What Are Style Essences?

Have you ever noticed that some people look effortlessly sexy in a tight dress? And others look incredibly cool in skinny jeans and leather jacket? Some people look fierce and others look totally innocent. All of these descriptions are style essences.

A person's essences describes their looks or what kind of beauty they communicate. Because there isn't just one type of beauty. Beauty comes in many facets and each style essence portrays a different aspect. Depending on the style essences you have, certain looks will emphasise and highlight that kind of beauty in you.

And there is a simple reason for this: clothing that follows the natural lines of your body and face (your overall appearance) will look harmonious on you. Whereas clothing that doesn’t respect your lines will look disharmonious or odd.

So we could also say that style essences or style identities are the natural lines and shapes of your face and body repeated in clothing. This is not to be confused with the traditional ‘fruit’ body shape theory. That theory is concerned with achieving symmetry in your silhouette. Style essences are about repeating the natural lines of your body in your clothing to achieve a harmonious look.

To demonstrate this better, let’s look at an example:

This is when Beyoncé wears her lines. She looks stunning and her clothes look like they're part of her.

And this is Beyoncé when her clothes don't respect her natural lines:

This is not a question about how beautiful Beyoncé is. It’s simply about how much she looks like herself in clothing that follows her natural lines of her body vs. clothing that doesn’t and therefore looks odd or unnatural on her.

Beyoncé's look is sexy. It's what her physical appearance communicates. So any clothing that does not portray this kind of style looks odd on her.

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Let’s look at another example:

Above Lady Gaga when she respects her lines and below Lady Gaga when she doesn't:

Again, this isn’t about beauty. It is simply about the kind of clothing that looks harmonious on Lady Gaga (unconventional perhaps, but that’s just Lady Gaga). The point is that the clothes don’t look separate from her. The flouncy dresses might potentially fare better on Beyoncé, but they don’t work on Lady Gaga at all. She doesn’t look like herself in them, and she looks separated from her clothes. In contrast, the oversized, straight-cut garments that look so foreign on Beyoncé compliment Lady Gaga beautifully.

And that makes sense because Beyonce’s body and face are curvy and soft, there are no straight lines or harsh edges. Consequently, straight clothing breaks up her feminine roundness - it's like trying to fit a square into a circle.

With Lady Gaga it's the other way round. Her appearance is more angular and straight with sharper edges. Clothing with round shapes and soft silhouettes won't fall nicely on her, as she doesn't have the curves to fill them. Lady Gaga's natural appearance doesn't communicate sexy or girly. It communicates boldness, intensity, and danger. That's what makes the suits look powerful on her.

Both ladies are beautiful, but they look their best and like themselves when they wear their lines.

Yin & Yang: The Foundation of Style Theories

Most theories surrounding style essences are based on the ancient Tao principle of Yin and Yang. The most prominent style theory in this line of history is arguably David Kibbe’s. But the history of style essences can be traced back as far as the 1920s, when Belle Northrup at Columbia Teacher’s College first described described how yin and yang pertain to a range of personalities and the natural world.

By midcentury, two professors of textile and design, Grace Margaret Morton (1930s) and Harriet Tilden McJimsey (1940s), refined the theory, each developing their own ideas of style and colour essences.

In the 1960s, style essences in their original form were last updated by John Kitchener, Director of Personal Style Counselors. He recorded a total of seven style essences, including two which he discovered himself.

And finally, in the 1980s, David Kibbe published his famous book Metamorphosis, an all-encompassing system comprising a total of thirteen style archetypes.

The definitions of yin and yang vary slightly from theory to theory, but they essentially have the following meanings:

Yin: small, delicate, round, soft, gentle, flowing, light, low-contrast, graceful, youthful

Yang: large, angular, long, striking, dark, high-contrast, strong/firm, dignified, powerful, sophisticated, poised

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So if we go back to our examples, we could say that Beyoncé has predominantly yin qualities in her appearance, and Lady Gaga has more yang qualities. Beyoncé's appearance is softer and rounder, and Lady Gaga's is sharper and more angular.

A quick note on yin and yang

If we boil down the principle of yin and yang to its essence, it could be interpreted as femininity and masculinity.

Sadly, owing to perceived beauty standards and expectations in some societies, having masculine characteristics as a woman is often equated with not being beautiful (and likewise in men, masculinity is preferable). A lot of societies see femininity in a woman as equivalent to beauty.

However, it is important to point out that no style theory that is based on the yin/yang principle is trying to reinforce this view. On the contrary, these theories try to show us that beauty can only be achieved through clothing that respects our natural features, which in turn creates beautiful harmony. Note the difference: neither is more beautiful than the other. Each is most beautiful in their own style.

And therefore be aware that the principles of yin and yang in all style theories are always laid out in a positive manner and never to be interpreted negatively. Yang does not mean manly and aggressive, but strong, poised, and dignified, and yin does not mean naive and weak, but gentle, mild, and delicate. Yang is powerful, yin is alluring. Both are incredibly beautiful.

David Kibbe’s Body Type System & Its Limitations

Ever since its introduction, Kibbe’s body type system has become hugely popular. It is also based on the principles of yin and yang and style essences, which in his system are referred to as archetypes or image IDs.

The system comprises five pure archetypes and eight archetypes which are mixtures of the pure types, creating a total of thirteen style archetypes:

Kibbe’s system is great and many people love it because it’s relatively straightforward. Where Kibbe broke with the tradition was in the fact that he designed his system in a way that is all-encompassing. So in theory, everyone should belong to one - and only one - of the thirteen archetypes. However, not everyone does.

Let’s take a look at why that is.

Since Beyoncé has soft yin qualities, she is classed as a Romantic in Kibbe’s system. And here is another Kibbe Romantic: Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn had yin qualities too, without a doubt. Just like Beyoncé, she had soft, round features and a voluptuous, curvy body. Consequently, she looked amazing in dresses that showed off her curves.

However, part of Marilyn’s allure was her innocence. And while she was certainly sexy, she also retained a youthful, innocent quality in adulthood.

Marilyn looks cute here. The whimsical design of the clothes doesn't look odd on her, and she doesn't look like a woman dressed in children's clothing.

If we now take a look at Beyoncé in similar playful lines, we don’t get quite the same effect.

When Beyoncé tries to be cute, it doesn’t really work. Beyoncé looks like herself when she is sexy, not cute. She doesn’t have that playful quality that Marilyn has.

But Marilyn can pull off both looks. And this is where the Kibbe system pushes at its boundaries. Since an individual can only be one of the Kibbe archetypes, Marilyn would simply be a Romantic, and we would have never gotten to see her play to her cute side.

An Open Approach to Style Essences

Other style theories embrace a more open approach to style essences. John Kitchener, mentioned earlier, argues that most individuals are a blend of multiple style essences. In fact, when he types individuals, he will present them with a percentage for each of their essences.

Kitchener works with a total of seven style essences:

As we have seen earlier, Kibbe’s system covers five of them. Kitchener adds two yin essences: the Ingenue and the Angelic style essence.

So if we go back to our examples, Beyoncé would still be a Romantic in Kitchener’s books. But Marilyn would be a blend of Romantic and Ingenue.

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For the most part, Kibbe’s archetype descriptions fall in line with Kitchener’s. The two additional essences are variations of yin qualities. The youthful essence is a cute, playful essence, and the angelic essence is the most yin essence of them all. It has an almost ethereal otherworldliness to it.

In the next article, we will discuss the seven style essences in more detail and learn how you can determine your unique blend.