Discover your color palette and your style type.

Style Identities: The INGENUE

5/3/2015

Ingenue beauty is often what you're seeing if someone is clearly "pretty," but you'd feel uncomfortable styling her in overtly sexy clothes because she just looks too darn sweet.

Laura Linney -- try to imagine her dressed like J.Lo.

Lupita Nyong'o -- would you ever style her like Salma Hayek?

The curving line is the defining line of all the feminine types, but Ingenue's circles are small and restrained, rather than large and lush.

Brandy Norwood looks adorable with tiny curls surrounding her face.

Ingenues look appropriate, not ridiculous, in girlish details such as small bows, tiny flowers, headbands, simple lockets, and puffed sleeves.

The Ingenue face is quite round, with a tiny, tapered chin, a small, pert nose, round, wide-set eyes, a large forehead, round cheeks, and plump lips. Ingenues often have naturally curly hair; if they don't they are still flattered by curls. Overall, an Ingenue reads as girlish.

Jane Krakowski in puffed sleeves.

Jayma Mays with bow detail.

By contrast, they look silly -- like a kid playing dress-up -- in anything "sexy" or womanly, such as elaborate jewelry or a plunging neckline..

In more sexy styles, she looks like a little girl playing dress-up.

Alison Brie. In modest pink floral, she is lovely.

And of course, Ingenues are no less sexual than any other people. It's just that visually, they read as girlish rather than womanly.

Eyes that appear very light relative to the overall coloring read as youthful, and therefore Ingenue (or Gamine).

Zooey Deschanel's eyes are surprising light for her coloring.

So are Rihanna's.

Note that this signifier should be interpreted relative to the overall coloring. On a pink-skinned, yellow-haired person, deep blue eyes probably won't read as Ingenue. On a brown-skinned person with black hair, caramel or light brown eyes will read as youthful.

(On the topic of eyes, a dark ring around the iris also contributes to an impression of Gamine or Ingenue. Such a ring is characteristic of kids' eyes but not of adults' eyes.)

Rihanna's dark-ringed iris.

Emma Stone's dark-ringed iris.

Ingenues appear authentic and relaxed with sincere, joyful smiles.

Olivia Newton-John

Emma Stone

Ingenues often hear "pretty," "cute," "sweet," and "adorable." They're not perceived by strangers as intimidating, mysterious, tough, or intense.

This can be frustrating to an Ingenue with a more assertive, competitive, or no-nonsense personality.

If that's you, my advice is to take advantage of the element of surprise that your innocent appearance grants you. They won't see you coming. :-)

They think you're all...

But you're actually...

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Feminine Visual Beauty

5/3/2015

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Before discussing Romantic, Ingenue, and Ethereal types in detail, I want to generally discuss what feminine means in the Style Identity system.

Let me start by being clear that feminine beauty is not the only type of beauty. Dramatics, Naturals, and Gamines all embody beauty that isn't traditionally feminine, but is powerful nonetheless. And Classics are beautiful with a femininity that is subtle and restrained.

Before continuing, I should also let you know that right after this paragraph is a picture of a sculpture of a naked woman. Art, as far as I'm concerned, but probably NSFW for some people.

Pause, pause, pause...

OK, let's dive in. :-)

Feminine Visual Beauty

``````````The Woman of Willendorf is about 30,000 years old. ```````` We know that not all women look like this. But we also know that this shape is particular to women.

When we look at another human, we perceive their physical characteristics and make a judgment about their gender almost instantaneously.

This is usually an unconscious process. When it's not unconscious and not immediate, it surprises us -- hence our fascination with androgynous people.

Humans are not as sexually dimorphic as many primates. Average visual differences between women and men are objectively small. A visitor from another planet might not notice the differences.

But we humans are exquisitely sensitive to them.

Which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: if an animal can't easily tell who's a potential mate, that animal might not pass on her genes.

Average visual differences between women and men are objectively small, but we're exquisitely sensitive to them.

Here are many of the ways in which men and women, on average, visually differ.

Descriptors of the masculine and feminine style identities derive from these differences.

For example, because narrow-seeming eyes are more characteristic of men than of women, they characterize the masculine (or "yang") style identities.

Because narrow chins are more characteristic of women than of men, they characterize the feminine (or "yin") style identities.

And so on.

The curving line.

Perhaps the defining element of visual femininity -- what immediately and strongly reads as feminine -- is the curving line.

Curved lines read as feminine because, from head to toe, the average human female has more obvious curving lines than the average human male -- in the curved hip, in the breast, in the apparently rounder eye, in the apparently rounder face, in the fuller lip, and so on.

All of the feminine style identities are defined by curving lines.

But the type of curving line depends on the style identity. More on that soon.

Categorizing the visual feminine: Romantic is not the only type of feminine beauty.

The Romantic type, which is present in all style systems that I know of, is defined by lush, round curves and mature, womanly femininity.

In many systems, Romantic --also called Alluring, Sensuous, Soft, or Sexy -- is the only type of feminine beauty.

Systems who conceptualize Romantic as the only type of feminine beauty are flawed, though, because people can read as beautiful and distinctly feminine without reading as va-va-voom.

Romantic does seem to be the variety of feminine beauty that men mainly notice -- which might explain why it's the only kind of visual feminine in some systems created by men.

But I agree with John Kitchener and others who believe that visual femininity can be fairly divided into three subcategories.

Romantic, Ingenue, and Ethereal.

All people who are discernibly female have some amount of Romantic, Ethereal, or Ingenue. These are the the three feminine style identities.

A woman without any amount of any of these would appear as a man, or completely androgynous.

Which is, of course, its own kind of beauty; "feminine" does not equal beautiful, as I tried to emphasize in the beginning of this post.

Jenny Shimizu.

If someone visually reads as distinctly feminine, you're seeing a rather large portion of Ingenue, Romantic, or Ethereal.

But which is it?

The Ingenue visually signals youthfulness and innocence. She looks natural with a sincere, full smile. You might instinctively describe her as girlish and pretty.

Ingenue curving lines are small and neat -- round eyes, round cheeks, small curls in the hair, a small bust, a curving but somewhat narrow figure.

The Romantic visually signals confidence, maturity, and sensuality. Though she's no more or less sexual than any other human, her resting face tends to read as a "come-hither" expression. You wouldn't hesitate to apply the word "sexy" to her.

Romantic curving lines are generous, larger than the Ingenue's, and less defined -- ample hips, a large bust, large waves in thick, full hair, fleshy arms and legs, full lips.

The Ethereal visually signals wisdom and detachment from the physical world. She looks like herself when she's gazing at a far-off point or smiling knowingly. You might think of her as beautiful, or just unusual-looking; she doesn't read as youthful or overtly sexy.

Ethereal curving lines are elongated S-curves -- a tall, willowy figure, a long face, gentle waves in long hair.

If it has occurred to you that these three types of visual femininity sound an awful lot like the faces of the Threefold Goddess -- Maiden, Mother, and Crone -- then all I can say is, great minds think alike.

Maiden = Ingenue? Mother = Romantic? Crone = Ethereal? I buy it.

My next posts will be more detailed individual explorations of Romantics, Ingenues, and Ethereals, in that order.

I know many of you are like

The good news is, they're already partially drafted. :-))

P.S.

A fun way to gauge your relative amounts of masculine beauty (Dramatic, Natural, and Gamine) and feminine beauty (Romantic, Ingenue, Ethereal) is to determine whether you'd be convincing in drag.

If you're a woman, could you pass as a man? If you're a man, could you pass as a woman?

Here, Glenn Close is pulling it off pretty well. There's no question she has a lot of Natural or Dramatic.

Hillary Swank -- Another beautiful woman with a lot of Natural or Dramatic.

Not even a Photoshopped beard can make Salma Hayek look masculine, though. She has too much Romantic.

Here's a man, Cillian Murphy, who makes a gorgeous woman. He's got a ton of Romantic or Ethereal.

Lee Pace has a lot of Ingenue, I'm thinking? Very believable.

Liev Schreiber, not so much. I'm thinking he's mostly Natural with some Classic and Gamine.

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Styles Identities: the DRAMATIC

5/3/2015

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I want to introduce the seven pure style identities by starting with Dramatics.

People whose style identity is purely Dramatic create an overall visual impression of dignity, intensity, and theatricality.

They may remind us of big cats, or birds of prey.

The physical features in a woman that tend to create this impression include:

A narrow body that's tall (often over 5'8")
Sharp-edged bone structure
A long or narrow face
Prominent cheekbones
A long or prominent nose
Tilted or feline eyes
Close-set eyes
Thin lips
A sharp jawline
Extreme, unexpected or vivid coloring
Erect, dignified posture
An aloof or intense manner

But don't get wrapped up in trying to figure out the style essence of each discrete body part.

In other words, it's not about whether or not your nose is Dramatic.

It's about whether your overall impression - the gestalt of your parts and manner - is unusual, intense, and even intimidating.

Dramatic energy is generally called "yang" energy. Belle Northrup originated this use in the 1930s, I suspect because she sensed women wouldn't want to identify with an energy described as "masculine."

But can we get real here and cut the euphemisms for a moment?

Dramatic women look masculine.
And they are stunning.

Brigitte Nielsen

Jenny Shimizu

Grace Jones

Anjelica Huston

Dramatics look good in sharp-edged, man-tailored clothes because those clothes repeat the stunning masculine beauty of the physical appearance.

Now, Dramatic woman, this doesn't mean that your personality is masculine or theatrical or intense. The idea that appearance = personality is bull***.

Inside, you might be a wallflower, or a fairy princess, or a clown.

Cher

Alek Wek

When there's a contrast between the truth of your exterior and the truth of your interior, the contradiction just makes getting to know you even more delightful.

* * * *

If you're a Dramatic, you probably look great with your hair pulled back severely from your incredible face.

If you're a Dramatic, you probably look great when you're not smiling.

If you're a Dramatic, we can probably see your cheekbones even when you're not smiling.

Pure Dramatics don't look innocent.

Pure Dramatics don't look traditionally sexy, though they are gorgeous. Their eyes don't say "Come hither;" they say "Watch out."

Pure Dramatics don't come across as approachable. (Though they might be the sweetest people you'll ever meet.)

Pure Dramatics are, by all accounts, rare. Please let me know if you can think of some.

:-)

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Style Identities: The CLASSIC

5/3/2015

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Classics are so interesting to me.

If you're like me, you are accustomed to thinking about beautification as a process of adding things.

Add accessories, add makeup, add costume, add scenery, add hairstyle.

But Classics become more beautiful the more you remove.

Diane Kruger. The less detail she has near her face, the more beauty we see.

Classic beauty exists in the seemingly perfect balance and symmetry of the form and features. In a Classic face, no one feature jumps out. The nose, eyes, mouth, chin, and forehead aren't remarkably large, or remarkably small, or noticeably close together, or noticeably far apart.

Imagine you're a schoolyard bully: what nickname could you make up for that face? If you can't think of anything, you're likely looking at a Classic.

How could you caricature Zhang Ziyi's face? Nothing stands out. Therein lies the Classic's beauty.

That impression of perfection can only be created when the form and features are all we see.

Add details to the image, and the perfection becomes harder to discern. The Classic fades into the background. She becomes merely pretty, or even boring-looking.

Surround the Classic face with wild, squiggly lines, and the face is unremarkable.

Frame the Classic face with smooth, controlled lines, and the smooth, controlled perfection of the features jumps out.

Classics can become visually forgettable if the chiseled perfection of their features is not highlighted by simple, carefully sculpted hair and the removal of all extraneous details.

Here, Naomie Harris isn't particularly memorable.

When the lines around her face are smooth and controlled, you stare at her face.

Classic clothes are boring on everyone but a Classic. And attire that would be interesting on someone else overwhelms a Classic.

Simple strapless gown, simple necklace, simple makeup. Perfect on Marion Cotillard.

Waaaaaaaay too much detail. She's lost.

When people ask "Am I pulling this off?", they may be asking, "Are my features as complicated as this item I'm wearing?"

The answer to a Classic is usually "No."

Not pulling it off, because Classic features.

Pulling it off, because Dramatic features.

If you're a Classic, you may have grown up hearing you were "pretty" - as opposed to cute, adorable, stunning, gorgeous or handsome.

In your self-critical moments, you may have seen yourself as plain or boring.

But would you call this ring boring?

A solitaire diamond engagement ring is a good metaphor for a Classic. The jewel's perfection is front and center when the setting is simple.

As a Classic, your seeming perfection will blow people away, if you allow it to be seen by keeping all of your lines simple and controlled.

All of the strategy of dressing faithfully to your Style Identity boils down to one idea: creating context for yourself.

What the heck is this? Without context, this image makes no sense.

The clothes and hair that you put on are your portable context.

When you choose clothing and hair that are congruent with your physical self, your physical self makes visual sense.

That's our goal here: to present ourselves in a way that says "I am real. My existence makes sense."

Now we see - it's a woman's face. The rest of the picture is the context we need to visually process that image as a face.

When we surround our physical selves with incompatible context, our physical selves don't make sense.

And we're signaling to anyone who looks, "I deny the reality of me."

If you compress soft, bountiful flesh into hard, unyielding fabric forms, you deny the reality of that soft flesh. (So, Romantics, no tailored suits in stiff fabrics.)

If you bind wide, muscular frames with constricting styles, you deny the reality of those big muscles and bones. (So, Naturals, no pencil skirts.)

If you surround a face and form that's perfect in its balance and simplicity with extravagant and outsize detail, you deny the reality of the simple perfection. (So, Classics, don't gild the lily.)

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Style Identities: the NATURAL

5/3/2015

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Of the seven pure style identities, I believe Natural is the most common type - but perhaps the hardest to define.

The other types are exceptional by definition:

Dramatic are exceptionally imposing.
Romantics are exceptionally sexy.
Ethereals are exceptionally otherworldly.
Gamines and Ingenues stand out because of their seemingly eternal youthfulness and their small stature.
And Classics are unusually symmetrical and balanced.

Naturals, by contrast, are mostly defined by what they are not.

They are not visually extreme in any regard. Not extremely imposing, not extremely small, not extremely sexy, not extremely alien.

Naturals are just that - humans in their typical, average, natural state.

If Naturals get a superlative, it has to be "most friendly-looking." Even Natural supermodels look nice!

Christie Brinkley

Heidi Klum

Naturals create an overall visual impression of being friendly, sturdy, and ordinary.

The attributes in a woman that tend to create this impression include:

An "athletic" body: straight, strong, and wide-boned
A toothy, friendly smile
A wide jaw
A nose that's large but blunt-edged, not sharp
A long, blunt (not pointy) chin
Close-set or small eyes
Average to above-average height

Jennifer Aniston

Sandra Oh

Khloe Kardashian

Uzo Aduba

Whoopi Goldberg

Lena Dunham

Wait - go back a minute. Did she just call Naturals ordinary-looking?

Well, I did.

The ordinariness, the average-ness, is what makes them so appealing.

They feel familiar. We relate to them. We expect them to welcome us as fellow ordinary people.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Gemma Whelan

Of course, since appearance =/= personality, a friendly-looking Natural may secretly be a right royal b****.

But that's part of the fun, isn't it?

If you're a Natural whose guileless exterior belies a devilish interior, you're twice as fascinating.

Kathy Griffin

Chloe Sevigny

Regardless of whether or not you're the girl-next-door that you appear to be, your Natural form will be most flattered by Natural clothes: simple lines, comfortable fits, textured fabrics, functional accessories, and an overall informal vibe.

Natural or Dramatic?

Naturals can be confused with Dramatics. Both types can appear somewhat masculine. ("Yang," other writers say, but I'm trying to eschew those euphemisms.)

To distinguish between a Dramatic and a Natural, you might ask, "Does this face look friendly or threatening?"

This face says, "Let's be friends."

This face says,"I'm dangerous." The overall narrowness and angled eyes read as predatory.

Natural or Classic?

A Natural's ordinariness may cause her to be confused with a Classic.

An important difference between a Natural and a Classic is that Classics present an idealized version of the human average: moderate and balanced in every single dimension, without any asymmetry.

Naturals present the actual human average, which comes with asymmetries and lumps and bumps.

A test: Look at a person and imagine a cartoonist's caricature. If that's hard to do, you might be looking at a Classic. It's hard to caricature a Classic because nothing sticks out. But Naturals have plenty that sticks out.

Lili Taylor - easy to caricature. And so appealing.

This is why Naturals feel accessible and Classics feel aloof: Classics are so balanced that it feels almost inhuman. Naturals' "imbalances" are entirely human.

Two types of average: an average that's almost inhumanly balanced...

...and an average that's relatable because it lacks "perfect" balance.

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Truth is Beauty Style Identity Self-Analysis Tool

5/3/2015

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Update:

I've given copies of the tool to about a hundred people. I'm not giving away any more at this point; I need to take a day or two to read all of the excellent feedback I've received and use it to improve the tool.

I know a lot of people still want it! The good news is, I currently intend to offer it at a price point that most of you will find very reasonable.

Stay tuned!

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Style Identities, Part III: In Which I Contradict What I Said Earlier...

5/3/2015

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...about two style identities being the maximum that anyone can reasonably work with.

I have been attempting to flesh out definable archetypes for three-way style identities.

Initially, I thought it would be impossible. But I'm actually finding it very doable.

For example, I'm thinking of Romantic-Ethereal-Classic as "Elegant Aphrodite."

Other examples of three-way combo archetypes in progress:

Romantic-Natural-Classic = "Alluring L.L. Bean."
Dramatic-Gamine-Ingenue = "Girlish Punk Rocker."
Classic-Gamine-Ingenue = "Darling Prep Schooler, a.k.a. Cher from 'Clueless.' "

My Pinterest boards for each three-way combo are still secret, but I aim to make them public soon. When I do, I'll add info about the trifold combos to this site.

In total, we'll have 63 style identity options:
7 pure essences + 21 doubles + 35 triples.

Do you have ideas about particular three-essence archetypes? Share them in the comments!

Edited to add:
I've made all of the above-mentioned Pinterest boards public. You can see them here:
https://www.pinterest.com/coloranalysis/

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Truth is Beauty Style ID Calculator Now Available For $15.

5/3/2015

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You can buy it here.

This is an excellent tool if you already know what looks good on you, but you don't know how that translates into a coherent Style ID.

It's also great for analyzing friends, family, and celebs.

To use it, you'll need internet access and a PC with Microsoft Excel.

The Style ID Calculator was fantastic! Turns out I'm a Natural-Ingénue-Classic. - R.G.

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Truth is Beauty

Style Identities: The INGENUE

Feminine Visual Beauty

Feminine Visual Beauty

The curving line.

Categorizing the visual feminine: Romantic is not the only type of feminine beauty.

Romantic, Ingenue, and Ethereal.

Styles Identities: the DRAMATIC

Style Identities: The CLASSIC

Style Identities: the NATURAL

Natural or Dramatic?

Natural or Classic?

Truth is Beauty Style Identity Self-Analysis Tool

Style Identities, Part III: In Which I Contradict What I Said Earlier...

Truth is Beauty Style ID Calculator Now Available For $15.

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Truth is Beauty

Feminine Visual Beauty

﻿The curving line.

Categorizing the visual feminine: Romantic is not the only type of feminine beauty.

Romantic, Ingenue, and Ethereal.

Natural or Dramatic?

Natural or Classic?

Categories

Archives

The curving line.