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      • ⚥ ♂ Classic Gamine -- The Prep Schooler
      • ⚥ ♀ Classic Ingenue -- The Class President
      • ⚥ ♂ Dramatic Classic -- The Art Critic
      • ♂ ♂ Dramatic Gamine -- The Punk Rocker
      • ♀ ♂ Dramatic Ingenue -- The Childlike Czarina
      • ♂ ♂ Dramatic Natural -- The Amazon Queen
      • ⚥ ♀ Ethereal Classic -- The Delicate Sophisticate
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Dramatic -- The Sorceress
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Gamine -- The Sprite
      • ♀ ♀ Ethereal Ingenue -- The Fairy
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Natural -- The Earth Goddess
      • ♀ ♂ Gamine Ingenue -- The Girlish Mod
      • ⚥ ♂ Natural Classic -- The Prep
      • ♂ ♂ Natural Gamine -- The Tomboy
      • ♀ ♂ Natural Ingenue -- The Outdoorsy Sweetheart
      • ⚥ ♀ Romantic Classic -- The Sexy Sophisticate
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Dramatic -- The Vamp
      • ♀ ♀ Romantic Ethereal -- Aphrodite
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Gamine -- The Firecracker
      • ♀ ♀ Romantic Ingenue -- The Demure Seductress
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Natural -- The Babe Next Door
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      • ♀ ♀ ♂ Romantic-Gamine-Ingenue
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      • ⚥ ♂ Classic Gamine -- The Prep Schooler
      • ⚥ ♀ Classic Ingenue -- The Class President
      • ⚥ ♂ Dramatic Classic -- The Art Critic
      • ♂ ♂ Dramatic Gamine -- The Punk Rocker
      • ♀ ♂ Dramatic Ingenue -- The Childlike Czarina
      • ♂ ♂ Dramatic Natural -- The Amazon Queen
      • ⚥ ♀ Ethereal Classic -- The Delicate Sophisticate
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Dramatic -- The Sorceress
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Gamine -- The Sprite
      • ♀ ♀ Ethereal Ingenue -- The Fairy
      • ♀ ♂ Ethereal Natural -- The Earth Goddess
      • ♀ ♂ Gamine Ingenue -- The Girlish Mod
      • ⚥ ♂ Natural Classic -- The Prep
      • ♂ ♂ Natural Gamine -- The Tomboy
      • ♀ ♂ Natural Ingenue -- The Outdoorsy Sweetheart
      • ⚥ ♀ Romantic Classic -- The Sexy Sophisticate
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Dramatic -- The Vamp
      • ♀ ♀ Romantic Ethereal -- Aphrodite
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Gamine -- The Firecracker
      • ♀ ♀ Romantic Ingenue -- The Demure Seductress
      • ♀ ♂ Romantic Natural -- The Babe Next Door
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Truth is Beauty 

Style Identities: The CLASSIC

5/3/2015

50 Comments

 
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.
Picture
Picture
Picture
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.

Picture
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.


Picture
Surround the Classic face with wild, squiggly lines, and the face is unremarkable.
Picture
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. 
Picture
Here, Naomie Harris isn't particularly memorable.
Picture
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. 
Picture
Simple strapless gown, simple necklace, simple makeup. Perfect on Marion Cotillard.
Picture
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."
Picture
Not pulling it off, because Classic features.
Picture
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?
Picture

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.

Picture
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."
Picture
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.)

50 Comments
Katie
10/29/2014 08:24:34 pm

Are you going to do separate posts for combinations?
I've been thinking of examples and I realize it's much easier to think up of people who have a combination of two style identities rather than one.
Liv Tyler - Ethereal Classic
Miranda Kerr - Ethereal Ingenue (wondering about her season)
Rose McGowan - Romantic Ingenue (esp. when she was young)
Sofia Vergara - Romantic Natural???
Anne Hathaway - Classic + something else?
Sofia Loren - Dramatic Classic
Natalie Portman - Classic
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Romantic Gamine??
I'm also wondering about Ginnifer Goodwin's type and season. Some people think she's a soft summer, but I think she is medium chroma at least, and looks good in icy taupe and icy blue. I think a true cool season would suit her.

Reply
Ann
10/30/2014 08:32:09 am

Imo Anne Hathaway is not Classic at all to me, although her personal style is classic. She has large features on a small face, and would be very easy to draw a caricature of. Liv Tyer is too luscious to be a Classic, more like a Romantic and Ethereal hybrid. Natalie Portman seems Classic, but in real life she has a very large head on a very petite frame, so she also has a lot of Gamine.

Reply
Katie
10/30/2014 07:15:49 pm

I don't see anything "luscious" about Liv Tyler. Definitely not Romantic, she doesn't have the body type for those curvy, soft clothes. Most people type her as Dramatic, like the majority of Ethereals. She has a similar vibe to Cate Blanchett, they both played elves in Lord of the Rings. What I notice is that more simple lines look better on Liv. In the post where the style identities were explained, Cate was pictured in this peach dress with the flowery ruffle. Liv would never look good a ruffle like that, but any of Cate's other looks would have fit her in her colors. Liv's face is also very balanced despite the face that it's quite long, but I don't think she's a true classic, I think she's an Ethereal Classic. Classic blends are not going to look as balanced as true Classics.
Same with Anne Hathaway, she looks better in really simple lines, and simple hair. Her face shape is quite balanced, but her eyes and mouth make her face less "classic." I definitely think she is blended with something else. Classic Natural might be right. Naturals are easy to draw caricatures of.
Natalie Portman, looks classic with a small amount of Ingenue or Gamine.

Laurie
10/31/2014 03:13:41 am

Liv Tyler has no Ethereal in her. She is a mixture of Youthful, Classic, and Romantic. People commonly mistake her for Ethereal, though. Youthful has its own otherworldly quality.

Meg
1/15/2016 11:34:10 pm

Liv Tyler appears to be a mix but I'd say natural first and foremost. Her coloring (winter) and loooong face would suggest some dramatic, but her face is best with fresh, natural makeup and her body suits relaxed, minimalist lines. No frills. I'd say natural predominantly. Then some ethereal thrown in. Her face looks soft (yin natural/ethereal), and her body looks yang natural (broad shoulders, large hands, tall and blunt)

Kate
2/7/2016 03:18:42 am

Kibbe has Liv Tyler down as a Natural. I find it quite a surprising category in terms of who ends up in it, I don't think it's as "lumpen proletariat" as it sometimes seems.

Katja
2/28/2016 11:06:17 am

IMO Liv is a natural first, too - because of her posture - everything that Meg wrote was what crossed my mind while thinking of her.

Or if I take Rachel's carachteristics for a Natural:
An "athletic" body: straight, strong, and wide-boned: YES
A toothy, friendly smile: YES
A wide jaw: NO, but neither pettit;
A nose that's large but blunt-edged, not sharp: NO to large but YES to the rest;
A long, blunt (not pointy) chin: YES;
Close-set or small eyes: NO
Average to above-average height: YES, the 2nd.

So, as we see, only her eyes, nose and wide jaw don't fit - but everything else does, a lot of yes-es.
Then I went researching what is so appealing about her face - I was much between Romantic and Ethereal, but romantic eyes are "smoldering", and Liv's are not, they're much like this:
"Ethereals look very much like themselves when they're looking into the distance, with a knowing half-smile or an air of distraction. One gets the impression they're actually looking inward, or seeing something others can't see."
And the description of a Romantic's body has nothing to do with Liv. Her lips are quite prominent, but so are many Ethereal's. And the hair: "Ethereals look gorgeous, not messy, with a wispy halo of hair."
So, my conclussion (I didn't even write all of my notes here) is Natural with some Ethereal features.

Michelle
2/1/2017 09:15:32 am

Anne Hathaway could be a Dramatic Classic or Flamboyant Gamine in the Kibbe system. Natalie Portman could be either Classic or Gamine in his system, but its hard to say as she seems to fit both equally. Perhaps the Kitchener system fits her best, where she could be a mix of Classic and Gamine.
Liv Tyler always struck me as a Dramatic. It's interesting that Kibbe himself calls her a Natural, maybe because he took Natural out of his categories and do she is actually a Flamboyant Natural? I could buy that, a Dramatic Natural.
But for Liv, perhaps Kitchener serves her better as well, because there is that Ethereal element. She has a lot of length, but also a softness that would not qualify as a Romantic softness. So, Ethereal Dramatic, perhaps, a Dramatic that needs "softening", but not in the SD way.

Dianne David
2/20/2018 06:49:37 pm

Spot on!

Kremena
11/29/2019 04:07:14 pm

Anne seems more like a Gamine to me. At least in the face.

Simone
11/10/2020 06:07:27 am

Anne would not be gamine at all with those legs on her. Gamines cannot be taller than 5”5, she’s 5”8 with very large, chiseled and muscular features. She had a pixie cut once but that doesn’t make a gamine.

Karen
10/30/2014 05:20:30 am

Is this why Gwyneth Paltrow looked so smashing in her 1996 movie Emma? To my eye, she has very regular, even features and she pulls off the no jewelry/minimal makeup and simple dress necklines of that period movie. Her hairstyles from the movie were very controlled as well, even though her hair was always curled.

I noticed she was almost always wearing what appeared to be Light Summer colors in that film, so that may have been contributing to it as well. It was definitely an affirmation that Gwyneth is a Light season!

Reply
Ann
10/30/2014 08:35:42 am

Not sure I agree about Marion Cotillard. To me, she's never looked more beautiful than when she won the Oscar, with wavy hair, and an intricate dress. She also wasn't overwhelmed by curls and an even more elaborate dress at the 2008 Baftas.

Reply
Michelle
2/1/2017 08:59:30 am

I think Marion Cotillard is a Kibbe Soft Classic. Look at her next to his original SC celebrities and she fits right in. Classic, but with the secondary Romantic that allows her to pull off those softer and more intricate details.

Reply
Dani
10/31/2014 04:26:37 am

Thank you for posting this! I love this way of thinking about Classics. I keep coming back to Classic types for myself but the idea that they are perfectly balanced has seemed out of reach. However, I can relate to the fact that adornment quickly looks like too much on me and actually detracts. Thanks for this insight.

Reply
Rachel Arnt-Schemmel
10/31/2014 06:28:54 am

Katie, I'm considering it.
But I may just add content to the individual blends' web pages. I'm going to add links to those today.
As for Ginnifer Goodwin's coloring, I believe it's Bright Spring. :-)

Reply
Sonny
11/7/2014 07:59:42 am

I would like to see articles about combinations. Some are hard to visualize because it seems like the two types are opposites. Like would an Ethereal Gamine want to combine contrasting angular and flowing items or meet somewhere in the middle? (This is a selfish example because I think that's what I am, but it would probably apply to other combos like Dramatic Ingenue as well)

Reply
Rachel
11/13/2014 07:42:10 am

Hi, Sonny!

The types will combine contrasting elements - though sometimes that will mean combining contrasting features in a single garment. What's key is that there are components of the ensemble that signal "A" and other components that signal "B." An Ethereal Gamine look, for example, could be accomplished by Gamine cuts in Ethereal colors, or Ethereal cuts in Gamine colors, or Ethereal fabrics in Gamine shapes, or Gamine fabrics in Ethereal shapes... This makes sense because an EG person is not at some middle point between E and G, but rather is a mix of E characteristics and G characteristics. So the wardrobe should echo both.

I'd love to see pics of you! So far, my main EG muse is Bjork.

Solania
11/2/2014 07:38:40 pm

Hi Rachel. I'd just like to share what I observed when I began pinning natural and classic celebrities on pinterest. By doing so I hope to figure out in which category I belong. I noticed that classic faces don't look as good smiling and/or showing teeth as they do with a 'poker' face which is the inverse of the naturals who don't look so good with 'resting' faces as they do smiling and showing teeth. Naturals have the most compelling smiles imo, which correlates and contributes to the idea that Naturals are the friendliest looking. Example: Zhang Ziyi poker face vs ZZ smile with teeth vs Cameron Diaz wide grin vs poker face CD. Do you see what I'm seeing?

Reply
Rachel
11/3/2014 12:50:59 am

I've totally noticed this too!

Poker face is best for Classics; big smile is best for Naturals; semi-smile, with eyes focused on a point in the distance, is best for Ethereals; looking down the nose with a dangerous expression is best for Dramatics...

Reply
Laurie
11/3/2014 02:41:13 am

Ooh, I like these observations!! I bet HS looks best with an impish grin--not quite a full smile. What about Youthful and Romantic?

Solania
11/3/2014 04:07:00 am

Oh cool! I wonder what facial expressions are the best for all the others.

Melina
9/7/2016 08:27:36 am

"Semi-smile, with eyes focused on a point in the distance, is best for Ethereals" - oh my, that's totally me! That's always been my best look in photos, and definitely not an actual smile... (And that may also explain why I always look so bad in passport photos, where you need to look straight into camera and have a poker-face ;)) I haven't so far been able to put myself into any definite style identity category, but have thuoght Romantic and Ingenue to be the closest ones, with maybe some Ethereal thrown in, but this makes it look like the Ethereal might be a stronger part of it that that... The only trouble is my face is not elongated ;)

Gitte
3/27/2019 02:26:46 pm

Yes, YES about the ethereal thing! I have figured out I have quite a bit of ethereal in me, and what you describe is it. I really think I look the best with a slight smile, just not so much that I have 'laugh wrinkles' at my mouth corners. Showing my teeth just looks weird, and with my eyes, I smize a tiny bit and just...Stare. Everyone always tells me to laugh 'properly', with teeth showing, but I just don't feel comfortable doing it. It doesn't feel 'me', even a big closed mouth laugh simply doesn't. The stoic look is okay too, because I have a lot of classic in me.

Arianna
2/15/2015 10:31:02 am

OMG, thank you SO much! I've always felt bad because most of the time I just look awful when I smile showing teeth, and I can never get a decent smile in photos, for examples. Now that I know why I feel enlightened!
My body type doesn't really seem to fit the classic type, but my face is 100% classic and I really needed to read this post and the comments to make peace with it.

Reply
Rachel Arnt-Schemmel
11/3/2014 01:08:17 pm

Re impish grin: you took the words right out of my mouth.

Right now, I am thinking Ingenues look prettiest with a tooth-showing (but not toothy) smile of moderate intensity. Not the beaming grin that's great on Naturals, but a sincere full smile that seems to lack self-consciousness. I think of Laura Linney, or the actress who played Willow on Buffy.

Romantics look best, I think, with closed-lipped smiles and a hint of an eyebrow raise. Or poker face, but with mouth slightly open and a "smize."

I don't necessarily mean any of this to be proscriptive. I don't want to tell women how to smile! I see it more as a diagnostic tool --- you can tell a certain type because of the smile that most becomes her.

Reply
Laurie
11/4/2014 02:35:54 am

I didn't take it that way. It's a cool way to see the different types. I also find it interesting, though--for most of my youth I tried to do the beaming grin with lousy success. I think our society (American) is very much weighted toward the N sort of smile. Since I have no N, it makes sense.

It would be cool to see a smile continuum chart!

Reply
Solania
11/5/2014 01:45:35 am

Hi again
I'm sorry but what or who is HS? I seem to have missed it.

Anyhoo, Rachel, I'm excited to share with you my pinterest boards that I've started on style identites. I would be thrilled if you checked them over because well, frankly I took inspiration from you to start these boards. So far I have Natural+Gamine and Ethereal+Gamine. Feel free to look in my other boards too 'cause I happen to have a couple that are related having started with Kibbe. Looking forward to getting your feedback. :D

Reply
Laurie
11/6/2014 11:45:53 pm

Hi, Solania.

HS is short for "High Spirited" in John Kitchener's system which is pretty much equivalent to Gamine here. Sorry about the abbreviation!

Laurel
11/5/2014 03:43:26 am

I am reading this with great interest. And I am curious which in your opinion is more important, correct style identity of correct colors? I have heard that one should have their colors analyzed first and then proceed with having their style identity analyzed. This would lead me to believe that correct color is more important. Where do you stand on this? Thanks.

Reply
Rachel
11/13/2014 07:51:57 am

Hi, Laurel.

I don't have a certain answer, but my suspicion is that line is more important than color. Here's why I think that: fashion critics and the general public rarely notice and comment on public figures' colors, but they always notice and comment on the lines. That tells me shape and line makes more of an impact on the average viewer's eye than color does.

But it could also be that people in general lack the language to talk about color, so they lack the ability to think about it. For example, lots of people can name five different necklines off of the top of their head (boat neck, turtleneck, plunging V, Mandarin, sweetheart!) - but how many people know what the three dimensions of color are? Most people can't even tell a warm blue from a cool blue. So perhaps color would impact us as much as line does if we had the ability to think about color as specifically.

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Shawna
10/29/2017 02:55:54 pm

I agree with this although I also think it's because celebrities are so heavily made up, photo shopped and well lit etc that they can be made to fit any colour they are wearing within reason. Or at least not look really bad in it. But I have definitely noticed that when I try to talk colour with people they really don't have much clue about it's properties, including warmth and coolness and most people think in terms of what hue they believe they look good in, as in 'I look good in pink' and 'I can't wear green' without ever realising they may only be good or bad in certain pinks or greens. Sorry to comment on an old post but I know I'm not the only one who does this and Thanks for this post btw because it really hit home for me. I have been trying for years to not look 'boring' and it hasn't helped that I sort of fell in with a group of women who are all big believers in more is better and pile on the stuff.

Kirsten
11/17/2014 12:45:23 pm

I'm enjoying your blogs on style very much. As for color v. line, I think it's apples v. oranges--or chicken v. egg? I learned which colors are right for me partly by receiving compliments from graphic designers (who do know something about color) when I wore cheerful pastel T-shirts to work. On the other hand, even if my entire outfit was sky blue, I would disappear in it if it was a dramatic get-up like Cher can wear!

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Sneza
11/24/2014 07:01:33 am

This is the most brilliant thing I've ever read on visualizing or analyzing a Kibbe type! Well done! Please do them all!

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Arianna
2/14/2015 08:09:52 am

I was never convinced I was a classic *something* until I saw this page. That's exactly how my face is!
I never saw my face as definitely ugly (well, I have, we all do sometimes), but I always see it as not striking, with harmonic but "boring" features. I've always felt invisible, and this may be part of the reason. Can't wait to learn how to make it into a strength!
I hope it won't be too difficult highlighting my "classic" features while respecting my being a dark autumn!

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Michelle
2/1/2017 09:27:53 am

Arianna, yes of course you can be Classic and Dark Autumn. Natalie Portman (Classic, with Gamine) and Emma Watson (Classic, with Ingenue?) are both, I believe, Dark Autumns. Perhaps look to them for inspiration? Because of your Classic lines you may need to use the softer colors of your palette, but you can still dress DA. I also have a coworker who is nothing if she isn't a Classic, and a DA. Kibbe has suggestions for all seasons under each of his types in his book.

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Elizabeth
8/25/2017 11:14:39 pm

This is a fascinating conversation! I always feel like my wide, Natural nose doesn't go with the rest of my face, which is more Classic. I have to smile in pictures, though. Maybe the Natural influence? There's also a Romantic side, too, but "sexy" doesn't work on me at all.

Incidentally, for me, I think a diamond solitaire is kind of boring. I have an old ring from college days that I would love to have copied with white gold and real stones. It has a central green oval and three "diamond" chips on each side. Classic with a little ornateness.

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Elizabeth
5/6/2019 05:46:28 am

Want to add that although I have to smile in photos, my mouth is small, so my smile isn't as big as a Natural's.

Agnes
2/27/2015 07:01:25 am

What a great site!
Some time ago I did a quiz on Kibbe's system and the result was soft classic. I'm still not sure though.
Your series is very interesting and I'm looking forward for the rest, especially for mixed types. I would be so good to feel oneself in one's clothes.
After reading this article I realised I can't wear much jewelery.
PS Sorry for my English.

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Rosalina
8/29/2015 09:35:51 am

I'd never even heard of style analysis before - but it makes so much sense. I'd thought for awhile that people seem to gravitate toward styles that suit their physical appearance - and even adopt certain mannerisms to accompany them. I felt arrogant thinking myself something of a classic but reading through it fits. I have always noticed that minimal jewelry looks best on me and awhile ago I got into the habit of not wearing earrings, and when I started wearing them more again I realized unless they were small or subtle they actually were taking away from my face rather than adding to it. The smiling thing - YES I always thought I look off when smiling in photos.

Now I think I am an ingenue blend - mostly due to my petiteness. I an just under 5'4, small waist, small chest. My face doesn't have quite the softness of the women shown in the ingenue section. It makes me think if I was taller I might just be classic. But I can pull of girlish clothes - like baby doll dresses. However...I do prefer the classic styles because I feel more womanly. As someone in their early 20's with a small frame it's easy to look younger. Too girlish styles tend to make me look 15. I would love too see examples of classic ingenues to compare myself to.



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C
6/2/2017 04:54:34 pm

Height is only one out of many considerations for determining your style. It's not even a very important one. If most aspects of you are Classic, then you are mostly classic, height be d**ned. My mom is Classic with a bit of Dramatic and Ethereal in her, despite her 5'1" frame.

Reply
Rachel
6/7/2017 10:10:58 am

It's true! Look at Gwendoline Christie. She's 6'3, yet she's diminished by the Dramatic styles most stylists put her in. She's most beautiful in very feminine lines.

Kate
2/7/2016 03:31:02 am

I would love to bludge some free information out of you, Rachel....who has a funny face, out of the style types? I definitely have a funny face, as in, when I smile I look like a cross between John Goodman - who I adore - and Jennifer Grey pre-nose job - who I also admire the art of, so it's not a "problem", but I'm just wondering if there's a type that's more likely to look kind of comical facially.
I had a co-worker from China stare at me one day and say, you are one woman like Elaine - from Seinfeld. I'm "fatter" faced than she is, but the basic structural similarity is certainly there. And I'm hilarious too - just kidding. Is it a Natural thing, or maybe a FG thing, to have the, ah, facial features of different sizes and proportions? Definitely blunt-featured as opposed to sharp. Can look quite sombre/sad when in "relaxed face" position. I've got the whole "sad clown" thing going on! It's terrible, but I'll survive.

Reply
Whit
4/14/2017 02:41:57 pm

I have read this over several times now, and I find this useful and inspiring each time. What I really appreciate about how you've broken down the style identities is to explain what they ARE (describe) rather than tell folks 'if you've got X quality like Y celebrity, then do Z' (prescribe). It's a very helpful way to do this.

I used your style calculator and found I have an element of classic. I found that hard to accept at first because I always think of classics as Grace Kelly - perfect in every way. For those of us who are more humble classics, it can be a lot to live up to!

But I like this description of classic as simplicity and restraint. I think that's right. I've always found I have to do LESS to look right. Minimal makeup (I remember a woman being stunned I would walk out of the house with no makeup at all. I frequently do, because I swear it looks better. Maybe mascara for dress up). My clothes are very simple, boring even. I always preferred brands that sold basic twinsets, sweaters, etc. Some detail is fun, but mostly, simple is best.

In a way, what I'm hearing is that for classics - for all the style identities, really - the whole point is to let the wardrobe get out of the way and just wear something that lets YOU shine through. And with classics, your basic staples is really all that's needed - in the right color season, if possible.

Thanks for these awesome posts! I have been finding them unbelievably helpful.

Reply
Rosetta
8/11/2017 06:14:04 am

I've been reading this with great interest as I just recently discovered I have Classic in my style ID blend (instead of the N I had mistakenly thought) - which explains so many things for me that previously didn't make sense. :)

Simplicity and classic elegance are indeed key words for me, and minimal jewellery. (Which made me wonder as my other elements R-I-E would not demand simplicity & minimal jewellery, more the contrary ;))
Minimal makeup I can't do though, unlike the poster above, maybe it's the R in me, and maybe being an Autumn, who do not usually do well with minimal makeup (unlike Springs or Summers)... My makeup style is quite classic though, and for me it's an essential part of looking polished and put together, both very Classic attributes! :)

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anastasia
10/3/2017 11:33:57 am

I think Liv tyler is a dramatic ethereal. She seems to be more of herself in those looks in the 90s photos of her.

Reply
Ali
10/19/2017 06:08:37 am

Thank you!
I did not consider myself to be a classic, because my personal style is so different.
But I remembered the general feedback I've got over the years and I've heard things like "classic features", "old Hollywood actress", "lady-like", "romantic".
Now, adding everything I've learned from you, I could be a soft summer classic romantic, with a thing for ethereal since my coloring is soft, muted, smokey.
If someone is curious how that might look, here are some photos.
Here with too many details: http://78.media.tumblr.com/ca5a74baecabe3a536aa3c8b3beda2e0/tumblr_oy2ekr9q511uu8kaeo1_1280.jpg
Here, 4 years later, with much less:
http://78.media.tumblr.com/023b4907505c5c4da645dff77740c1ed/tumblr_oy2ekr9q511uu8kaeo2_400.jpg

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Lois
2/12/2018 01:12:19 pm

Liv Tyler.....first and foremost dramatic with strong classic and touches of feminine. Looks amazing in a one colour tight dress with very slight ruching in the front.
Strong simple style...dramatic, classic. A touch of softness which suits her feminine shape but doesn't swamp her dramatic style. She can get away with ethereal but it doesn't play to her strengths.

Reply
Ieke
3/21/2020 08:16:54 pm

I have those exact same spiral curls as Diane Kruger as Helen of Troy and I'm a (dramatic) classic as well. And indeed, it always feels a bit overwhelming for my face! I like my curls, but I like my face more when I heat style my hair. Can't do that all the time unfortunately

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Danusa
5/2/2021 09:01:45 pm

Hello Rachel. I'm a classic with some dramatic and romantic in the mix (and a kibbe soft dramatic body that doesn't quite match the face or personal style). I have a naturally voluminous wavy hair. My face really stand out when my hair is carefully styled, but it's hard to maintain this everyday without heat styling. So what I usually do, when my hair is wild, is make a hairdo that pulls my hair out off the face. It's really useful. Thanks for your blog, it's very inspiring! Greeting from Brazil :)

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"My closet has totally transformed into something I like, but don't think about much. How amazing is that? I just walk in, grab something for the occasion and the weather, and go. Because it's all the same color season, it all blends. Because it's all the right style (my style, so who cares if it's 'in'? It looks good on me) I can rest assured it looks about right. It's really amazing.

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