Style Identities: The CLASSIC

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.

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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.)