I really liked the Kibbe type system, because it deconstructs that what makes you look good has nothing to do with fashion, or what the world is telling you what looks good, and should be the norm of beauty. It's about finding your own beauty in what you have. What I dislike about it, is that people start to focus on finding their type, their 'box', so as to still let others tell what fits you. What I think in the end it's about, is understanding the 'material' you're dealing with, your shape, your colours, your form, your lines, your essence, and what it is in general that you love. Therefor it's is so great to still explore the Kibbe types, but I think it's good to still create some distance to 'this is a box I need to fit'. For me, it helped me most of all with making myself comfortable in my own skin. Another thing, I noticed some people are more interested in the type they are, then finding out what looks good on you, and why. When I did the test I got out as a Theatrical Romantic, but it just didn't really fit. When I started to just look at the clothes and such of the types, and what fits me, I finally figured out I was more of a Soft Natural. Not because of the test, but because I noticed the lines of the clothes for that type fit me to a tee, and made me feel the most comfortable and the most beautiful.
Exactly h9w I did it. But studying the bones understanding my frame...but the clothes! How they fit what they REALLY look like...once the penny drops BAM. It's hard not to be able to tell now on others, what's right and wrong and what type they are. You can see the harmony and discord.
Bruh the Kibbe System worked amazing well for me like I am almost a pure Theatrical Romantic since I got 14 Ds and I have never felt more confident with my choice of clothing until now ......
I'm with you here completely. I feel this way about all different types of self identification. I think it is kind of missing the point, and potentially very harmful, to approach these things in terms of "which one am I", although there is an instinctive tendency to do that. It's much more useful to think about various traits separate from yourself, and then consider how you personally relate to them. It's a subtle difference, but I think it's very important.
I really appreciate your attempts to keep your systems open and usable for anyone who approaches them. This has not been the case for me personally with DK’s work.
I really like your new system. You basically interpret Kibbe method in a way that I always wished it to be simplified. You took all the aspects of this system that I loved (the concept of line of the body in relationship to the clothes) and removed all the rest, that I found confusing and not very logical. I especially love your approach to the mixed type, that probably solves 99% of the confusion about the gamines. I usually don't write fan girl comments on youtube, but I couldn't stop myself :)
Your take on the body types and colors makes sense and is liberating! I first learned about Kibbe from Aly Art -- who is also amazing and a joy to follow. But even with her helpful videos I struggled with the quiz. As I look back on my journey, I think my struggle came from: poor self image/esteem, societal stereotypes and my confusion over the role of bone structure and flesh in determining body type. I joined your club last Fall, and watch a video where you said that there were really only 5 types and the bone structure determines type. Once you determine your type, then you fine tune using the flesh and face questions on the quiz. It clicked! I took the quiz again, keeping what you said in mind and also breaking up the questions into the three components as Cozy Rebekah suggested on her blog. Now I am more certain I am flamboyant gamine, but I also understand why my unique FG does not have to be like any I see among famous FG's. And that is what you show in all your videos. Thank you Merriam! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💕💕💕
This was very similar to what I experienced. Im a FG too and thought I was a SG or even a N etc for a while because I had trouble "seeing" myself in an unbiased way. After I tried looking for my lines and none of the details I saw my sharp yang bones. I still see myself as wide in my head but when I see photos of myself or when Im with other people I wonder how I couldnt see I was a FG the whole time. (I also dont look much like FG celebrities I have almost no muscle on me haha)
Hey! I know this is old but I’m so excited to explore your system! Frankly I think Kibbie is delusional if he thinks every woman over 5.7 can only fit into two/three categories. I love your assessment of Taylor swift and I agree 100%! So so excited to learn more!
I really like this direction! The thing that bothered me most about the Kibbe system was that I seem to fall in between, as I would guess most people do. I had a pet project where I was highlighting all the bits from each type that I found to be beneficial in the lines I wear, and was then going to write up my own recommendations - time consuming. This is much simpler, and I love the freedom of it that you are suggesting. And it seems it'll be far easier to include an "essence" (such as ethereal) this way. We are building layers.
Really love this video! I think something really important to remember when it comes to color analysis and body typing is that everyone can have their own exceptions. For example, I have warm and delicate skin, and wearing warm and delicate colors looks great. But I also have a blue sweater that has the perfect shade of blue to make my eyes stand out. Just because that particular shade of blue looks great on me doesn't mean that I have a cool undertone, it just happens to be the right saturation, hue, and darkness to make my eyes stand out. :) Sometimes I forget about those exceptions and get confused, but your videos always help remind me about the core of these topics.
I love this! I've also been a member of the Strictly Kibbe Facebook groups for a few months, but I got kind of obsessed and really confused. I could stand and watch myself in the mirror and getting self-conscious, and doubting myself and my body, and my choice of clothing (Yes, it's so crazy!) And I was doubting and getting confused about being a Flamboyant Gamine that you typed me as a year ago, wich I've been so happy about, and really enjoying. So a few days ago I left all the SK groups, and it felt so good! And I've thrown all the doubts away and ordered myself a pair of chunky silver combat boots! 😁😁😁 That is my style, no matter what some people with a system says! And when I saw the notification for this video, I hesitated to watch it because I was so sick of body types! But I did watch it, because I love you, and I am happy I did! It was very timely. And LIBERATING! I just want to add that this was MY PERSONAL experience with the Strictly Kibbe Facebook groups. I've heard people who have had an opposite experience, and there are a lot of helpful and dedicated people there. It was just not for ME. 🧡💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻🧡
@@merriamstyle oh, now you're making me cry.... 😭😭😭💜💗💜 And yeah, sometimes it can be beneficial to go in the wrong direction to really feel it and then claim your own. Then you know it's YOUR OWN, and you get strong and proud and rooted in yourself. That might not have happened in such a profound way if you hadn't taken the wrong path. And that counts for so many areas of life. This little conversation made it even clearer to me. Thank you again! 💃🏻💥💥🧡🧡
Girl, wearing whatever you want is the FREAKING POINT of the SK groups. It just depends on how you combine it and whether it physically fits you. That's it. Easy peasy.
I have a golden hue to my skin, it is quite bronzy because I am from the South East Asia.. I quickly assumed that I am on the warmer side.... However, I noticed that whenever I wear warm colors, my skin would "disappear"... I felt like my face is being drowned by the warm colors... So I tried cool undertones, it completely makes a difference. Dark Cool undertone colors goes well with my jetblack hair and my black eyes and it makes me look more defined.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about skin undertones Merriam... I am a huge fan.
I’m in the process of losing weight. I get compliments when I wear ankle length pants and capris. Also when I wear structured necklines (turtlenecks, collars, and such). I’m interested in a body geometry consult because with my weight loss journey, I want to know my lines as I shop for new clothes. Another goal is to simplify my wardrobe with items that work together. Love your channel!
Thank you for making your system so straightforward and easy to use! The most brilliant things are often the simplest. Things shouldn’t be over complicated to the point of being impractical. I don’t have years to figure these things out like some people apparently do!
Thank you for this! I’ve also encountered problems since there doesn’t seem to be a category for “natural gamine” or a shortish natural, which I think would be my type. There is flamboyant gamine, but in all examples I’ve seen it requires some A and my natural features look bad in all that contrast and geometry.
@@nm9688 possibly SN instead of N. I feel the same way as Jennifer..i have gaminey aspects but I am SN... and I can be expressive in a quirky way that still suits me...if I do not over do the look.
I keep watching all of Merriam's content because she is a genius, truly observant, analytical, just has a great Natural affinity...and it's through these videos that I typed myself and am finally perfectly at ease with my 'type' and body because my body does have oddities. The most intensely interesting thing is that awareness that comes of how other Lines feel and look, and recognising what and why your selections are 'working or not" and knowing how to fix it, or how to achieve different vibes that still look eight on you (for work for casual or going out etc). Just using yiur existing wardrobe, wearing clothes in a different way reinvigorated your selection. Op shopping /vintage is a good way to try different styles and to create a personalised look, can mix with high and low fashion. Anyhoo, keep watching, and keep trying different fabrics cuts and ways of wearing, until it clicks. It's worth the perseverance. :)
you grew out and over kibbe. good. thats needed! this is really better. very well done, Myriam!!!👍 Im happy to see that someone does it better than him. And maybe you don't remember it but I was really critical in the beginning and you convince me.
Thank you for doing what you do Merriam. Your clarity is an inspiration. You explained Artistic License as an elegant solution to personal color analysis. I think you've truly done it with Body Geometry as well. Brilliant!
Its easy to watch to the end. I am literally enthralled. And in my humble opinion, you are definitely on to something by simplifying the system generally, and then individualizing from that point. That makes perfect sense. 👍🏽
You are making this very logical and removing preconceived feelings/perceptions around terms. Bravo! PS much better production values to this vid-clear and we see you and your surroundings. Better than previous muted/blurry backgrounds. Thank you!
Also I understand my colouring a lot better now thanks to Merriam. I've bought dye and changed some of my clothes! Ie whites of t sbirts and shirts to soft creams, tans, peach, caramels and soft burgandies patterns with colour and white I dyed and made a lot softer. And i stopped buying the wrong colours. Bar one liquid satin emerald green skirt it was so beautiful and yet ... haven't worn it. Because of the colour! Will work out a way to make it wearable. Oh and less silver jewelry and wearing rose golds and gold instead. I'm shook.
I really liked the explanations in this, you speak it so well, I would like to know what you think on bodies with wider hips and a small waist, but a more natural one like Camila Cabello. And what her lines are.
I can see your passion and effort in every video you do - you really go in depth into body typing and colour systems like not many people do. Also I completely agree with all your suggestions for how the sytems could be improved. Thanks for sharing your unique ideas!
I wish you would include more about ingenue and ethereal in your videos. I know you focus on Kibbie, but I don’t really fit that system, and I rarely see anyone talking about Kitchener.
I have so many videos on ethereal! I don't really believe in ethereal as a body type, I believe in it as an essence. If you're ethereal, that doesn't mean that you don't also fit into body geometry. They are two complementary systems.
Hi Merriam, my limbs and hands and feet and nose are A, shoulders are B and vertical line (not sure of it), cheekbones and jawline are C. My flesh and facial features however are all C. I typed myself as a Dramatic Classic in the Kibbe system, especially since I fit the description given in Metamorphosis quite neatly (I know not everyone does). What would I be in Body Geometry? Looking forward to your next video!
Hmm as a soft sharp type I am a bit hesitant about dropping the soft from the name - for me, waist emphasis is CRUCIAL! It’s kind of why it took me a while to settle on soft sharp even though the lines look by far the best on me. But I do like the point you make about allowing for more personalization - for instance, I have some width to my face and somewhat in my shoulders but overall have long narrow bones, so it is nice to be able to accommodate the sharp, the soft, and the beveled in me - in that order.
oh yes, body geometry would also advise waist emphasis for you. If you have soft flesh, then you would be better off with waist emphasis in body geometry.
I think this cracked the code for me. I might be like Selena Gomez. Not someone I ever considered when starting my Kibbe journey, but the way you explained her was so me. Thank you!
Hi, Merriam! Another great video - I find your approach to everything you speak of very logical and very easy not only to understand, but also to apply. :-) I have a question concerning makeup: I know you always say that, for example, the blended type should have the same intensity of eyes and lips because their bone structure is balanced. I was wondering if the same thing would apply to a sharpened type with softness? Would we also be considered balanced because our bones are consistently long and sharp and our flesh is consistently soft, or is it the opposite for us because we have the softer flesh against the sharper bones?
Can you please make a video analysing the dresses at the oscars? I just watched a video on it and was so dissapointed, the dresses were all over the place. There was warm bright women wearing baby blue, warm muted women wearing black, etc
I’m excited about this. My vertical line is definitely mixed but my bone structure is beveled which I feel is a better description than flamboyant gamine. I love your methods and your willingness to change/define your own approach when you feel they don’t quite work. It’s awesome that, while you offer these services, you genuinely encourage each to find their own lines and colors by giving them the tools and terminology they need.
I love your videos and approach to Kibbe so much! I have heard you say things before such as "a theatrical romantic can wear soft gamine lines in order to look edgy." I was wondering if you could make a series on borrowing lines to achieve certain looks. Like maybe pick 4 general looks (i.e. boho, classic elegance, rocker, and girly cute) and do a video for each type achieving each look.
This video is the best!! Thank you!! This is what I've been trying to figure out. The connection between line recommendations and bone structure and flesh.
Your approach on color analysis and body structure are on point: simple and accurate, nice application of Occam's razor principle. Ofc, you are an INTJ. 💚✨
Hi Miriam, my name is Helen. I've been watching you for about 6 months now. Thank you doing a great job with teaching women about style and shape, etc... and I don't know if it's something you want to even dive into regarding women with silver hair. My hair is long and a neutral silver. My skin is mostly neutral coloring but slightly on the warm side. I'm not really delicate either but silver hair shouldn't mean delicate? I look better in darker colors or Rich muted mid-tone colors. I have the hardest time finding Foundation. I usually have to buy 2 and mix them. Sometimes I can wear some radiant colors but very seldom will you see me in a pale shade. I can do monotone outfits but like I said they're usually neutral to warm. I can wear a really warm shade if paired with a neutral or cool, but having my silver hair sometimes throws off my whole coloring and I feel pale. Do you have any thoughts or ideas on that? Would you be interested in doing a TH-cam on this situation for the other half that watches you.😉 Thank you💕
Selena Gomez is Genetic gold, naturally gorgeous face with a touch of glamour, the option to wear natural, organic, effortless looks while still having long, thinner bones. Like hoowwww. She’s just amazing ❤️🙌
For Taylor swift.. I still think she is a classic.. Maybe dramatic classic. As a classic she is not to far away of any of the other types.. So for her it's easier to disguise herself as one type that she likes by playing with her hair and make up. When she wants to go romantic or theatrical romantic.. She goes with their hair.. But not too small details because she is bigger.. So she will go a little bigger.. So that on comparison she looks still romantic. When she goes gamine.. Her hair and make up are gamine.. And she can better pull of the gamine stuff (but not to the fullest, because she as a DC cannot carry it all the way). Because for a mixed type.. I need for myself the ability to determine if a single attribute is yin or yang. Mbut for her I so cannot. Are her eyes small? No! Big? Not really. mouth full? No. Thin? No. nose wide, angular, rounded.. Not really.. It's all in between. For a mixed type, we can put a finger on it, what is yang and what is yin. for her I cannot. 😍 But for charlize theron.. I am glad you retype her. Makes perfrtt sense ❤️
I have features of soft classic, natural and gamine because I look good in the fibers of natural, lines/ shape of gamine but the fit of classic type. Now I won't try to type myself in any type because yes this is supposed to be my look.
I think there are hybrid kibbe types. I am primary a soft gamine but I still have features that makes me able to pull off some classic and romantic looks.
An important thing that many doesn’t seem to know: Kibbe himself doesn’t necessarily recommend his own system because he thinks it’s way too restricting. It was a tool for people to find out the lines that looked the best on them, but people instead sought after their type and not the clothes that people where comfortable wearing. Kibbe also removed famine, classic and natural from his system for this specific reason. It’s about your overall shape, and many got confused with that. Many “soft” categories can wear other “soft” categories’ clothing without any issue, but the Kibbe system tells you to dress after your specific “soft” category. I had some issues with the Kibbe system for this reason because I never felt that I could type myself accurately, but it was never necessary because the system was just a tool to find my best lines. I look best in “soft” lines wether it’s classic or gamine. Many people takes these things way too literally.
Hi Elektra, it is absolutely not true that David Kibbe doesn't recommend his own system. He does. He has made changes, as you correctly said, by removing N, C and G. He has also made changes to his recommendations due to technical advancements in the clothing and makeup industry since the 80s. The core of the IDs has not changed though. It was and is, as you also said, still about the shape of our body. He says that clothing doesn't have an ID, hence a lot of the same clothing can be worn by all IDs - it all depends on how it is styled within an overall look plus how it respects our shape. There is no "dressing in SC/SG lines", this is a reverse-approach. You are the ID, not the clothes that you wear. While I understand what you mean by "dressing in soft lines", it is impossible for an SC to dress in "SG lines", because, again, clothes don't have IDs.
Paulina Nowak I’ve seen many forums and he has said that he does not entirely recommend it due to the fact that people misinterpret his original idea with the system. I can agree that saying he doesn’t recommend is not entirely accurate, but he doesn’t exactly promote it the way he used to. That’s why he has updated his system, because the first version doesn’t apply anymore and many misinterpreted it. Many people who get into Kibbe use his original system from the 80s and does as you say. But the original system did talk about specific lines for the body types etc, but he has made changes. So in a way, he doesn’t exactly promote his original system, otherwise he wouldn’t have made changes to clarify certain things. Hope that makes sense.
@@elektrakomplexet I'm sorry I can only repeat what I said :) He does use his original system. What he doesn't recommend - and this I assume - is the way in which his system has been widely misinterpreted as you said. The core idea of his system is the same. As far as I know he is only directly involved in the Facebook Strictly Kibbe groups, which I am also a member of. Everyone is welcome to join to learn about his system!
Paulina Nowak If he changed his system then he cannot be using his original, because that means he would use the exact same system he did in the 80s. Since he changed it, he still uses the basis but it’s not quite the same. Just semantics really. I meant that he has changed the system and that many still goes after the original one he did in the 80s and doesn’t know about the changes he has made along the way.
@@elektrakomplexet His system didn't change. He made updates, which is not the same as making a new system. It's the same system but ready for today. You could still work with his 80s version and achieve the same results, but you don't have to, because today advancements in clothing and makeup allow for a less strict approach, that's all. I wish you a nice day and all the best for your style journey! :)
For me, it REALLY changed my life to let merriam type me. I could figure out others, but myself -that was really hard. I was stuck in old "truths" that confused me, like all my tall friends calling me tiny while all my shorter friends was saying girl you're so tall...and my mum saying all my life that I have a huge butt like her🙈😂 my mind was spinning: What is moderate, Big, shortish, small, wide? So after maaaany hours of studying both Alys and Merriams videos, I decided to let Merriam type me. Oh. My. Goodness. Everything is SOOOOO MUCH easier now, I can jump in to clothes that I KNOW fit me, that don't look separate/dissapear on me/overpower me...regarding style, it's BY FAR the best thing I ever did. Thank you merriam dear💖💖💖💖🤗🤗🤗🤗
I still get confused over the test and whether some of my answers are yang or yin (like my jawline, which is squarish but with a rounded edge, but still has structure) and I ended up with 6C 4A 5D and I’m like whaaat
@@jasmeen5712 no idea,in a way yes but then i feel like there's too many C's (and i can't figure out if I look good or boring in minimal detail - my mum says good but she could be influenced by her own perception of the style she likes for me(
So, in your system a mixed type could have that short angular torso and a longer leg with a lot of curve in the hips with flesh (so still SG) AND then use a short crop top and enjoy that long line (and dislike short skirts and dresses that lay wrong) and still be SG or mixed and not a beveled or rounded type? This is driving me crazy. I know I look fleshy round full hourglass, but I’m too wide to be TR and too angular to be R and I’m not really broad I’m only 4’11 unconstructed looks horrible on me but short skirts show my backside because of my bone structure. I must have knee length or longer and any bouffant makes me look huge. I’m adamant I fit the mixed type. I’m just lost in the small things that seem to be off for me.
I'm feeling dummie, didn't understand at all how to see these bone's structures in a person's body... Love your videos on olive skin and others, you are so great at explaining things and have a lovely voice. But this bone thing I don't get it ... Gonna have to rewatch these videos
I think the fact that DK typed Charlize Theron as TR then ‘reassigned’ her to FG tells us that his ‘system’ is not actually a system at all. It is his method of determining which head to toe costumes he thinks looks best on a body.
The SD will look longer, sharper... More "fierce" if you want to quote SD Tyra Banks. The DC will look more balanced and not as "intimidating", in lack of a better word.
Dramatic classic are very symetrical and average the will not look so imposing even if they are tall, just see Diane Kruger. Soft dramatics look very tall with a long figure, but have a fuller figure and facial features, like Tyra Banks.
SDs are more fleshy (their yin is in flesh) - so their curves are more prominent, whereas DC's yin manifests in their smallness, they look more delicate (proportional). They don't have as much flesh. They usually look thin even if they're not, and "taut". Hope this makes sense (I was mentally comparing myself and my friend 😁)
Hi Merriam! I am a soft natural and I have a very ingenue face, and I do love wearing unconstructed silhouettes. However that kind of look makes me look a little bit matured. Is there a way to accentuate my ingenue essence without leaving my native lines?
Selena Gomez is SN ingenue. you could think about including 'cute' elements like a voluminous tousled braid, or oversized unconstructed bows, or pink, into your look that's still in SN lines.
In my case, I'm almost a complete theatrical romantic, unless for the bust, feet and hands. They're all dramatic! Does that make me a mixed type, or I keep up with being mostly romantic?
in body geometry, it depends on the bone structure. if you take the bone structure test and you get all rounded (answer D/E) answers for your bones, then you will be in the rounded category even if all your flesh is 'dramatic'! you are only a mixed type if you have a mixture in your bone structure.
In the Kibbe body types I think I'm sift natural. But growing up I would have thought flamboyant gamine. In your system it would be beveled and mixed. Here's some of my confusion. I have a very large head like Jenna Coleman. When I'm thin I would think gamine. Many of them are super skinny. But now that I'm slightly overweight, the soft natural or beveled works better because I always want to hide my tummy. Also the makeup for both of these types are very similar so I feel like I'm a combination? I really wish there was a video that compared these two body types. Because with Kibbe gamines are short. I was 5'6½ and have shrunk an inch because I'm now 57. Also, Twiggy now has a similar body type as me as does Debbie Allen. But so does Brittany Spears. Ugh...
Can you guide me about what body type I have. I am very much confused and becoz I have some extreme Yin features and also some Yang features. My arms are long but legs are short. I have small face and probably a small head. I have heavy bones and have some muscles here and there and my shoulder is strong. I also have a short vertical line. Ok I know only you can accurately tell me and that would be a great help. I am 5'4 inch. I have an important event coming up and so i need your suggestion urgently...
i have appreciated all the work you've put into all this, the color stuff has been very helpful for me. just some feedback on my experience of the body geometry system - i'm very clearly a soft dramatic in kibbe (although it took me a while to figure it out). under body geometry i don't see how i can answer anything other than bevelled. wide, unconstructed looks are absolutely terrible on me, really bad. so, i'd have to stick with kibbe for body types i guess. or do i just say i'm bevelled but add the long and soft/round to it, and ignore what the standard bevelled type is supposed to be able to wear? if so, is there any point to typing myself as bevelled? confused..
There's some inconsistency here, if you're following Metamorphosis, SD has mostly A's with some D+E, with their yin undercurrent coming from the flesh. So this implies their bone structure is A's, not B's (making you a Sharpened type in Body Geometry).
@@merriamstyle thanks for replying :) i'm tall (5'10) but that's the only thing i can see that's 'sharpened' about me. maybe its just because i'm fat that i can't see any sharpness, my bones feel very 'thick'. anyway, i know that soft dramatic is the only type of clothing that suits me, so i guess it really doesn't matter what my body type is!
thank you! the kibbe system has always confused me since i dont feel like i fit in any of their 13 categories. however im still slightly unsure. my face bones are extremely rounded and my arms are short, however my hands and shoulders are pretty angular and sharp, so this would make me a mixed type leaning towards rounded, but i have some blended answers as well (legs and vertical line). should i ignore the blended answers and just go for mixed lines with some roundness? my flesh is somewhere between soft/rounded and blended, how much does that matter? overall it feels much simpler and clearer than the kibbe system, you always explain these things very well, i think i just have some problems understanding my body (especially because my weight is pretty unstable so i feel like my flesh keeps changing idk)
sounds probably like mixed (?). and with some softness and fittedness. maybe a bit of an 'understated mixed' look. somewhere in between blended and mixed.
yes. so in practice that would mean some an 'understated mixed' set of lines. so if you go for a contrasting neckline and color blocking, avoid also an animated print. or if you have an animated print, then avoid contrasting neckline and color blocking. this was just one example,s o don't take too literally. but basically including some elements of mixed but not all at the same time.
Yeah I'll try! Even after two years(maybe three? )on my kibbe studies and now body geometry I still don't know where I am. I even thought there was a missing piece in the kibbe system I try to figuring it by myself in complexes diagrams. I think body geometry have more potential to included more differents people. Keep going the good work!
I think you have made a great choice to just simplify the system again. I still get confused by it, though I know that I am a gamine but I'm really struggling to find out if I'm SG or Gamine. I guess I'm somewhere in between but I think I can't be objective about myself anymore because I have thought about it way too long and way too much. Now I'm trying to not think about it and just to think about myself as a gamine but it's really hard for me.
you could just call it a day and start experimenting with lines. and you could find that pure gamine lines make you look softer as a contrast, and SG lines make you look slightly more sharp as a contrast, and just go for whatever look gives you the effect you want.
I'm sorry, Taylor Swift looks like her legs are long? She's 5"10, of course they are long you silly people! I am 5"4 and my legs are over half of my height!
*demystifying merriam body typing* Kibbe has nothing to do with what you tell here. We've said it before: Or you drop your semi-plagiarized system and tires to properly learn what he means, someone who ahs 30+ years experience and actually knows what he's talking about, or you start yourself from scratch. You can't just wrongly understand someone else's work and make you own thing out of it, while still using some terms and concepts from the inspiration systme but applied totally wrong. That's like if someone stole Newton's work on gravity, called it, 'the newton theory', used the same stuff with an apple falling from a tree, but says the apple goes up from the tree. It's just flat out wrong and confuses people and brings wrong information in this world. People, THIS IS NOT KIBBE. If you want to learn what David Kibbe *actually* means, go to facebook, type strictly kibbe, and be OPEN and WILLING TO LEARN. This is just a semi-plagiarized, totally wrong system.
Gitte, thank you for leaving your comment. I've always enjoyed having you here both at the beginning and even now. I hope you will read my response to you with an open mind: I feel it's not fair to ask me to start from scratch, when David himself did not start from scratch. Remember, he used the five main types, keeping the same names (gamine, dramatic, etc), and the yin/yang balance idea that was initially introduced by Northrup and McJimsey. Not only that, but just like you said, he has 30+ years of experience. This means he was around 30 (around my age) when he wrote Metamorphosis, a book that I've read and interpreted in my own way, and I'm also around 30 years old. So right now of course he is my senior in the field, but he wasn't when he wrote his book (which is great obviously). Maybe in a few years, I will have a book on Body Geometry, when I'm in my early 30's. So you see, I'm following a similar timeline to David, using these tendencies that are *not only David's but also McJimsey's, Kitchener's, and Northrup's* to build my own ideas and system. At this point, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind, including yours, that the contribution I've made to body typing makes my system a new system and not simply 'semi-plagiarized' as you're claiming. Because if you want to claim my system is semi-plagiarized, you also have to say that David semi-plagiarized from McJimsey. And if anything, my system is more 'plagiarized' from McJimsey than it is from David (I only have five main types just like McJimsey). But of course David didn't plagiarize and neither did I.......we both built on what we read and learned from clients, in our own ideas, from our own experiences. Why is there this double standard? The whole idea that I misunderstood his system is something that, first, I disagree with (I could not know what he's doing now, but I read Metamorphosis which is directly written of course by David himself), but secondly, whether or not I understand it *exactly as David intended* isn't something I worry about too much. I love my approach and how I do it. If people want to think it's stupid, a misunderstanding, or whatever, it doesn't matter to me. But I will not be told that it's 'semi-plagiarized'. This is insulting to both my system, and to my character. David Kibbe described certain trends in his book which he wrote around the time he was my age, and I have my own ideas about the things he described there. He himself could very well see it differently. I still see it my way and this is what I'm sharing. Just as David added to McJimsey and Northrup, I've also added things that are unique to my system. David Kibbe certainly didn't have a body types spectrum, and he also didn't have any types in between natural and gamine, classic and gamine, and dramatic and gamine, and he did not elaborate on why certain line elements look harmonious with certain body type elements. This is how I'm building on it (and again people could think it's 'wrong' or 'stupid'....that's up to them). He could very well even disagree himself with all of these things that I've developed, that's alright with me. This is my contribution, along with other things as well. When anyone writes a book, they open it up for other people's critiques, interpretations, etc. They are sharing their ideas with the world. I fully expect that if anyone ever builds on artistic license or body geometry, that I may not agree with how they do it. It doesn't make them wrong. This is called freedom of thought. Something that I'm very passionate about. When I was first starting out, I would have loved to join SK, but as you know, I'm not allowed in the group. It's very unfortunate because from the few things I've read David say in recent times, he seems like a very open and kind person, someone who's very supportive. But in the end, being excluded from SK has made me work hard to understand things in my own way without anyone's help, and has given me space to really make something my own, and I'm grateful for that. Finally, you always have a place in my heart, but I'm disappointed in your comment and the direction you've decided to take. Ask yourself if there's a double standard in the way I'm being treated by a certain person vs how truth is beauty, or even David himself is being treated. Do I really 'not understand anything' or are you in between blended and mixed, still, just how I had told you a year ago? Is Noelia still "SD," or something else? Did I type you guys wrong, am I just so clueless? It seems that there's a certain person singlehandedly spinning toxicity against me--she isn't a bad person, she thinks she's doing right, but she's wrong about me and my system.
David used the same names as McJimsey....so he did and still does type people as 'gamine', 'dramatic', etc., which are technically McJimsey's unique names. And like I've said a million times, everyone knows I'm only interpreting the book. I truly do not see the problem.....everyone can tell I'm not David himself. Let's imagine if David did this: Imagine young David, having McJimsey's book, and reading from it, and telling his clients about it, and telling them he thinks they're this type (gamine, dramatic, etc) according to this book....why is that so bad? Everyone knows that David isn't McJimsey, and that I'm not David. And if I write body geometry, and someone interprets my book (not to mention 30 years after it's written!), and types people 'beveled', 'sharpened', etc, and calls them the Amani types, after my book, and says they aren't affiliated with me but just read my book, I literally see no problem with this at all! Even if I disagree with their interpretation. Do you see a problem? Why does it have to become such a problem with Kibbe all of a sudden? Again, I feel like there's a huge double standard, and things that are seen as totally ok with all other systems (I also tell people if they're ethereal/ingenue, and this is technically Kitchener's territory), it seems not ok only if I do it (truth is beauty also critiques David's work), or only if it applies to David (I use Kitchener's ideas and others'). And I think this is in large part because of a certain someone who is very vocal (and apparently very convincing) having this attitude that has divided our community for no reason. I'm curious what type you end up with in the end, and whatever it is, I hope you love it and it feels right for you. It's alright if you think I'm clueless about how David understands yin/yang balance. I've always understood it the way that makes sense for me. There is more than one way of thinking of it, and David's way doesn't have to be the only way. I really hope both you and Gitte can come to a more level-headed and less extreme approach to this topic.
Thanks for your support on my new system Noelia. It would have been ok if David did do it. That was my point, to show that if other people do it, it seems to be fine, but if I do it, then it seems like it's such a huge problem. If Frani did say she was offering 'Amani Typing' according to Body Geometry, for the record, I would be completely fine with it, and I would say everyone should be fine with it. Some people started using my names without asking me, while also planning to offer consults with the new names, this is totally fine with me, some people have emailed me asking if they can use artistic license, I told them of course. And any time anyone makes a payment for the hypothetical Frani's 'Amani Typing', it's up to them to understand what they're buying. On my website, I don't obscure anything (there's a disclaimer in plain text on the booking page, and at the end of the style report). We are all adults here. In any case, eventually, I'll phase out the 'Kibbe' Consult and just call it the 'body typing consult' or 'body geometry consult'. So hopefully we can put this behind us.
Thank you Noelia, I really appreciate it. But please, there are disclaimers already. Soon enough, probably within this year, I'll shift into offering body geometry consults anyway. I'm excited about further legitimizing my contribution to the body typing field! :)
@@merriamstyle i also wanted to clarify i do not want to completely bash you. It's just frustrating to see - whether you intend it or not - your youtube channel still confuses people about dk's work, who see it as 'easy kibbe' while it's very different. I also made the mistake myself and i want to warn people from falling into the same trap. Also, the semi in 'semiplagiarized' is a very important nuance.
I really liked the Kibbe type system, because it deconstructs that what makes you look good has nothing to do with fashion, or what the world is telling you what looks good, and should be the norm of beauty. It's about finding your own beauty in what you have.
What I dislike about it, is that people start to focus on finding their type, their 'box', so as to still let others tell what fits you. What I think in the end it's about, is understanding the 'material' you're dealing with, your shape, your colours, your form, your lines, your essence, and what it is in general that you love.
Therefor it's is so great to still explore the Kibbe types, but I think it's good to still create some distance to 'this is a box I need to fit'. For me, it helped me most of all with making myself comfortable in my own skin.
Another thing, I noticed some people are more interested in the type they are, then finding out what looks good on you, and why. When I did the test I got out as a Theatrical Romantic, but it just didn't really fit. When I started to just look at the clothes and such of the types, and what fits me, I finally figured out I was more of a Soft Natural. Not because of the test, but because I noticed the lines of the clothes for that type fit me to a tee, and made me feel the most comfortable and the most beautiful.
Exactly h9w I did it.
But studying the bones understanding my frame...but the clothes! How they fit what they REALLY look like...once the penny drops BAM. It's hard not to be able to tell now on others, what's right and wrong and what type they are. You can see the harmony and discord.
Bruh the Kibbe System worked amazing well for me like I am almost a pure Theatrical Romantic since I got 14 Ds and I have never felt more confident with my choice of clothing until now ......
I'm with you here completely. I feel this way about all different types of self identification. I think it is kind of missing the point, and potentially very harmful, to approach these things in terms of "which one am I", although there is an instinctive tendency to do that. It's much more useful to think about various traits separate from yourself, and then consider how you personally relate to them. It's a subtle difference, but I think it's very important.
I really appreciate your attempts to keep your systems open and usable for anyone who approaches them. This has not been the case for me personally with DK’s work.
I really like your new system. You basically interpret Kibbe method in a way that I always wished it to be simplified. You took all the aspects of this system that I loved (the concept of line of the body in relationship to the clothes) and removed all the rest, that I found confusing and not very logical. I especially love your approach to the mixed type, that probably solves 99% of the confusion about the gamines. I usually don't write fan girl comments on youtube, but I couldn't stop myself :)
aw thank you! happy to have you here.
Your take on the body types and colors makes sense and is liberating! I first learned about Kibbe from Aly Art -- who is also amazing and a joy to follow. But even with her helpful videos I struggled with the quiz. As I look back on my journey, I think my struggle came from: poor self image/esteem, societal stereotypes and my confusion over the role of bone structure and flesh in determining body type.
I joined your club last Fall, and watch a video where you said that there were really only 5 types and the bone structure determines type. Once you determine your type, then you fine tune using the flesh and face questions on the quiz. It clicked! I took the quiz again, keeping what you said in mind and also breaking up the questions into the three components as Cozy Rebekah suggested on her blog.
Now I am more certain I am flamboyant gamine, but I also understand why my unique FG does not have to be like any I see among famous FG's. And that is what you show in all your videos. Thank you Merriam! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💕💕💕
Yay!🧡😊
This was very similar to what I experienced. Im a FG too and thought I was a SG or even a N etc for a while because I had trouble "seeing" myself in an unbiased way. After I tried looking for my lines and none of the details I saw my sharp yang bones. I still see myself as wide in my head but when I see photos of myself or when Im with other people I wonder how I couldnt see I was a FG the whole time. (I also dont look much like FG celebrities I have almost no muscle on me haha)
I love Cozy Rebekah! She has such good reference photos on her test.
Elizabeth Powell It’s so cool to be in the FG family; we have the same vibe but in a jazzy way. Never the same thing twice! 😉💕
Ashley Fenters Yes! She posted in January after a long hiatus that she was still recovering from surgery. I hope her recovery goes smoothly. 🙏🏼🙂
Hey! I know this is old but I’m so excited to explore your system! Frankly I think Kibbie is delusional if he thinks every woman over 5.7 can only fit into two/three categories. I love your assessment of Taylor swift and I agree 100%! So so excited to learn more!
I really like this direction! The thing that bothered me most about the Kibbe system was that I seem to fall in between, as I would guess most people do. I had a pet project where I was highlighting all the bits from each type that I found to be beneficial in the lines I wear, and was then going to write up my own recommendations - time consuming. This is much simpler, and I love the freedom of it that you are suggesting. And it seems it'll be far easier to include an "essence" (such as ethereal) this way. We are building layers.
Really love this video!
I think something really important to remember when it comes to color analysis and body typing is that everyone can have their own exceptions.
For example, I have warm and delicate skin, and wearing warm and delicate colors looks great. But I also have a blue sweater that has the perfect shade of blue to make my eyes stand out. Just because that particular shade of blue looks great on me doesn't mean that I have a cool undertone, it just happens to be the right saturation, hue, and darkness to make my eyes stand out. :)
Sometimes I forget about those exceptions and get confused, but your videos always help remind me about the core of these topics.
I just appreciate how thoughtful, deliberate, and inclusive Merriam is.
I like seeing the background of your place
it looks like a green screen background to me!
lol it's not a green screen! :p
Its nice
I love this!
I've also been a member of the Strictly Kibbe Facebook groups for a few months, but I got kind of obsessed and really confused. I could stand and watch myself in the mirror and getting self-conscious, and doubting myself and my body, and my choice of clothing
(Yes, it's so crazy!) And I was doubting and getting confused about being a Flamboyant Gamine that you typed me as a year ago, wich I've been so happy about, and really enjoying.
So a few days ago I left all the SK groups, and it felt so good! And I've thrown all the doubts away and ordered myself a pair of chunky silver combat boots! 😁😁😁 That is my style, no matter what some people with a system says!
And when I saw the notification for this video, I hesitated to watch it because I was so sick of body types!
But I did watch it, because I love you, and I am happy I did! It was very timely. And LIBERATING!
I just want to add that this was MY PERSONAL experience with the Strictly Kibbe Facebook groups. I've heard people who have had an opposite experience, and there are a lot of helpful and dedicated people there.
It was just not for ME.
🧡💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻🧡
aww thank you so much for leaving your comment, and I'm so happy to hear that it seems like you've found your way in terms of style.
@@merriamstyle oh, now you're making me cry.... 😭😭😭💜💗💜
And yeah, sometimes it can be beneficial to go in the wrong direction to really feel it and then claim your own. Then you know it's YOUR OWN, and you get strong and proud and rooted in yourself. That might not have happened in such a profound way if you hadn't taken the wrong path. And that counts for so many areas of life.
This little conversation made it even clearer to me. Thank you again! 💃🏻💥💥🧡🧡
Girl, wearing whatever you want is the FREAKING POINT of the SK groups. It just depends on how you combine it and whether it physically fits you. That's it. Easy peasy.
Flam Gam Fam :-)
This is where I'm at as well. I'm maybe 75% sure, I'm a "Soft Dramatic", but I wanna be cute, so... I'll be cute.
I have a golden hue to my skin, it is quite bronzy because I am from the South East Asia.. I quickly assumed that I am on the warmer side.... However, I noticed that whenever I wear warm colors, my skin would "disappear"... I felt like my face is being drowned by the warm colors... So I tried cool undertones, it completely makes a difference. Dark Cool undertone colors goes well with my jetblack hair and my black eyes and it makes me look more defined.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about skin undertones Merriam... I am a huge fan.
Could it be that you olive?
I’m in the process of losing weight. I get compliments when I wear ankle length pants and capris. Also when I wear structured necklines (turtlenecks, collars, and such). I’m interested in a body geometry consult because with my weight loss journey, I want to know my lines as I shop for new clothes. Another goal is to simplify my wardrobe with items that work together. Love your channel!
Gamine?
Make a video of the ethereal essence talking about celebrities that looks like fairys/nymphs.
I’ve already watched it but I’m playing it again because I feel restless and overwhelmed with things to do but your soothing voice helps me to relax.
Thank you for making your system so straightforward and easy to use! The most brilliant things are often the simplest. Things shouldn’t be over complicated to the point of being impractical. I don’t have years to figure these things out like some people apparently do!
Thank you for this! I’ve also encountered problems since there doesn’t seem to be a category for “natural gamine” or a shortish natural, which I think would be my type. There is flamboyant gamine, but in all examples I’ve seen it requires some A and my natural features look bad in all that contrast and geometry.
A short-ish natural would be a natural imo. What do you think?
@@nm9688 possibly SN instead of N. I feel the same way as Jennifer..i have gaminey aspects but I am SN... and I can be expressive in a quirky way that still suits me...if I do not over do the look.
I keep watching all of Merriam's content because she is a genius, truly observant, analytical, just has a great Natural affinity...and it's through these videos that I typed myself and am finally perfectly at ease with my 'type' and body because my body does have oddities.
The most intensely interesting thing is that awareness that comes of how other Lines feel and look, and recognising what and why your selections are 'working or not" and knowing how to fix it, or how to achieve different vibes that still look eight on you (for work for casual or going out etc).
Just using yiur existing wardrobe, wearing clothes in a different way reinvigorated your selection.
Op shopping /vintage is a good way to try different styles and to create a personalised look, can mix with high and low fashion.
Anyhoo, keep watching, and keep trying different fabrics cuts and ways of wearing, until it clicks. It's worth the perseverance. :)
you grew out and over kibbe. good. thats needed!
this is really better.
very well done, Myriam!!!👍
Im happy to see that someone does it better than him.
And maybe you don't remember it but I was really critical in the beginning
and you convince me.
also sorry for the misspelling, Merriam!!!!
thank you for your support Chris!
Thank you for doing what you do Merriam. Your clarity is an inspiration. You explained Artistic License as an elegant solution to personal color analysis. I think you've truly done it with Body Geometry as well. Brilliant!
I have been done by David kibbe in 1988 I'm a soft classic
that's so cool! thank you for sharing.
Its easy to watch to the end. I am literally enthralled. And in my humble opinion, you are definitely on to something by simplifying the system generally, and then individualizing from that point. That makes perfect sense. 👍🏽
Love, love, love it! You so absolutely have it figured out! So refreshing.
I think your hair gives you a softer look. I like it!
This approach makes so much sense. Simply, accessible and smart!
You are making this very logical and removing preconceived feelings/perceptions around terms. Bravo! PS much better production values to this vid-clear and we see you and your surroundings. Better than previous muted/blurry backgrounds. Thank you!
Also I understand my colouring a lot better now thanks to Merriam.
I've bought dye and changed some of my clothes! Ie whites of t sbirts and shirts to soft creams, tans, peach, caramels and soft burgandies patterns with colour and white I dyed and made a lot softer. And i stopped buying the wrong colours. Bar one liquid satin emerald green skirt it was so beautiful and yet ... haven't worn it. Because of the colour! Will work out a way to make it wearable.
Oh and less silver jewelry and wearing rose golds and gold instead. I'm shook.
I really liked the explanations in this, you speak it so well, I would like to know what you think on bodies with wider hips and a small waist, but a more natural one like Camila Cabello. And what her lines are.
What a nice harmonious room🤓🤓♥️ Missed your videos so much!! Video on lip colors for soft/warm delicate coming ?
Please do modest suggestion for body geometry
I can see your passion and effort in every video you do - you really go in depth into body typing and colour systems like not many people do. Also I completely agree with all your suggestions for how the sytems could be improved. Thanks for sharing your unique ideas!
I wish you would include more about ingenue and ethereal in your videos. I know you focus on Kibbie, but I don’t really fit that system, and I rarely see anyone talking about Kitchener.
I have so many videos on ethereal! I don't really believe in ethereal as a body type, I believe in it as an essence. If you're ethereal, that doesn't mean that you don't also fit into body geometry. They are two complementary systems.
Hi Merriam, my limbs and hands and feet and nose are A, shoulders are B and vertical line (not sure of it), cheekbones and jawline are C. My flesh and facial features however are all C. I typed myself as a Dramatic Classic in the Kibbe system, especially since I fit the description given in Metamorphosis quite neatly (I know not everyone does). What would I be in Body Geometry?
Looking forward to your next video!
Hmm as a soft sharp type I am a bit hesitant about dropping the soft from the name - for me, waist emphasis is CRUCIAL! It’s kind of why it took me a while to settle on soft sharp even though the lines look by far the best on me. But I do like the point you make about allowing for more personalization - for instance, I have some width to my face and somewhat in my shoulders but overall have long narrow bones, so it is nice to be able to accommodate the sharp, the soft, and the beveled in me - in that order.
oh yes, body geometry would also advise waist emphasis for you. If you have soft flesh, then you would be better off with waist emphasis in body geometry.
I think this cracked the code for me. I might be like Selena Gomez. Not someone I ever considered when starting my Kibbe journey, but the way you explained her was so me. Thank you!
Hi, Merriam! Another great video - I find your approach to everything you speak of very logical and very easy not only to understand, but also to apply. :-) I have a question concerning makeup: I know you always say that, for example, the blended type should have the same intensity of eyes and lips because their bone structure is balanced. I was wondering if the same thing would apply to a sharpened type with softness? Would we also be considered balanced because our bones are consistently long and sharp and our flesh is consistently soft, or is it the opposite for us because we have the softer flesh against the sharper bones?
Can you please make a video analysing the dresses at the oscars? I just watched a video on it and was so dissapointed, the dresses were all over the place. There was warm bright women wearing baby blue, warm muted women wearing black, etc
I’m excited about this. My vertical line is definitely mixed but my bone structure is beveled which I feel is a better description than flamboyant gamine. I love your methods and your willingness to change/define your own approach when you feel they don’t quite work. It’s awesome that, while you offer these services, you genuinely encourage each to find their own lines and colors by giving them the tools and terminology they need.
Amazing content, as always! Please make a video for mixed type (i.e. pure gamine) like the ones you made for soft natural and soft gamine. :)
I love your videos and approach to Kibbe so much! I have heard you say things before such as "a theatrical romantic can wear soft gamine lines in order to look edgy." I was wondering if you could make a series on borrowing lines to achieve certain looks. Like maybe pick 4 general looks (i.e. boho, classic elegance, rocker, and girly cute) and do a video for each type achieving each look.
Hey guys, how would you interpret this bone structure:-
Vertical Line: A/B
Shoulders: B
Limbs: A
Hands & Feet: A
Jaw: C
Nose: B
Cheekbones: D
Hmmm, for sure you're dramatic or natural Family - maybe Flamboyant Natural?
Nikoletta Sędziak thanks. I’m a soft type for sure, as everything else is yin, so I’m leaning to Soft Dramatic.
yes try either beveled or sharpened with a bit of softness. To determine beveled vs sharpened, try tousled hair vs sophia loren type hair.
Merriam Style thank you, great tip!
Our answers are super similar, lol. Did you wind up landing on a type?
What if someone is in between rounded and blended? 😑 I'm odd. I think I have a rounded face and blended body.
Then u probably may be soft classic
yes most likely SC lines would be best for you. they're only a blending of 'classic' and 'romantic' lines. Kind of like an 'understated romantic'.
This video is the best!! Thank you!! This is what I've been trying to figure out. The connection between line recommendations and bone structure and flesh.
beautiful and smart you are! thank you for your free advice that has helped many women :)
Your approach on color analysis and body structure are on point: simple and accurate, nice application of Occam's razor principle. Ofc, you are an INTJ. 💚✨
Hi Miriam, my name is Helen. I've been watching you for about 6 months now. Thank you doing a great job with teaching women about style and shape, etc... and I don't know if it's something you want to even dive into regarding women with silver hair. My hair is long and a neutral silver. My skin is mostly neutral coloring but slightly on the warm side. I'm not really delicate either but silver hair shouldn't mean delicate? I look better in darker colors or Rich muted mid-tone colors. I have the hardest time finding Foundation. I usually have to buy 2 and mix them. Sometimes I can wear some radiant colors but very seldom will you see me in a pale shade. I can do monotone outfits but like I said they're usually neutral to warm. I can wear a really warm shade if paired with a neutral or cool, but having my silver hair sometimes throws off my whole coloring and I feel pale. Do you have any thoughts or ideas on that? Would you be interested in doing a TH-cam on this situation for the other half that watches you.😉 Thank you💕
I'd love to know more about how facial features play into this as well as how to find your best prints.
Selena Gomez is Genetic gold, naturally gorgeous face with a touch of glamour, the option to wear natural, organic, effortless looks while still having long, thinner bones. Like hoowwww. She’s just amazing ❤️🙌
For Taylor swift.. I still think she is a classic.. Maybe dramatic classic.
As a classic she is not to far away of any of the other types.. So for her it's easier to disguise herself as one type that she likes by playing with her hair and make up.
When she wants to go romantic or theatrical romantic.. She goes with their hair.. But not too small details because she is bigger.. So she will go a little bigger.. So that on comparison she looks still romantic.
When she goes gamine.. Her hair and make up are gamine.. And she can better pull of the gamine stuff (but not to the fullest, because she as a DC cannot carry it all the way).
Because for a mixed type.. I need for myself the ability to determine if a single attribute is yin or yang. Mbut for her I so cannot.
Are her eyes small? No! Big? Not really.
mouth full? No. Thin? No.
nose wide, angular, rounded.. Not really.. It's all in between.
For a mixed type, we can put a finger on it, what is yang and what is yin.
for her I cannot. 😍
But for charlize theron.. I am glad you retype her. Makes perfrtt sense ❤️
Her eyes are small, lips are full, nose is maybe rounded
I have features of soft classic, natural and gamine because I look good in the fibers of natural, lines/ shape of gamine but the fit of classic type. Now I won't try to type myself in any type because yes this is supposed to be my look.
I think there are hybrid kibbe types. I am primary a soft gamine but I still have features that makes me able to pull off some classic and romantic looks.
An important thing that many doesn’t seem to know: Kibbe himself doesn’t necessarily recommend his own system because he thinks it’s way too restricting. It was a tool for people to find out the lines that looked the best on them, but people instead sought after their type and not the clothes that people where comfortable wearing. Kibbe also removed famine, classic and natural from his system for this specific reason. It’s about your overall shape, and many got confused with that. Many “soft” categories can wear other “soft” categories’ clothing without any issue, but the Kibbe system tells you to dress after your specific “soft” category. I had some issues with the Kibbe system for this reason because I never felt that I could type myself accurately, but it was never necessary because the system was just a tool to find my best lines. I look best in “soft” lines wether it’s classic or gamine. Many people takes these things way too literally.
Hi Elektra, it is absolutely not true that David Kibbe doesn't recommend his own system. He does. He has made changes, as you correctly said, by removing N, C and G. He has also made changes to his recommendations due to technical advancements in the clothing and makeup industry since the 80s. The core of the IDs has not changed though. It was and is, as you also said, still about the shape of our body. He says that clothing doesn't have an ID, hence a lot of the same clothing can be worn by all IDs - it all depends on how it is styled within an overall look plus how it respects our shape. There is no "dressing in SC/SG lines", this is a reverse-approach. You are the ID, not the clothes that you wear. While I understand what you mean by "dressing in soft lines", it is impossible for an SC to dress in "SG lines", because, again, clothes don't have IDs.
Paulina Nowak I’ve seen many forums and he has said that he does not entirely recommend it due to the fact that people misinterpret his original idea with the system. I can agree that saying he doesn’t recommend is not entirely accurate, but he doesn’t exactly promote it the way he used to. That’s why he has updated his system, because the first version doesn’t apply anymore and many misinterpreted it. Many people who get into Kibbe use his original system from the 80s and does as you say. But the original system did talk about specific lines for the body types etc, but he has made changes. So in a way, he doesn’t exactly promote his original system, otherwise he wouldn’t have made changes to clarify certain things. Hope that makes sense.
@@elektrakomplexet I'm sorry I can only repeat what I said :) He does use his original system. What he doesn't recommend - and this I assume - is the way in which his system has been widely misinterpreted as you said. The core idea of his system is the same. As far as I know he is only directly involved in the Facebook Strictly Kibbe groups, which I am also a member of. Everyone is welcome to join to learn about his system!
Paulina Nowak If he changed his system then he cannot be using his original, because that means he would use the exact same system he did in the 80s. Since he changed it, he still uses the basis but it’s not quite the same. Just semantics really. I meant that he has changed the system and that many still goes after the original one he did in the 80s and doesn’t know about the changes he has made along the way.
@@elektrakomplexet His system didn't change. He made updates, which is not the same as making a new system. It's the same system but ready for today. You could still work with his 80s version and achieve the same results, but you don't have to, because today advancements in clothing and makeup allow for a less strict approach, that's all. I wish you a nice day and all the best for your style journey! :)
Love the soft mulberry color palette of the room.
For me, it REALLY changed my life to let merriam type me. I could figure out others, but myself -that was really hard. I was stuck in old "truths" that confused me, like all my tall friends calling me tiny while all my shorter friends was saying girl you're so tall...and my mum saying all my life that I have a huge butt like her🙈😂 my mind was spinning: What is moderate, Big, shortish, small, wide? So after maaaany hours of studying both Alys and Merriams videos, I decided to let Merriam type me. Oh. My. Goodness. Everything is SOOOOO MUCH easier now, I can jump in to clothes that I KNOW fit me, that don't look separate/dissapear on me/overpower me...regarding style, it's BY FAR the best thing I ever did. Thank you merriam dear💖💖💖💖🤗🤗🤗🤗
oh my gosh thank you Kotte for such a kind comment, hope you're doing well you are so sweet.
What did you end up being?
I still get confused over the test and whether some of my answers are yang or yin (like my jawline, which is squarish but with a rounded edge, but still has structure) and I ended up with 6C 4A 5D and I’m like whaaat
Sounds like you're my twin!
Mixed?
@@jasmeen5712 no idea,in a way yes but then i feel like there's too many C's (and i can't figure out if I look good or boring in minimal detail - my mum says good but she could be influenced by her own perception of the style she likes for me(
Aly Art vids are good but I think you break down Kibbe Image Identities the best.
Marilyn is a DYT type 1 and Audrey is a 4/1.
My sister saw Charlize Theron at an airport once. I believe her description was regal. But I guess that's more of an essence than a body type. LOL.
So, in your system a mixed type could have that short angular torso and a longer leg with a lot of curve in the hips with flesh (so still SG) AND then use a short crop top and enjoy that long line (and dislike short skirts and dresses that lay wrong) and still be SG or mixed and not a beveled or rounded type?
This is driving me crazy. I know I look fleshy round full hourglass, but I’m too wide to be TR and too angular to be R and I’m not really broad I’m only 4’11 unconstructed looks horrible on me but short skirts show my backside because of my bone structure. I must have knee length or longer and any bouffant makes me look huge. I’m adamant I fit the mixed type. I’m just lost in the small things that seem to be off for me.
no name - I like your way with that, too!!!
makes lots of sense
Body geometry consulting sounds interesting :)
Oh God, I love this ❤️👍
I would appreciate a video dealing specifically with the E body type.
I'm feeling dummie, didn't understand at all how to see these bone's structures in a person's body... Love your videos on olive skin and others, you are so great at explaining things and have a lovely voice. But this bone thing I don't get it ... Gonna have to rewatch these videos
I think the fact that DK typed Charlize Theron as TR then ‘reassigned’ her to FG tells us that his ‘system’ is not actually a system at all. It is his method of determining which head to toe costumes he thinks looks best on a body.
How can i differenciate soft dramatic and dramatic classic? Could you do a Video about this?
The SD will look longer, sharper... More "fierce" if you want to quote SD Tyra Banks. The DC will look more balanced and not as "intimidating", in lack of a better word.
Dramatic classic are very symetrical and average the will not look so imposing even if they are tall, just see Diane Kruger. Soft dramatics look very tall with a long figure, but have a fuller figure and facial features, like Tyra Banks.
SDs are more fleshy (their yin is in flesh) - so their curves are more prominent, whereas DC's yin manifests in their smallness, they look more delicate (proportional). They don't have as much flesh. They usually look thin even if they're not, and "taut". Hope this makes sense (I was mentally comparing myself and my friend 😁)
Video on Myers personality type & perfume based on the body types please
Hi Merriam! I am a soft natural and I have a very ingenue face, and I do love wearing unconstructed silhouettes. However that kind of look makes me look a little bit matured. Is there a way to accentuate my ingenue essence without leaving my native lines?
Selena Gomez is SN ingenue. you could think about including 'cute' elements like a voluminous tousled braid, or oversized unconstructed bows, or pink, into your look that's still in SN lines.
In my case, I'm almost a complete theatrical romantic, unless for the bust, feet and hands. They're all dramatic! Does that make me a mixed type, or I keep up with being mostly romantic?
in body geometry, it depends on the bone structure. if you take the bone structure test and you get all rounded (answer D/E) answers for your bones, then you will be in the rounded category even if all your flesh is 'dramatic'! you are only a mixed type if you have a mixture in your bone structure.
In the Kibbe body types I think I'm sift natural. But growing up I would have thought flamboyant gamine. In your system it would be beveled and mixed. Here's some of my confusion. I have a very large head like Jenna Coleman. When I'm thin I would think gamine. Many of them are super skinny. But now that I'm slightly overweight, the soft natural or beveled works better because I always want to hide my tummy. Also the makeup for both of these types are very similar so I feel like I'm a combination? I really wish there was a video that compared these two body types. Because with Kibbe gamines are short. I was 5'6½ and have shrunk an inch because I'm now 57. Also, Twiggy now has a similar body type as me as does Debbie Allen. But so does Brittany Spears. Ugh...
Can you guide me about what body type I have. I am very much confused and becoz I have some extreme Yin features and also some Yang features. My arms are long but legs are short. I have small face and probably a small head. I have heavy bones and have some muscles here and there and my shoulder is strong. I also have a short vertical line. Ok I know only you can accurately tell me and that would be a great help. I am 5'4 inch. I have an important event coming up and so i need your suggestion urgently...
It's difficult to say without pictures
soft natural?
@kshiftkometh Soft gamines don't have heavy bones or muscle. They are the smallest, lightest type of all and usually 5'3" and under.
i have appreciated all the work you've put into all this, the color stuff has been very helpful for me. just some feedback on my experience of the body geometry system - i'm very clearly a soft dramatic in kibbe (although it took me a while to figure it out). under body geometry i don't see how i can answer anything other than bevelled. wide, unconstructed looks are absolutely terrible on me, really bad. so, i'd have to stick with kibbe for body types i guess. or do i just say i'm bevelled but add the long and soft/round to it, and ignore what the standard bevelled type is supposed to be able to wear? if so, is there any point to typing myself as bevelled? confused..
There's some inconsistency here, if you're following Metamorphosis, SD has mostly A's with some D+E, with their yin undercurrent coming from the flesh. So this implies their bone structure is A's, not B's (making you a Sharpened type in Body Geometry).
@@merriamstyle thanks for replying :) i'm tall (5'10) but that's the only thing i can see that's 'sharpened' about me. maybe its just because i'm fat that i can't see any sharpness, my bones feel very 'thick'. anyway, i know that soft dramatic is the only type of clothing that suits me, so i guess it really doesn't matter what my body type is!
thank you! the kibbe system has always confused me since i dont feel like i fit in any of their 13 categories. however im still slightly unsure. my face bones are extremely rounded and my arms are short, however my hands and shoulders are pretty angular and sharp, so this would make me a mixed type leaning towards rounded, but i have some blended answers as well (legs and vertical line). should i ignore the blended answers and just go for mixed lines with some roundness? my flesh is somewhere between soft/rounded and blended, how much does that matter? overall it feels much simpler and clearer than the kibbe system, you always explain these things very well, i think i just have some problems understanding my body (especially because my weight is pretty unstable so i feel like my flesh keeps changing idk)
sounds probably like mixed (?). and with some softness and fittedness. maybe a bit of an 'understated mixed' look. somewhere in between blended and mixed.
Merriam Style thank you
What body type would shakira be? A classic?
I feel like i have beveled type that has less widht and a bit of softness. I hope im not making things complicated for myself😁
Love this!!
So.... Can we be blended AND Mixed?
yes. so in practice that would mean some an 'understated mixed' set of lines. so if you go for a contrasting neckline and color blocking, avoid also an animated print. or if you have an animated print, then avoid contrasting neckline and color blocking. this was just one example,s o don't take too literally. but basically including some elements of mixed but not all at the same time.
Yeah I'll try! Even after two years(maybe three? )on my kibbe studies and now body geometry I still don't know where I am. I even thought there was a missing piece in the kibbe system I try to figuring it by myself in complexes diagrams. I think body geometry have more potential to included more differents people. Keep going the good work!
I think if ingenue was a category, she would be in it.
I mean Taylor Swift, sorry
I think you have made a great choice to just simplify the system again.
I still get confused by it, though I know that I am a gamine but I'm really struggling to find out if I'm SG or Gamine. I guess I'm somewhere in between but I think I can't be objective about myself anymore because I have thought about it way too long and way too much. Now I'm trying to not think about it and just to think about myself as a gamine but it's really hard for me.
you could just call it a day and start experimenting with lines. and you could find that pure gamine lines make you look softer as a contrast, and SG lines make you look slightly more sharp as a contrast, and just go for whatever look gives you the effect you want.
@@merriamstyle You're probably right I should just have fun with it. Thank you very much that's just what I needed.
I'm sorry, Taylor Swift looks like her legs are long? She's 5"10, of course they are long you silly people! I am 5"4 and my legs are over half of my height!
It's a question of proportions. You can be small but have legs longer than your torso.
Love your videos!!🥺🥰😍
you are so pretty
awww thank you!! :)
I'm still going to keep nagging you, but please please add the PayPal.
*demystifying merriam body typing*
Kibbe has nothing to do with what you tell here. We've said it before: Or you drop your semi-plagiarized system and tires to properly learn what he means, someone who ahs 30+ years experience and actually knows what he's talking about, or you start yourself from scratch. You can't just wrongly understand someone else's work and make you own thing out of it, while still using some terms and concepts from the inspiration systme but applied totally wrong. That's like if someone stole Newton's work on gravity, called it, 'the newton theory', used the same stuff with an apple falling from a tree, but says the apple goes up from the tree. It's just flat out wrong and confuses people and brings wrong information in this world. People, THIS IS NOT KIBBE. If you want to learn what David Kibbe *actually* means, go to facebook, type strictly kibbe, and be OPEN and WILLING TO LEARN. This is just a semi-plagiarized, totally wrong system.
Gitte, thank you for leaving your comment. I've always enjoyed having you here both at the beginning and even now. I hope you will read my response to you with an open mind:
I feel it's not fair to ask me to start from scratch, when David himself did not start from scratch. Remember, he used the five main types, keeping the same names (gamine, dramatic, etc), and the yin/yang balance idea that was initially introduced by Northrup and McJimsey. Not only that, but just like you said, he has 30+ years of experience. This means he was around 30 (around my age) when he wrote Metamorphosis, a book that I've read and interpreted in my own way, and I'm also around 30 years old. So right now of course he is my senior in the field, but he wasn't when he wrote his book (which is great obviously).
Maybe in a few years, I will have a book on Body Geometry, when I'm in my early 30's. So you see, I'm following a similar timeline to David, using these tendencies that are *not only David's but also McJimsey's, Kitchener's, and Northrup's* to build my own ideas and system.
At this point, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind, including yours, that the contribution I've made to body typing makes my system a new system and not simply 'semi-plagiarized' as you're claiming.
Because if you want to claim my system is semi-plagiarized, you also have to say that David semi-plagiarized from McJimsey. And if anything, my system is more 'plagiarized' from McJimsey than it is from David (I only have five main types just like McJimsey). But of course David didn't plagiarize and neither did I.......we both built on what we read and learned from clients, in our own ideas, from our own experiences. Why is there this double standard?
The whole idea that I misunderstood his system is something that, first, I disagree with (I could not know what he's doing now, but I read Metamorphosis which is directly written of course by David himself), but secondly, whether or not I understand it *exactly as David intended* isn't something I worry about too much. I love my approach and how I do it. If people want to think it's stupid, a misunderstanding, or whatever, it doesn't matter to me. But I will not be told that it's 'semi-plagiarized'. This is insulting to both my system, and to my character.
David Kibbe described certain trends in his book which he wrote around the time he was my age, and I have my own ideas about the things he described there. He himself could very well see it differently. I still see it my way and this is what I'm sharing.
Just as David added to McJimsey and Northrup, I've also added things that are unique to my system. David Kibbe certainly didn't have a body types spectrum, and he also didn't have any types in between natural and gamine, classic and gamine, and dramatic and gamine, and he did not elaborate on why certain line elements look harmonious with certain body type elements. This is how I'm building on it (and again people could think it's 'wrong' or 'stupid'....that's up to them). He could very well even disagree himself with all of these things that I've developed, that's alright with me. This is my contribution, along with other things as well.
When anyone writes a book, they open it up for other people's critiques, interpretations, etc. They are sharing their ideas with the world. I fully expect that if anyone ever builds on artistic license or body geometry, that I may not agree with how they do it. It doesn't make them wrong. This is called freedom of thought. Something that I'm very passionate about.
When I was first starting out, I would have loved to join SK, but as you know, I'm not allowed in the group. It's very unfortunate because from the few things I've read David say in recent times, he seems like a very open and kind person, someone who's very supportive.
But in the end, being excluded from SK has made me work hard to understand things in my own way without anyone's help, and has given me space to really make something my own, and I'm grateful for that.
Finally, you always have a place in my heart, but I'm disappointed in your comment and the direction you've decided to take. Ask yourself if there's a double standard in the way I'm being treated by a certain person vs how truth is beauty, or even David himself is being treated. Do I really 'not understand anything' or are you in between blended and mixed, still, just how I had told you a year ago? Is Noelia still "SD," or something else? Did I type you guys wrong, am I just so clueless? It seems that there's a certain person singlehandedly spinning toxicity against me--she isn't a bad person, she thinks she's doing right, but she's wrong about me and my system.
David used the same names as McJimsey....so he did and still does type people as 'gamine', 'dramatic', etc., which are technically McJimsey's unique names. And like I've said a million times, everyone knows I'm only interpreting the book. I truly do not see the problem.....everyone can tell I'm not David himself.
Let's imagine if David did this: Imagine young David, having McJimsey's book, and reading from it, and telling his clients about it, and telling them he thinks they're this type (gamine, dramatic, etc) according to this book....why is that so bad? Everyone knows that David isn't McJimsey, and that I'm not David.
And if I write body geometry, and someone interprets my book (not to mention 30 years after it's written!), and types people 'beveled', 'sharpened', etc, and calls them the Amani types, after my book, and says they aren't affiliated with me but just read my book, I literally see no problem with this at all! Even if I disagree with their interpretation. Do you see a problem? Why does it have to become such a problem with Kibbe all of a sudden?
Again, I feel like there's a huge double standard, and things that are seen as totally ok with all other systems (I also tell people if they're ethereal/ingenue, and this is technically Kitchener's territory), it seems not ok only if I do it (truth is beauty also critiques David's work), or only if it applies to David (I use Kitchener's ideas and others'). And I think this is in large part because of a certain someone who is very vocal (and apparently very convincing) having this attitude that has divided our community for no reason.
I'm curious what type you end up with in the end, and whatever it is, I hope you love it and it feels right for you. It's alright if you think I'm clueless about how David understands yin/yang balance. I've always understood it the way that makes sense for me. There is more than one way of thinking of it, and David's way doesn't have to be the only way.
I really hope both you and Gitte can come to a more level-headed and less extreme approach to this topic.
Thanks for your support on my new system Noelia. It would have been ok if David did do it. That was my point, to show that if other people do it, it seems to be fine, but if I do it, then it seems like it's such a huge problem.
If Frani did say she was offering 'Amani Typing' according to Body Geometry, for the record, I would be completely fine with it, and I would say everyone should be fine with it. Some people started using my names without asking me, while also planning to offer consults with the new names, this is totally fine with me, some people have emailed me asking if they can use artistic license, I told them of course.
And any time anyone makes a payment for the hypothetical Frani's 'Amani Typing', it's up to them to understand what they're buying. On my website, I don't obscure anything (there's a disclaimer in plain text on the booking page, and at the end of the style report). We are all adults here.
In any case, eventually, I'll phase out the 'Kibbe' Consult and just call it the 'body typing consult' or 'body geometry consult'. So hopefully we can put this behind us.
Thank you Noelia, I really appreciate it. But please, there are disclaimers already.
Soon enough, probably within this year, I'll shift into offering body geometry consults anyway. I'm excited about further legitimizing my contribution to the body typing field! :)
@@merriamstyle i also wanted to clarify i do not want to completely bash you. It's just frustrating to see - whether you intend it or not - your youtube channel still confuses people about dk's work, who see it as 'easy kibbe' while it's very different. I also made the mistake myself and i want to warn people from falling into the same trap. Also, the semi in 'semiplagiarized' is a very important nuance.