Do you set much store by colour seasons, Kibbe types, etc.?

[HolidayAtNight]

Asking as I've noticed a few references to these cropping up in different threads on S&B recently. Do you think most people fit into one, or is it more like fashion astrology?

Personally, I've spent far too much time trying to figure mine out, but the fact is that I don't fit into any season or any Kibbe body type, with some features and good/bad colours that are majorly incompatible. I've been buying clothes for long enough to know which colours and shapes suit me, and luckily there's a fair bit of overlap between that and clothes I like the style of. However, I have a good friend who fits perfectly into a colour season and Kibbe type, and happens to also really like those colours and the recommended clothes styles, and always looks great!

Do you pay any attention to these, and dress for your lines or wear your colours? Anyone else who likes the idea but doesn't fit into any of them?

It seems like the systems can work really well for people who happen to fit into a category. In the Kibbe system, I'd be half one and half another, so the guidance is not a great deal of use.

Do you think everyone fits into a season? The colours that look best on me include both warm and cool tones (and worst colours likewise) even though my skin has very cool undertones.

I need something for an occasion so was perusing dresses yesterday (and was lucky enough to find two that I love!), and tried to bear this idea in mind as it's so different from how I approach choosing clothes. What I found is that I only seem drawn to things that I think would suit me, unless in rare cases the material or design is exceptional. I don't know if I can see a garment as a neutral object. Would you wear any garment, of any colour, shape, or style, if you liked it in and of itself?

No one doubted their right to look their own fabulous selves.

I love this, and I wish having things tailored was more the norm here.

Where do you stand on the choosing clothes to suit you vs choosing clothes purely as aesthetic objects divide? I try to achieve both but probably err on the side of the former - though definitely not to the extent of the dress thread.

DM was well into seasons when I was a teen. I do sort of believe it. There are three colours that I always get complimented on if I wear them, whatever that garment actually is. Those, and my colouring, are all the same season.

It’s such an instinctive thought process, @HolidayAtNight. As I may have mentioned, I’m ancient old so do have some experiential knowledge of shapes and colours that look good on me. Or don’t. There’s a particularly harsh royal blue that I’ll probably never buy. And I’m not keen on pastels. But in general I’m eager to encounter newness. And the fabulous quality I was brought up to expect.

I think I’m always stirred by items that offer me a new vision of myself; an Oh, I didn’t know I could look like that moment. I’m definitely not an I know what I like and I’m sticking to it dresser. I like choosing clothes to be a bit of an adventure.

And sometimes I see something so gorgeous I have to have it - and I can’t just hang it on the wall because that would be shameful extravagance …

I’m not expressing this well at all, sorry! All I know is I don’t shop with a long list of Things Wrong With My Body and Age and Social Status. Though I have troublesome knees and am stratospherically downwardly mobile …

@ProperSleep Quality is one of the reasons I buy a lot of vintage clothes. For absolute basics I buy modern (and am usually disappointed by the constantly declining quality) but if I'm spending a bit more, I'd rather get something vintage and amazing that's well constructed from decent fabric. I think the mid-high range of the high street has completely fallen off in the past few years. Having said that, of course, the two dresses I fell in love with this weekend are both from the high street!

And sometimes I see something so gorgeous I have to have it - and I can’t just hang it on the wall because that would be shameful extravagance … I can definitely identify with this! But then I find I don't wear them if they don't suit me. I recently gave away some beautiful things because they were just sitting there being wasted.

I like choosing clothes to be a bit of an adventure. Definitely agree! I bet your wardrobe is fantastic.

Yes, I follow both colours and Kibbe recommendations and for me, they really had made a massive difference and totally explained why some garments that look amazing on some people just don't work for me.
It did require that I let go some firmly held ideas about what my body is like and what my style is, so I first diagnosed myself with a totally different type than what I believe now. Also had to admit that I might love some colours, but that does not mean they also flatter me.

Sorry just seen your post. I don't know what "suits me". It's just not in my thoughts when I'm looking for clothes. I suppose very tight bodycon wouldn't suit me, but it's not a style I find interesting in the first place.

So I suppose yes, if I liked the look of the garment in and of itself, and it fitted me, I'd wear it.

I've gone down that rabbit hole since having my DCs. I wish I hadn't!
I think there is some merit to seasonal colour analysis, I knew about it for years and self diagnosed as a winter. I was really keen to know which 'type' I am (dark, bright etc.) and forked out £250 on House of Colour.
The consultant couldn't tell me! She just said a winter... apparently I don't fit in their system!!
I could have saved myself some money.
As long as you find our whether you suit cool or warm and muted vs bright, it's all you need to know. It is relatively easy to self drape. House of Colour uses Beige and brown vs white and navy to see warm vs cool.
As for Kibbe system it works for some, but only if you are short. There are 10 'types', but you can only be 3 of them if you are over 5'6. It also happens to be David Kibbe's height. Coincidence? I think not.
It is a system made by insecure man who likes short and curvy women.

No. I know what suits me but things change over time. It's best not to get hung up on one palette but to look at the effect regularly.

As a young woman, I couldn't wear pastels, they didn't suit my skin colour.

Then my skin changed with menopause, became more rosy and I could. Then I was ill for a year and my skin changed again. Now back to hopefully full health, my skin is glowing, and I can wear most colours.

I'm on the fence.

I seem to fit a season and a body type apart from one major characteristic for each. I believe I'm a True Summer but my veins suggest I'm not as predominantly cool toned as I thought. And I'm sure I'm a Dramatic Classic body type, but I'm a couple of inches too tall to really fit the type.

Surely you should have got a refund if they couldn't tell you!

@StoneColdAlibi
No refund, I talked to another consultant who suggested a type, but my original consultant was new and got very upset at me for questioning her method. She spent so much time training (I think 2 weeks!) she couldn't have possibly been wrong 🙄
She struck me as a right snob tbh, her face was filled with fillers and she had ridiculous hair extensions, I should have known we have different ideas of beauty.

I wouldn't worry about your vein colour, it is not taken into consideration when draping.

If you follow Kibbe on facebook he DROPPED the height limits recently, so if you are over 5'6 you can ONLY be one of the 3 tall types. I self identified as a DC, even though I don't have long limbs, but longer body, and wide hips. So only my top fits into DC.
Personally I believe he likes short women and dismissed taller women 'types' due to his own insecurities.

I got an interesting book recently, it is no longer in print but you can buy a .pdf or get a second hand copy. It's called 'The Triumph of Individual Style', which helps you identify your body type in an artistic way and helps you achieve the style you like. MUCH better and written by a woman.

The other thing I find hard to reconcile is that I can happily wear a foundation with warm undertones to neutralise my pinky tones or with cool undertones to match my skin exactly. Neither looks wrong but would effect the colours that look better on me that day, if that makes sense?

I'll have a look for the book.

It does seem ridiculous that there are only 3 body types for anyone over average height. The next closest for me was Flamboyant Natural - not one I can really get on board with, being comfortable with neither of those descriptions!

I think seasons make sense and are useful as a guide. I always assumed I was a winter (dark hair, high contrast with skin) but very bright, deeper colours don't suit me at all - which I found really annoying, as I love jewel colours! So that always puzzled me.

I was analysed as a deep autumn, which makes total sense. It's next to deep winter in the colour palette so you can 'borrow' from that season, but too far away from cool/bright winter to wear their colours. Basically I suit dark, rich, but more muted colours - which I already knew, but struggled to understand while thinking I was a winter. I actually think I'm somewhere between the two as I have very neutral skin and the more autumnal colours (like orange/brown) don't suit me as much as the more wintery blues and greens. But that's fine, I can work with it and it means I understand why certain things do and don't suit me much better now.

Kibbe on the other hand, I think is bollocks. And yes, heavily weighted towards short women which the author obviously prefers.

Hmm I see what you're saying, indeed the height cut-off is odd. But on the other hand, he does not suggest that any of the taller types dress themselves visually shorter, but does recommend that they make use of their height and lenghten silhouette.

In any case, should not be taken as gospel. But it really made me re-think some of my wardrobe choices and styles I always though 'should' work for me.

No. I've never heard of Kibbe types, but tbh I have never understood why people can't just try on clothes, look in the mirror and see whether they suit them or not. I see clothes I like on other people,on hangers or in pictures, but in 99% ofcases it's immediately obvious to me which of them would good on me and which wouldn't.

I find your posts refreshing and inspiring though, @ProperSleep - I admit that most of what I know about what suits me is based on what I regard as faults in my appearance. So I make choices based on what won't make me look large or sallow/pasty or accentuate my large bust, and I tend towards neutral colours because I don't really like to stand out. It's noticeable though that the one thing I've bought in the last few years that I truly love is a bright yellow velvet coat! I hardly ever buy bright colours, but I often admire them on other people.

I have booked to get my colours done for my birthday next month. It doesn't come naturally to me and it's part of my wider goal to shop more intentionally and slowly. Possibly spend a little more and hopefully still second hand where I can.

Last year I bought loads of stuff off Vinted and congratulated myself for being sustainable but I was rushing and making mistakes. I am hoping help with colour with reduce some of these mistakes.

I haven't heard of Kibbe but I know I prefer to dress in baggy wide leg jeans and small tight tops. Hopefully it suits me! I basically never grew out of dressing this way in the 90s and spent a large part of the time skinnies were fashionable buying flares off eBay.

You can't try on ALL the clothes though. And if I have some ideas in my head that x would never suit me, I would not necessarily spend time on even trying that type of clothes. So it was quite useful to open my mind a bit.

This is sort of where I am with them too - I seem to almost match a certain season and a certain body type but with a few major incompatibilities, along the lines of "this type WILL NOT have...!" I think for people for whom they work, they can be a useful shortcut to finding new things to try; as @KatharinaRosalie said, you can't try on everything. I also prefer the advice on dressing to flatter your lines to the 2000s "how to disguise your flaws" kind.

I don't, I just buy colours I like. My mum will tell me some make me washed out but I find it impossible to tell what suits me and what doesn't so I try to think about what I enjoy wearing and prioritise that.

Fashion astrology - good description.

No.

I wear what I like. I do find that I like stronger colours in colder, greyer weather, and lighter florals in warmer, brighter weather. But if I fancy mixing it up, I do so. And on the rare occasions I fancy wearing greige, I do that, too.

The only colours I think don't suit me are white, yellow and black, so I would only wear those as a small element of an outfit.

As to finding what suits your body shape, a free stylist appointment at any of the large shops will give you the opportunity to try on things that would not have occurred to you to try.

I haven't heard of Kibbe but I know I prefer to dress in baggy wide leg jeans and small tight tops.

That's a perfect example of a look that I love on others but would never wear myself due to my shape.