YouLookFab Forum » Topic: New Kibbe, Old Kibbe

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: New Kibbe, Old Kibbe https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Thu, 16 Apr 2026 02:18:36 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php Carla on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257471 Fri, 01 Apr 2022 01:10:10 +0000 Carla 2257471@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Interesting to read all of this.  I’m with Gaylene that anything that celebrates the diversity of beauty, and encourages a person to embrace their own attractiveness is a good thing to have around.  <div> </div><div>Personally, I’ve never had my colours ‘done’, don’t know my season, and haven’t figured out Kibbe - though I like to use the language these concepts have brought into the mainstream.  </div> Helena on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257469 Fri, 01 Apr 2022 00:56:24 +0000 Helena 2257469@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Oh I complete agree with you Gaylene!! I just don't think Kibbe does I think he would *say* he agrees with you and then "correct" you if he saw fit ... Which is why I think people (like me!) who are a bit self-doubting can easily get sucked into trying to get it "right" by his standard (especially people within his online group who may actually get his opinion at some point). I totally agree with your thoughts on the real value of it ... That how I use it too Gaylene on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257467 Fri, 01 Apr 2022 00:44:56 +0000 Gaylene 2257467@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ OK, Helena and Zaeobi, I know that I’m definitely in the senior category here on YLF, but I’m a bit baffled as to why it matters what category/class/ type/label someone, other than me, would assign to me in any “typing” system, including the Kibbe one.  <div> A Kibbe reading by the man himself could be interesting, but not much more than that, so I doubt I’d be a good candidate because of my bad(?) attitude. To me, the value of any book or system which puts individuals into categories comes from the insights I can glean into what works for me as an individual—a person with very subjective tastes and likes/dislikes. Kibbe was/is useful because of his yan/ying concepts—not his supposed “type”-ing abilities.  <div> </div><div>And thanks, UmmLila, for another interesting thread. Maybe I need to start a new one so the younger people on the forum—and that would be anyone under 75(!)—can explain why “typing” (body, colors, style, etc) has become such a hot topic? </div><div> </div></div> Anonymous on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257414 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:10:40 +0000 Anonymous 2257414@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ @Zaeobi: Yes! Helena on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257386 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 14:44:40 +0000 Helena 2257386@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Zaeobi, you said it much better than I did, but that's it exactly! Zaeobi on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257370 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 14:00:45 +0000 Zaeobi 2257370@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ @Helena Agreed - that's why I'm reluctant to have my own Kibbe 'reading' done by joining the Facebook group or whatever, since he says only he can do a 'true' reading but also that it's meant to be an empowering service applicable to all He needs to just pick one already, lol! Cardiff girl on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257364 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 12:56:01 +0000 Cardiff girl 2257364@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I think l will disconnect from my numerical age as of today,thank you. Helena on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257362 Thu, 31 Mar 2022 11:34:13 +0000 Helena 2257362@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Gaylene, I enjoyed the Vox podcast about it! I agree that he says we should define it all for ourselves ... But then as I understand it he (and his "followers" in his approved group) will correct people or assert that only he can type people ... I don't question his intentions as I have no idea, but I've seen this dynamic before ... The promise is personal empowerment, but then at the 11th hour, the whole thing can get flipped because if he says wrong, it's wrong ... In any case I think this drives the obsession with "type" (been there done that!) and keeps the centre of control with him rather than the wearer. Just my pre-tea thoughts on it Jonesy on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257184 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 19:28:21 +0000 Jonesy 2257184@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I read that article too, and find this whole thing fascinating! He seems a little bemused by the passionate following he has amassed on TikTok (I read an interview with Mitski, the songwriter/singer, recently, who is also huge on TikTok and isn't quite sure what to make of it). Anonymous on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257175 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 18:36:22 +0000 Anonymous 2257175@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I couldn’t even make sense out if all the types Kibbe created, lol. And his book needs to be updated. Gaylene on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257158 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:05:09 +0000 Gaylene 2257158@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Vox’s Terry Nguyen  has interesting piece on Kibbe: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22950721/david-kibbe-body-typing-explainer?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220329&instance_id=57015&nl=the-morning&regi_id=116994134&segment_id=86874&te=1&user_id=f65ee7197f46d3b2d48282a66aaa491d">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/.....8;emc=edit</a> Ngygen’s observations on the whole “body typing” craze is, I think, spot on. I also like that he acknowledges Kibbe’s philosophy that understanding how to dress oneself is a journey, not a prescription. Focusing on trying to fit oneself into a category is always going to end in frustration. Understanding principles and experimenting on how they can be applied to oneself is definitely more time consuming but way more likely to end in something useful. I think that Kibbe’s emphasis on finding your own guidelines gets lost in the rush to find what “type” you are; Kibbe has always emphasized that determining one’s type is a personal decision, not something that is done by an external source. And he also encourages us to keep experimenting and to not be afraid to revise our initial observations and judgements—it’s all part of the journey,   I actually think that Angie’s approach is a good example of how Kibbe would like see his ideas being used. Both want to help women see beauty in their current bodies and to learn to dress their unique selves so the external world sees them as women who take pride and pleasure in their individuality. <div> </div><div> </div> Anonymous on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257130 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:36:39 +0000 Anonymous 2257130@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I really loved reading The Triumph of Individual Style. It helped me a lot, while Kibbe’s book only confused me. I do not plan to ever revisit Kibbe. I love my clothes & I’m pleased with the way I look in them, particularly the Autumn color palette I’m currently using. Getting my colors & silhouettes right, & bypassing trends that don’t work for me, has been the most important things I have done in my style journey. Style Fan on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257061 Mon, 28 Mar 2022 22:22:37 +0000 Style Fan 2257061@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I love reading about style and fashion, so I have looked into Kibbe, but he is not my favourite.  I find him and his group cultish. I can understand why some women find him helpful.   He doesn't try to make everyone into a slim hourglass.  Yeah, for that.  Thank you for the tip, Kate.  I have been planning to read that book. The Cat on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2257053 Mon, 28 Mar 2022 21:35:59 +0000 The Cat 2257053@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Kate, thank you for your tip! Staysfit on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256988 Mon, 28 Mar 2022 11:54:36 +0000 Staysfit 2256988@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I enjoyed the NYT article, however, I find Kibbe’s system confusing. His categorizations never felt right and I struggled to make use of his concepts.  <div> </div><div>In my hunt to understand Kibbe, I found Align, created by Florentina Mossou, which in my opinion is clear, easy to understand and applying it has greatly helped me to refine my style selections.  Align makes use of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of Yin and Yang, and categorizes people into their primary, secondary and if present tertiary influences. There are ~16 defined categories.  Florentina is redesigning her webpage, however the link below was active when I added it today. If you search you can find many blog posts about Align for both wardrobe and makeup. I paid for a personal consultation, however, that is obviously not for everyone.  Some may find her blog posts helpful.  (I’m a Mysterious type, primary vertical yang, secondary horizontal yin, tertiary horizontal yang)</div><div><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.chrysaliscolour.com/analysts/find-an-analyst/worldwide/netherlands-calla-studio/">https://www.chrysaliscolour.co.....la-studio/</a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><div>The Triumph of Individual Style is one of my go to reference books for understanding style concepts.  </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div> Kate on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256935 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 23:18:40 +0000 Kate 2256935@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ For those who want to read The Triumph of Individual Style, you can read it for free via Internet Archive, a wonderful resource, at archive.org. Helena on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256879 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 17:37:17 +0000 Helena 2256879@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nodding along with Jaime and Suz. (And as an aside, you can purchase a digital version of Triumph online and it's far less expensive than a hard copy! Don't have the site handy but I could find it for anyone interested ... I finally purchased it on gryffin's recommendation and really like it!) I do find the "cult of Kibbe" a little off putting for me personally though ... I've participated in groups where he is held up almost as godlike, and I don't think he tries very hard to disabuse people of the notion frankly ... No thanks! But I really enjoy some of the young influencers who have build on his base premise with their own more realistic and inclusive ideas ... I did have an analysis with one and it was really helpful! Suz on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256873 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 16:28:44 +0000 Suz 2256873@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I saw that article, too. Inge should have it in her link-love next time. It's so funny how everything old is new again. I find Kibbe useful for the reasons Jaime mentions.  kkards on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256863 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 15:42:00 +0000 kkards 2256863@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Like Jenni NZ I’d never heard of kibbe before. But then again I still don’t know if I’m an Apple or inverted triangle. I do think it’s interesting that this system is having a 2nd life, and that it’s moving into a space that the original never expected Jenni NZ on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256818 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 02:37:09 +0000 Jenni NZ 2256818@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Well I had never heard of Kibbe before YLF but have enjoyed going down that rabbit hole since. Like most of these systems: fruit body shapes, colour theories like the seasonal colours, even personality types like Myers-Briggs, I have fun finding out about them and seeing what might be useful to me in them. If he was one of the first to try to help women to accept different types of beauty, then good on him I say. It was quite an interesting article, thanks UmmLila for copying it for us non-NYT subscribers. Jaime on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256816 Sun, 27 Mar 2022 02:19:44 +0000 Jaime 2256816@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Saw this article too - here is the link because there are some fun illustrations: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/style/kibbe-body-types.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/0.....types.html</a> I enjoy Kibbe discussions a lot, for reasons akin to Gaylene's. The core of the system is recognizing your own uniqueness and not running after someone else's best looks. Granted there is a lot of static in the interpretation, but I do think this a great message. I also find this approach interesting when analyzing why certain looks work on different people better than others.  As I tend to do on Kibbe threads, I will recommend The Triumph of Individual Style (non-Kibbe related) as I think it illustrates this message beautifully, and has had a big impact on my own way of seeing things: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Individual-Style-Dressing-Beauty/dp/1563672693">https://www.amazon.com/Triumph.....1563672693</a> Gaylene on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256757 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 18:36:01 +0000 Gaylene 2256757@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I found Kibbe interesting in the 80s because I was intrigued by his ideas on emphasizing my body’s qualities instead of trying to camouflage them. Reading his descriptions helped me realize that my “yangness” was something I could exploit—an idea which ran counter to most of the “how to dress for flattery” advice in that decade which seemed bent on adding more “softness” and simulated curves to my broad-shouldered IT shape. To me, Kibbe’s ideas were liberating because they were general guidelines I could use to develop my own ideas about what worked for me. Forty years later, these guidelines still guide my clothing choices as I sift through fashion’s trends and cycles.  <div> </div><div>I can see, though, why Kibbe’s appeal eludes many women. To me, the least useful part of his book were the concrete examples he employed to illustrate his abstract archetypes. Unfortunately, it was his attempt to give specific examples of his archetypes which attracted the most attention. Kibbe’s dated examples led to a hodgepodge of additional “types” which became even more confusing as women turned to each other to find out if they were a “soft” or “flamboyant” Natural—with maybe a bit of “gamine” since they liked “French” style. The abstraction of his original theory—which was revolutionary for its time—got buried under the morass of conflicting “expert” advice which offered to “professionally diagnose your type” through questionnaires or a series of pictures. As Rachylou observed, the concepts of cutting and sewing for “yang” bodies as opposed to “yin” bodies were rarely mentioned.  </div><div>To me, Kibbe’s enduring value is not his “types” but his emphasis on different archetypes of beauty. Figuring out which archetype feels right for your body starts with seeing your body as innately attractive instead of something which needs to be “fixed” in order to look attractive. Dressing to flatter our unique attractiveness is a revolutionary concept for many of us. It’s akin to Angie’s advice to dress the body we have so we smile at our reflection in the mirror and feel good about ourselves. </div> Anonymous on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256727 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 16:14:03 +0000 Anonymous 2256727@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Not a fan… I bought his book, tried my very best to figure out my type, gave up & got rid of the book. I dress like a Soft Natural. I honestly don’t know if that’s my type or not, but it’s what feels most like me & it’s what works for my body type. MsMaven on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256724 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 16:04:42 +0000 MsMaven 2256724@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I bought Kibbe’s book decades ago. I guess I should have kept it! Sell it on Amazon for$500. I did find his ideas useful. I’ve enjoyed watching Fabbers find their Kibbe types. cat2 on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256723 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 16:04:28 +0000 cat2 2256723@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hmm, not a Kibbe fan. I prefer other guides on what is flattering for my body shape and what is flattering for my coloring. I can happily find flattering pieces at the intersection of those two without being insulted. Kibbe has about the same appreciation for diversity in shape as the most offensive member of the D and G design team. Zaeobi on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256688 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 12:15:46 +0000 Zaeobi 2256688@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I do find Kibbe interesting, but don't prescribe to it 'too' strongly since I have not had my type professionally placed (I *suspect* I'm either Romantic or Soft Classic from working backwards, as @rachy said) & I also find the way he uses some of his description words confusing (e.g. what does 'dry' even mean when describing bodies lol?) It would be interesting to see if this new wave of interest will prompt Kibbe to publish an updated 'manual' to the types - perhaps in more 'universal' language? Synne on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256669 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 09:09:46 +0000 Synne 2256669@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ My very favourite style theory/style tool! rachylou on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256662 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 08:39:49 +0000 rachylou 2256662@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I had to work backwards to guess my kibbe type, from things Angie told me about me. But that said, once I did that, I appreciated a lot about the detail Kibbe provides with regard to clothing construction and fabrics. The value for me was less about ‘what’s my style’ and more about what kind of cutting and sewing should go into my clothes - in any style of my choosing… chewyspaghetti on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256659 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 08:17:05 +0000 chewyspaghetti 2256659@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I find the Kibbe method quite interesting. Mostly, it just validated why I was drawn to certain things, and never felt quite right in others. I am a little surprised that very young people are embracing these ideas, but pleasantly so. UmmLila (Lisa) on "New Kibbe, Old Kibbe" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/new-kibbe-old-kibbe#post-2256657 Sat, 26 Mar 2022 08:01:18 +0000 UmmLila (Lisa) 2256657@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I never really got into this analysis, but evidently he’s gone digital David Kibbe, an image consultant, created a system in the ’80s that aims to help women understand how to emphasize their features, rather than minimize them. David Kibbe, an image consultant, created a system in the ’80s that aims to help women understand how to emphasize their features, rather than minimize them.Credit...Jingyu Lin for The New York Times By Mariah Kreutter Published March 24, 2022 Updated March 25, 2022 David Kibbe is hardly surprised that his method for enhancing one’s beauty has stood the test of time. “There’s nothing like this, and there never has been,” he said. An image consultant trained in the 1980s era of beauty classifications, where every woman had a “season” and knew her face shape, he created the Kibbe body-typing system as a corrective to what he called “fear-based” style advice that told women they needed to minimize their features. Rather than advising short women on how to look taller and thin women on how to fake an hourglass figure, he aimed to help them understand and embrace their silhouettes, which he’d categorized into 13 types. Instead of the literal lexicon of “straight” and “curvy,” he used aspirational language to emphasize the beauty of each body type. In the ’80s and ’90s, the Kibbe system was, if not groundbreaking, a welcome rubric for dressing. Mr. Kibbe appeared on “Oprah” and the “Today” show, was profiled in People, and became an expert source in lifestyle coverage, including in The New York Times. ADVERTISEMENT But today, the book in which he codified his system, “David Kibbe’s Metamorphosis: Discover Your Image Identity and Dazzle as Only You Can,” is out of print and almost impossible to find. (The cheapest copy on Amazon is listed at $464.95.) The advice shared in online excerpts feels dated: “Dramatic” body types are advised that “shoulder pads are essential in every garment you own, without exception,” and “romantics” are encouraged to buy “elegantly slim briefcases.” Despite all this, the Kibbe method has been gaining traction with a new, digital audience. On TikTok, videos tagged #kibbebodytypes draw hundreds of thousands of views. The Kibbe forum on Reddit has grown from fewer than 5,000 members in early 2020 to more than 30,000. In beauty-focused corners of the internet, you may find someone identifying as a “flamboyant natural” looking for advice on dressing her “blunt” bone structure, or a video analyzing the “Euphoria” star Alexa Demie’s “yin” and “yang” balance. There’s also an array of online quizzes that aim to elucidate one’s type. Seeing such interpretations of his work has been “wonderful, and alarming,” Mr. Kibbe said over lunch at Cafe Luxembourg on Valentine’s Day, dressed in an orange coat, a patterned blue tie with matching pocket square, and a mustard yellow velvet blazer. (He’s a theatrical romantic and an autumn, he said.) He worries that some of the principles laid out in his book have been taken out of context. It bothers him when TikTok influencers profess to know other people’s types. ADVERTISEMENT “To do this for someone else, you need to be trained,” he said. ‘Everyone Wants to Be Appealing’ Growing up in a small town in Missouri, Mr. Kibbe, 66 (though he “disconnected” from numerical ages “years ago”), was fascinated by screen divas like Vivien Leigh and Katharine Hepburn, who helped form the basis of his body-type schema. The Kibbe system relies on Old Hollywood archetypes and a balance between what he calls “yin” (softness, curve) and “yang” (sharp angles, edges). If you’re all yang — tall and lean with sharp shoulders, like Katharine Hepburn — you could be a dramatic. If you’re all yin, with soft curves like Marilyn Monroe, you’re probably a romantic. Naturals (yang-dominant but “blunt” rather than sharp, often with broad shoulders, like a ’90s supermodel), classics (think Grace Kelly) and gamines (petite and high-contrast) are somewhere in the middle. The types are modified using adjectives like “soft” (Sophia Loren is a soft dramatic, for instance) or “flamboyant” (Audrey Hepburn, a flamboyant gamine). For each one, there is a set of guidelines on how to dress to look one’s best. “Glamour is an important thing,” Mr. Kibbe said. “It’s appealing. And everyone wants to be appealing.” Merve Emre, a professor of English at Oxford and the author of “The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing,” said that the language of typing systems can help to “externalize what feels interior, what feels private, what feels invisible, about your sense of self.” The Kibbe system, like the Myers-Briggs test, also has a social component: Finding out that a celebrity shares your type may help you “feel a connection to another person, a very glamorous and visible and beautiful kind of person,” Professor Emre said. ADVERTISEMENT The various types illustrate a slightly more expansive notion of beauty than is often presented in women’s magazines, where even today tall, lean women remain the standard. “When I discovered Kibbe, I realized, ‘Oh, you don’t have to be that to be a woman, to be beautiful,’” said Ellie-Jean Royden, 20, of Norfolk, England, a style consultant and self-described soft classic who posts frequently about Kibbe types on TikTok. She said that adjusting her style to be more Kibbe compliant — swapping out jeans and loose T-shirts for softly tailored dresses — wasn’t difficult. “It gave me permission to surrender into what I like, which is quite classic styles,” Ms. Royden said. That’s not to say the system is without flaws. The specificity and complexity of Kibbe typing can prompt women to obsessively analyze their appearance. And because of the original system’s reliance on thin, white actresses, many popular online illustrations of the 13 Kibbe types are lacking in diversity. Brenttany Edwards, 27, a content creator who lives in Manhattan, was moved to make a TikTok video on Kibbe archetypes for Black women after another video on the platform had failed to represent a diverse group. “I thought it was really important for Black women to see the different archetypes on a face that looks like theirs,” Ms. Edwards, a flamboyant gamine, said. ADVERTISEMENT Still, in a rapid trend cycle accelerated by fast fashion, Kibbe fans are grateful for a consistent reference for styling themselves. “I think people are drawn to it because they no longer feel stuck in the loop of trend after trend, and they’re getting cemented in actually understanding themselves,” said ChloeAntoinette Santos, 19, a costume design student who lives in Corona, Calif. Once she decided that she was either a soft classic or a romantic, she ditched high-waisted pants for mid-rise ones. From the Page to the For You Page Mr. Kibbe is happy to see his work reaching an online audience. He himself often participates in the Facebook group Strictly Kibbe, which admits new members on an application-only basis. (Each applicant must affirm that “David’s work is the only work that counts in the Strictly Kibbe universe” and that “David’s word is law because it is his work.”) He is ambivalent, however, about the emphasis and urgency most online communities place on finding one’s type. He sees his system as a journey best suited to the one-on-one consulting sessions that still make up the bulk of his business. He speaks with earnest animation about his past clients, including a low-income transgender woman he worked with for free and a wealthy Silicon Valley couple looking for professional polish: how gorgeous they all were, how passionate, how special, how unique. Image Mr. Kibbe, before and after he styled himself according to his Kibbe type. (He’s a theatrical romantic and an autumn, he said.)Credit...Jingyu Lin for The New York Times “The image identities are like the country you live in, but you’re an individual, a city or neighborhood in that country,” he said. Beauty, he added, “comes from individuality.” But, he insisted, style does not come from personality. “When people try to dress their personality without having technique, they look kind of eccentric, to say the least,” Mr. Kibbe said. He believes that personality, or “essence,” can be enhanced by following his advice on shape and texture, but that one cannot dress well on essence alone. ADVERTISEMENT “You remember ‘Great Expectations’? Miss Havisham has been there for 40 years in the same outfit,” he said. “That’s what people look like when they try to do that.” Yet the Kibbe system itself often conflates personality with physicality. One entry from Mr. Kibbe’s 1987 book states that romantics, defined by a curvy figure, “possess extraordinary human empathy” and that logic is secondary to their “innate experience of a situation.” Gamines might have a “bubbly energy,” Mr. Kibbe said, and a soft dramatic, with her blend of yang and yin, is both “bold” and “receptively accommodating” according to his book. “The key is the integration of the inner and outer,” Mr. Kibbe said. Some may take issue with the essentialism of such logic. While Mr. Kibbe sees it as analogous to astrology, the system nonetheless suggests that something true and inherent about a person can be gleaned from their bone structure. Mr. Kibbe is sanguine. “You look the way you do because that’s part of who you are,” he said. Sign up for Open Thread Newsletter An examination of the forces that shape the dress codes we share. :