What a thought provoking thread Helena! I am much more a visual person than an auditory one. Actually I think I have a certain degree of auditory processing issues, based on my inability to pronounce and comprehend certain accents. Visually, I have very good spatial relations both in the picking storage containers and the not getting lost sense. I don't have any art training but looking back can see I did have some artistic talent that was recognized here and there through my life. I can visualize shapes on myself and others pretty well. Colors less so, I am more a I know it when I see it type. Actually overall I think my strength is that I know it when it see it, although I am not sure there is a word for that type of intelligence!

I went to a conference years ago where they put us through an exercise to determine whether you are a “big picture” person or a “details” person, or somewhere in between. I was very much a big picture person, in fact the most so in the room (which led to another exercise in which I was pitted against the most detail oriented person in the room, leading to some funny results).

In terms of style, I think it means I am very focussed on the overall look or vibe of an outfit, and have to work at the details to achieve it. A details person might find themselves attracted to particular details (eg voluminous sleeves, stripes, pleated skirt) but have to work harder to get the overall look they want.

Hmmm it’s an interesting topic. I always was OBSESSED with colour, even as a little kid. I don’t know if my taste/interest creates any better results, all I know is I am fascinated by it.
As for line and shape, over the years I have learned and improved in that area, I don’t think it comes naturally to me to be honest.
I have dreadful spatial awareness, and get lost easily in new places. I am not particularly observant or detail minded generally.
My husband also thinks my clothes are new all the time!

Thanks for the interesting thread! I can relate to everything @rachylou wrote in her first paragraph, but not the second haha

I'd say I'm a kinaesthetic first & foremost, then a visual person - so much so that I remember having to retake a music exam in school & doing even *worse* on it the second time, lol! Very *occasionally* can I tell that something sounds 'off' (especially compared to how it sounded before, like live vs recorded songs) but I wouldn't be able to tell you *how* or *why* it sounded like that.

So for me, there's a level of intuition involved in putting together what 'works' - friends & family would usually compliment my colour combos & lines. Sometimes I get carried away though (grouping colours that work great with each *other* but not on *me* lol), so that's why I got a personal consultation. It confirmed most of what I knew but some of it was new, so I overall found it helpful to have someone as a Navigator (than Captain).

I always loved drawing as a child (especially people) then writing (mostly poems), but I remember my art teachers making me feel like I definitely *didn't* belong (probably because I wouldn't take a 'traditional' approach to their medium, lol)...

I agree with @suz's 'Educated Intuition' - I remember being blown away that things I took for granted (such as composing photos to look 'right') are actually studied in great detail (such as the 'rule of thirds'). That's not to toot my own horn though - I did study such things hard when I got the chance (like typography), it's just that I wasn't allowed to as a child (story for another day, lol)... I'm still waiting for the opportunity to indulge my interior design itch once I can *finally* stop renting - you know there will be lots of teal!

As for Kibbe, I'm stubborn about classifying myself as *both* Romantic & Soft Classic because that's what works for me But what was most useful for me was finding Kibbe resources from plus sized & black YouTubers instead - I may not technically be either category, but it still helped me to be able to better visualise*how* I relate to each.

Sorry that was so long, lol - guess I've got lots to get off my chest! This is why I'm grateful for the YLF community - I can indulge this side of me here, even when friends & family won't allow me to

I certainly don’t have a knack for line or color! I have to work really hard at making anything like color harmony or proportion look intentional. In fact, one of my three style words for 2023 is “balanced” to hopefully remind me to pay more attention to it.

I am not sure how to “train” something like this. I guess for me it’s just going with a gut feeling, and deciding if I like it and it feels right. And I have forced myself to take notes when an outfit or piece strikes a chord for me. That has been really helpful in getting dressed on lazy or rushed days.

Kibbe is confusing, too. There was a post I read somewhere that talked more about evaluating your yin/yang of your face and body on a sliding scale instead of a score. Comparing my body proportion against images of others has helped - I think Aly Art has a post about celebrities and their kibbe type that gives a good breakdown.

what a good read!
i have never figured out if i'm an apple or a pear, summer or winter, dramatic or gamine, and to be honest, i'm not really interested in getting those answers, or i would have them already.
what i am interested in is refining what i like and what i think works best for me...and best for me means best for me at the moment i am in. so by reading and posting here and other fashion related spaces, as well as you tube, and going into a actual stores, i continue to learn and refine by eye. for me learning is a multi-sensory process - i want to see, hear, read, write and feel.

Sharan, I'd love to hear more about that Kibbe excercise. You really went into it! What did you discover? Can you start another thread? I'd love to hear more.

Brooklyn, I'll bet if we were in that meeting together, I'd be vying for your "big picture" award. I think that might be why your conceptual approach to dressing appeals to me so much. The intuition part of me is all about "big picture" or "feeling" and I have had to train myself to see how the details synchronize to create that feeling.

It creates some interesting issues in interior decoration in our home. Mr. Suz is all about detail. He's that one like LJP who notices everything (except the top I've worn 15 times already, LOL) but he can't envision how an empty room will look filled. I can "feel" it (if not see it) immediately -- this colour on that wall, this piece of furniture or art there. I can't really articulate the feeling I'm trying to create but I know what the space requires to get there. And I just move stuff around or hack stuff or purchase stuff until we get there.

It's a little harder with fashion, as Sharan said. We find it difficult to be objective about ourselves, as a rule. And we don't see ourselves in motion very often, as a whole 3D moving acting human.

One reason Kibbe's so difficult to understand is that it's all words! Such images as people use are hard to relate to real faces and bodies, partly because they are often shown without comparison. It would be easier if someone showed you the range and said -- are you more like this, or that? I guess some of the quizzes do that, but as Zaeobi says, for most of us, looking at thin white celebrities or old fashioned movie stars won't really help.

Interesting thread.

For me I trust myself with colours - but not so much the lines and shapes. My spatial awareness is not great - I find choosing the colours easy for my house but not the size of the table etc

I am also more of a big picture person - I have made myself be details oriented but it’s not a natural fit. And Lisa if we meet- I will be the person with the label sticking up at my collar and who has forgotten to cut off the stitch holding the vent together……

Interesting thread. I was on the Kibbe Facebook Group but lost interest. I admire anyone who can decipher Kibbe. I am visual, so what Suz said about Kibbe being all words makes sense. YLF is more helpful.
In terms of the question as to whether I have an eye for line, colour and shape and whether it is innate or developed, the answer is both. It is more complicated than that. Before creating and trusting my artistic abilities, I had to overcome some emotional hurdles.
Most likely, I have a good eye for colour and some design. For example, I always put things together in groups of three or five. I try to do something in unexpected ways when I am decorating. When I read about design, it just made sense to me. I also have a degree in Math which helped.
I like putting colours together. Colour comes naturally to me. I can tell if a colour is cool, warm, muted, or clear. I can tell if some people are warm or cool, but not all. That is harder.
I can not draw. Some people in my family were very good at drawing. I always wished I could. Mr. SF (he has an excellent eye) and my friends who are artists tell me I could learn to draw. It is on my list.

I can hold something up & know if it will look good on me IF
It is one of the cuts I’m familiar with (Synne is nudging me to be more experimental with shapes)
My body is in roughly it’s familiar size/shape (when I put on weight, I was really surprised sometimes about what did & didn’t work)
It’s in my pallet. I never really sat down with the intention to select a group of colors that work well together, but I have decades of a consistent palette.

In other words, I don’t think I’m predicting anything—I’m recognizing the familiar and going for the same thing again.

I would like to shake things up. That’s where it gets really tricky fast. I think I’m doing alright with different ways of combining colors, but they are still that specific set of colors. New lines, shapes, and proportions blow my freakin mind. I want to get better at that.

I’ve been taught almost everything I know about style. I have always liked clothes that aren’t tight or loose, and aren’t fussy. However, I am not fashion forward so I rarely have anything that is on trend. After I had my colors done I mentioned it to a friend and she said that her Mom taught her to put her hand next to a garment and see if it looked better, the same, or worse with that color.
And I have learned so much from Angie and everyone here.

Hmm, I guess this is a skillset I learned/absorbed fairly early on? I come from a family with a strong creative streak. My grandmother was an avid knitter and my mother has branched out into all sorts of fiber arts; on my dad's side everyone seems to draw or paint to some degree and quite a few do it professionally. Lots of gardeners/landscape designers too. So plenty of early awareness of colour/pattern/etc.

I don't have a lot of patience for fine-motor stuff in general (I still remember how hard it was learning to tie my shoes in kindergarten!), so despite having a pretty good eye and being able to produce pleasing results in art classes, I don't derive much pleasure from the actual process of making stuff, which maybe explains why I gravitated towards literary and performing arts? Memorizing a sonnet and nailing the delivery--now that's fun! Likewise, while I'm an avid cook and baker, I tend to avoid projects that involve elaborate decorating. I can manage piping if I have to, but I certainly don't enjoy it. Give me the gross motor sensory experience of working a big batch of dough any day! I do love visiting pastry shops and looking at others' fine work.

I've always derived great pleasure from browsing clothes and putting together outfits precisely because you get to think about line/shape/colour without getting bogged down in anything too fiddly. The materials are pre-assembled! I'd like to get better about doing my own alterations, but anything involving the sewing machine is a real slog for me.

I’ve always been very visual, and had strong visual preferences. I’m pretty good with estimating size etc but am surrounded by designers, so don’t rate my skills compared to them! I completed a bachelors degree in architecture (I’ve never practiced as an architect however). I think it gave me an interest in analyzing what worked or didn’t work, from my point of view. That said, analysis of self is always tricky (all the beliefs we have about ourselves, based on history, getting in the way!).
I’ve also come to understand that knowing your aesthetic preference is key to being satisfied with an outfit or look. And if you are going to work with a professional on your appearance (whether it be hair, eyebrows or plastic surgery :)), check what their aesthetic is, and how flexible they can be to accommodate your preferences. For instance, my hairdresser loves ornate and styled looks, which I don’t like on me at all (they look great on her!). She has adapted to my love of looking “undone” or relaxed. The facialist I visit, however- not flexible. A few times I agreed to eyebrow tinting, but despite communicating what I wanted (a natural look, just a bit more defined), she loves to create immaculate, very defined brows, and that’s just not my aesthetic preference. And the final example-consulting a dermatologist about a scar on my face. He had the perfect skin of a doll- beautiful, but for me a bit disconcerting. He found it almost impossible to understand that I was looking for good, not perfect, but his nurses understood exactly.

I think I do, but don’t think I can always successfully put it into practice.

I worked in communications and marketing for many years and owned a creative agency for 20, so while I’m not artist myself, I have a creative bent when it comes to words and graphics. I’m good with color, but I don’t embrace it all that much in the way I dress. My mantra for my home and wardrobe, generally speaking, is to keep things clean, simple and streamlined. I don’t enjoy excess or fussy details, and I have to stop myself from buying nothing but black and white these days. The very best way for me to evaluate anything about an outfit, be it fit, color, proportions, etc., is to look at a photo. There have been times I’ve liked something in the mirror only to be surprised to see that it really wasn’t working at all once I saw the very same thing in a photo.

Not artistically trained but very very visual myself-including high affinity for colors and proportions.

My first degree was in industrial design and mechanical engineering-so in the college we had many strict courses in the fields of axonometric/projective/3D geometry & technical drawing (including technical caligraphy). Plus, I always contemplated architecture and interior desing and loved crafts, sewing+hair styling, not a master, only a hobby but know- how's of sewing patterns and hair cutting techniques always delighted and intrigued me. At my age(56) I kind of know my body, proportions and colors the best-still get it wrong sometimes-mostly because everything changes continously and the fact that we never have the whole spectrum to choose from.

But I don't believe in strict fashion rules (including color or proportion coordinating rules) anymore- it literally ALL DEPENDS (especially on the exact context). So, I have to see/try+style the clothes first before deciding.. and still make errors. But love the whole process.

(And whoa, I so agree with above comment that a pictie and 3D+moving reality is so so different!!!- and to check the aesthetic of your professionel working with -in any filed- if it matches your owns!:-)

Helena I wanted to just tell you a sweet story about my wee granddaughter who has just turned 18 months. I wonder about starting a new thread actually but will put it here for now. Most of us may not remember when we got our “eye” for style but she seems to have a well developed one already! She loves my shoes ( good choice) and always makes a beeline for the bright yellow loafers and wants to put them on herself or me to put them on myself. She also likes the “Love” sandals and the olive snakeskin boots She says “Nana” and “pretty” about the yellow ones!
( Loafers as in pic below, sorry no closeup on my phone)

Jenni, in the words of Lady Gaga: Born This Way!

Yep Suz a girl after my own heart! My shoes and the Vietnamese grandmother’s ( who only got to see her for the first time aged 16 months, they recently got back from a 6-week trip there, other grandmother is also in love)
jewellery! “Pretty” was apparently said many times there too.

She just came over and did it again!

How cute Jenni!! (Hope you weren't affected by the terrible storm)