Thank you, Suz. Hopefully it will still retain its drama once my nose heals. I had fractured my nose several times, so fixing it was necessary for health reasons.
I think that yes, your face could fall on the FG side of things. Like yin and yang, you can be not 100% contrasting or 100% blending. So I think you are more blended than I am, but you would still fit more with the FGs than the DCs. I would actually say your facial features are predominately yang. Symmetry in Kibbe is also not always about whether one half of your face is a mirror image of the other. The fact that my facial features are extreme in terms of yin/yang is also asymmetry.

Suz, for what it's worth, I think your features (especially that smile) tip the balance toward making you more DC than FG. You remind me (in the best of all possible ways) of Emma Thompson, especially in the fourth pic. Just FWIW!

Ah! I get it. Yes, I see that about your face. (i.e. asymmetry being in the extreme yin/yang contrast)

I hope your nose heals well! I think the drama will still be there. It is partly in the strongly marked brows and that won't change.

And you are probably right about my face -- as I say, it is hard to be objective about ourselves. I know that IRL the overall impression that my face gives to many people is "angular" (people say so) -- which suggests yang to me.

Yes Gauche, it's not immediately apparent to me. I could really go either way, and I don't immediately see the variation in features that you can see in my face. But it's not always that evident, I think.

Suz my pre-op morph still showed a dramatic nose, just symmetrical and more refined. So we'll see!

Also these may help: http://s633.photobucket.com/us.....1301738208

http://s454.photobucket.com/us.....g.jpg.html

Shari Belafonte, for instance, is not as dramatically obviously FG in her face to me.

Interesting - thank you, gauche! I do think it's a tough call. Which is why I had originally typed myself as DC.

I will gladly take a comparison to the lovely Emma Thompson! But to be honest, the 4th pic is in some ways the least "like" me (even though it is a full frontal pic). My husband says it is the least "Suz" image of the lot that the photographer took that day. Also, my hair was in a very "soft" (and "un me" style at that time -- trying to grow it out. Always a mistake for me. I always, always, ALWAYS feel more like myself in some type of pixie.)

A couple more.

Oh - I had not seen those collages of all smiling faces -- thanks, psychedelicate. Fascinating.

Well, in the end, I think we just need to use these as guidelines and trust our hunches about what works on us - the name is less important than finding a way to highlight our best style, I guess.

Suz, I still see Emma!

I do see what you are saying. It's not a comparison anyone's ever made before....I have got lots of others, but not that one. Hmmm. Much to ponder! Thanks for your thoughts.

Suz, This is odd because I have actually thought that Angie would be a Kibbe Flamboyant Gamine.
In those pictures of yourself, I see a very similar type to Angie.

I am not knowlegable in Kibbe but very interested in it. I know House of Color in the UK offers workshops where they measure and look and attempt to offer style advice base loosely on the Kibbe system. A friend was recently typed a DC and I had always thought SD as she is quite chesty... but seeing her in DC clothes is absolutely perfect. Just to let you know that I am wrong more than right.

It's not an easy call on the face of it. Maybe I ought to read the actual book.

I think a lot has to do with personal energy, which is only evident in real life. Angie is a vivid extravert, quick, tidy, decisive.

I am an introvert. I need lots of time alone. But I am also very sociable and high energy, animated, and quick moving. People often describe me as vivacious or bright. And sometimes witty. (Little do they know. )

I actually see Angie as a DC or D. She can wear things like baggy on top and bottom, which is anti-FG. Also, her vertical line looks long.

Personal energy really has nothing to do with it. It is the lines of your body and echoing them in your clothes. Regardless of my personality or energy, I have a body and face full of asymmetry and short angles, with a couple of touches of yin.

approprio, I'm back to say I went over the quiz again and spent more time on the facial part of it, looking at a few photos of myself. I am fairly certain I'm a classic (with just one b and the rest c's this time) on the body side. But my analysis of my face is d, e/c, d, c, c, c, e. My interpretation of that result is soft classic in the face. Overall I think that would make me a Soft Classic, rather than a Dramatic Classic. Here are some photos of my face, in case you're interested in weighing in, as I'm still a bit befuddled over the face analysis and what it might add to the pretty clear "classic" body type. (Photos 1 and 3 are pre-brow-shaping!)

Sharan, I don't know what category you are, but you look beautiful in the close up pics! Your humour is more evident than in the full body shots for some reason and I am loving it!

Firecracker, pic #5 is my favorite. You look stunning in it.

Suz, I've always thought of you as some kind of Gamine, FWIW. But I haven't ever read the actual book...

I found this page about Kibbe types, yin, yang, etc. easy to understand and well organized (it's one link, even though it's wrapped into 2 lines here):
http://www.enneagraminstitute......OOwDcaywy4

Hope it helps others who are trying to sort out Kibbe and what type you are!

That's a nice summary, Jeweled. But the more I read, the more I feel like I don't fall neatly into any of the categories. For instance, nothing about my body is gamine (except maybe long limbs), but my facial characteristics put me in the gamine category! I give up. I'm just gonna embrace the mystery, and keep dressing the way I dress -- I think it suits me.

The summary helps me more than anything else. It still doesn't really tell me how to dress, though, and I'm still trying my best to interpret Kibbe's style recommendations for Soft Natural. Again, the pictures in his outdated book offer very little help, so I go by verbal recommendations and dress the way I think best works for my physical characteristics and represents who I am on the inside.

Fascinating--especially that diagram, which explained to me why, though clearly a Gamine, I've always tilted longingly toward the Classic: both types are located on the axis between the stark angularity of the Dramatic and the embellished curves of the Romantic--either of which extremes would totally overwhelm me. I have flirted with a classic Grace Kelly look at times (love the luxe simplicity of those clothes) but in truth I just don't have the height or bone structure to pull it off without looking boring or not-me. As Kibbe pointed out, at 5'2", nobody will ever mistake me for a tall person, so why not celebrate being small? The diagram makes clear that a Gamine, while best in shapes similar to a Classic's, needs a bit of contrast, structure, and geometric intricacy to frame a smaller face and body.

Suz, when I look at that photo of you between the Soft Dramatic woman on the left, and the Soft Natural on the right, there is no question: you are the epitome of the true Gamine, the bright pixie, wearing enough color and contrasting detail to draw attention to your delicate features.

And Firecracker, you may not feel so dramatic, but to my eyes, you are! Dramatic Classic, absolutely.

Betty Crocker, I think it's important to remember that for a Soft Natural, the natural part is just as important as the softness, and often results in interesting combinations, like faded jeans with cashmere sweaters, which look simultaneously casual and very feminine. Knits, especially knits with both texture and drape, should be good for you, whether in dresses, pants or tops. Natural fabrics like washed linen, and jewelry made of hand-crafted metal and opaque stones, are better than shiny synthetics or sparkly bling. Suede is perfect for Soft Naturals, and there are some amazing fringed suede jackets out there now! Just make sure you maintain waist definition, and you'll look great.

Thanks, tulle. I already do a lot of what you recommend, so I guess I'm on the right track.

I'm late to this party, and have been very confused by Kibbe. I took the quiz, and if I am a good judge of myself, which I may not be given my history, I get the following:

D 2
A 14

Did I count correctly? I answered A to all but two questions in the quiz! Is that even possible? That puts me squarely in the Dramatic category, and strong Yang. I would have guessed I was Yin for sure, so I am baffled.

Does anyone who has seen my pictures think Dramatic makes sense? I know I have mostly shown straight on photos, so you cannot tell much about my prominent nose or jawline!

Dramatic makes sense to me, Staysfit. One of the challenges for you might be to combine the soft colours that flatter your complexion with the drama that flatters your features and lines. Typically we think of "dramatics" in high contrast or all black or all white. So it's an interesting conundrum when their colouring is softer.

And thank you, Tulle. I am pretty sure you are right, but will start a thread on this when I get time.

By the way, Staysfit, if it is true that I'm some species of Flamboyant Gamine, I face a similar dilemma to yours and maybe we can learn from one another. I'm a True Summer in my colouring. That's not the typical, expected colouring for a gamine.

Tulle, that's interesting that you see Dramatic Classic in me. Looking at the characterizations on the enneagram site linked above by Jeweled, I can see it, too; I appear a bit narrow, and even when I gain weight, I don't look especially curvy; probably just a little wider. So back to DC I go! (Though not super D; it's still secondary at any rate.) Thanks!

Suz, I'm always up for a challenge and from what I've seen, so are you! Having color constraints will only make shopping interesting. I still need to learn more about the Kibbe categories and how they may be of benefit to everyone and to me. I did notice that the examples of skirts for Dramatic style are my favorite pencil skirt style, so I may not be too far off with what I'm doing.

Thanks for this post approprio, I'm one step closer to understanding Kibbe after months in the dark!

This is a very interesting thread! I have tried to understand Kibbe before and always been confused. I took the quiz and ended up as a Classic. I think my issue is that I wear earth tones and I look best in them. I always think of myself as a Natural. But I do not meet Kibbe's criteria. I noticed Meryl Streep was a Classic and people told me I looked like her when we were both younger. Think Deer Hunter.

I am interested in feedback if there are enough pictures on my WIW. I know I don't post a lot. Wearing Yoga pants is not that exciting! Or should I post them here?

Interesting read.....I feel some people fit very neatly into Kibbe categories and it really works for them. Others, not so much. This is probably the same with colour analysis and shape analysis, some people are obviously True Winters, and others clearly an IT or a pear. But many of us have a bit of one and a bit of another.

In the 1980s when I was a teenager I was diagnosed as a Spring (although she also thought Summer for a wee while)....30 years later I consider I am a Clear or True Spring, but I may be wrong on this, and while I kind of follow it, I am pretty slapdash.

With the body shape, I most closely fit an hourglass (Figure 8 type) with similar width shoulders and hips, and a defined waist, but I am not extreme. Some days I consider myself more of a rectangle or even a pear when I struggle to find great trousers. After recent YLF threads I have realised that being short waisted is the most important "dress" or style factor.

With Kibbe I think I would fit into the Natural spectrum somewhere intuitively from reading the descriptions...but my a, b,c,d and e are ALL over the place on the quizzes. I am muscular but definitely have a soft tummy even at my slimmest, I have a sharp nose but a square face, I am busty but athletic, I am in proportion with long legs, with kinky hair. I am not dainty but I look blowsy and overdone in Romantic clothing. Whilst I like some classic pieces of clothing I am not terribly polished and feel much more comfortable when I am not too crisply or conservatively dressed.

It is interesting to think about what you are not and in a way for me that may be more helpful than thinking about what I am.

Actually Kiwigal that is a great point. I tend to approach colour analysis and body shape the same way --- I use the process of elimination.

Style Fan, I used the process of elimination for color analysis, too. That seemed to be the only way to figure it out, lol, and I think it's the same way with Kibbe.

Diving in here, although this type of analysis always overwhelms me. I've done the quiz a couple of times and always come up, similar to Staysfit, as dramatic. While I'm not sure you'd glean that from my WIWs, I do see some of it in what I am drawn to. I bet if I went back to my angular inverted bob haircut I'd seem a bit more dramatic. It's true, though, that I don't do well I soft, curvy, ruffled, romantic type of styles. But I dunno. Interesting to read responses.

StyleFan, I wonder if you are some variety of Natural. I see a square jaw and square shoulders with a well-proportioned body that reads a bit athletic. That's how I come to an overall Natural look. (Soft or blunted yang, in other words.) Do you think this is on track?