HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR STYLE ESSENCES (PT 1)

Have you ever heard of the Yin and Yang stylistic method ? Or perhaps you are more familiar with the term "Kibbe method" ?

Instagram and Tik Tok are seeing a surge in videos in which image consultants and enthusiasts talk about the "Kibbe method", a style analysis technique that is following the media wave of color harmony analysis , which has been riding high for a few years now.

I am Valentina Maugeri, pseudo fashion blogger, fashion design student and passionate about style and communication

A little over a year ago I founded Dialoghi di Stile with the aim of making my vision of the world of fashion, of the development of personal style and of making these complex concepts more accessible to all of you.

But what is it? What is it for? And how is it applied?

Some of you may be wondering what Chinese Taoism has to do with personal style now?

Well, it has a lot to do with it!

I had initially prepared this article focused mostly on the topic of chromatic harmony , but since the topic has become too "trendy" on social media and also since I have been filling your ears and eyes for some time with the topic and with my beloved light deep autumn seasoning (from the 16x4 method by Giulia Quaranta ), I decided to go further, talking to you about a more "empathetic" part of the style, still little applied in Italy.

How did the Yin & Yang essence method come about?

It was introduced around 1930 by Belle Northup , a style teacher at Columbia University, and concerned the study of aesthetic identity, which sees the intertwining of feminine and masculine energies in every single individual.

It coins the geometries of the body to those of the aura (with which we can mean the energy or allure of a person).

These two components represent the starting point for understanding the type of "innate" style that some people possess and the type of often unconscious message that their image communicates to the world.

The above method was then studied and applied by David Kibbe between the 70s and 80s, who in his book Metamorphosis identifies the Yang (masculine) values in characteristics such as long and vertical lines, angles, width, solidity, grandeur, strength, regality, formality and the Yin (feminine) values which instead are the expression of round, soft, graceful shapes, radiance and sweetness.

Unlike the now famous bodyshape analysis, this method goes beyond the study of the proportions of the body, evaluates the individual as a whole and aims to precisely identify the essence of his style in a more intrinsic and subjective way, uniting psyche and character.

The study of the shapes of the face and body, as well as a little analysis of colour , they are disciplines that we can understand as partly objective: they are there, with very precise rules and concepts (even if, based on the currents of thought, this may be a little less valid for the analysis of chromatic harmony).

In short, we can define the Yin and Yang stylistic method as one of the most complete and precise, capable of uniting body, mind and style in a single nucleus .

The aim of this technique is not to pigeonhole people into categories but to enhance their individuality .

David Kibbe identifies 13 typologies which are divided into 5 main style essences and 8 combinations of them .

His method initially summarizes 5 archetypal images , which are:

• Dramatic (yang characteristics);

• Natural (bordering yang);

• Classic (perfect balance between Yin and Yang);

• Gamine (yin bordering yang);

• Romantic (yin characteristics);

Each essence, according to the Kibbe method, has a certain percentage of Yin and Yang .

The Dramatic essence is completely Yang , the Natural essence is Soft Yang , the Classic essence is the balance between Yin and Yang, the Romantic essence is Yin with a touch of Yang , the Gamine essence is the mix between Yin and Yang with a prevalence of the latter.

The other 8 are nothing more than combinations, or perhaps better to say "bordering", which you can read and understand in the images below.

image © gariellearruda.com

It was then in 1963, Harriet McJimsey who after the publication of her book entitled Art in Clothing Selection , codified for the first time a sixth archetype: the Ingenue .

Some time after Kitchener , a famous personal stylist from Atlanta discovered an additional essence: Angelic (also called Ethereal ).

So in total we have 7 main style essences .

Each person is a mix of 2 or more essences, never just one.

A bit similar to the chromatic analysis, a person can not only be spring, but a bright spring, perhaps bordering on its preceding season, that is, bright winter, and perhaps essentially turn out to be a PB Cool in the 16x4 method of the aforementioned image consultant Giulia Quaranta .

In addition to studying the natural lines of the face and body, this method aims to study the stylistic essence , the personality of an individual. Our lines influence in some way our charm, part of our character and our interiority; this is also why with some looks we appear "coherent", our image appears credible, harmonious compared to other types of looks.

"Body and mind are one. The physical influences the character and the personality influences the body. This mix is called essence"

Michela Scacchi , a consultant whose articles I have read several times to understand this complex analysis method as much as possible, claims in her blog.

Pinterest.com

It's a part of the personal style that is born with us

Some people, perhaps those who pay most attention to their image, know very well who they are and consequently they quickly learn to enhance their most authentic self also through fashion, harmonizing interiority with exteriority .

It is our personality that speaks even when we are silent, it is our personality that gives life to the clothes we choose to wear .

Finding the clothes that best identify us is a great challenge in this immense jungle that is fashion, which often limits or confuses a little the choices of its customers, because perhaps in the boutiques there is not a wide choice of sizes, textures and styles or because sometimes there is even too much choice, so much so that we get lost in those labyrinths called shops, and in other cases because the prices that fashion offers are not accessible to all of us.

Listening to ourselves, observing ourselves carefully, experimenting with different looks in front of the mirror, making targeted purchasing choices, can turn out to be small but valid exercises to activate daily to bring out our essence.

And it is also for these reasons that a counseling path with a professional can prove useful to discover and bring out our true self, making the most of what we want to communicate to the world around us.

We will continue to explore the Yin and Yang style Essences method in the near future, integrating it with the topic of chromatic analysis.

I'm also just getting interested in this topic, so we'll talk about it in more depth in future articles.

If you are immediately curious to know more, I recommend you read the blog of the aforementioned image consultants Michela Scacchi and Giulia Quaranta .

I will continue to illustrate this topic in the next articles and on my social channels with in-depth carousels.

And had you ever heard of this stylistic method?

And above all, have you ever felt uncomfortable with a new look or outfit?

Write it to me in the comments!