As someone with a strong gamine essence, I really like the "lively charm" description. I think gamine is part body type and part personality. A gamine outfit just doesn't look the same on a non-gamine person.

Ah, the personality aspect makes sense. I am friendly but sooooo not bubbly!

Interesting distinctions. I have to say that I have always resisted the gamine title a bit, for reasons that have been mentioned. I am not tall, but I am not girlish either and I don't like the idea that my personality can be reduced to my height. But the androgynous, off kilter aspect of gamine does resonate. In terms of Kibbe I have come to think I am a short, round Dramatic .

Regardless of what you call it Sally, your outfit looks terrific.

Ummlila, I'd be interested in paging through that book. I haven't managed comfort with any style moniker yet, but the descriptors and pics are a lot like my aspirational,style. The Kibbe 'natural' comes up a lot as well.

Yes, I think maybe gamine is an impression. You can get there through physique, carriage and/or clothes. It can be more or less sophisticated. I believe your features could easily lend themselves to a gamine look, Sally, but I don't know if personality wise you'd want to go there. And as your pictures show, the same items can perform different tricks.

I do think there's a childlike aspect of gamine, but that you can ironically get there through roundness or straightness. It's all in bendiness, really.

*just to add my two cents to the Suz/bj1111 side conversation about gamine being an "immature" figure with undeveloped secondary sex characteristics -- bj, I know what you're getting at, the gamine figure does look immature/undeveloped. I actually have this body type (short, fine-boned, narrow hips and undeveloped waist), and I've always thought I looked like I didn't make it all the way through puberty, lol. I do not look capable of making babies! But Suz, you're quite right, all that means nothing. I was able to conceive immediately (both times I tried), had easy pregnancies and deliveries, and made ridiculous quantities of milk. Goes to show -- you just never can tell. An "immature" figure with incompletely developed secondary sex characteristics is not the most reliable markers of maturity, fertility or any of that.

Re. the science - waist to hip ratio has a strong correlation with health and fertility. But this doesn't tell you about yourself or any individual.

Attractiveness, fascinatingly, of various WHRs does vary by culture.

I'd read that all cultures prefer women with a roughly 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio, but the actual preferred size varies enormously.

I'm not so sure about the correlation of waist-to-hip ratio and health -- not for young women at least. If they're counting all the menopausal women then it makes more sense. As we age, our waists do tend to thicken, and our health and fertility does decline -- but young women with boyish figures are no less healthy or fertile than their curvy-hipped friends.

I don't know. Apparently they *are* less healthy at the population level (meaning there are more people with health problems at .5, not that people at .5 are less robust)... but perhaps healthy has a wider range than .7... which would explain why as an Asian I'm supposed to weigh less than a Caucasian woman at my height to protect my health as a diabetic...

This has turned into one of those really interesting topics... (You look great in the outfit Sally, whatever it's called!)

When i started this topic, i didn't think that I would start a discussion that included secondary sex characteristics and hip -waist ratio. Its interesting nontheless and thanks everyone for your wisdom and taking the time to respond.

Traci I really liked what you said about androgynous and
masculine styles. It was interesting
what you said about a more curvy person wearing it well. I tend to dress less androgynous/tomboyish
when I am bigger because I find it harder to pull it off. I don’t know why…I would love to see that
members clothes. I also love Sofia
Coppola’s style….she does minimal well and I love her LBDs.

Bj111 I do get what you were saying about the immature silhouette
as gamine often has a ‘childlike’ element to the appearance…but as people have
pointed out that it is not immaturity or childish but the youthful vitality of
the look.

and

Vix – loved your description “isn’t she a darling…” it reminded me of my childhood friend’s mother who was very small with a short hair cut. She had 3 children but when she went to pick up some money for the kids(it was a government payment that used to come for parents) she was told to go home and get her mother. She was very gamine looking. My friend who is just as short at 5ft is just as cute but very curvy and more bombshell ..its partly the hair.

Suz Maybe you are right about the pictures I pinned being
more tomboyish and that may be what appealed to me. The gamine skirt outfits do not appeal but I
do love Audrey Hepburns black dress outfits.
You are probably right about me being more a natural as far as features
go and style. My personality wouldn’t go with the
gamine look as much as I am not bubbly but I am friendly and laid back.

La Pedestrienne..good point about the pants and shoes being
a gamine feature but I changed it by wearing a pintuck top. I couldn’t wear those tight fitting tops
shown in the pictures and that is where I’d probably alter it and I would wear
a loose v neck top even if it was striped.

Love your outfit Texstyle.
I would wear that in a heartbeat.
I identify with the more outdoorsy California style too..more than
gentlewoman which seems a bit more polished to me. I don’t do polished very well.

Aziraphale …you
penned a good distinction between tomboy style and gamine style.

Ummlila That books look interesting…I like the term New
Garconne

Smittie - Yes you are
probably right….My outfit doesn’t look gamine but that’s ok. I was just interested in the distinction as
the clothes I would wear would be defined as gamine but not on me and I would
probably alter them in some way.

Rachylou- you made me laugh when you said “personality wise I
don’t know whether you’d want to go there. “

Thanks everyone for your comments. I was happy with my outfit but just thought
it was interesting that the body and the appearance often defines the style but
as I said I know people who look gamine but choose to not dress that way. I think it would be fun to try these outfits
and see how they changed with the wearer.

Oh and yes all can be Sally...we may not do gamine but we can do Sally

Great and highly enlightening thread, Sally. And I like your chambray pintuck top--To me chambray is a very gamine fabric. Great outfit!

I always thought the fashion term 'gamine' evolved from 'les gamins/gamines' -- Paris street urchins ('urchin' is a loathsome term, but that was the translation back when I learned French). My HS French teacher grew up in wartime and post-war Paris and told us that clothes, food, everything was hard to find for many families. She and lots of other girls would be dressed in hand-me-down working boys' (or even mens') clothing and many of them had short hair for hygiene reasons. I just assumed that was the genus of gamine style (Leslie Caron comes to mind as another example).

I actually like the term "gentlewoman," but my fondness probably has more to do with my belief that it's impossible to overuse the word 'gentle' these days.

But is it the style or is it the person? I think it is the style

Do you need to be petite with a
piXie cut to do gamine or is the style of clothes what makes it gamine? I think you can be any size and still achieve the look

Can you wear gamine with a large bust and big head or does it become
something else then? Again I think you can be any size and it still achieves the same look

I really envy your style it is classic edgy to me and I think you achieve alot of these looks in an outstanding way.
.

Aliona that is an interesting explanation of where the gamine look came from.
I think my aversion to gentlewoman is that it seems quite old world England with tweed and houndstooth which I like but not as a whole look. I prefer the sporty casual side of the menswear look.
Thanks Ledonna....classic edgy is a term I like. I did a pinterest search and they are all styles I love. I do think you could pull off gamine as you have the haircut. Not sure about personality...what is a gamine personality. RachyLou alluded to it.