Discovering My Kibbe Type Improved My Body-Image

No human being looks like a piece of fruit. Let’s explore a healthier relationship with fashion.

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Apples and pears themselves are delicious. Labelling yourself as one of them based on your measurements is not so sweet, however. When it comes to buying fashion that flatters your body and makes you feel good, apples, pears, and egg timers don’t cut the mustard.

I’m done with using clothes to hide imperfections (that don’t exist) to align myself with a label that doesn’t fit.

I admire the stance that you should wear whatever you want regardless of your shape. This is true. However, since bodies are diverse, one item of clothing will look different on each shape and size. How flattering something is on your body can only be determined by how you feel in it. We all have styles, cuts, and silhouettes that make us look and feel amazing. We all also have styles we avoid (low-rise jeans).

Body typing should not be restrictive or prevent you from wearing what you love. Nonetheless, having a guideline on what suits you and what doesn’t can make life easier.

This is a cautionary tale on how not all typing systems are created equally.

Apple/Pear/Hourglass/Ruler Model in a Nutshell

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• Hourglass: “This shape is reserved for the few goddesses among us who have been cloned from Marilyn Monroe. To qualify, you must have a tiny wasp-waist, a huge rack, a Kim Kardashian ass, and an equal hip and bust measurement. Since the goal of the other three types is to look like you, our advice for you is a little different. Don’t wear anything loose or baggy lest you risk looking like a frumpy old matron. Also, don’t wear anything tight fitting or revealing, especially for work. Your inherent sex symbol shape comes with the price of looking sexualised in anything that embraces it.”
• Pear: “You have killer childbearing hips and booty. Unfortunately, those aren’t worth shit since your boobs don’t balance them. So, what we’re going to do is conceal what your mother gave you and draw attention to the illusion of boobs we are going to make.”
• Ruler: “You’re either buff like an athlete or thin and willowy like a Victoria’s Secret Angel. On one hand, you can wear whatever you want because you’re clearly a standard size with no curves, so fashion is made with your shape in mind. On the other hand, you may want to stick to feminine styles that create and illusion of curves and hide broad shoulders. You wouldn’t want to look like a man or a child.”
• Apple: *insert fat-shaming bullshit here about how this shape is only redeemable if you disguise it as something else.* *insert images beneath of slim celebrities who are classified as apples due to their curves but lack of waist definition. Continue shaming these bodies that most of us could only dream of having.*

Why This is Awful

Most people are a combination of two or more shapes. Some people don’t match the definition of any. With my measurements being approx. 40–31–39, I’ve been calculated as all four on these numbers alone across different versions of this model. Some versions say their must be more than a 9 inch difference in your hips and bust from your waist to be an hourglass (or just hips to be a pear). The rules for each type are not consistent. They are generalisations and stereotypes at best.

This model doesn’t take into account weight changes, muscles, age, race, bone structure, or height. It functions purely on hip-to-waist ratio and fat distribution. Even this is subjective and fickle. Your type will change over time.

It does not take your preferences and style into account. What about hourglasses who prefer an androgynous look? What about pears who aren’t saving up for a boob job and want to embrace what they have?

It’s supposed to be helpful, but it causes more bother and confusion than it’s worth. This model squishes all bodies into limited boxes and functions off insecurity by creating problems that need to be “fixed” by what you wear.

There’s not enough shapes to be inclusive. Even the expanded range that includes triangles, spoons, hearts, and diamonds still only take a small part of the body into consideration.

The Yin and Yang of Kibbe Types

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Kibbe types originally appeared in the book Metamorphosis by David Kibbe. Combinations are a a big part of this system as each type is on a spectrum between yin and yang.

The fashion advice for each type avoids concealing prominent features or creating illusions to make each type into one ideal shape. Doing so is advised against and is referred to as not dressing your lines. In short, the clothes you wear must embrace your lines instead of warping them. This goes against the fruit system’s aim of fixing flawed bodies.

The Kibbe types are characterised for their combination of yin and yang aspects:

Yin: shortness, softness, roundness, curves, delicate, small bones and small features.

Yang: Tallness, sharpness, angularity, straight lines, broadness, large bones and large features.

Each Type in 3 Sentences

Here is a brief rundown of what aesthetic flatters each type the most, the characteristics of them, and the most flattering fashion styles.

From most yin to most yang:

• Romantic: Dreamspinner. Pure yin: petite, delicate bones with soft curves. This is complimented with rounded silhouettes that are soft but fitted.
• Theatrical Romantic: Femme Fatale Chic. Yin with slight yang undercurrent: small, dainty bone structure with curvy but trim figure. This type rocks draped, flowing fabrics and tapered shapes.
• Soft Gamine: Spitfire Chic. A rounded body type on a short but angular frame: appears doll-like and youthful. This type suits clothes with rounded lines with some sharpness around the edges.
• Gamine: Piquant Chic. Short stature, small but angular bones, and a lean, flat body shape that can be athletic. Outfits should be sharp and fitted.
• Flamboyant Gamine: Sassy Chic. Medium-short stature, square, angular bones, with a straight, lean body type. This type pulls of straight, asymmetrical silhouettes with bold, geometric patterns.
• Soft Classic: Graceful Lady. Moderate height, a rounded but evenly proportioned figure with symmetrical bone structure with soft edges. This type suits simple shapes that are symmetrical with waist emphasis.
• Classic: Sophisticated Lady. A perfect balance between yin and yang: moderate height, sharpness and angularity in the bones with a lithe, evenly proportioned figure. Clothes should be smooth and symmetrical with a combination of sharpness and softness in the silhouette.
• Dramatic Classic: Tailored Chic. Yang-dominant angular bones, medium height, and a straight, athletic figure. Dress this type in sharp, tailored silhouettes that are sleek and geometric.
• Soft Natural: Fresh and Sensual Lady. Soft yang with yin undercurrent: angular frame with a fleshy figure and slight hourglass shape. This type looks best in flowing, unconstructed fabrics with some shaping at the waist.
• Natural: Girl Next Door Chic. Angular and broad that is muscular and straight (no curves), and on the tall side. Clothing should be angular and straight to emphasis the length of this body type.
• Flamboyant Natural: Free Spirit Chic. Tall with broad, blunt bones, straight, athletic figure with long limbs. This type suits bold, asymmetrical pieces and loose, unstructured fabrics.
• Soft Dramatic: Diva Chic. Soft yin flesh on large, sharp, yang bones: tall, with a broad, curvy shape and long limbs. Best suited to long, draping fabrics and shapes.
• Dramatic: Regal Lady. Pure yang: tall and straight with long narrow limbs, sharp, angular bones, and a lean body type. Looks good in long, tailored pieces and monochromatic schemes.

Finding your Type

It can be difficult to identify your type at first the Kibbe model is so multi-faceted. Unlike the fruit model, where the definitions are rigid but fickle, the Kibbe system can be overwhelming due to its fluidity and holistic consideration of all parts of the body.

There are multiple online quizzes to calculate your type. These may be a good place to start, but they aren’t always accurate. For example, you may struggle to determine how big, small, sharp or blunt your bones are as flesh can conceal this. Also, since vertical line is based on how your proportions create an illusion of height rather than your actual height, this may seem subjective. Through a quiz, I initially mistyped myself as a Theatrical Romantic when I’m a Soft Natural. It’s best to research each type before determining your own.

Your Kibbe type is determined by multiple features. Many types have features in common with others so you may relate to multiple types. Remember that the primary traits in determining your type are bone structure, lines/shape, height, fat distribution, and flashiness. The size and shape of facial features, hands and feet can also give insight to the type but they should be secondary clues.

The most effective method of discovering your type is visual comparison. Research the Kibbe types of celebrities whom you have a similar body type to. By looking at the fashion advice for each type, you may find your type through which styles you already know flatter you.

Not Flawed

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My type, soft natural, fits me better than any comparison to an object: Medium-tall height, angular (yang) bone structure, soft/fleshy body type (yin), small features, round face, slight hourglass shape. None of this needs to be hidden either. Floaty fabrics that are loose fitting but go in at the waist are my go-to.

I’m not just an hourglass that needs to lose weight or start waist-training.

Dramatics aren’t just rectangles who need to conceal their sharp lines with the illusion of soft curves.

Romantics shouldn’t be encouraged to diminish their curves with straight silhouettes.

What I love about Kibbe is that it embraces the uniqueness of each body and uses fashion as a means to highlight this. Your type will likely stay the same with age and weight changes and does not define your body by just one feature. With the fruit method, fashion is presented as something that works against your body to correct it. You don’t need correcting.

References & Further Reading

• Metamorphosis by David Kibbe
• Kibbe Types | How to Find Yours & How it’s Helpful by Audrey Coyne
• The 13 Kibbe Body Types & Their Clothing Lines by The Concept Wardrobe
• Sew Your Kibbe by Doctor T Designs
• 13 “BODY TYPES” / Kibbe by Aly Art
• Male Kibbe from The Sacred in The Secular