Kibbe Body Type Test
How would you describe your own body? If you’re most people, it’s probably not in a favorable way. Everyone seems to want to make their body better in some way. There are people who find their facial features fitting and their body type acceptable. But for the most part, people are trying to find a way to fit into their style better. If you’re just trying to summarize what kind of body type or body shape you have, the Kibbe body type test may be something for you to reference.
While it is a bit dated in its thinking, the Kibbe body type system has foundations in yin and yang. It discusses curved and soft versus angular and structured bone structure. It builds from there to different categories, such as yang features that are soft or yin features that are petite. You can understand how your features are, if they are evenly spaced with horizontal lines, or if they are asymmetrical. It gives you an idea based on your flesh and facial features. Falling inside the yin and yang and broad families are more types, such as soft classic, soft natural, flamboyant natural, theatrical romantic, and more. If you’re wondering where you fall in this system, take this quiz to find out!
The Kibbe body types were first introduced by David Kibbe in his 1987 book, David Kibbe’s Metamorphosis: Discover Your Image Identity and Dazzle as Only You Can. There are 13 image identities based on overall shape and bone structure. Using definitions of your body flesh, they are broken down into five families: dramatic, natural, classic, gamine, and romantic. It uses the yin and yang breakdowns based on facial features and body shape to place them in different topics.
Kibbe took aspects like height, width, bone structure, facial features, curves, and waist and described them all and gave examples. Looking at arms and legs, seeing if you have a defined waist or defined curves, or seeing if your eyes are widely spaced helped place people in different families. The Kibbe body typing system has to do with body proportions and overall shape. Comparing certain women's bodies to celebrities, as was done in the book, can be counterproductive to body acceptance. But that is what the Kibbe system is ultimately based on. Personality is also a factor.
