A Beginners Guide To Kibbe Body Types And Color Seasons

Why are these categories important? Recently there has been a huge surge of people talking about color seasons, body types, and essences. But what exactly are they?

These categories are used by stylists to give you clothes and makeup that suit your dominant features. Learning how to dress for your body type rather than against it is amazing for confidence. It encourages you to stop trying to make trends work for your body and focuses on building a wardrobe you'll love for years to come. It also stops you from buying clothes you want to have and focuses on clothes you'll actually want to wear. You'll save money and feel more confident- it’s a win-win! These categories can be very overwhelming, especially for beginners so here we have broken them down so you can easily apply them to your wardrobe. 

Kibbe Body Types

The Kibbe body types are an array of 13 style types based on physical characteristics and personality essence. The Kibbe body types are a total image system based largely on a person's balance of yin and yang (feminine and masculine energy). Each body type falls along two axes: yin/yang and contrast/blended. Where on the spectrum a person lands depends on their physical characteristics (and personality essence) and will determine their Kibbe body type. The beauty of the body type system is that your body type doesn't change as you gain or lose weight because it's entirely based on structure and proportions. It's important to note that images used in Kibbe body type guides aren't very inclusive and tend to portray just very slim women. It is important to realize that although you may be a different size from the models in these guides, you may still have the same structure and that these guides are largely outdated.  

Here is a brief rundown of all the body types from most yang (masculine and contrasted) to most yin (feminine and blended). We have included celebrities with your body type of style inspiration as their stylists work with their body type in the same way. See which characteristics best describe you!

1. Dramatic - structure, straight lines, and sharpness are your dominant features. Wear clothes to emphasise this like shirts, suit trousers, shoulder pads and maxi skirts. Geometric patterns also work to emphasize your shape. Taylor Swift is a great style icon for you. 

2. Soft Dramatic- vertical, curve, and elongation are your dominant features. You suit round shapes and large rounded patterns like florals. Sophia Vergara is a soft dramatic. 

3. Flamboyant Natural- vertical and width are your dominant features. You suit long lines and elongated shapes. Wear off-shoulder sleeves, asymmetrical dresses, and flared jeans to emphasize your shape. Get great style inspiration from Jenifer Lawrence. 

4. Natural- characterized by long but wide lines and blunt (slightly rounded) edges. Your clothing lines should focus on creating a relaxed outline to bring some movement into the straight body frame. Cameron Diaz is a great example of the Natural body type. 

5. Soft Natural - width and curve are your dominant features. You look good in slightly short lines and wide loose shapes. Mixed textures, flowing draped fabric and rounded shapes suit you best. Katy Perry is a great example of how to dress as a Soft Natural.

6. Classic- You are neither very sharp and angular like the Dramatic type nor very round and soft like the Romantic type. Your blended Yin and Yang in the features mean you suit low contrasting outfits. Princess Diana is a classic so you can use her as timeless style inspiration. 

7. Dramatic classic- balance and vertical lines are your dominant features. As you’re mid-way between yin and yang, try and balance feminine with masculine. Use symmetrical shapes and simple silhouettes with minimal detail to not get overwhelmed. Olivia Munn is a great style icon for you. 

8. Soft Classic- balance and curves are your dominant features. You suit minimal detail and layering. Rounded shapes and waist-defining outfits accentuate your curved features. Meryl Streep is a soft classic. 

9. Flamboyant Gamine- petit and vertical lines are your dominant features. Petit refers to your overall size and vertical refers to the sharpness of your lines. There is a lot of contrast in your frame so contrasting patterns and shapes suit you. Zoe Deschanel is a great example of how to use contrasting patterns as a flamboyant gamine. 

10. Gamine - petit and angular are your dominant features. You look good in compact angular designs. Winona Rider has the gamine body type. 

11. Soft Gamine - petit and vertical are your dominant features. Small details, layers and lots of contrast suit you. Curve is more of a feature for you than a flamboyant gamine. For example, if Flamboyant Gamines suit zig zags, then Soft Gamines suit polka dots. Reece Witherspoon is a great example of a Soft Gamine. 

12. Theatrical Romantic - delicate and curve are your dominant features. You have a double-curve body type that is close to an hourglass shape. Rounded shapes that are cinched at the edges suit you best. Think harem pants and A-line skirts. Selena Gomez has a great range of outfits for you to look at. 

13. Romantic - the most yin of all the body types. You also accommodate a double curve and are petit. You suit small delicate lines, small details, and waist emphasis. Maralyn Monroe is a great style influence for you. 

Color seasons 

There are 12 color seasons in total with the four main seasons being Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. You can figure out your color season using the viral TikTok color season filter. It is important when doing this to be in natural lighting and bare-faced. If your hair is dyed you should account for that and perform these tests with your natural color in mind. 

If you are still confused after using this filter don't worry! Here are some questions to ask yourself to help. 

Step 1

Order your features in terms of dominance. Ask yourself these questions about your dominant feature.  

1. Are you warm or cold? The best way of answering this is figuring out if silver or gold  jewellery suits you best. (not which one you like more!)

2. Are you light or dark? What is the difference in contrast between your darkest feature and lightest feature? 

3. Are you bright or soft? Soft colors are slightly muddy colors and are closer to grey or brown. Bright means the color is highly saturated. For example, if you're a redhead how close is your hair to bright orange than it is to brown? If you have blue eyes are they grey-blue or blue-blue?

Step 2

Once you’ve done that you can easily assign yourself a season category from the list below.

Summer - cool light soft 

Winter - cool dark bright 

Spring - warm light bright 

Autumn - warm bright dark 

Step 3 

Now let's figure out which subcategory you belong to. Look at your whole face. Which of your three dominant features stands out to you the most? Once you've done this, assign yourself your subcategory from the list below. 

True types - dominant feature cool or warm 

Light type - lightness is dominant

Dark type - darkness is dominant 

Soft type - softness is dominant 

Bright type - brightness is dominant 

Step 4 

Now you've found your color season you can find your colors! Find your color palette online and start exploring ways to embrace these colors in your clothing.  

Embrace yourself  

Now you know your Kibbe body type and color season you can embrace these in your personal style. You will feel more comfortable in your clothes and more like yourself! Although these are great things to know it is important not to restrain yourself too much to these guidelines. If you love that top in bright pink but it isn’t your season- wear it! These are not rules, just a starting point to help you embrace your natural features. It is okay to wear clothes that bring you joy. That is the aim of these categories after all!