Thank you, this has bothered me so much with Kibbe, his height descriptions do not make sense where I live because most people are 5'5 and waaaay over. But we cannot all simply be Dramatics and Naturals just because our population is taller than elswhere :D
This! I am senegalese. Most senegalese are tall. I am 5'7 and that's average to short for most senegalese women. I was on a kibbie reddit form. I said I was 5'7 and a TR and they me argued up and down that I am SD dispite the fact that I look petite until I stand next to someone who's short. My flesh and bone structure is small and delicate in proportion to me. The only thing that's elongated about is is my torso and my high cheek bones. Everything else is small and rounded. My eyes, nose, lips and chin, jawline and overall face is small and rounded. I have small slopped shoulders. I have a curvy body. My legs and arms are short. I have small hands and feel. Everything is yin. Yet they want to argue that I'm SD. Soft Framatic people have large bones and they aren't delicate at all. They just have softness in their flesh. I've tried soft dramatic many times. The lines overpower me.
yeah! I'm a Soft Natural (typed by merriam) but I'm Taller than what Kibbe says a soft natural is but I'm too feminine and fleshy to be a flamboyant natural
So great 🥰 Im 5'6 and never thought I could be gamine for that reason. But I don't fit in anywhere else. I've tried classic but it looks wrong, and I swear I've never come across as classic 🤣 always Heard cute, doll-like, young etc. And I'm so confused by people who say GAMINES CAN NOT BE TALLER THAN 5'4. Oh and here is our perfect gamine Audrey at 5'7 ❤️ what?? A lot of people also think gamines have no waist and then again they show up with Audrey and Winona as examples 🙄🙄
this is why south korea is crazy obsessed with head sizes! over there people say you have a small head as a compliment. It's a normal compliment over there, that non-koreans living in korea found weird and a culture shock. Whenever people take photos, korean women often pose by covering part of their faces usually a peace sign around their jaws or cup their cheeks because they think it will make their faces look smaller. I think it's the same in china and japan too but Korea is the most obsessed with it. They really care about having good proportions!
The general public, meaning the average joe and jane in South Korea ALL know the normal head to body ratio is 7 1/2 heads. If you're more than 7 heads, they would praise you lol. www.koreaboo.com/stories/attractive-enough-pass-koreas-8-stacked-heads-test/
I don’t think they care more about proportions then we do, as they’re more likely to have so called bad proportions. It’s very common to have a larger head and long torso, with relatively short arms and limbs. Most “western” people have longer legs and average to small heads in comparison. If you ever buy clothes in East Asia, especially fitted tops, you find the seams don’t line up well even if the size is right. I think it’s why they often take their social media photos angled up from the ground. Also being very thin helps increase that vertical line and can help explain why they want very straight legs and even get injections to minimize muscles in the calves.
@@ABC-jq7ve Honestly other people also like proportions that makes you look tall. East asians are just aware of what makes a proportions and they're blunt about their preference. But globally, people want to look tall and want the proportions of a tall person.
“Body Geometry is all about how you look within your own body, not in comparison to others” YES! This is why I like your system better than Kibbe. This ACTUALLY makes sense. No one can ever agree at what height the prominent vertical line starts and it’s because they are comparing it to themselves just like Kibbe does, and yet they place such an importance on a factor that no one can agree on!
100% agree! I am 'tall' by Kibbe standards (5'7.5) but if you look at me I don't look that tall. I am definitely a soft classic! Height limits be damned. I dont all of a sudden gain completely different lines because I have an extra inch or two of height.
I think ppl are taking the height granted because it is relatively easy to categorize. Unlike for example a shoulder; is it tapered, sloped, rounded?!?
True, but even Kibbe himself states that height is crucial. I think the problem is that in Kibbe's system, the length of the lines is emphasized as much as the shape of the bones, and it seems very logical that if you have consistently long lines to your body, then you have long bones, and since most bones will add height to the body, then you're going to be tall. And that's another reason why it usually is the case that Dramatics are tall, Romantics are not etc. So I think it's good that Merriam's labeling is all about shapes and not length vs. shortness, and then you additionally learn that sharp bones have a tendency to also be long, and rounded ones have a tendency to also be short. When you just see the word "Dramatic", and then it talks about sharpness and length, you get the impression that they're equal factors, whereas when you see "Sharpened", it's obvious what the most important quality is.
@@milica8979 exactly! What I don't understand is why D Kibbe says that height is super crucial but at the same time in the test he talks about how tall you LOOK, he asks about the vertical line as an illusion and not as a number in ft. I'm 5'7 but I look shorter and I thought i was a SC because I'm too tall for the R family. Yesterday I tried some C outfits, round high neckline cardigan tucked in my pant for waist def, all black, it made my vertically stand out and I looked more my heigh but it made me look heavy, dull and rounded in a sloppy awkward kind of way while the R outfits, open neck lines, free shoulders, softer fabrics and shorter jeans or skirts probably made me look more petite but way more light and fresh. It helped me a lot to understand that it's about my own proportions and my proportions only 😅 and not really about the numbers and measurements
Also, height can hardly be a factor because different ethnic groups have different average heights. A Danish girl might be tall in Romania (av for women is 157 cm - 5 ft 2 in) but not so tall in her home country (av for women in Denmark is 167.2 cm - 5 ft 6 in).
yes Im 5.10 and was never the tallest girl here in the north and noone consi ders kibbes 5.7 tall here I guess thats just normal I always wondered ehy he thought its already tall enough to feel more dramatic?
Merriam I must have watched your videos 20 times, especially this one and the Soft Dramatic/TheatricaL romantic ones before I finally got it. I’m short. I’m yang dominant. I have sharp lines and lots of curves. Even though I have a bobble head and a short vertical line, I’m still soft dramatic. I would get to the end of your videos and say BUT GAMINE LOOKS SILLY ON ME I CANT BE GAMINE, not even considering that I could be soft dramatic because “I’m not tall” (I’m 5’4) and “everyone knows I’m short”. Oh Em Gee. Like you said, once I typed myself soft dramatic, everything fell instantly into place. These are my lines. Everything is awesome. Thank you so much!!!
The same thing happened for me, but in opposite! I’m 5’7” and have some sharpness/drama (especially in my facial features), but overall my appearance is a mix of delicate and fleshy. Because of my height I kept trying SD because I “can’t be one of the shorter types” 🤦🏻♀️but I tried those clothes and they overpower me! My bone structure is delicate and rounded. After watching that video, I tried theatrical romantic clothing, and BAM! everything clicked!
This video is very helpful. I’m a 5’8 theatrical romantic and every time I test this way I feel so confused since the celebrity examples of theatrical romantics are shorter than 5’6.
Same I keep being told by supposed kibbe experts that I can't be theatrical romantic despite testing primarily in that category. Bc im 5'6" like what happened to "usually" 5'5 and under some like us MUST be the exception! Also if the theatrical romantic style looks great on you wear it!
This is the best video on this subject! Watching other videos and especially reading people's comments, I noticed a lot of them are obsessed with height, and sometimes they are so damn obsessed with this single factor that they can't see that some lines don't look good on some people.
Lmao I also type random strangers when I see they look really good just to see if the body system works. I find that the best hint for what type you are is what clothing looks good on you. It's like the ultimate test. So I analyse the clothes first and then I look at the person to see if she/he matches them.
Kibbe says your image ID has no relevance to personal style and that anyone can wear any other types “lines” as they complement your own yin and yang balance which is different for everyone. If you join his group on fb called Strictly Kibbe, David actually posts on there and gave us exercises to do to help us figure out our own yin and yang balance which will help us dress and feel our best. He no longer uses the test he created back in 1988 and he no longer uses natural, classic, or gamine to type people so a lot of information on this channel is outdated.
Yesss! This is the biggest reason I first assumed I was a mixed type, but those lines did not look good on me. I’m 5’2” and look a lot taller. Finally figured out I’m a beveled type with a touch of softness thanks to you Merriam! :)
Also, although Kibbe himself said there is "no tall gamin" 5.4 feet " is the top range of gamine", there are a tone of opposite examples of that, e.g.,Twiggy, his muse Audrey Hepburn (she is at least 5.7),thw height is definitely not the crucial criteria! ❤️
This was such a comprehensive video! I'm 5'2" but from my pictures my friends (who'd never seen me irl before) guessed my height at around: 5'7" from a picture taken from the waist up 5'5" from a full body picture I also have super long arms compared to the rest of my body, and it's been that way since I was a kid. I used to get dress-coded a lot in school because standard short lengths didn't follow the stupid "your shorts must go past the tips of your fingers when you're standing with your arms at your side" rule, (unless the shorts were bermuda shorts) because of how long my arms are. Funnily enough, I have the same length arms as my mom, who's 5'7" and a rounded body type. I've figured out that I'm a soft mixed type rather than a blended type as I had previously thought, and my arms (super long and sharp) and shoulders (which are teeny tiny and rounded) are now my favorite example of mixed lines on my body. :)
My daughter (beautifully balanced, in proportion type) says I have the longest arms and hands she has ever seen(true story). We say I have orangutan arms. And my head always looks twice the size of everyone else's in photos. Sometimes I look like a pear with short fat legs. My legs are not fat or particularly short. I thought I must be mixed but I look awful in mixed clothes and I look better in TR!
@@FriedToiletDuckRice I am, and I don't have anything to measure my total wingspan, but my wrist to shoulder measurement is approx. 22" (assuming I'm measuring correctly lol)
I've allways wondered why you never explained vertical line as the amount of heads one person has, like taking the head as a unit of measure for the body, I used to do art, and thats the way to capture the proportions of the model for drawing, the video idea is an inyerestig way too, it shows more than just the measure
that's a good idea, maybe I'll explore explaining it that way in the future....I tried it briefly a long time ago, but what happened was that the angle of the photo would make the number of heads be slightly different/variable even within one person, even though you could still tell they looked tall/short, and between that and it not always being a full head size of a difference, it was difficult to show the effect in that way.
The Rachel McAdams edited pictures was a brilliant way to explain it! I'm a pure romantic type but I am tall (5'9") but the thing is that my head is huge so I actually look better in pure romantic lines than in theatrical romantic lines. That's in kibble's system of course in yours I'm a 100% round type. Love you videos Miriam ❤️ video idea: hair and makeup for the body types
@@DefineFive no I'm not bc the lines of SD don't look good on me at all, it looks like the clothing is eating me alive or like I'm a kid trying my mother clothes. The only thing about my bone structure that it's dramatic is my height and my long legs everything else about my bones and my flesh is romantic. Also even in the kibbe test the question about height is "how tall you look" I look way shorter than I am. So idk what to tell you there is no way I'm a SD if the clothing for SD looks bad on me.
@@DefineFive but I followed kibbes recommendations for SD of his book metamorphosis not Merriam's, how can I be a SD in kibble's system if the clothing recommendations for SD that kibbe wrote in his book look bad on me? How is the Kibbe body type system useful for me if it's not going to help me dress better? Why would you write a book with recommentions for body types of those recommentions don't look good on those body types? I discovered the Kibbe body type system way before I discovered Merriam so I didn't type myself as a romantic based on her interpretation of Kibbe bc I didn't know it when I typed myself (you are making A LOT of assumptions about me without knowing anything me btw) I did it by following kibble's recommendations for SD and Romantics and seeing which one look better on me bc I was between the two types. I know Kibbe says tall women can only be D, SD, FN but again I don't look good dressing how he recommends SD to dress and I don't look like the women he types as SD so I don't really care if in theory/in his abstract ideas I'm a SD bc if I look like what Kibbe calls a romantic and look better dressing like Kibbe recommends a romantic then in reality/in practice/in the material world we live in I'm a romantic in kibble's system. Am I supposed to call myself a SD but then dress like/look like/have the essence of a romantic? What's the point of being typed as a SD then? What's the point of calling myself after something and then having all the characteristics of a different thing? For what? Sounds like complete waste of my time to do that so I'm simply no going to.
@@DefineFive But the Kibbe system does satisfy me tho, all recommendations Kibbe has for romantics work for me. I'm quite happy with the Kibbe system. His rule about the height it's the only thing that doesn't make sense for me but everything else does. His system has helped dress better for years. I don't reject it, I'm saying that despite having that Yang in me when I try to add Yang elements to my look I just don't look good with them on. What do you want me to do about that? I don't reject my Yang it just seems like in my case it's not noticeable when I dress. That's why I say I'm 5'9'' **but** (that but indicates that what about to say it's conflicting with my height) I'm a romantic bc I'm that. It's describes me perfectly, stylists familiar with the Kibbe system understand what I mean when I say that to them so I'm gonna keep saying that. I'm aware that I'm not supposed to exist in his system but I do. Call me the exception to the rule idk. If I reject one single rule about height that means I have to reject the entire system? Why? It's useful for me and it works for me. Look, at this point this conversation it's kind of redundant, I barely talk about the Kibbe system irl or on the internet (I only talk about it with two different stylists who are already familiar with me) so don't worry about me confusing people, but I'm not going to say I'm a SD in Kibble's system if nothing of what he tells SD to wear looks good on me and the descriptions and the essence don't fit me either, that it's just silly. If everything he wrote in the section dedicated to romantics in his book works for me then that's what I'm gonna use and that part of the book working for me makes me, in practice, a romantic, why does it work for me despite being 5'9"? Idk, but that's kibble's business not mine.
@@FriedToiletDuckRice I know it's not your fault that I'm tired bc you only gave a simple response to my comments but I already discussed this in length with kristin k and that long pointless discussion it's why I'm annoyed at this point. So I'm gonna give you a very blunt response, pls know that me being this defensive it's not your fault and I'm aware you did nothing to deserve this response I'm just in a bad mood rn so pls forgive me but: I know romantics have to be short, I know tall women can't be romantics in Kibble's system I discovered kibble's system *8 years ago* and I have been using it ever since. Trust me *I know* . I know being tall and having long legs add Yang to your Ying and Yang balance and romantics have to be 100% ying but every single time I try to add Yang to my outfits or looks I look awkward and bad. I can't even wear pants recommended for mainly Yang types without looking weird despite the fact that my legs are a Yang feature in kibble's system. So what am I supposed to do? Just ignored that and dress in a way that makes look bad bc a theory told me so? That's just stupid. I look my best in the clothing he recommends romantics to wear. Idk why but if I look better in that I'm gonna wear that, if I look my best dressing as a 100% ying person then in practice I'm a 100% ying person even if in theory tall 100% ying people don't exist. I'm going to call myself a tall romantic bc I exist as a tall romantic in real life, that's my reality that I live in not yours and not Kibble's but mine, and y'all are just gonna have to deal. It's a system created for people to figure out what looks the best on them, it ain't that deep. So please you and @kristin h please leave alone. If you have any further objections read my other responses bc I tired of this conversation.
@@DefineFive girl, you don't know me or how I look in real life so pls stop making assumptions about me, it's very rude and that's what's truly upsetting me that you are not listening to me, you are just projecting what you think I look like and talking over me. I. Don't. Look. Large. AT. ALL. Despite. Being. Tall. *I already told you that* Because my bones are very small and delicate and my head it's very big even my arms are short for my body, the only thing long about me in comparison to the rest of my body is my legs my vertical line doesn't look long either bc of the size of my head. I said that in my first comment but *you are not listening to me* That's why large=yang doesn't apply to me bc I look small despite not being small. That's why I look good dressing as if I was small bc that's *how I look* even in person when you can see how tall I really am I look better dress like that bc I still seem light weight and delicate. And I actually think kibble's description of the types fits me better than Merriam's bc I'm a bit thin so I look more small and delicate than rounded but of course there is no way you would know what description fits me better bc You. Don't. Know. Me. even though you love talk to me as if you do. I'm sorry for being passive aggressive but I needed to get that off my chest bc I find the way you talked to me during this conversation while ignoring my comments about *my own body* and assuming what I look like and what my ideas of the kibble's system are extremely rude, condescending and disrespectful. But thank you for leaving alone me already that's all I wanted bc I truly didn't enjoy talking to you. Have a nice day too.
I remember being on that subreddit looking for non celebrity/new examples to grasp kibbe better. I saw a photo of a girl who looked tall and fit soft dramatic perfectly. She said she was 5'3, and people were trying to type her as gamine/soft gamine solely due the number. That's it. Looked soft dramatic but JUST because of the number it means she's "too short" and is automatically another type? It's literally what made me begin to disregard measured height and only look at proportions. idk if that was you or not but it was super helpful.
Thank you! I tried to bring this to a discussion but it didnt go well. Using science of perspective and relationships and geometry to enhance the existing theories is super smart, valid and important.
My sister is a dramatic (sharp)and she's only 5'3. Her face and head are smaller and she has long arms and neck. She does not look short and is consistently thought taller. She has a ballerina type body. I'm 5'2 and I'm a classic (blended)
Thank you for this Merriam! This has always bugged me about the (extremely!) rigid height categories of Kibbe - what is 'tall' and what is 'short' is not only dependent on your personal proportions, but also on your ethnicity and where you're from. 5'6" simply is not tall where I'm from; I'm generally one of the shortest women in the room. But somehow I'm too tall to be [insert type]. This seems like a far more sensible approach in Body Geometry :)
Thats super weird cause no country in the world has women listed as taller than 5'6" except for Montenegro at 5'6.5". So either you are from Montenegro and obsessing about 0.5", or you are merely average height for your country at best. You are not "short" anywhere in the entire literal world. Try and learn to love your height rather than blame Kibbe for everything
@@tomjones2157 ....average height of European women is 5'5-6"....... the dutch are even taller. but i have to agree 5'6" really isn't tall. and kibbes ridiculous need to hold tight to these "height" regulations while simultaneously pushing that it is about the overall look of the person (not compared to others) and their essence. she isn't blaming him for anything. he is simply trying to make everything seem so much more complicated and complex than it really is so that it appears that he is the only one who can understand the image identities when he is not even the one who came up with the idea. there were a minimum of 2 women before him who laid out the image identity process and the Yin Yang methodology dates back centuries in east asia. probably other parts of asia too, i just don't know about other parts of asia. I believe that several you tubers, including merriam, have done better work stemming from Belle Northrup, Harriet McJimsey, and David Kibbe than Kibbe has done stemming from those other two women. He started out really well with Metamorphisis, but he has skewed it so badly here in modern day that it is hard to take him any more seriously than just watching someone scramble terribly trying to monopolize a corner of the "image identity" market so that he can make all the money.
I think it's appropriate that the first kpop celebrity that is referenced on your channel is about head sizes and proportions. Westerners who read Korean translated celebrity gossip are consistently perplexed by the compliment of "having a small head, " and I admit I didn't understand it either until I found kibbe. I think Koreans and East Asians in general may be more sensitive to the idea of head size since they, on average, are shorter than their European counterparts, thus making it far more likely for them to have bigger heads in proportion to their body.
South Koreans specifically have bigger head compared to other asians, but they're also arguably the tallest asians. They're the tallest asians but they don't look like their height because they tend to have big heads. Japanese are the shortest east asians and Southeast asians are the shortest out of all asians but they don't fuss about head sizes as much as Koreans.
Koreans tend to naturally have prominent jaws and square shape faces compared to other asians. It explains why they do a lot of jaw shaving surgeries and it's why they're obsessed with having the "egg"/oval shape face. They also tend to have more monolid eyes, which gives an illusion of them having a bigger faces because monolid eyes look small thus give more empty space to the face and making the face look bigger. This is how I sometimes distinguished east asians, (not all but) Koreans tend to have square shaped faces and if they're tall, 90% of the time they're Korean.
@@NaNa-wy2tk Nope. Both South Koreans and Japanese are the exact same 5'2" on average. Since we're looking so is most of China at 5'2", although Beijing Chinese are much taller 5'4"
@@tomjones2157 maybe 20yrs ago but South Koreans on average are a good 2 inch taller than Japanese and that gap is only getting bigger with Koreans reportedly having the biggest growth spurt. For most sources, Koreans are always taller than Japanese. If you go to South Korea and Japan to see it yourself, you'll also notice the difference. Maybe Northern china, but not Southern china.
This just shows how it's all about how things seem, rather than what they are. Only the proportions inside of your body matter rather than exact numbers. I remember thinking I am too small for a SD or SN, when I am 5'7", just bc of what people write on forums, but by finding your channel I concluded I was an SD all along. I think trying on clothes helps the most.
I'm 5'9" (177cm), but my body and face is totally Classic/Soft Classic (and in fact I'm looking good only in "boring" clothes :D ) with quite a big waistline. I have identical body as my mother who is 5'5". On photos I don't look very tall. However I was confused, because so tall women can be only flamboyant natural, dramatic or soft dramatic, but i look terrible in clothes assigned to them. Thanks for this video! Dispelled my doubts :) if I'm wrong, let me know. ... and I love Your voice!
Thank you so much for making this video! I watched bodytype videos a year ago already, but I was never sure, what my bodytype is, because I am pretty tall (179 cm/ 5.83 ft) , but none of the 3 tall types did describe my body and face, just my height, and that confused me. I am neither elongated and have a straight body like dramatics, I don't have wide shounders like flamboyant naturals, nor have curves like soft dramatics, etc. Because of this video, I took another bodytype test, with pictures, where height was not a question, just how tall you look like. I am very close to dramatic classic because my face is very classic, very even proportioned (my body mostly also), and oval. But I got more B answers then C. I got equally C-s and D/E-s. So it came out, I am a soft natural! Then I watched your video about soft natural, I discovered, that these are exactly the type of clothes, and hairstyle, that suit me. So that confirmed everything, I am just a taller soft natural. That's why I suggest everyone reading this, don't look at your actual height, but check, what type of clothes suit you the best! And then take the test again.
This is so fascinating and helpful. I am 6' tall but when I tell people my height, people say "really?" and then they say they didn't think I was that tall. Now I know it is because I have a big head lol.
Kamala Love According to Kibbe this is impossible though!🙄 I’m 5’5 and this happens to me all the time too. People will make jokes about how short I am when we are the exact same height! So I know it can happen!
I kept thinking I was theatrical romantic. Mostly because I am short, 5 ft 0...and somewhat hourglass. I started dressing that way and I just looked wider and shorter. I showed my mom examples of kibbe's body types and she quickly pegged me as Soft Dramatic. It all makes sense now. I was being too literal with the height. I do look taller than I am. Most people are surprised when I tell them I'm only 5 ft. Soft Dramatic is the most flattering style on me... clothing, makeup, etc.
I'm 5'9 (1.75m) tall and most people think that I look much taller than my actual height (6ft.) because my head size is literally small than my actual height and I'm quite elongated which may put me in Dramatic family but D silhouette makes me look squarer because of tailored clothes and I also don't look good on big and relaxed silhouette like for FN, but SD lines works better for me (long dresses with drapings, waist emphasis etc.) even though I don't have curves to accomodate.
I get your point merriam however i think actual height is the main point to take into consideration besides the head size thing I mean a tall person with a big head would still look obviously tall, only when compared to someone of about the same height but with a smaller head , you would start to see that the latter looks just quite taller , I'm a 5'1 soft gamine but with a small head and that doesn't change the fact that I look short because of my actual height I mean no matter what size marlyin monroe's head is, her actual height is still not that dramatic for example! I mean the head size thing is just an additional factor to real height but not the main point so your real height would make you fall into certain types but not your head size + love your videos
she explained perfectly why actual height does not matter. because we are not comparing ourselves to others. it is what we LOOK like standing by ourselves. You will either look short or tall or moderate. She clearly stated that these are general guidelines and that there are always exceptions. I am 5" and am likely a natural. People often assume I am 5'5-7". I do not look short no matter what angle you put a camera on me or in real life. My head is neither big or small, so I look moderate. The real height does not matter at all. And she explained it exceptionally well, if you can't understand it, then I am very sorry for you.
@@bethanyday3471 hi, real height actually matters because that’s what people see when you are out there with them dressed that’s the whole point of the system to find lines that work for you to dress better in real life not just photos and I think photos can be very misleading especially when we are standing alone in them even we can look so much different with just a posture or an angle that’s my point and merriam agrees with it, hope you get it
This is by far the best explanation on this issue. I've been thinking the same thing. It makes no sense that tall people have just two types of skeletal structures, and short people just two or three. In school I had a friend who was really tall. She instinctively wore gamine lines and her head was quite big. Her legs were long, but not her arms, really. I bet her vertical line was not that long, and maybe she would be pointed out to be a mixed type -from a photo. I cannot imagine her in dramatic or natural lines. It would be a disaster. I was shorter than her, yet look much taller in pictures, with my small head size and narrow and long bone structure. Every clothing shop should have access to this video, and body style basics.
I think you're right it's all about the overall appearance and the proportion within one body. That's why I think Taylor swift isn't a mixed type but a sharpened type with some mixed features but dominant sharpened type (I don't know if I'm clear enough). What do you think about persons having different proportions for arms and for legs and different proportions for hands and for feet?
At first when you show the Beyonce edited pictures I thought she look smaller when you made her head smaller but the rest of examples actually look taller with their head being smaller. Idk why I don't see Beyonce the same, maybe is her pose
I think it might be because they fill more of the image space with the enlarged head. You take in the image as a picture, what’s in the square, and it’s hard to see the figures proportions (or it’s not as automatic).
Great video, thanks! I kept trying to make myself FN because I'm a 6'3" female. FN doesn't look good on me. I think I'm SD. Much more appealing for me!
I always thought I'm a romantic or gamine because I'm super short and I look like a kid, but I found out that I actually look taller and more mature when I wear soft classic clothes 🤗
This is SO important in body typing. It took me months to figure out I'm a FG, being 5'10", since I always 'eliminated' the gamine category based on my height. Thanks to Merriam and her video on Zendaya (5'10" and FG), I had a lightbulb moment that I was also a FG! (I have a large head and short vertical line). Ladies, when you find your body type, you will KNOW.
kristin h Merriams does not stray far from the Kibbe type. What she did was clarified and change the name of the Kibbe types to help people recognize themselves in the body type. Being tall does not disqualify someone from being a flamboyant gamine. I do agree tho that in Merriam style version it’s called a mix sharp type tho.
@@DefineFive We disagree then, and most sources would agree with you, I've only found Merriam making this point. In fact, It's THE main message of this video: Tall CAN be mixed though less likely. Zendaya is 5'10" and FG as typed and well explained by Merriam in this video ua-cam.com/video/_S57FYl7gag/v-deo.html Not to mention that the true test is that FG lines look best on me (and trust me, I've tried ALL!).
kristin h Since I last check on David (the person) he seems to tell people that they can dress how they want. It seems like he stray away from his body system and is not confident in it as before. In my opinion, I don’t think he wants people to make the Kibbe system strict and restricted to specific characteristics. To do that can be a dis service to people who can’t find themselves in the Kibbe body type because they had one trait off that didn’t fit the type they are closest too. Also it’s not like saying your a romantic with dramatic bones. That’s completely different from a person with flamboyant gamine bones that happen to be tall. Being short is not the only characteristic that makes a flamboyant gamine a flamboyant gamine. If David says those words than that shows how there is exception to the rules in flamboyant gamines. He use the word “almost”. Almost means that’s not always the case. Otherwise he would have only use the word “always” not add in almost. Also that analogy you use to explained your point had miss the mark 100 percent. I’m not trying to be mean but that situation doesn’t describe what we are talking about. That is not a fair comparison. This is a fair comparison. Imagine being a blond but you have a red undertone to your hair which makes it a strawberry blond. Blondes usually have yellow 100 percent (key word usually) but you have a red undertone. That red undertone is not enough to make you a red head. You are still a blonde. When it comes to a lot of things in life like colors, our bodies, disorders/mental health, hair types, and more there are all a spectrum (one area that can bleed into the next). For example at what point does short hair starts being medium hair? At what point does red stop being red and start to be clarified as pink? For some people these questions will confuse them because they’ll focus on the obvious differences that clearly separate them. But sometimes (or a lot) that separation isn’t clear. Our bodies don’t follow the Kibbe body type. The Kibbe body type follows are body in order to describe and observe how clothes harmonized with cloths. FG have a list of characters that make them flamboyant gamines. Being short is just one of the characters but that doesn’t mean they have to be short in order for flamboyant clothes to be their best look. (Or to be the look that is their closest match). Their body just need to have most of the characteristics of FG. Anyway, if you disagree that’s fine. I’m just sharing my perspective to you and anyone else who read this. I hope I make sense.
Tasha Pie You’re right about Kibbe wanting people to feel free to dress however they’d like, but in his new system height is one of the iron-clad rules he does have. According to him, if you’re over 5’5” you absolutely can’t be any kind of romantic or gamine. When it comes to gamines, it’s because their bone structure is so narrow/sharp that adding more “verticality” would throw off their yin/yang balance (which is supposed to be nearly equal). And at 5’10”, he’d say that your body is so overwhelmingly *tall* that you could only have verticality (D), verticality and curves and sometimes width (SD), or verticality and width (FN). If you want to learn more about it, join the Strictly Kibbe facebook group. But honestly, this system is just one man’s opinion, one kind of aesthetic. It doesn’t need to apply to you or how you dress yourself.
Hey Merriam! I was watching to Marianela Nunez performing at the ROH yt channel yesterday and caught myself thinking if she was a natural... It would be lovely to see a video of yours typing all prima ballerinas, since they all look so similar: lean and muscular. luv your videos btw ❤
I love this, I am 5'10 and the bone structur test gives me equal parts sharpened and soft answers. According to Kibbe I would have to be a soft dramatic but I have short limbs, small hands and feet and look shorter in general and long, unbroken lines shrink me up. Plus I just can not do overtly sexy despite clearly being curvy. There is almost nothing that can make me look truly "inappropriate". I always thought I looked great in gamine lines. I can do a pixie cuts or short French bobs with bangs best. I look nice in a mock neck, crew neck or more structured blouse but also in frills and vintage details and my jeans and sleeves look better cuffed. If I wear them full length they shorten me. Skirts, dresses and coats look best midi length but short works too and maxi is the worst. So I suppose I'm a mixed type then!
i think a big part of why I dont look as tall as I am at 5'10" is that I have such a big head! haha, so I read as having a less dramatic vertical line.
This makes A LOT of sense! I’m Mexican (and a lot of mexican women are short). Since we’re not super tall, I couldn’t describe my friends as anything but romantic/gamine, but how can it be that we’re all gamine or romantics just because we are not super tall? In the other hand, people always think I’m taller or categorize me as a tall girl, so, I might not be a theatrical romantic after all…
Have you ever made a video comparing the classic bodytype to the gamine? That is something where I have been confused for quite some time. I keep going back and forth between thinking I'm a classic or a gamine, because I have a classic face, but then my body might be more soft gamine, even though I'm moderate hight. I find it difficult, because both are a mix between yin and yang.
I've been wondering the same thing, only I'm more the opposite I think: my head looks quite big on my shoulders and I've got a mix of bluntness and softness in my face, so in close-ups I look short and gamine. I also look good in pixies and boyish cuts. But from farther away my arms are long, hands and feet a bit big, which makes me look taller than the close-ups. Simple clothes look best on me, so I was leaning soft classic, but still unsure...
@@Em-ii7zm looks like you figured it out to me. sounds like a soft classic. the biggest difference between classic and gamine is that you can specifically pick out the yin and yang differences in a gamine, with a classic it is very hard to differentiate the yin and yang properties. classics would also look good in pixie cuts. now if you take a full body picture (from chest height) and your limbs being very long is the first thing you see, then i'd probably go with gamine. and you didn't say anything at all about your width. because you said simple clothes look best on you and you have long limbs and big extremities, that could easily place you in soft natural.
I m soft natural, 70 kg and 161 cm. Very small head, wide hips, big hands, small feet, short legs, very visually heavy and belved bones. If it looks natural to ME I ll buy it.
I love your videos🥰keep on the good work 💕 I think that the size of the head it's not the only factor that influence the vertical line 🤔 for example Tzuyu 16:51 I find her short in some pictures and tall in others 😫 I think that's the lines that you wear have an influence on the proportions of the body🤔 and that factor itself make it really confusing🤯
I'm glad you made this video. Because it answers my question. I'm a TR. 1.58 cm height. I feel too small. And my legs are short. I was thinking about a leg lengthening operation. But I was worried that it would change my body type. Because I love the TR clothing and style. I didn't want to change it.
@ensulalachance8353 wow 2 years ago I was seriously considering it. How much things change. Now I appreciate my body for more than how it looks. Or if it fits the standards of society.
very interesting , 5 ft 2" , I would say small head , but my proportion of being short in the body , rounded shoulder , soft face etc and full bust and hip, moderate waist has always given me pause of how to dress , my instinct has always been to go for something that comes just below the knee or above since in proportion my legs appear long because of my short torso . (talking about dresses , not gowns) Slender legs and arms , small wrists and ankles . I have no idea what body type / style I would be , but just instinctually go with comments of , you look good in that color or that outfit looks good on you. I have avoided designs that bisect me , perhaps if I had an obvious waist like "Dolly" (to use as an example) I might look for designs that feature it, but once again creating a single color or design top and bottom makes feel I appear taller . :D I am binge watching your videos hoping to discover my type /style and colors
What about shoulder width? Some tall people are about 8-9 'heads' tall compared to 6 or 7 (weird i know but a useful measure!). However, while tall in that sense their shoulders are way narrow making their head look big anyway especially in a head and shoulders photo. What do you make of this? I suppose the width of their skeleton and bones comes in then like that Beyonce image.
In that scenario, we always take the shoulders in proportion to the entire body, not to the head. I know what you mean about the shoulders relative to the head in a close up photo....but still, people with smaller heads sometimes can find that their neck looks thicker in proportion to their head (because their head is small), and people with larger heads find that their neck looks very thin in proportion to their head, so even from a shoulder-up close up, we can already infer their vertical line in most cases. Of course there are exceptions and things like that.
Can you make a video focusing on the different lines in clothing? Not necessarily connected to the body types. Im having some difficulty seeing the lines in some clothing and finding things for me, especially fall and winter clothes. (I'm a soft gamine) Love your videos!
THANK YOU As a purely rounded type, everyone keeps arguing I'm supposed to be soft dramatic cuz I'm 5'11" but nothing fits. Ever. And my proportions fit me! My head is so big and round I need large size hats and can't find glasses off the rack that fit. Cuz my head matches my proportions! ad in my short legs and rounded arms, small hands and feet. Hell my hands are small even for shorter people! They're a medium and I can still put on kids gloves. They're smaller than some 5'4" girls hands! To my proportions everything is soft and round and delicate. To short people, I'm a giant huge imposing woman. But stick me next to a tall man, hell even a short man who's stocky and wide and well, I'm looking delicate and soft again. Stick me next to women my height, I'm gunna be the soft short looking one. Oh and to answer your question about the heads. Yes, it's possible. My head is huge. I'm not even the biggest head possible. Usually bigger heads are also Rounded or Square heads that carry a lot of weight in the jowels, cheeks, area above the ears and opcipital bone. In a short person, having this size of head gives them a no neck appearance. Bull necked. In a tall person it gives them the illusion of being shorter. As the bigger body proportions out the giant head. An example of a celebrities who are tall with big heads are, Geena Davis, Andre the Giant, Queen Latifa, Jordan Sparks, Mandy Moore, Lisa Leslie. That last one is a Great example. She's 6'5" and it's only next to extremely tall men does her head start looking about the same size. But she Still has a bigger head than even her husband! Making her look larger still. Her head only looks smaller when she's standing my herself. Her head is proportionate to her extremely tall body.
Oh my god thank you!! Everyone told me that I’m probably a mixed type (soft gamine or gamine to be exact) but everything else on my body (except my full-ish lips) is natural. I go nuts when they say “you can’t be a natural because all of them are tall, and you are SO short at 5’1!” And yes I am but I am also native Asian and they tend to be short PLUS everything else on me is broad, blunt and elongated.
Always so interesting and informative! I have an idea for you. Would you be interested in partnering with some of the other ladies on UA-cam and doing a consult for them? I mean people like Cas at Clutterbug, Catherine at Do It On A Dime, Christina at The DIY Mommy, Dawn at The Minimal Mom and etc.? I think it would be very informative.
I really wonder how much of this is just based on the Angle ppl usually percieve you from?? Like.. we all percieve ourself a little bit from a high angle bc we are looking down at our own bodies If you're tall and ppl around you are short their focus will be on your legs and torso and your head will look smaller If you are short and other ppl are tall your head will look bigger and your legs will look short. I realized as a kid that i felt more confident if my mirror is tilted up to balance out my own perspective. All very fun stuff tbh
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this for a while. Up till now I’ve assumed that I’m Soft Dramatic, because I’m 5’9, but when you talk about hand and feet size I start to doubt. I wear size 7.5 shoe, which always seemed small compared to my friends who are close to my height, and my hands are also pretty small. My wedding ring is size 4.5. So now I don’t know.
@@mallorymontenegro3924 I know your comment is 2 years old, but might I just add: I just checked out your video on your channel and I think you are a mixed type like Emma Watson or Tzuyu from Twice. I'm not Kibbe obviously, but I also don't agree with his system and imo Merriam's system makes more sense. I think short, layered clothes with a little geometry or pattern (but not too much!) would look good on you. I think wavy hair would also look good. But that's just what I think...
Hii, I was wondering if you could do a video on how to look a bit older being a soft gamine, I am still very young (19) and I look like 14, which is not always great, like when going out and wanting to look a bit sexier and womanly or when having a job interview and wanting to look "old enough" I have seen your soft gamine video a million times and I still find the lines to be a bit confusing
Júlia Bora Coradin I’d be interested to know how a Romantic type might be able to do “sophisticated” rather than “little girl”. There are so many dresses suitable for the romantic type that I would feel good in and would love to wear, except that I come off as “little girl-y”. I don’t want to just add low necklines and come off as “sexy” either.
@@karenramnath9993 i am that type and dress more womanly instead of girly. Try more sophisticated looks so no mini skirts and frills but more classic pieces, skirts until around the knee, professional neckline (turtle, boot neck), blouses, classic colours. Ted baker, karen millen, are some brands that suit us well and look feminine and womanly. Hope this helps. I tend to avoid t shirts, jeans and sneakers since they make me look like a teenager, while im soon in my thirties
Nadia Juliette Thank you! I will look up the brands you mentioned for inspiration. I think I have seen some Ted Baker pieces on Freddy My Love’s channel. 👍🏻
I love this! I'm almost 5'7" and almost all answer D's/Theatrical Romantic. I had not even considered Romantic type outright due to height. Thought I was a Soft Natural, but the style looked plain, sloppy and drowned me.
Love this! I was wondering this too and height was tripping me up so much w Kibbe. I think I am moderately tall 5'7" (1.7 meters) with blended or round lines and a bit of sharpness in my face and limbs. I have a friend with blended lines and a proportional head despite being only about 5' (1.5 meters) tall. I wondered if she was rounded just bc she's short and curvy, but I think she is blended.
Now Im confused 🤷♀️ I lost weight in about 2 months . i was always thick around the hips and thighs so with my bones I was a romantic at 5”3 but now Im looking small after the weight loss how can I know the difference between romantic and theatrical ? I still have soft cheeks and look rounded but Im smaller than a typical romantic apparently...
It's about you're overall bone structure. A lot of thicker girls think they're romantic because they are curvier, but Rs and TRs do not have to be "heavier" to be so: just have softer flesh and delicate, rounded bones. I'm almost underweight but I know for sure I am a TR. I am not all soft and round, but the sharpness in me is subtle, like in the shoulders and in hands and feet. Look at those! If you've lost some weight it might be easier to determine if they're soft but not super soft or slightly rounded, or even sharp but still delicate and lightwight, or just fully round and soft like a real romantic would be. Remember, it's in the bones, not in the weight! Also, check if you like yourself with slightly dramatic clothes. Try something that is soft and romantic but that has a yang accent, like a "stronger" neckline. Try soft gamine lines, since TR can borrow from them (check if they're a no-no or if you think you look on the notgreatbutstillgood side) See what you like the most on yourself. In the end, the difference between those two types is not huge. Pick and choose what makes you feel better in your own skin!
I´m Gamine - and 5´8". When I see photos of me, I always recognize the Gamine. I think, the allover impression is important. (Btw, your voice is wonderful...! :-))
I have a question about perportion. Do you know what types are possible for a pear shaped face? Most of the example modles are oval or triangular with a wide forhead and narrower jawbone. I know kibbe is about lines instead of perportions, but my face shape keeps throwing me off. I need help please🥲
I just realized i'm flamboyant natural although i'm 5'4 and It is true i tried romantic lines and i just looked and felt manly and very unconfortable, as well as with light makeup and shimers, the i thought i was soft natural, but then i tried 90s supermodel makeup and heavy countour and i looked flawless, so thank you for making this video its just what i needed.
The problem with this is that I feel very confident about being a SD until you suggest that my literal height isn't necessarily a good marker for body type... so now I'm confused again 😅
In the photo of Beyonce you've chosen with JayZ, would you describe her shoulders as rounded? Or does it appear a bit sharpened in that angle/way she's posing?
Wouldn't it be different than the pictures? Like the picture is more like a close up, except relative to the person next to them? But if they really were taller, their proportions would change because they would have limbs lengthened with height, and torso? So this adds yang. Correct? I heard that Rihanna looks good in TR but she's an exception and not really a good example of TR because most people aren't able to be that rare exception. Just my thoughts.
thank you, I only identify my type with soft gamine, I'm 5"7, and everyone says I'm either flamboyant gamine then or something else, but I completely don't look like any other type, just learned I'm the exact same height as Audrey Hepburn who is classified as gamine, like wtf
thank you! have you considered Soft Dramatic for yourself? sometimes SD will also look great in clingy fits and high necklines, and even have narrow shoulders making them look quite delicate. The general difference will be that if you're SG, you will look great in cropped fits (like 3/4 sleeves and cropped pants), while SD won't get much out of those. you could also be young, and sometimes young people in general will look great in anything gamine, but once they reach over 25 or so, they start to really settle into their body type.
@@merriamstyle thank you for replying I find all your information and advice super super helpful to think about!❤️ and yes I go round and round on what type I am, I thought SD because I am angular but still soft looking and even when I was overweight I had an hourglass, but no matter what weight I am I never really store fat on my limbs, it’s mainly my torso and chest, I told myself I’m not SD because everyone says I look “cute” and I never really look womanly or full figured, I get complimented most when wearing crop tops with cropped sleeves but cropped jeans don’t look good on me, neither do skinny jeans, I can’t find the right pants at all for me because I don’t know my body type 🤷🏼♀️😂 also my head can appear small then big in photos so that also makes it hard to determine
All the systems, trying to put people in boxes are going to fail, because it’s not a perfect, precise, and measurable science. If it were, you would be able to put your measurements in a table and get a result calculated. So, it’s all opinions and in the end it comes up to one thing: what do YOU FEEL your best in. I gave the kibby test to several people in my family to fill in for me and the results were all different. I honestly just fail to “find” my body type, and there is probably just none capturing my characteristics precisely 😅
13:48 you’re completely right. ive seen real live 5’7 and up women who look light like a romantic, yes they are tall but the romantic lines still fit them. (i am 5’2 or something so i Can really *see* tallness, like a tall person can see shortness)
One thing I would love to learn more about (and I think you could explain very well) what "head to toe looks" really means, that is recommended for Classics (which I think I am though not sure)
Thank you so much, this has cleared it all up. I'm 100% sure I'm some sort of soft type but I wasn't sure which one. Soft natural, soft dramatic or theatrical romantic, and that's because I do see a lot of roundness to myself, a bit of sharpness but mostly round. But I feel big and bulky because I'm 5"11. I don't look like I have a long vertical line in photos, now I can go back and look again with this information and hopefully figure it out ❤️❤️
I am 5'9" and everyone always notices my height, first thing, but I am *by far* the shortest person in my family (my "little" sister is 6'0" and the men in my family hover around 6'6" to 6'8") - and I am proportioned, accordingly. All my features are short and full and rounded with a wasp waist, even whether Ibam over- or underweight. It has been difficult to reconcile how much I thrive on dainty stylistic features with often feeling like I loom over my peers - especially in India, where average heights are lower. I am like the world's daintiest little giantess!
Hello 🙂 Quick question. I’m 5’10” and I prefer pant inseams to be 30”, I think 32” inseams make me look shorter because they’re too long. Is it the other way around or am I correct?
usually if you're too young to determine your type, you are going to find you're some type of gamine when you're younger, and then mature into any of the other types or stay gamine. if you're already romantic or soft natural, I'd say you're just fine figuring out your type now. In any case, even if it changes, you do have a type right now. Everyone has a type. It's just if you're younger it might change. if you're 17 and gamine, it can be more likely to change, but if you're 17 and romantic or sn, then it's less likely to change.
The case that you are trying to make here makes sense for short dramatics. Not for tall romantics. It defies the laws of nature. If you think you are curvy and tall, you are probably soft dramatic. or maybe a soft natural. One can never be a tall romantic. Romantic= yin= short.
Thank you, this has bothered me so much with Kibbe, his height descriptions do not make sense where I live because most people are 5'5 and waaaay over. But we cannot all simply be Dramatics and Naturals just because our population is taller than elswhere :D
This! I am senegalese. Most senegalese are tall. I am 5'7 and that's average to short for most senegalese women.
I was on a kibbie reddit form. I said I was 5'7 and a TR and they me argued up and down that I am SD dispite the fact that I look petite until I stand next to someone who's short. My flesh and bone structure is small and delicate in proportion to me. The only thing that's elongated about is is my torso and my high cheek bones. Everything else is small and rounded. My eyes, nose, lips and chin, jawline and overall face is small and rounded. I have small slopped shoulders. I have a curvy body. My legs and arms are short. I have small hands and feel. Everything is yin. Yet they want to argue that I'm SD. Soft Framatic people have large bones and they aren't delicate at all. They just have softness in their flesh.
I've tried soft dramatic many times. The lines overpower me.
yeah! I'm a Soft Natural (typed by merriam) but I'm Taller than what Kibbe says a soft natural is but I'm too feminine and fleshy to be a flamboyant natural
So great 🥰 Im 5'6 and never thought I could be gamine for that reason. But I don't fit in anywhere else. I've tried classic but it looks wrong, and I swear I've never come across as classic 🤣 always Heard cute, doll-like, young etc. And I'm so confused by people who say GAMINES CAN NOT BE TALLER THAN 5'4. Oh and here is our perfect gamine Audrey at 5'7 ❤️ what??
A lot of people also think gamines have no waist and then again they show up with Audrey and Winona as examples 🙄🙄
this is why south korea is crazy obsessed with head sizes! over there people say you have a small head as a compliment. It's a normal compliment over there, that non-koreans living in korea found weird and a culture shock. Whenever people take photos, korean women often pose by covering part of their faces usually a peace sign around their jaws or cup their cheeks because they think it will make their faces look smaller.
I think it's the same in china and japan too but Korea is the most obsessed with it. They really care about having good proportions!
The general public, meaning the average joe and jane in South Korea ALL know the normal head to body ratio is 7 1/2 heads. If you're more than 7 heads, they would praise you lol.
www.koreaboo.com/stories/attractive-enough-pass-koreas-8-stacked-heads-test/
Yup it's the same in Japan! When I was there people told me I had a small head and small face as a compliment lol. I'm (most likely) a SD.
I don’t think they care more about proportions then we do, as they’re more likely to have so called bad proportions. It’s very common to have a larger head and long torso, with relatively short arms and limbs. Most “western” people have longer legs and average to small heads in comparison.
If you ever buy clothes in East Asia, especially fitted tops, you find the seams don’t line up well even if the size is right. I think it’s why they often take their social media photos angled up from the ground. Also being very thin helps increase that vertical line and can help explain why they want very straight legs and even get injections to minimize muscles in the calves.
@@ABC-jq7ve Honestly other people also like proportions that makes you look tall. East asians are just aware of what makes a proportions and they're blunt about their preference. But globally, people want to look tall and want the proportions of a tall person.
New filming location looks great. And your hair pulled back really suits you!
aw thank you!
You look so beautiful,especially in this video!
“Body Geometry is all about how you look within your own body, not in comparison to others” YES! This is why I like your system better than Kibbe. This ACTUALLY makes sense. No one can ever agree at what height the prominent vertical line starts and it’s because they are comparing it to themselves just like Kibbe does, and yet they place such an importance on a factor that no one can agree on!
I agree with this completely
100% agree! I am 'tall' by Kibbe standards (5'7.5) but if you look at me I don't look that tall. I am definitely a soft classic! Height limits be damned. I dont all of a sudden gain completely different lines because I have an extra inch or two of height.
Actually, Kylie is 5’6”. You were probably thinking of Kendall, who is 5’10”.
I think ppl are taking the height granted because it is relatively easy to categorize. Unlike for example a shoulder; is it tapered, sloped, rounded?!?
Bogi Barany YES Shoulders are so hard to categorize🤔
True, but even Kibbe himself states that height is crucial. I think the problem is that in Kibbe's system, the length of the lines is emphasized as much as the shape of the bones, and it seems very logical that if you have consistently long lines to your body, then you have long bones, and since most bones will add height to the body, then you're going to be tall. And that's another reason why it usually is the case that Dramatics are tall, Romantics are not etc. So I think it's good that Merriam's labeling is all about shapes and not length vs. shortness, and then you additionally learn that sharp bones have a tendency to also be long, and rounded ones have a tendency to also be short. When you just see the word "Dramatic", and then it talks about sharpness and length, you get the impression that they're equal factors, whereas when you see "Sharpened", it's obvious what the most important quality is.
@@milica8979 exactly! What I don't understand is why D Kibbe says that height is super crucial but at the same time in the test he talks about how tall you LOOK, he asks about the vertical line as an illusion and not as a number in ft.
I'm 5'7 but I look shorter and I thought i was a SC because I'm too tall for the R family. Yesterday I tried some C outfits, round high neckline cardigan tucked in my pant for waist def, all black, it made my vertically stand out and I looked more my heigh but it made me look heavy, dull and rounded in a sloppy awkward kind of way while the R outfits, open neck lines, free shoulders, softer fabrics and shorter jeans or skirts probably made me look more petite but way more light and fresh.
It helped me a lot to understand that it's about my own proportions and my proportions only 😅 and not really about the numbers and measurements
Also, height can hardly be a factor because different ethnic groups have different average heights. A Danish girl might be tall in Romania (av for women is 157 cm - 5 ft 2 in) but not so tall in her home country (av for women in Denmark is 167.2 cm - 5 ft 6 in).
Exactly, and 167cm in Asian ethnic group in absolutely talllllll, yet in the UK it is normal 😄
Yes ^ . My height is 1.69cm (5'7) and I feel very short.
yes Im 5.10 and was never the tallest girl here in the north and noone consi ders kibbes 5.7 tall here I guess
thats just normal
I always wondered ehy he thought its already tall enough to feel more dramatic?
Merriam I must have watched your videos 20 times, especially this one and the Soft Dramatic/TheatricaL romantic ones before I finally got it. I’m short. I’m yang dominant. I have sharp lines and lots of curves. Even though I have a bobble head and a short vertical line, I’m still soft dramatic. I would get to the end of your videos and say BUT GAMINE LOOKS SILLY ON ME I CANT BE GAMINE, not even considering that I could be soft dramatic because “I’m not tall” (I’m 5’4) and “everyone knows I’m short”. Oh Em Gee. Like you said, once I typed myself soft dramatic, everything fell instantly into place. These are my lines. Everything is awesome. Thank you so much!!!
The same thing happened for me, but in opposite! I’m 5’7” and have some sharpness/drama (especially in my facial features), but overall my appearance is a mix of delicate and fleshy. Because of my height I kept trying SD because I “can’t be one of the shorter types” 🤦🏻♀️but I tried those clothes and they overpower me! My bone structure is delicate and rounded. After watching that video, I tried theatrical romantic clothing, and BAM! everything clicked!
This video is very helpful. I’m a 5’8 theatrical romantic and every time I test this way I feel so confused since the celebrity examples of theatrical romantics are shorter than 5’6.
Same I keep being told by supposed kibbe experts that I can't be theatrical romantic despite testing primarily in that category. Bc im 5'6" like what happened to "usually" 5'5 and under some like us MUST be the exception! Also if the theatrical romantic style looks great on you wear it!
This is the best video on this subject! Watching other videos and especially reading people's comments, I noticed a lot of them are obsessed with height, and sometimes they are so damn obsessed with this single factor that they can't see that some lines don't look good on some people.
Lmao I also type random strangers when I see they look really good just to see if the body system works. I find that the best hint for what type you are is what clothing looks good on you. It's like the ultimate test. So I analyse the clothes first and then I look at the person to see if she/he matches them.
I love that we’re all anonymously fashion-creeping on each other in public trying to figure this all out!
Kibbe says your image ID has no relevance to personal style and that anyone can wear any other types “lines” as they complement your own yin and yang balance which is different for everyone. If you join his group on fb called Strictly Kibbe, David actually posts on there and gave us exercises to do to help us figure out our own yin and yang balance which will help us dress and feel our best. He no longer uses the test he created back in 1988 and he no longer uses natural, classic, or gamine to type people so a lot of information on this channel is outdated.
Susan Dubcek Lol, that’s a funny way of putting it, but so, so true!
Yesss! This is the biggest reason I first assumed I was a mixed type, but those lines did not look good on me. I’m 5’2” and look a lot taller. Finally figured out I’m a beveled type with a touch of softness thanks to you Merriam! :)
Also, although Kibbe himself said there is "no tall gamin" 5.4 feet " is the top range of gamine", there are a tone of opposite examples of that, e.g.,Twiggy, his muse Audrey Hepburn (she is at least 5.7),thw height is definitely not the crucial criteria! ❤️
This was such a comprehensive video!
I'm 5'2" but from my pictures my friends (who'd never seen me irl before) guessed my height at around:
5'7" from a picture taken from the waist up
5'5" from a full body picture
I also have super long arms compared to the rest of my body, and it's been that way since I was a kid. I used to get dress-coded a lot in school because standard short lengths didn't follow the stupid "your shorts must go past the tips of your fingers when you're standing with your arms at your side" rule, (unless the shorts were bermuda shorts) because of how long my arms are.
Funnily enough, I have the same length arms as my mom, who's 5'7" and a rounded body type. I've figured out that I'm a soft mixed type rather than a blended type as I had previously thought, and my arms (super long and sharp) and shoulders (which are teeny tiny and rounded) are now my favorite example of mixed lines on my body. :)
aw thank you for sharing Rebekah, and also such a sweet example of how we can all learn to love our unique body types.
@@merriamstyle Thank you!
Same with me.
My daughter (beautifully balanced, in proportion type) says I have the longest arms and hands she has ever seen(true story). We say I have orangutan arms. And my head always looks twice the size of everyone else's in photos. Sometimes I look like a pear with short fat legs. My legs are not fat or particularly short. I thought I must be mixed but I look awful in mixed clothes and I look better in TR!
@@FriedToiletDuckRice I am, and I don't have anything to measure my total wingspan, but my wrist to shoulder measurement is approx. 22" (assuming I'm measuring correctly lol)
I've allways wondered why you never explained vertical line as the amount of heads one person has, like taking the head as a unit of measure for the body, I used to do art, and thats the way to capture the proportions of the model for drawing, the video idea is an inyerestig way too, it shows more than just the measure
that's a good idea, maybe I'll explore explaining it that way in the future....I tried it briefly a long time ago, but what happened was that the angle of the photo would make the number of heads be slightly different/variable even within one person, even though you could still tell they looked tall/short, and between that and it not always being a full head size of a difference, it was difficult to show the effect in that way.
I am 5“9 and a balanced type with some sharp features. I also have some curves. But I look best in balanced looks with some elements of sharpeness
The Rachel McAdams edited pictures was a brilliant way to explain it! I'm a pure romantic type but I am tall (5'9") but the thing is that my head is huge so I actually look better in pure romantic lines than in theatrical romantic lines. That's in kibble's system of course in yours I'm a 100% round type. Love you videos Miriam ❤️ video idea: hair and makeup for the body types
@@DefineFive no I'm not bc the lines of SD don't look good on me at all, it looks like the clothing is eating me alive or like I'm a kid trying my mother clothes. The only thing about my bone structure that it's dramatic is my height and my long legs everything else about my bones and my flesh is romantic. Also even in the kibbe test the question about height is "how tall you look" I look way shorter than I am. So idk what to tell you there is no way I'm a SD if the clothing for SD looks bad on me.
@@DefineFive but I followed kibbes recommendations for SD of his book metamorphosis not Merriam's, how can I be a SD in kibble's system if the clothing recommendations for SD that kibbe wrote in his book look bad on me? How is the Kibbe body type system useful for me if it's not going to help me dress better? Why would you write a book with recommentions for body types of those recommentions don't look good on those body types? I discovered the Kibbe body type system way before I discovered Merriam so I didn't type myself as a romantic based on her interpretation of Kibbe bc I didn't know it when I typed myself (you are making A LOT of assumptions about me without knowing anything me btw) I did it by following kibble's recommendations for SD and Romantics and seeing which one look better on me bc I was between the two types. I know Kibbe says tall women can only be D, SD, FN but again I don't look good dressing how he recommends SD to dress and I don't look like the women he types as SD so I don't really care if in theory/in his abstract ideas I'm a SD bc if I look like what Kibbe calls a romantic and look better dressing like Kibbe recommends a romantic then in reality/in practice/in the material world we live in I'm a romantic in kibble's system. Am I supposed to call myself a SD but then dress like/look like/have the essence of a romantic? What's the point of being typed as a SD then? What's the point of calling myself after something and then having all the characteristics of a different thing? For what? Sounds like complete waste of my time to do that so I'm simply no going to.
@@DefineFive But the Kibbe system does satisfy me tho, all recommendations Kibbe has for romantics work for me. I'm quite happy with the Kibbe system. His rule about the height it's the only thing that doesn't make sense for me but everything else does. His system has helped dress better for years. I don't reject it, I'm saying that despite having that Yang in me when I try to add Yang elements to my look I just don't look good with them on. What do you want me to do about that? I don't reject my Yang it just seems like in my case it's not noticeable when I dress. That's why I say I'm 5'9'' **but** (that but indicates that what about to say it's conflicting with my height) I'm a romantic bc I'm that. It's describes me perfectly, stylists familiar with the Kibbe system understand what I mean when I say that to them so I'm gonna keep saying that. I'm aware that I'm not supposed to exist in his system but I do. Call me the exception to the rule idk. If I reject one single rule about height that means I have to reject the entire system? Why? It's useful for me and it works for me.
Look, at this point this conversation it's kind of redundant, I barely talk about the Kibbe system irl or on the internet (I only talk about it with two different stylists who are already familiar with me) so don't worry about me confusing people, but I'm not going to say I'm a SD in Kibble's system if nothing of what he tells SD to wear looks good on me and the descriptions and the essence don't fit me either, that it's just silly. If everything he wrote in the section dedicated to romantics in his book works for me then that's what I'm gonna use and that part of the book working for me makes me, in practice, a romantic, why does it work for me despite being 5'9"? Idk, but that's kibble's business not mine.
@@FriedToiletDuckRice I know it's not your fault that I'm tired bc you only gave a simple response to my comments but I already discussed this in length with kristin k and that long pointless discussion it's why I'm annoyed at this point. So I'm gonna give you a very blunt response, pls know that me being this defensive it's not your fault and I'm aware you did nothing to deserve this response I'm just in a bad mood rn so pls forgive me but:
I know romantics have to be short, I know tall women can't be romantics in Kibble's system I discovered kibble's system *8 years ago* and I have been using it ever since. Trust me *I know* . I know being tall and having long legs add Yang to your Ying and Yang balance and romantics have to be 100% ying but every single time I try to add Yang to my outfits or looks I look awkward and bad. I can't even wear pants recommended for mainly Yang types without looking weird despite the fact that my legs are a Yang feature in kibble's system. So what am I supposed to do? Just ignored that and dress in a way that makes look bad bc a theory told me so? That's just stupid. I look my best in the clothing he recommends romantics to wear. Idk why but if I look better in that I'm gonna wear that, if I look my best dressing as a 100% ying person then in practice I'm a 100% ying person even if in theory tall 100% ying people don't exist.
I'm going to call myself a tall romantic bc I exist as a tall romantic in real life, that's my reality that I live in not yours and not Kibble's but mine, and y'all are just gonna have to deal. It's a system created for people to figure out what looks the best on them, it ain't that deep. So please you and @kristin h please leave alone. If you have any further objections read my other responses bc I tired of this conversation.
@@DefineFive girl, you don't know me or how I look in real life so pls stop making assumptions about me, it's very rude and that's what's truly upsetting me that you are not listening to me, you are just projecting what you think I look like and talking over me.
I. Don't. Look. Large. AT. ALL. Despite. Being. Tall. *I already told you that* Because my bones are very small and delicate and my head it's very big even my arms are short for my body, the only thing long about me in comparison to the rest of my body is my legs my vertical line doesn't look long either bc of the size of my head. I said that in my first comment but *you are not listening to me* That's why large=yang doesn't apply to me bc I look small despite not being small. That's why I look good dressing as if I was small bc that's *how I look* even in person when you can see how tall I really am I look better dress like that bc I still seem light weight and delicate.
And I actually think kibble's description of the types fits me better than Merriam's bc I'm a bit thin so I look more small and delicate than rounded but of course there is no way you would know what description fits me better bc You. Don't. Know. Me. even though you love talk to me as if you do. I'm sorry for being passive aggressive but I needed to get that off my chest bc I find the way you talked to me during this conversation while ignoring my comments about *my own body* and assuming what I look like and what my ideas of the kibble's system are extremely rude, condescending and disrespectful. But thank you for leaving alone me already that's all I wanted bc I truly didn't enjoy talking to you. Have a nice day too.
I’m 5’3” and I found out I had a long vertical line after posting photos on the Kibbe subreddit. Felt like a mutant after finding out 😂
I remember being on that subreddit looking for non celebrity/new examples to grasp kibbe better. I saw a photo of a girl who looked tall and fit soft dramatic perfectly. She said she was 5'3, and people were trying to type her as gamine/soft gamine solely due the number. That's it. Looked soft dramatic but JUST because of the number it means she's "too short" and is automatically another type? It's literally what made me begin to disregard measured height and only look at proportions. idk if that was you or not but it was super helpful.
We have an r/MerriamStyle subreddit too!
Thank you! I tried to bring this to a discussion but it didnt go well. Using science of perspective and relationships and geometry to enhance the existing theories is super smart, valid and important.
My sister is a dramatic (sharp)and she's only 5'3. Her face and head are smaller and she has long arms and neck. She does not look short and is consistently thought taller. She has a ballerina type body.
I'm 5'2 and I'm a classic (blended)
Thank you for this Merriam! This has always bugged me about the (extremely!) rigid height categories of Kibbe - what is 'tall' and what is 'short' is not only dependent on your personal proportions, but also on your ethnicity and where you're from. 5'6" simply is not tall where I'm from; I'm generally one of the shortest women in the room. But somehow I'm too tall to be [insert type].
This seems like a far more sensible approach in Body Geometry :)
Thats super weird cause no country in the world has women listed as taller than 5'6" except for Montenegro at 5'6.5". So either you are from Montenegro and obsessing about 0.5", or you are merely average height for your country at best. You are not "short" anywhere in the entire literal world. Try and learn to love your height rather than blame Kibbe for everything
@@tomjones2157 ....average height of European women is 5'5-6"....... the dutch are even taller. but i have to agree 5'6" really isn't tall. and kibbes ridiculous need to hold tight to these "height" regulations while simultaneously pushing that it is about the overall look of the person (not compared to others) and their essence. she isn't blaming him for anything. he is simply trying to make everything seem so much more complicated and complex than it really is so that it appears that he is the only one who can understand the image identities when he is not even the one who came up with the idea. there were a minimum of 2 women before him who laid out the image identity process and the Yin Yang methodology dates back centuries in east asia. probably other parts of asia too, i just don't know about other parts of asia. I believe that several you tubers, including merriam, have done better work stemming from Belle Northrup, Harriet McJimsey, and David Kibbe than Kibbe has done stemming from those other two women. He started out really well with Metamorphisis, but he has skewed it so badly here in modern day that it is hard to take him any more seriously than just watching someone scramble terribly trying to monopolize a corner of the "image identity" market so that he can make all the money.
I think it's appropriate that the first kpop celebrity that is referenced on your channel is about head sizes and proportions. Westerners who read Korean translated celebrity gossip are consistently perplexed by the compliment of "having a small head, " and I admit I didn't understand it either until I found kibbe. I think Koreans and East Asians in general may be more sensitive to the idea of head size since they, on average, are shorter than their European counterparts, thus making it far more likely for them to have bigger heads in proportion to their body.
South Koreans specifically have bigger head compared to other asians, but they're also arguably the tallest asians. They're the tallest asians but they don't look like their height because they tend to have big heads.
Japanese are the shortest east asians and Southeast asians are the shortest out of all asians but they don't fuss about head sizes as much as Koreans.
Koreans tend to naturally have prominent jaws and square shape faces compared to other asians. It explains why they do a lot of jaw shaving surgeries and it's why they're obsessed with having the "egg"/oval shape face. They also tend to have more monolid eyes, which gives an illusion of them having a bigger faces because monolid eyes look small thus give more empty space to the face and making the face look bigger. This is how I sometimes distinguished east asians, (not all but) Koreans tend to have square shaped faces and if they're tall, 90% of the time they're Korean.
@@NaNa-wy2tk Nope. Both South Koreans and Japanese are the exact same 5'2" on average. Since we're looking so is most of China at 5'2", although Beijing Chinese are much taller 5'4"
@@tomjones2157 maybe 20yrs ago but South Koreans on average are a good 2 inch taller than Japanese and that gap is only getting bigger with Koreans reportedly having the biggest growth spurt. For most sources, Koreans are always taller than Japanese. If you go to South Korea and Japan to see it yourself, you'll also notice the difference.
Maybe Northern china, but not Southern china.
I am rewatching your video now, I agree with what your thinking about the height here, it is the overall line that counts, not the centimeters ❤️
This just shows how it's all about how things seem, rather than what they are. Only the proportions inside of your body matter rather than exact numbers. I remember thinking I am too small for a SD or SN, when I am 5'7", just bc of what people write on forums, but by finding your channel I concluded I was an SD all along. I think trying on clothes helps the most.
I'm 5'9" (177cm), but my body and face is totally Classic/Soft Classic (and in fact I'm looking good only in "boring" clothes :D ) with quite a big waistline. I have identical body as my mother who is 5'5". On photos I don't look very tall. However I was confused, because so tall women can be only flamboyant natural, dramatic or soft dramatic, but i look terrible in clothes assigned to them. Thanks for this video! Dispelled my doubts :) if I'm wrong, let me know.
... and I love Your voice!
Thank you so much for making this video!
I watched bodytype videos a year ago already, but I was never sure, what my bodytype is, because I am pretty tall (179 cm/ 5.83 ft) , but none of the 3 tall types did describe my body and face, just my height, and that confused me. I am neither elongated and have a straight body like dramatics, I don't have wide shounders like flamboyant naturals, nor have curves like soft dramatics, etc.
Because of this video, I took another bodytype test, with pictures, where height was not a question, just how tall you look like. I am very close to dramatic classic because my face is very classic, very even proportioned (my body mostly also), and oval. But I got more B answers then C. I got equally C-s and D/E-s. So it came out, I am a soft natural! Then I watched your video about soft natural, I discovered, that these are exactly the type of clothes, and hairstyle, that suit me. So that confirmed everything, I am just a taller soft natural.
That's why I suggest everyone reading this, don't look at your actual height, but check, what type of clothes suit you the best! And then take the test again.
Well said, I totally agree, height (vertical line) doesn't determine one's whole body.
This is so fascinating and helpful. I am 6' tall but when I tell people my height, people say "really?" and then they say they didn't think I was that tall. Now I know it is because I have a big head lol.
Kamala Love According to Kibbe this is impossible though!🙄 I’m 5’5 and this happens to me all the time too. People will make jokes about how short I am when we are the exact same height! So I know it can happen!
Jessie Rasberry lol omg I am more confused than ever. 😂
@@jessierasberry3082 kibbe makes mistakes too
@@JW-uq9yt Couldn’t agree more!
lmao I love that you kept the heat moment in the video instead of editing it out that was funny
my heat is so loud! :p
You are heaven sent! I watched a bunch of your videos in a row and what you are saying makes so much sense.
I kept thinking I was theatrical romantic. Mostly because I am short, 5 ft 0...and somewhat hourglass. I started dressing that way and I just looked wider and shorter. I showed my mom examples of kibbe's body types and she quickly pegged me as Soft Dramatic. It all makes sense now. I was being too literal with the height. I do look taller than I am. Most people are surprised when I tell them I'm only 5 ft. Soft Dramatic is the most flattering style on me... clothing, makeup, etc.
I'm 5'9 (1.75m) tall and most people think that I look much taller than my actual height (6ft.) because my head size is literally small than my actual height and I'm quite elongated which may put me in Dramatic family but D silhouette makes me look squarer because of tailored clothes and I also don't look good on big and relaxed silhouette like for FN, but SD lines works better for me (long dresses with drapings, waist emphasis etc.) even though I don't have curves to accomodate.
I get your point merriam however i think actual height is the main point to take into consideration besides the head size thing I mean a tall person with a big head would still look obviously tall, only when compared to someone of about the same height but with a smaller head , you would start to see that the latter looks just quite taller , I'm a 5'1 soft gamine but with a small head and that doesn't change the fact that I look short because of my actual height I mean no matter what size marlyin monroe's head is, her actual height is still not that dramatic for example! I mean the head size thing is just an additional factor to real height but not the main point so your real height would make you fall into certain types but not your head size + love your videos
she explained perfectly why actual height does not matter. because we are not comparing ourselves to others. it is what we LOOK like standing by ourselves. You will either look short or tall or moderate. She clearly stated that these are general guidelines and that there are always exceptions. I am 5" and am likely a natural. People often assume I am 5'5-7". I do not look short no matter what angle you put a camera on me or in real life. My head is neither big or small, so I look moderate. The real height does not matter at all. And she explained it exceptionally well, if you can't understand it, then I am very sorry for you.
@@bethanyday3471 hi, real height actually matters because that’s what people see when you are out there with them dressed that’s the whole point of the system to find lines that work for you to dress better in real life not just photos and I think photos can be very misleading especially when we are standing alone in them even we can look so much different with just a posture or an angle that’s my point and merriam agrees with it, hope you get it
This is by far the best explanation on this issue. I've been thinking the same thing. It makes no sense that tall people have just two types of skeletal structures, and short people just two or three.
In school I had a friend who was really tall. She instinctively wore gamine lines and her head was quite big. Her legs were long, but not her arms, really. I bet her vertical line was not that long, and maybe she would be pointed out to be a mixed type -from a photo. I cannot imagine her in dramatic or natural lines. It would be a disaster. I was shorter than her, yet look much taller in pictures, with my small head size and narrow and long bone structure.
Every clothing shop should have access to this video, and body style basics.
I think you're right it's all about the overall appearance and the proportion within one body.
That's why I think Taylor swift isn't a mixed type but a sharpened type with some mixed features but dominant sharpened type (I don't know if I'm clear enough).
What do you think about persons having different proportions for arms and for legs and different proportions for hands and for feet?
At first when you show the Beyonce edited pictures I thought she look smaller when you made her head smaller but the rest of examples actually look taller with their head being smaller. Idk why I don't see Beyonce the same, maybe is her pose
I guess it's all about perspective. I personally thought her bones looked super small and delicate when her head was larger
I thought I was the only one ;3
I think it might be because they fill more of the image space with the enlarged head. You take in the image as a picture, what’s in the square, and it’s hard to see the figures proportions (or it’s not as automatic).
Great video, thanks! I kept trying to make myself FN because I'm a 6'3" female. FN doesn't look good on me. I think I'm SD. Much more appealing for me!
Ugh I love your videos. Thank you for your great and gentle explanations!
I always thought I'm a romantic or gamine because I'm super short and I look like a kid, but I found out that I actually look taller and more mature when I wear soft classic clothes 🤗
This is SO important in body typing. It took me months to figure out I'm a FG, being 5'10", since I always 'eliminated' the gamine category based on my height. Thanks to Merriam and her video on Zendaya (5'10" and FG), I had a lightbulb moment that I was also a FG! (I have a large head and short vertical line). Ladies, when you find your body type, you will KNOW.
kristin h Merriams does not stray far from the Kibbe type. What she did was clarified and change the name of the Kibbe types to help people recognize themselves in the body type. Being tall does not disqualify someone from being a flamboyant gamine. I do agree tho that in Merriam style version it’s called a mix sharp type tho.
@@DefineFive We disagree then, and most sources would agree with you, I've only found Merriam making this point. In fact, It's THE main message of this video: Tall CAN be mixed though less likely. Zendaya is 5'10" and FG as typed and well explained by Merriam in this video ua-cam.com/video/_S57FYl7gag/v-deo.html
Not to mention that the true test is that FG lines look best on me (and trust me, I've tried ALL!).
@@LavishTashaPie Thanks. She still typed Zendaya as FG and she is 5'10": ua-cam.com/video/_S57FYl7gag/v-deo.html
kristin h Since I last check on David (the person) he seems to tell people that they can dress how they want. It seems like he stray away from his body system and is not confident in it as before. In my opinion, I don’t think he wants people to make the Kibbe system strict and restricted to specific characteristics. To do that can be a dis service to people who can’t find themselves in the Kibbe body type because they had one trait off that didn’t fit the type they are closest too.
Also it’s not like saying your a romantic with dramatic bones. That’s completely different from a person with flamboyant gamine bones that happen to be tall. Being short is not the only characteristic that makes a flamboyant gamine a flamboyant gamine.
If David says those words than that shows how there is exception to the rules in flamboyant gamines. He use the word “almost”. Almost means that’s not always the case. Otherwise he would have only use the word “always” not add in almost.
Also that analogy you use to explained your point had miss the mark 100 percent. I’m not trying to be mean but that situation doesn’t describe what we are talking about. That is not a fair comparison. This is a fair comparison. Imagine being a blond but you have a red undertone to your hair which makes it a strawberry blond. Blondes usually have yellow 100 percent (key word usually) but you have a red undertone. That red undertone is not enough to make you a red head. You are still a blonde.
When it comes to a lot of things in life like colors, our bodies, disorders/mental health, hair types, and more there are all a spectrum (one area that can bleed into the next). For example at what point does short hair starts being medium hair? At what point does red stop being red and start to be clarified as pink? For some people these questions will confuse them because they’ll focus on the obvious differences that clearly separate them. But sometimes (or a lot) that separation isn’t clear. Our bodies don’t follow the Kibbe body type. The Kibbe body type follows are body in order to describe and observe how clothes harmonized with cloths.
FG have a list of characters that make them flamboyant gamines. Being short is just one of the characters but that doesn’t mean they have to be short in order for flamboyant clothes to be their best look. (Or to be the look that is their closest match). Their body just need to have most of the characteristics of FG.
Anyway, if you disagree that’s fine. I’m just sharing my perspective to you and anyone else who read this. I hope I make sense.
Tasha Pie You’re right about Kibbe wanting people to feel free to dress however they’d like, but in his new system height is one of the iron-clad rules he does have. According to him, if you’re over 5’5” you absolutely can’t be any kind of romantic or gamine. When it comes to gamines, it’s because their bone structure is so narrow/sharp that adding more “verticality” would throw off their yin/yang balance (which is supposed to be nearly equal). And at 5’10”, he’d say that your body is so overwhelmingly *tall* that you could only have verticality (D), verticality and curves and sometimes width (SD), or verticality and width (FN). If you want to learn more about it, join the Strictly Kibbe facebook group. But honestly, this system is just one man’s opinion, one kind of aesthetic. It doesn’t need to apply to you or how you dress yourself.
Love the new video setup 😍 also you look stunning!!!
thank you for the video 🙏 absolutly agree 👌
Hey Merriam! I was watching to Marianela Nunez performing at the ROH yt channel yesterday and caught myself thinking if she was a natural... It would be lovely to see a video of yours typing all prima ballerinas, since they all look so similar: lean and muscular. luv your videos btw ❤
I love this, I am 5'10 and the bone structur test gives me equal parts sharpened and soft answers. According to Kibbe I would have to be a soft dramatic but I have short limbs, small hands and feet and look shorter in general and long, unbroken lines shrink me up. Plus I just can not do overtly sexy despite clearly being curvy. There is almost nothing that can make me look truly "inappropriate". I always thought I looked great in gamine lines. I can do a pixie cuts or short French bobs with bangs best. I look nice in a mock neck, crew neck or more structured blouse but also in frills and vintage details and my jeans and sleeves look better cuffed. If I wear them full length they shorten me. Skirts, dresses and coats look best midi length but short works too and maxi is the worst. So I suppose I'm a mixed type then!
Hi! Does broad and narrow shoulder affect the vertical line? With broad shoulders the head looks smaller.
Love your videos :D
Ahhhh I've been looking for something like this for so long! Not watched all the way through yet but thank you in advance from this tall SG. :)
i think a big part of why I dont look as tall as I am at 5'10" is that I have such a big head! haha, so I read as having a less dramatic vertical line.
This makes A LOT of sense! I’m Mexican (and a lot of mexican women are short). Since we’re not super tall, I couldn’t describe my friends as anything but romantic/gamine, but how can it be that we’re all gamine or romantics just because we are not super tall?
In the other hand, people always think I’m taller or categorize me as a tall girl, so, I might not be a theatrical romantic after all…
Have you ever made a video comparing the classic bodytype to the gamine? That is something where I have been confused for quite some time. I keep going back and forth between thinking I'm a classic or a gamine, because I have a classic face, but then my body might be more soft gamine, even though I'm moderate hight. I find it difficult, because both are a mix between yin and yang.
I've been wondering the same thing, only I'm more the opposite I think: my head looks quite big on my shoulders and I've got a mix of bluntness and softness in my face, so in close-ups I look short and gamine. I also look good in pixies and boyish cuts. But from farther away my arms are long, hands and feet a bit big, which makes me look taller than the close-ups. Simple clothes look best on me, so I was leaning soft classic, but still unsure...
@@Em-ii7zm looks like you figured it out to me. sounds like a soft classic. the biggest difference between classic and gamine is that you can specifically pick out the yin and yang differences in a gamine, with a classic it is very hard to differentiate the yin and yang properties. classics would also look good in pixie cuts. now if you take a full body picture (from chest height) and your limbs being very long is the first thing you see, then i'd probably go with gamine. and you didn't say anything at all about your width. because you said simple clothes look best on you and you have long limbs and big extremities, that could easily place you in soft natural.
not sure if you watch Aly Art but she has video comparing all of the types to all the other types.
I m soft natural, 70 kg and 161 cm.
Very small head, wide hips, big hands, small feet, short legs, very visually heavy and belved bones.
If it looks natural to ME I ll buy it.
I love your videos🥰keep on the good work 💕
I think that the size of the head it's not the only factor that influence the vertical line 🤔 for example Tzuyu 16:51 I find her short in some pictures and tall in others 😫 I think that's the lines that you wear have an influence on the proportions of the body🤔 and that factor itself make it really confusing🤯
You are amazing!!
I think I kind of get it 👌🏼
I'm glad you made this video. Because it answers my question.
I'm a TR. 1.58 cm height.
I feel too small. And my legs are short.
I was thinking about a leg lengthening operation. But I was worried that it would change my body type. Because I love the TR clothing and style.
I didn't want to change it.
As a person with chronic pain in their legs, please dont get this
@ensulalachance8353 wow 2 years ago I was seriously considering it. How much things change. Now I appreciate my body for more than how it looks. Or if it fits the standards of society.
very interested in hats and face bone structure;)
very interesting , 5 ft 2" , I would say small head , but my proportion of being short in the body , rounded shoulder , soft face etc and full bust and hip, moderate waist has always given me pause of how to dress , my instinct has always been to go for something that comes just below the knee or above since in proportion my legs appear long because of my short torso . (talking about dresses , not gowns)
Slender legs and arms , small wrists and ankles . I have no idea what body type / style I would be , but just instinctually go with comments of , you look good in that color or that outfit looks good on you. I have avoided designs that bisect me , perhaps if I had an obvious waist like "Dolly" (to use as an example) I might look for designs that feature it, but once again creating a single color or design top and bottom makes feel I appear taller .
:D I am binge watching your videos hoping to discover my type /style and colors
What about shoulder width? Some tall people are about 8-9 'heads' tall compared to 6 or 7 (weird i know but a useful measure!). However, while tall in that sense their shoulders are way narrow making their head look big anyway especially in a head and shoulders photo. What do you make of this? I suppose the width of their skeleton and bones comes in then like that Beyonce image.
In that scenario, we always take the shoulders in proportion to the entire body, not to the head. I know what you mean about the shoulders relative to the head in a close up photo....but still, people with smaller heads sometimes can find that their neck looks thicker in proportion to their head (because their head is small), and people with larger heads find that their neck looks very thin in proportion to their head, so even from a shoulder-up close up, we can already infer their vertical line in most cases. Of course there are exceptions and things like that.
@@merriamstyle Ohhh that's why my neck look so big 😭👍
@@Amal-vf5wu it could be. also forward head posture can make anyone's neck look wider regardless of vertical line.
Can you make a video focusing on the different lines in clothing? Not necessarily connected to the body types. Im having some difficulty seeing the lines in some clothing and finding things for me, especially fall and winter clothes. (I'm a soft gamine)
Love your videos!
THANK YOU
As a purely rounded type, everyone keeps arguing I'm supposed to be soft dramatic cuz I'm 5'11" but nothing fits. Ever. And my proportions fit me! My head is so big and round I need large size hats and can't find glasses off the rack that fit. Cuz my head matches my proportions!
ad in my short legs and rounded arms, small hands and feet. Hell my hands are small even for shorter people! They're a medium and I can still put on kids gloves. They're smaller than some 5'4" girls hands!
To my proportions everything is soft and round and delicate. To short people, I'm a giant huge imposing woman. But stick me next to a tall man, hell even a short man who's stocky and wide and well, I'm looking delicate and soft again.
Stick me next to women my height, I'm gunna be the soft short looking one.
Oh and to answer your question about the heads.
Yes, it's possible. My head is huge. I'm not even the biggest head possible. Usually bigger heads are also Rounded or Square heads that carry a lot of weight in the jowels, cheeks, area above the ears and opcipital bone.
In a short person, having this size of head gives them a no neck appearance. Bull necked.
In a tall person it gives them the illusion of being shorter. As the bigger body proportions out the giant head.
An example of a celebrities who are tall with big heads are, Geena Davis, Andre the Giant, Queen Latifa, Jordan Sparks, Mandy Moore, Lisa Leslie.
That last one is a Great example. She's 6'5" and it's only next to extremely tall men does her head start looking about the same size. But she Still has a bigger head than even her husband! Making her look larger still. Her head only looks smaller when she's standing my herself. Her head is proportionate to her extremely tall body.
Video request: sharpened style of clothes for the rounded types
Oh my god thank you!! Everyone told me that I’m probably a mixed type (soft gamine or gamine to be exact) but everything else on my body (except my full-ish lips) is natural. I go nuts when they say “you can’t be a natural because all of them are tall, and you are SO short at 5’1!” And yes I am but I am also native Asian and they tend to be short PLUS everything else on me is broad, blunt and elongated.
I think there are a lot of short beveled people out there. My family has quite a few. Also, I don't think full lips is an outlying factor.
You are 100% correct. Because I am 5'2" automatically I'm a gamine? Nope I can literally wear anything except for extremely big flowing long pieces.
Always so interesting and informative! I have an idea for you. Would you be interested in partnering with some of the other ladies on UA-cam and doing a consult for them? I mean people like Cas at Clutterbug, Catherine at Do It On A Dime, Christina at The DIY Mommy, Dawn at The Minimal Mom and etc.? I think it would be very informative.
I really wonder how much of this is just based on the Angle ppl usually percieve you from??
Like.. we all percieve ourself a little bit from a high angle bc we are looking down at our own bodies
If you're tall and ppl around you are short their focus will be on your legs and torso and your head will look smaller
If you are short and other ppl are tall your head will look bigger and your legs will look short.
I realized as a kid that i felt more confident if my mirror is tilted up to balance out my own perspective. All very fun stuff tbh
This really drives home that I'm D. I'm 5.5 and a half but routinely get told I must be 5.8. I just have this strong vertical line
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this for a while. Up till now I’ve assumed that I’m Soft Dramatic, because I’m 5’9, but when you talk about hand and feet size I start to doubt. I wear size 7.5 shoe, which always seemed small compared to my friends who are close to my height, and my hands are also pretty small. My wedding ring is size 4.5. So now I don’t know.
Those are pretty small to average sizes, you must have dainty feet and hands for your height. Any chance for being a natural?
T M H don’t naturals have broad, less dainty bones?
@@mallorymontenegro3924 I know your comment is 2 years old, but might I just add: I just checked out your video on your channel and I think you are a mixed type like Emma Watson or Tzuyu from Twice. I'm not Kibbe obviously, but I also don't agree with his system and imo Merriam's system makes more sense. I think short, layered clothes with a little geometry or pattern (but not too much!) would look good on you. I think wavy hair would also look good. But that's just what I think...
Hii, I was wondering if you could do a video on how to look a bit older being a soft gamine, I am still very young (19) and I look like 14, which is not always great, like when going out and wanting to look a bit sexier and womanly or when having a job interview and wanting to look "old enough"
I have seen your soft gamine video a million times and I still find the lines to be a bit confusing
Júlia Bora Coradin I’d be interested to know how a Romantic type might be able to do “sophisticated” rather than “little girl”. There are so many dresses suitable for the romantic type that I would feel good in and would love to wear, except that I come off as “little girl-y”. I don’t want to just add low necklines and come off as “sexy” either.
Try soft classic clothes
@@karenramnath9993 i am that type and dress more womanly instead of girly. Try more sophisticated looks so no mini skirts and frills but more classic pieces, skirts until around the knee, professional neckline (turtle, boot neck), blouses, classic colours. Ted baker, karen millen, are some brands that suit us well and look feminine and womanly. Hope this helps. I tend to avoid t shirts, jeans and sneakers since they make me look like a teenager, while im soon in my thirties
Nadia Juliette Thank you! I will look up the brands you mentioned for inspiration. I think I have seen some Ted Baker pieces on Freddy My Love’s channel. 👍🏻
I love this! I'm almost 5'7" and almost all answer D's/Theatrical Romantic. I had not even considered Romantic type outright due to height. Thought I was a Soft Natural, but the style looked plain, sloppy and drowned me.
Love this! I was wondering this too and height was tripping me up so much w Kibbe. I think I am moderately tall 5'7" (1.7 meters) with blended or round lines and a bit of sharpness in my face and limbs. I have a friend with blended lines and a proportional head despite being only about 5' (1.5 meters) tall. I wondered if she was rounded just bc she's short and curvy, but I think she is blended.
hey merriam I have 2 video ideas for you;
- hair colour for body types
- olive skin tone
:*
I think she already did an Olive skin video
@@di3486 and she deleted it
Hair colour has nothing to do with body types but the undertones in your skin though...
Saadet Öztürk Oh bummer☹️
@@visa9313 i didnt say hair colour determines body type lol
I meant which colour would be suitable for bodytypes
Yes! You typed me as Soft Natural but Im too tall for that according to Kibbe being 171.5cms tall... But im too soft for Flamboyant Natural
Now Im confused 🤷♀️ I lost weight in about 2 months . i was always thick around the hips and thighs so with my bones I was a romantic at 5”3 but now Im looking small after the weight loss how can I know the difference between romantic and theatrical ? I still have soft cheeks and look rounded but Im smaller than a typical romantic apparently...
It's about you're overall bone structure. A lot of thicker girls think they're romantic because they are curvier, but Rs and TRs do not have to be "heavier" to be so: just have softer flesh and delicate, rounded bones. I'm almost underweight but I know for sure I am a TR. I am not all soft and round, but the sharpness in me is subtle, like in the shoulders and in hands and feet. Look at those! If you've lost some weight it might be easier to determine if they're soft but not super soft or slightly rounded, or even sharp but still delicate and lightwight, or just fully round and soft like a real romantic would be. Remember, it's in the bones, not in the weight! Also, check if you like yourself with slightly dramatic clothes. Try something that is soft and romantic but that has a yang accent, like a "stronger" neckline. Try soft gamine lines, since TR can borrow from them (check if they're a no-no or if you think you look on the notgreatbutstillgood side) See what you like the most on yourself. In the end, the difference between those two types is not huge. Pick and choose what makes you feel better in your own skin!
Could you please do an analysis for Dita von Teese? She is so adorable!!!
I´m Gamine - and 5´8". When I see photos of me, I always recognize the Gamine. I think, the allover impression is important.
(Btw, your voice is wonderful...! :-))
I have a question about perportion. Do you know what types are possible for a pear shaped face? Most of the example modles are oval or triangular with a wide forhead and narrower jawbone. I know kibbe is about lines instead of perportions, but my face shape keeps throwing me off. I need help please🥲
I just realized i'm flamboyant natural although i'm 5'4 and It is true i tried romantic lines and i just looked and felt manly and very unconfortable, as well as with light makeup and shimers, the i thought i was soft natural, but then i tried 90s supermodel makeup and heavy countour and i looked flawless, so thank you for making this video its just what i needed.
Love the typing by 'feeling' at 23:25
The problem with this is that I feel very confident about being a SD until you suggest that my literal height isn't necessarily a good marker for body type... so now I'm confused again 😅
don't worry it does correlate. more tall people are beveled/sharpened, but it's not an absolute way to tell.
In the photo of Beyonce you've chosen with JayZ, would you describe her shoulders as rounded? Or does it appear a bit sharpened in that angle/way she's posing?
Thank you! This is awesome!!
Wouldn't it be different than the pictures? Like the picture is more like a close up, except relative to the person next to them? But if they really were taller, their proportions would change because they would have limbs lengthened with height, and torso? So this adds yang. Correct? I heard that Rihanna looks good in TR but she's an exception and not really a good example of TR because most people aren't able to be that rare exception. Just my thoughts.
Kylie Jenner is 5'10"??? I'm 5'4" and I thought she was as tall as me, at most
Merriam made a mistake, Kylie is listed officially as 5'6" (and some people think shorter IRL).
rdpcl I think she meant to say Kendall?
people generally are not that skinny in real life, pls show some curvy examples, being tall/short.
This really helped me. i struggled alot with this, after watching this video i think i finally found my bodytype ! Thank you
thank you, I only identify my type with soft gamine, I'm 5"7, and everyone says I'm either flamboyant gamine then or something else, but I completely don't look like any other type, just learned I'm the exact same height as Audrey Hepburn who is classified as gamine, like wtf
thank you! have you considered Soft Dramatic for yourself? sometimes SD will also look great in clingy fits and high necklines, and even have narrow shoulders making them look quite delicate. The general difference will be that if you're SG, you will look great in cropped fits (like 3/4 sleeves and cropped pants), while SD won't get much out of those. you could also be young, and sometimes young people in general will look great in anything gamine, but once they reach over 25 or so, they start to really settle into their body type.
@@merriamstyle thank you for replying I find all your information and advice super super helpful to think about!❤️ and yes I go round and round on what type I am, I thought SD because I am angular but still soft looking and even when I was overweight I had an hourglass, but no matter what weight I am I never really store fat on my limbs, it’s mainly my torso and chest, I told myself I’m not SD because everyone says I look “cute” and I never really look womanly or full figured, I get complimented most when wearing crop tops with cropped sleeves but cropped jeans don’t look good on me, neither do skinny jeans, I can’t find the right pants at all for me because I don’t know my body type 🤷🏼♀️😂 also my head can appear small then big in photos so that also makes it hard to determine
Hi, love your videos! In your opinion what is Emilia Clarke type?
Hi Patricia, Emilia is a pure Rounded type.
OMG! You look so much like Katie Holmes in this video!
All the systems, trying to put people in boxes are going to fail, because it’s not a perfect, precise, and measurable science. If it were, you would be able to put your measurements in a table and get a result calculated. So, it’s all opinions and in the end it comes up to one thing: what do YOU FEEL your best in. I gave the kibby test to several people in my family to fill in for me and the results were all different. I honestly just fail to “find” my body type, and there is probably just none capturing my characteristics precisely 😅
13:48 you’re completely right. ive seen real live 5’7 and up women who look light like a romantic, yes they are tall but the romantic lines still fit them. (i am 5’2 or something so i Can really *see* tallness, like a tall person can see shortness)
what if i am tall, and my head is balanced/smaller but my short legs make me look way shorther than i am?
One thing I would love to learn more about (and I think you could explain very well) what "head to toe looks" really means, that is recommended for Classics (which I think I am though not sure)
Thank you!
Thank you so much, this has cleared it all up. I'm 100% sure I'm some sort of soft type but I wasn't sure which one. Soft natural, soft dramatic or theatrical romantic, and that's because I do see a lot of roundness to myself, a bit of sharpness but mostly round. But I feel big and bulky because I'm 5"11.
I don't look like I have a long vertical line in photos, now I can go back and look again with this information and hopefully figure it out ❤️❤️
I am 5'9" and everyone always notices my height, first thing, but I am *by far* the shortest person in my family (my "little" sister is 6'0" and the men in my family hover around 6'6" to 6'8") - and I am proportioned, accordingly. All my features are short and full and rounded with a wasp waist, even whether Ibam over- or underweight. It has been difficult to reconcile how much I thrive on dainty stylistic features with often feeling like I loom over my peers - especially in India, where average heights are lower. I am like the world's daintiest little giantess!
Hi, what do you think about Krysten Ritter? She is tall, but looks FG to me?
Great video :)
Hello 🙂 Quick question. I’m 5’10” and I prefer pant inseams to be 30”, I think 32” inseams make me look shorter because they’re too long.
Is it the other way around or am I correct?
Hi Merriam, I'm 17, 5'3. and I'm not sure if I am a soft natural or a romantic, should I wait until my twenties to find my definite kibbe type?
usually if you're too young to determine your type, you are going to find you're some type of gamine when you're younger, and then mature into any of the other types or stay gamine. if you're already romantic or soft natural, I'd say you're just fine figuring out your type now. In any case, even if it changes, you do have a type right now. Everyone has a type. It's just if you're younger it might change. if you're 17 and gamine, it can be more likely to change, but if you're 17 and romantic or sn, then it's less likely to change.
@@merriamstyle Thank you, that makes more sense.
Kylie & Beyonce are 5'6
The case that you are trying to make here makes sense for short dramatics. Not for tall romantics. It defies the laws of nature. If you think you are curvy and tall, you are probably soft dramatic. or maybe a soft natural. One can never be a tall romantic. Romantic= yin= short.
I get it now, because Asians are generally average in height, so not everyone under 5'5" can be a gamine right. This was great.👍
No they are short