pattern.&nbsp;</p> <p>I suspect that this is all in The Triumph of Individual Style, too, but I haven't read that one either. Just snippets. I believe Vildy, Vix, Shevia, ClearlyClaire, Alexandra and a few others have worked through that book or at least dabbled with it.&nbsp;</p> <p>Here's another one to try out: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theartofdress.com">The Art of Dress.&nbsp;</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438519 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 04:14:49 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438519@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wow <i>slightly</i> OTT. I don't see most of&nbsp;these as modern gamine though &amp; your summer-ness would modify any hectic aspect&nbsp;too imo.</p> <p>Those old Kibbe photos are really something - they take&nbsp;me WAY back &amp; confuse the heck out of me. It's hard to think of a modern version some of the clothes. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438493 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 03:26:22 +0000 Suz 1438493@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Here's what I mean, Caro -- so distinctly <b>NOT</b> me. ;)&nbsp;</p> <p>I think Seasonal colour analysis might say that this has to do with my colouring (to some degree). As some kind of summer, this kind of visual clutter or stark contrast would obliterate me.&nbsp;</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/has-anyone-read-david-kibbes-metamorphosis#post-1438419 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 01:07:51 +0000 Caro in Oz 1438419@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>bettycrocker </b>- I so agree, deciding what we don't want/should avoid can sometimes be so much more enlightening -&nbsp;especially if you are an eclectic like me &amp; tend to like &nbsp;a lot :)&nbsp;:)</p> <p><b>Suz</b> -playing devil's advocate but maybe you need to experiment with&nbsp;<span>"an absolute profusion of animated detail" - &nbsp;in <b>your own</b> way. Your hair, colours, the angled knits, great texture - aren't these animation?&nbsp;I don't see it as being fussy.</p> <p></span><b>AM</b> - it's okay we are all friends in the darkness :)</p> <p><b>gryffin</b> - blushing now I know you are such a force for good here at YLF &nbsp; </p>