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Styles Identities: the DRAMATIC

5/3/2015

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.

:-)

43 Comments

Anne

9/26/2014 11:29:40 pm

I don't know their names, but pure dramatics are not that rare in high fashion modeling. Maybe because models are often selected for their rare looks. Jamie Bochert.

Sonny

9/27/2014 12:42:23 pm

Kibbe types are really interesting to me even though the original material is so dated and I hate the "horoscope" aspect of assuming looks match personality. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series!

Jacqui

9/27/2014 11:22:01 pm

When I think of the Dramatics, I tend to think of Tilda Swinton, and Cate Blanchette. By the way, I love your site!

anon

9/28/2014 05:06:55 pm

how about keira knightly?

Rachel

10/3/2014 08:46:19 am

She does have those intense eyes. And yet she also seems flattered by a little softness near her face, which would suggest some feminine element as well... So the question is, is it innocent-feminine? Sexy-feminine? Or alien-feminine?

Haydn E.

11/30/2015 02:32:29 am

I would say alien-feminine (ethereal)

Deb Benjamin

9/29/2014 04:16:27 pm

Hi Rachel,
Might I suggest Annie Lennox?
Love your new posts!

Rachel

10/3/2014 08:47:02 am

Oh, thank you! Yes, perfect!

Anna

10/1/2014 06:35:19 am

"The idea that appearance = personality is bull***." YAY!!! Hear, hear! YES! :)

Sand Welch

10/2/2014 06:06:06 pm

YES. Completely agree about Tilda Swinton. I consider her as the epitome of a Dramatic. I'm thinking Maggie Q might also fit:

http://photos.laineygossip.com/articles/maggie-liu-dita-met-06may14-07.jpg

Laurie

10/3/2014 07:19:16 am

If I understand correctly, both Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett would not be Dramatic under this system, or at least not purely Dramatic. Kitchener uses them as epitome examples of Angelic (Ethereal, here).

Rachel

10/3/2014 08:54:23 am

Tilda's an interesting case. JK considers her the epitome of the Angelic (Ethereal) essence, and he considers Angelic the epitome of femininity. But I always wonder - can Tilda really represent the ideal of a rather feminine essence? She's pretty androgynous.

My current theory is that she's a mix of Dramatic and Ethereal. My working name for that style identity is Sorceress, and that would fit with how she has appeared on screen...

http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsS/16812-26700.gif

Karen

10/3/2014 10:52:18 am

Isn't it possible for age to soften or influence the overall effect of body type and style? I know I fit the Dramatic Ethereal category in my teenage years, but at middle age my body is more lush and the more angular lines of my face have blurred somewhat so that I look much more realistic in Dramatic Romantic (or Yin Dramatic).

And you're so right about Dramatics coming across as unapproachable. As a BW DramaticR I sometimes feel like I need to tape a sign to my forehead that says "I promise I''m friendly!"

Laurie

10/3/2014 12:30:56 pm

The trouble I have with the Angelics is that there are so few examples. So you could very well be right about Tilda. Daryl Hannah is another example, but while she feels fragile personality wise, her face holds drama and her build is stronger. I wonder if she isn't a better example of Dramatic and Ethereal? Would Cate Blanchett be more of a pure type? Or is that Bryce Dallas Howard?

Kirsten

10/4/2014 03:45:10 pm

Cate Blanchett does seem otherworldly in her appearance, but I've seen her looking quite imposing, so she doesn't strike me as pure Ethereal. Could she be Dramatic Ethereal too?

April

10/8/2014 06:03:56 am

I like reading your take on this. I don't think that "yang" is a euphemism for "masculine" though. Although, I do think we need a more descriptive word, "masculine" is not it. There is no reason that one female type of body should be described as typically female when there are obviously all kinds of female bodies. Feminine = like a female. Therefore, all of these Dramatic women are quite feminine.

Billie

10/8/2014 08:41:57 pm

Excited that you are exploring this subject matter, thank you! been following and enjoying your blog for years now.
I do however have a question/comment in line with April's, above: wondering why you are choosing to use the term yang in favor of the word masculine. Perhaps you feel that it is more honest or straightforward to use "masculine" as a descriptor, whereas using "yang" may seem to be a way to soften the blow to women who may feel uncomfortable with being labeled as mannish? I think there is definitely value in that angle. Yet I think that yin and yang are terms that were borrowed because we don't have adequate and equivalent terms in english. While some yang, dramatic women may have a similar appearance to some very yin, feminine men, to say that they are masculine may be less helpful than to say that they are yang.
In both men and women we find an endless range of possibilities, where there are so many crossovers... the benefit to using "yin" and "yang" is that they are abstract, and that the concepts can be used to define beauty abstractly and transcendentally. Yang, for instance, describes light, energy, sharpness, straightness, angularity, precision, power, etc...While archetypical masculine qualities partake of yang, yang does not equal masculinity, and while femininity and the female sex may be apparently dominate by yin qualities, yin is not femininity. These terms are beyond the sexes, and are quite evocative and poetic, which is a great reason to embrace them.
It is true of course, that styles which were developed to enhance yang appearance (men's fashion of the last century for example) will be more likely to look good on a very yang women. In wearing these styles yang women will look androgynous... or yes, its true, similar to a very beautiful, very yin man.

i

Rachel Arnt-Schemmel

10/9/2014 03:15:29 pm

I don't love these terms for two reasons:

-Using them feels like cultural appropriation, and
- Avoiding saying "masculine" and "feminine" just perpetuates the stigma associated with women have traditionally masculine features and men having traditionally feminine ones. IMO. ;-)

Having said that, I do use them sometimes, because - as you point out - we don't have English terms for masculine and feminine that are as general and that convey as much..

Rachel Arnt-Schemmel

10/9/2014 03:53:59 pm

Feminine can certainly mean "like any female," if someone wants to use it that way. I hear you. All these types are feminine because they're all what women look like.

But we need some language to explain why delicate, curving shapes appear appropriate next to Vivian Leigh's face but not next to Carol Burnett's.

I think most people , including me - and certainly including Harriett McJimsey, from whom Kibbe and Kitchener derive - use "feminine" to mean "like what is *traditionally* thought of as female."

The traditional associations aren't arbitrary. They're accurate observations of general tendencies in human sexual dimorphism.
Compared to average men, average women have narrower frames and curvier shapes. Compared to average women, average men have wider frames and straighter shapes.

So in my mind, it's simply accurate to describe delicacy and curve as feminine (meaning "like what has traditionally been noted as characterizing average women") and width and thickness as masculine.

Of course, calling women masculine creates a problem if one fears it's bad or wrong for women to appear like (average) men or for men to appear like (average) women.

I don't think it's bad or wrong. I do think circumventing the issue by using words like "yin" and "yang" allows the stigma to continue.

1/24/2017 08:11:54 pm

This assumes that "yin" and "yang" were just being used as euphemisms for "feminine" and "masculine". When I read Northrup's work I don't get this impression. Yin and yang refer to much more than just traditional femininity and masculinity, and I think that Northrup recognized that there was more complexity to appearance than just femininity and masculinity. I think she chose those terms to try to encompass that complexity, not as euphemisms.

As for which style is the most yin, I think that depends on which aspect of yin you think is the most important. For you, it's evidently womanly voluptuousness. But yin is so much more. For Kitchener, it seems to be delicacy (yin=delicate softness, yang=hard edges). For McJimsey is seems to be youthfulness (yin=small and youthful, yang=large and mature). None of those are wrong. In my view they are all correct, and perhaps a straight line from yang to yin is wrong, because it isn't just one dimension. Maybe it should be a circle, (dramatic, natural, gamine, ingenue, romantic, ethereal, and back around to dramatic, with classic in the center), or 3 parallel lines (dramatic-ethereal; natural-romantic; gamine-ingenue; with classic in the middle of it all).

Diane

1/8/2015 02:12:12 pm

I think Marilyn Manson could be pure dramatic.

Diane

1/9/2015 01:27:48 pm

Does anyone else think he is pure dramatic?

Karen K

1/22/2015 04:09:58 am

How about Christine Baranski, she seems nice in interviews but is type cast as cold and unapproachable. She has Classic beauty but I like her with standout jewelry and unique suit detailing on The Good Wife.

Rachel

1/25/2015 04:50:51 pm

I see her as mainly Dramatic and Classic. Her close-set, somewhat oblique eyes and sharp jawline give her the predatory look of a Dramatic, but I also see that she's flattered by controlled, face-framing hair and traditional lines -- which suggests Classic.

Salla

2/2/2015 12:12:41 am

So what do you do if your face and body are mismatched? My face ticks all the Dramatic boxes in this post but my body is very curvy and soft, big boobs, significant waist to hip ratio, the works. Angular man styles look DREADFUL on me. For my body, I have found that Kibbe Soft Natural works best. But how can I ignore the Dramatic face?

anastasia

10/3/2017 11:35:30 am

i think you could be a dramatic ethereal.

Ewa

5/11/2015 02:49:46 am

I think Dionne Warwick has a lot of Dramatic in her.

Jennifer

11/11/2015 06:52:33 pm

Angelina Jolie!

Liz

1/28/2016 09:35:10 am

Imo Angelina is much more romantic than dramatic--she has full lips, wide eyes, a small nose, a short, feminine chin and wide forehead. And she looks best with medium/long romantic hair. I definitely see dramatic as a secondary type tho

Haydn E.

11/30/2015 02:39:22 am

Lucy Liu, Katherine Hepburn, Bonnie Aarons, Barbra Streisand, Lauren Bacall, Iman Mohamed (model), Linda Evangelista, Carmen Dell'Orifice

Liz

1/28/2016 09:27:26 am

What do you think of Jillian Michaels (fitness expert) as being purely or mostly dramatic?

Rachel

1/28/2016 04:35:17 pm

Wow, good call! She has a ton of D. Wouldn't she looks fantastic with super-short hair? Show off that bone structure. As it is, it's obscured by her mane.

Liz

1/29/2016 10:12:07 am

Yes, absolutely! or at least styled differently so its not falling over her amazing face

1/28/2019 02:36:52 am

Rachel, you said it all ---that's why you would be a Dramatic -- good bone structure now obscured by your mane, possibility of short hair..., great cheekbones to add, slim, tall... remarkable face.... Go for it!

Kim

5/18/2016 10:37:34 pm

Siouxsie from the band Siouxsie and the Banshees.

anon

7/1/2017 12:01:15 am

I would say Cher is pure romantic.

Rachel

7/2/2017 11:15:50 am

That's an interesting idea! Can you link to pics of her with cleavage emphasis or lots of draping, maybe?

Anon

7/4/2017 01:34:21 pm

Lemme try... (I'm terrible at these things :))
Maybe #4/16 of the following slideshow (Wearing a long gown with a drape):
http://www.vogue.com/article/cher-best-hair-moments-birthday
And then her hair is always on her face in soft waves. And IMHO, the outlandish headgears that she rocks would actually diminish the power of other dramatics listed on this page like Nielsen and Jones. Then she has these heavy lidded eyes.

Rachel

7/7/2017 11:26:15 am

Hey, Anon!

She could have Romantic as a secondary essence. The R hair in the 10th slide is gorgeous on her, at least from that angle. But check out slide 7: I would expect a person with a lot of R to be gorgeous in those big ruffles and that oversized floral pattern. Yet it seems to make her look less feminine, not more feminine. It's hard to tell, though, with her head down...

anastasia

10/28/2017 10:21:07 am

how about anja rubik milla jovovich and river phoenix

4/11/2018 02:51:07 pm

(years after this post went up)....

Other celebs that strike me as having dramatic: Famke Janssen, Lucy Liu (also C), Keira Knightly, Dame Maggie Smith, Imaan Hammam (with a lot of E or R or both, I'd guess), LOTS of runway models, actually, take your pick, Dame Diana Rigg, with some G - exhibit A, the Avengers/Emma Peel wardrobe. Also, a lot of 30s era celebs - I think it was that 'heightened', theatrical look that was popular in movies then: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow (that chin cleft!). Their clothing could come right off of your dramatic & dramatic/romantic boards.

I find this ID is hard for me to spot going off of features, honestly. I certainly found it hard to spot in myself (probably because I'm so pale. Take Cate Blachette - she looks very E... until you dye her hair for Hela in 'Thor' and then the dramatic starts to stand out more obviously.)

But I think the Dramatic ID is best revealed by the clothing itself - almost more than the features? Like draping in your 'seasonal dealbreaker' colors, there are certain clothing styles where if someone pulls it off well, that's the clue they're a dramatic. Lucy Liu is adorbs - sweet smile, amazing skin. I keep thinking she probably has some C or I? But if you put her in deep V necklines with severe tailoring and hair slicked back, she looks AMAZING. Whatever else she's got going on, there's a lot of dramatic. And so forth. Stiff fabric, minimal detail, hair pulled back off the face - if that's good on a woman, that suggests dramatic to me, even if you can't quite pinpoint the masculinity.

TL;DR: In re-reading this, it strikes me that style ID is a lot like seasonal draping: you can like or dislike a color or an ID or have weird preconceptions about it. But if it looks amazing on a person, it's pretty hard to argue with that.

ruy

4/18/2018 11:35:30 am

I am a pure Dramatic :) maybe I have a little bit of Ethereal, but my basis is really D. I'm very tall and thin, with big narrow black eyes. The only thing that isn't dramatic are my lips, they aren't thin

1/28/2019 02:34:02 am

Rachel, are you sure you are Ethereal Natural?
You look to me like a Dramatic Gamine.

Styles Identities: the DRAMATIC

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