Over a year ago I shared this myTake on a genius way of classifying various body types, categorized by not just your bust, waist and hip ratio but also taking into account your bone structure, facial features etc. David Kibbe's 13 Body Types Theory suggests that all of our bodies consist of feminine characteristics and masculine characteristics, like the yin and yang symbol. The feminine characteristics are called Yin, and the masculine characteristics are called Yang.
Yin features are short/small, petite, delicate, rounded/curvy, soft, voluptuous, and Yang features are tall, long, lean, slender, narrow, lanky, angular, sharp, broad. Some examples of Yin features are short height, hourglass body shape, big round eyes, full lips, chubby cheeks, small and delicate hands and feet, big breasts etc. Some Yang features are tall height, large bony hands and feet, strong jawline and cheekbones, thin lips, boyish figure, long legs, sharp nose etc.
If we put these body types on a scale from Yin to Yang, you will find one body type that's almost entirely Yang, which is known as 'Dramatic'. Dramatic body type women are tall, have an angular bone structure, straight slender body shape, and prominent and sharp facial features. Someone like Milla Jovovich, David Kibbe himself classified her body type as Dramatic.
And on the other end of the spectrum that consists entirely of Yin features, we have the 'Romantic' body type (NOT Romantic as in a relationship, lol). And that's the body type that I'll talk about in-depth because it happens to be MY body type, and I'll talk about the features of this body type and how I got mine figured out. It has really helped my figure out how to dress for my body type, not only in terms of clothing but also jewelry, accessories, hair and other things. Not only have I learned the rules, but I've also learned how to break these rules to my advantage. This myTake will become WAY TOO LONG if I include those fashion tips within this post, so I hope to make a separate myTake on that later. But before learning to dress for your body type, you have to know what it is!
Romantic Body Type
As I've mentioned earlier, this is the body type with the most Yin in it. Romantic body types tend to have majority of these features:
Height: Moderate to short, usually 5'5" and under. Head can be proportionally larger than the rest of the body, making them look even smaller.
Bone structure: Short and delicate, but a little wide, not angular. So they have short limbs, but wide shoulders, hips, wrists, feet etc. Often women with this body type, despite being petite, feel like they are too big because of their wide frame.
Body shape: Busty and curvy, tending towards hourglass/vase shape, but not with a strong silhouette. The waist does not have a strong definition. Shoulders are wide and gently sloped.
Face: Tends to be round/oval with hardly any angularity. Soft and lush facial features. Big round eyes, soft full lips, rounded wide nose. Soft cheeks with little to no cheekbone and jawline definition. but there is some width. If chubby/overweight, the face can become very full and round. Hairline is usually soft and doesn't have sharp angles.
Hair: Tends to be thick and have waves and curls. Texture is usually soft and silky. Neither very fine nor very coarse. Romantic body types usually do not suit a drastically different hair color from their natural hair color.
Hands and feet: Often described as looking very feminine, delicate and ladylike. Small in size but a little wide. Fingers and toes tend to be medium to short.
Romantic body types are overall very 'womanly' in appearance rather than 'boyish' or 'girly/adolescent'. Not everyone with this body type has exactly ALL such features. But if you have this body type, then your features overall will have the Yin nature, you will have MOST of the features mentioned above. Exceptions always exist.
Some celebrities with this body type
Celebrity images aren't really ideal because many have plastic surgery and Photoshop done so it's hard to understand at times. Here is a list of some people that I believe make good examples.
Marilyn Monroe
Holliday Grainger
Beyonce
Christina Milian
Kaushal Beauty (YouTuber)
I think five examples are enough for pictures. If you wanna look up more people, you can check out Jayne Mansfield, Kate Winslet, and Leighton Meester.
How did I figure out my body type?
Those who read my previous myTake (read it now if you haven't yet), know that it is VERY TRICKY to understand your body type. At first, I was absolutely CLUELESS about what body type I could be. It took me several months and a lot of images, comparison, trial and error to fully understand my body type. While I am not an expert yet, I can identify many people's body types, or at least tell how much Yin or Yang they have in them. Here's how I could confirm my body type:
1) I'm short. Rules out Dramatic and Natural right off the bat.
2) I was sure of SOME of my features that belong in the Romantic category, so I can't be a Classic because Classic body type has all moderate features. (TIP: You can find out your body shape using this guide. I used this to find out my shape.)
3) I don't really look adolescent or boyish, from a very young age I got comments on looking older. Rules out Gamine. At this point only Romantic is the body type not ruled out.
4) I have a slightly wide bone structure. Theatrical Romantic (Romantic with SOME sharpness and narrowness in bone structure, e.g. Rihanna) does not have a wide bone structure. I'm finally only left with Romantic.
5) If this wasn't enough, people always comment how how feminine my hands and feet look, so I need to stop beating myself up for not having the smallest hands and feet on the planet.
I didn't realize how simple it really was until I finally had it figured out, everything makes more sense now. If you are having trouble identifying your body type, start by ruling out body types that you're NOT. Eventually the elimination process should get you somewhere.
There aren't enough good clothes out there
The fashion industry mainly consists of models with Yang-dominant body types, especially Flamboyant Natural. Think of the famous supermodels on the runway. Tall women, with broad shoulders, small chest, narrow hips, long lean arms and legs. The industry makes clothes and accessories that suit Natural body types, and that's seen as more trendy. While I don't have a problem with it, and plenty of those runway models are truly gorgeous women, this brings a huge disadvantage for women who are petite and have softer body types.
Even when we see some petite curvy women in the recent years, they are all Instagram models with tons of surgery, tons of Photoshop and a lot of editorial style of clothing that looks good in a professional photoshoot. However, in real life, a woman with naturally soft features walking out on the streets wouldn't always look that great. The kind of fashion and lifestyle that these women portray in the virtual world is neither practical nor sustainable for the average Jane in a realistic world. All these things can make it quite hard for the Romantic body type, or similar types, to understand what suits them.
Plus I feel like people exaggerate way too much on the silhouette only. Say that you have an hourglass figure, the only fashion tip people are gonna give you is emphasize your waist and wear a lot of belts, drapes, high-waisted things to bring attention to the waist. The fact is, even waist-cinching outfits can come in various structures, fabrics, colors, patters etc and the same thing doesn't suit everyone. Heck, not everyone is even willing to emphasize their waist, I personally don't like clothes that fit in a way that it shows off my shape and puts emphasis on the smallest part of my waist, I don't like to draw attention towards my body and show a lot of skin/flesh. Doesn't mean that I don't like dressing up or don't have useful tips up my sleeve, or that I'm wearing straight boxy clothes that look atrocious on my body type.
This myTake will become way too long if I include fashion tips, because there's really a LOT that I can say on styling the Romantic body type, or at least how I like to style mine. But I hope this was informative and I wish to follow up with another myTake in the future discussing clothing, accessories and makeup. Thanks for reading!
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