Great question, Sally (and nice trousers on you, too!) I also love Traci's follow up question.
I'd describe most of the looks you pinned as "tomboy" more than gamine, per se -- although it may be that tomboy is a subcategory of gamine? In any case these outfits are quite androgynous.
I'm not sure an androgynous style is necessarily gamine (though it can be). It can also be "dramatic" (as with Annie Lennox or Marlene Dietrich.)
I tend to think of a gamine style as typically more polished than RATE but that might be my bias. Kibbe describes different categories of gamine (flamboyant and soft) -- once being more angular/ dramatic/ animated and one being softer overall and more feminine in appearance. (There are other systems that break it down even further, adding an ingenue category.)
My style includes a huge component of gamine. In fact I'm probably a "flamboyant gamine" within Kibbe's categories, if you believe that stuff. And whether or not you do, many of his recommendations for that type resonate for me.
Forum members whose styles include some gamine flair (even if they wouldn't describe their style as flat-out gamine) include (but are not limited to) Viva, Alexandra, Citygirldc, me, Maneera, and even Angie (though her style is so unique it's hard to categorize and she is not a "uniform" dresser so the gamine elements are less explicit -- expressed more in an overall sense of youthfulness, energy, and movement). I'd also include Shevia, though she used to tend more to tomboy style, her fab new hair seems to have put her into a different category. E (not active any more) is a completely different type of gamine, a soft gamine (more rounded shapes and feminine). You can add Inge to that list even though she is tall. Maybe she's not "a" gamine but her style incorporates some gamine elements. And she wears them well.
Note: our body types are not the same. Viva and Angie are both taller than textbook gamines -- and, by the way, Audrey Hepburn was 5'7" so the whole idea that height defines gamine is probably false. Maneera and Shevia have busts. Our haircuts are not the same. I do think short hair will typically suit a gamine type but it's not the only choice. Probably long flowy hair won't work, though.
Here's a really interesting post on some distinctions that might help clarify gamine style. This writer focuses on the "boyishness" of gamine style : http://www.truth-is-beauty.com.....the-gamine
I like her point that boyish clothes tend to make a gamine look more feminine and typically feminine styling and details can easily become "too much" on a gamine (one reason I hesitate a bit to go ultra-maximal -- accessories like jewellery easily overpower me, as do ruffles and frills.) Think of that Annie Lennox photo I showed of her in her OBE dress. It just looks wrong on her. OK, so she is not a gamine (at least if you go by height) but it's a similar dynamic. Too much yang in the person and yin elements can easily seem too much.
Having said that, there are some levels of RATE boyish that will simply make ANYONE look more masculine or at least less feminine. At least it seems that way to me.
Traci -- as a 50-something silver haired person whose style has always veered in this direction, I too have been wondering if there is a time limit on gamine. My tentative conclusion is no. What there is a time limit on is "ingenue" There's a time limit on "cute" and "sweet." There might be a time limit on "zany." There is not a time limit on "crisp," "sharp," "dynamic" or even "playful."
Sally -- if I had to guess I would peg you as some kind of "natural" in Kibbe's categories, as I would peg the other Sally. A "natural" (think Ingrid Bergman) looks really wonderful in simple boyish clothing and slightly sporty looks as long as these work with her curves. I think my mum was a natural and she never looked better or more at ease than in a loose button front shirt with slim trousers, much like your outfit here.
