(Keanu has some Dramatic too, I think. More on those guys below.) 


But how do we explain men with a lot of Ingenue (a youthful, pretty, girlish beauty) who are flattered by beards? Because that's totally a thing.

​Ingenue is a feminine essence, but unlike Romantic and Ethereal it calls for clean edges and a bit of stiffness. So you wouldn't necessarily think a beard would flatter an Ingenue man's face.

Yet I notice a lot of men who seem to be quite Ingenue are improved by beards. 

Rainn Wilson (Dwight from from The Office​) has a high forehead, a tiny nose, a small mouth, and a tiny chin -- all features that read as girlish.  I'm guessing he has a lot of Ingenue. And he's much improved by a beard. 

When it comes to Style IDs, the same rules that apply to women -- what works and what doesn't -- mostly apply to men as well. 

Based on what clothes flatter them, I've made some inferences about the Style IDs of a few male celebs who have caught my eye.

George Clooney 

He looks great in very Classic clothes, right? But notice how he looks even better when you relax, or Natural-ize, the styling just a bit. Remove the tie, unbutton the top button, roll up the sleeves... he's more Natural, and more sexy. So, I say Classic with some Natural for him.

When he goes too far into Natural, though, it all falls apart:

Ouch. Yeah., no.

​
Lest you say, "But can anyone actually wear head-to-toe denim?", check out Jeff Bridges. Very much a Natural. Looks great in all denim, looks great in shaggy hair. 

Jeff Bridges might be pure Natural.  It doesn't get more masculine and rough-edged than this, does it?


A lot of gorgeous men are strongly feminine in their style types. (Just as a lot of gorgeous women -- including most runway models-- are strongly masculine in their style types.)  Russell Brand looks great with long, luscious curls, lots of detail and circles near his face, and a drapy scarf. He has Romantic and possibly Ethereal, I think. 

So-pretty Kit Harington, looking amazing with both draping and curls. I think he has a lot of Romantic. 

Robert Pattinson

Very neat, slick hair looks unattractive, and so does the turtleneck; that suggests Classic and Dramatic are both unlikely.

I would have expected him to have quite a bit of Dramatic, because he's such a good vampire, and because he's quite chiseled. But I believe now that those sculpted features are probably Ethereal rather than Dramatic, and his ability to convincingly embody a vampire is probably enhanced by good makeup.  I think he has some Natural as well; an open neckline is so much better for him than a closed one. 


Idris Elba
​

Here's a gorgeous, strongly Classic man.  He's much too masculine and mature in his features to pull off a scarf near his face or a boyish flat cap. At the same time, he's not rough-hewn enough to look awesome in denim. He's dreamy in Classic's tailored suit and tie, though.

And now it's time for one of my main celeb crushes:

Stanley Tucci!  
​

See how good he is with a lot of busy-ness? Three-piece suit, stripes, separates -- this profusion of lines is great on him. Lots of detail is most characteristic of the feminine essences, but in this case it's Gamine. (Gamine is mostly a masculine essence, but because it's youthfully masculine, it has a touch of androgyny, and that androgyny shows up in Gamine's need for lots of detail.) 

To really rule out the feminine essences, check Stanley with the drapy neckine a scarf creates, or with curls:

No, Stanley, no.

Lots of detail; small, sharp, shapes; crisp lines...  that's Gamine.   

​I think he has Natural, too, because he's hot AF in open necklines and in Henleys. I suspect Classic as well, because he looks his best, IMO, with a lot of polish and tailoring -- even more than Gamine would normally provide. 

Natural-Classic-Gamine for my dear Stanley Tucci. 

​
Benedict Cumberbatch​

Mr. S. wants to know what season he is. Can you help? 

So, I ask two questions right away: 

1 - What seasons do or don't include this color?
2 - Does this color work for him?

The first question is almost impossile to answer precisely from pics, but rather easy to answer roughly.

The second question is pretty easy to answer from any kind of pic if the answer is no. Your best colors look good on you all the time, KWIM? If a color doesn't look right on you in a pic, it 's (very probably) not your color.

So back to Mr. S. In response to the first question, I'm
thinking there are a few possibilities.

This could be one of the Winter icy pinks. That's what my money's on. It's very light. Because it's a photo it's hard to know which Winter for sure.

Or it could be one of the Summers'  light pinks.

Possibly a Soft Autumn, Bright Spring  or Light Spring pink as an outside possibility, if the picture's color is very inaccurate.

True Spring, True Autumn and Dark Autumn don't have any pinks that come close to this.

Now, does this pink work for him?

To my eye, this pink looks cooler than he is. When I say that, I mean that his skin seems to have more orangey-yellowy colors in it than the shirt does. Or I could also say that the pink seems to have a more blueish-violety tone than Mr. S. does. You can see the purple in the shirt, can't you?

On a light-skinned person of the right season, I'd expect a pink this light to pick up touches of healthy pale pink in the skin. 

But I don't see the lightest, brightest parts of Mr. S.'s skin harmonizing with this pink. Imagine this pink on his cheeks.  It doesn't fit, does it? Those cheeks are calling for a somewhat more coral-y (which is to say warmer) pink. 
 
(I know men don't [usually] wear blush. But  on a very pale-skinned man, the right pink will pick up the natural, healthy blush of the face.)

This pink also seems more bright than Mr. S. is. This perception is hard for me to explain. It's as if the shirt was created by adding a few drops of some reddish violet to pure white paint, while Mr. S.'s skin seems to have been painted from a more blended, neutral palette. I know that sounds really vague. How about this: doesn't the shirt seem to be jumping out at you, relative to the face? 

I think Mr. S. is warmish and not terribly saturated. The hair and eyes suggest that he could possibly balance darker colors, so maybe True Autumn or Soft Autumn? OTOH,  that skin is awfully light and has a certain luminous quality that could implicate Light Spring.

What do you see? He really wants your feedback.