It’s time to FINALLY get your Kibbe body type. Today I’m going to share with you a step-by-step guide to determining your body type, and all of my best tips for determining your body type on your own.

After watching this video (or reading this article), if you’re still struggling with your body type, my color and body typing service is always available! And if you shoot me a DM on Instagram, I’d be happy to give you a discount code to get you started.

If you’re new here, this year we are diving deep into The 12 Competencies of Personal Style together, to help you get organized, discover your personal style, and start to build your dream wardrobe. That’s why I’d like to invite you to join the 12-month free email course! By the end of the year, we will master these 12 useful concepts and develop your personal style, so that you can consistently create outfits that you love to wear, and ultimately build your perfect capsule wardrobe.

The 12 competencies of personal style are:

• Color Type

• Body Type

• Core Style

• The Wardrobe Framework

• Wardrobe Editing

• Fit & Measurements

• Silhouette & Proportions

• Color Story

• Texture

• Multidimensional Style

• Conflict & Balance

• and Creating Full Outfits

Last month, we focused on color type and I gave you my 3 most useful tricks for determining your color type. And if you’ve joined the course and performed the exercises, hopefully you were able to determine your color type and start creating your wardrobe color palette!

This month, our goal is to determine your body type and start to understand how to use your body type to your advantage.

To Kibbe or not to Kibbe

David Kibbe’s Image ID system is massively popular, and for good reason. This system is such an inspirational resource for understanding, embracing, and celebrating your beautiful body type through fashion.

However, in my opinion, Kibbe’s Image ID system imposes unnecessary recommendations on personal style for each body type. These bundles of body type, styling recommendations, and even color recommendations are what Kibbe calls Image IDs. And these Image IDs can often have a strong stylistic direction, such as Kibbe’s “Free Spirit Chic” representation of the Flamboyant Natural which evokes a very bohemian and earthy visual image.

What is really useful about Kibbe’s Image ID system is its use of Yin/Yang body analysis. So, let’s put Kibbe’s Image IDs aside and focus on understanding the body.

Before we jump into Yin/Yang body analysis in more detail, I’d like to assure you that it has nothing to do with fruits or triangles or trying to become an hourglass. Yin/Yang body analysis provides a framework for understanding how clothing interacts with our bodies without encouraging us to change, hide, or disguise any aspect of our body. In fact, it simply teaches us how to recognize our own natural lines and bring our style more in harmony with them.

So, when it comes to body type, Yin/Yang body analysis is far and away the most useful way to understand your body type. David Kibbe’s Image ID system is a massively popular subtype of this Yin/Yang body analysis.

Dominant Features & Accommodations

Yin/Yang body analysis as a whole is quite a complex topic. For the purposes of this article, I will assume that you have a basic understanding of the 10 body types, and that your goal is to narrow down which body type suits you best.

As a quick overview, the 10 body types are:

• Dramatic

• Soft Dramatic

• Flamboyant Natural

• Soft Natural

• Dramatic Classic

• Soft Classic

• Flamboyant Gamine

• Soft Gamine

• Theatrical Romantic

• and Romantic

Each body type can be primarily understood by its dominant features, or accommodations. In effect, your dominant features will be features that are best enhanced when they are accommodated in your clothing selections. That is why your dominant features are also called accommodations.

Accommodations are not meant to be a negative thing. In fact, it can be quite a relief to recognize your accommodations and realize that there are tons of beautiful people who share them with you!

There are six different types of accommodations that you may have, or a combination thereof. Only one or two of the following can be your dominant features:

• Vertical

• Width

• Curve

• Double-curve

• Balance

• and Petite

Vertical is perceived elongation or height in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

Width is perceived breadth or openness of the shoulder-line, or clavicle, in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

Curve is the predominant appearance of rounded contours in individual features and overall silhouette.

Double-curve is the predominant and uninterrupted appearance of nearly circular contours in individual features and overall silhouette.

Balance is a nearly equal and blended mix of yin and yang; moderation in all features in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette, and in comparison to the general population.

Petite is the combination of perceived narrowness and short stature, in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

Starting to understand your own dominant features is the first step to narrowing down your body type. So, let’s go over the dominant features and accommodations for each of the 10 body types.

Dramatic

Vertical

If you have the Dramatic body type, then your dominant feature is vertical. Vertical is perceived elongation or height in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

Your perceived height is impacted by both the narrowness of your bone structure, and the size of your head in comparison to your bone structure. Those with a narrower bone structure will appear taller, or more elongated, than those with a wider bone structure. Likewise, those with a proportionally smaller head will appear more elongated than those with a proportionally larger head.

Because of their vertical line and frame-dominant figure, those with the pure Dramatic body type have predominantly straight and sharp lines within their bone structure, silhouette, and individual features.

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Soft Dramatic

Vertical + Curve

If you have the Soft Dramatic body type, then your dominant features are vertical and curve. This combination results in a naturally elongated hourglass figure.

The Soft Dramatic has a long and angular bone structure with soft flesh that creates a lush, curvy, and elongated silhouette with a defined waist.

Her facial features are also full and lush, often with large rounded eyes and full lips, combined with sharpness in the nose, cheekbones, or chin.

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Flamboyant Natural

Width + Vertical

If you have the Flamboyant Natural body type, then your dominant features are width and vertical. In this context, width a way of describing the bone structure. Width is the perceived breadth or openness of the shoulder-line, or clavicle, in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

Often width is evident when the shoulders are significantly wider than the hips.

The Flamboyant Natural is frame-dominant and bluntly angular, creating a strong and sporty appearance. She may appear slightly curvy or have a defined waistline, but her shoulders and hips are softly squared rather than rounded. A trapezoidal hip shape is quite common in the Natural family.

Her facial features are slightly wide and elongated, often with high cheek bones.

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Soft Natural

Width + Curve

If you have the Soft Natural body type, then your dominant features are width and curve. Similar to the Flamboyant Natural, the Soft Natural is frame-dominant and bluntly angular.

However, the Soft Natural’s bone structure is less prominent overall, with a smaller difference in width between the shoulders and hips.

Contrary to popular belief, Soft Naturals have a moderate vertical line and can actually be quite short. The Natural family has the widest height range of all of the body types.

The Soft Natural usually has a defined waist and slightly curvy shape in the bust and torso. Although the width in the shoulder-line interrupts her curve to create a beautiful athletic figure.

Her facial features are bluntly angular and slightly wide, yet moderate in scale. As a result, the Soft Natural’s facial features can often appear quite classic.

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Dramatic Classic

Balance + Vertical

If you have the Dramatic Classic body type, then your dominant features are balance and vertical. Balance is a nearly equal and blended mix of yin and yang; moderation in all features, in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette, and in comparison to the general population.

The Dramatic Classic has an overall moderate and symmetrical, balanced appearance with just a touch of elongation and sharpness.

All features and proportions carry a similar visual impact; nothing in particular appears prominent or draws the eye. For instance, Dramatic Classic women may have shoulders that are slightly wider than their hips, but width in the shoulders does not need to be accommodated. In practice, this means that Dramatic Classics will not usually experience fit issues with one particular part of their figure. This doesn’t mean that they never experience issues with fit, but they are less likely to experience the same type of issue all of the time.

Instead of accommodating a prominent feature, Dramatic Classics instead need to accommodate balance and slight vertical. Classic, symmetrical, and tailored silhouettes will look best. Oversized or exaggerated styles can be overpowering.

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Soft Classic

Balance + Curve

If you have the Soft Classic body type, then your dominant features are balance and curve.

The Soft Classic has an overall moderate and symmetrical, balanced appearance with just a touch of softness and curve.

Similar to the Dramatic Classic, the Soft Classic’s features and proportions all carry a similar visual impact. When glancing at a Soft Classic woman, the eye does not catch on any particularly prominent feature.

Soft Classics accommodate balance and curve. Classic, symmetrical, and tailored silhouettes with waist emphasis will look best. Oversized or very sharp dramatic styles can be overpowering.

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Flamboyant Gamine

Petite + Vertical

If you have the Flamboyant Gamine body type, then your dominant features are petite and vertical. Petite is the combination of perceived narrowness and short stature, in proportion to the overall bone structure and silhouette.

I think it’s really important to remember that a petite women must inherently have a narrow bone structure with relatively thin bones. Petite does not purely describe height, but also the narrowness and overall delicate nature of the bone structure. This is why the Flamboyant Gamine woman can have both petite and vertical. Her narrowness creates a long vertical line, even though she may not be very tall.

The Flamboyant Gamine may have shoulders that are wider than her hips but, like the Dramatic Classic, she does not have prominent width.

She has a small and elongated figure, small and sharp facial features, and typically large rounded eyes.

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Soft Gamine

Petite + Curve

If you have the Soft Gamine body type, then your dominant features are petite and curve.

The Soft Gamine has a narrow and sharp petite bone structure with a slightly curvy figure, creating a youthful appearance. It is important to remember that the Soft Gamine woman is primarily in the Gamine family, so her bone structure is more dominant than her softness. Due to her Gamine bone structure, her curve is more elongated.

She often has a small and slightly rounded facial shape, with large eyes and full lips. Often the Soft Gamine will have an Ingenue appearance, especially in her facial features.

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Theatrical Romantic

Double-Curve + Petite

If you have the Theatrical Romantic body type, then your dominant features are double curve and petite. Double-curve is the predominant and uninterrupted appearance of nearly circular contours in individual features and overall silhouette.

Those with double-curve not only have a defined waist and rounded hips, but rounded shoulders as well. And the arc of their curves is almost circular rather than ovular and elongated.

The Theatrical Romantic’s curves are her most dominant feature. She is also slightly more narrow and sharp than the pure Romantic, and may have a sharper jaw line and facial features.

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Romantic

Double-Curve

If you have the Romantic body type, then your dominant feature is double curve.

The Romantic woman has a lush, curvy silhouette with a clearly defined waist. She has a short vertical line, small bone structure, defined waist, and rounded shoulders and hips. Her shoulders, waist, and hips create an hourglass or pear shape. Her facial features are also delicate, soft, and full; often with large doe-like eyes and full lips.

In comparison to the Theatrical Romantic, the pure Romantic can have slightly wider shoulders and hips, and therefore is not petite.

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The Line Drawing

Now that you understand the dominant features and accommodations of each body type, it’s time to start understanding your own features.

The best way to observe your own proportions and dominant features is to create a line drawing of yourself. I do this with all of my clients when helping them determine their body types.

Take a full-body photo of yourself in a neutral stance, squarely facing the camera, with your arms held slightly away from your sides. Wear solid-colored clothing that does not obscure your figure, such as a bathing suit or workout gear. Enlist the help of a friend, or set up your camera on a counter, tripod, or other surface at chest-height and perpendicular to the floor. Avoid mirror photos as the mirror will distort your proportions.

Then, load your photo into a sketch app to trace the shapes of your body. You could also print your photo and use trace paper if you’d like. You can start by tracing any shapes you see within your figure. Be sure to trace the outline of your head as well - this will help you get a better idea of your vertical line. Also, draw a line across the floor at the base of your heels to bound your height.

Then, trace the silhouette. Draw the shape your shoulders without including your arms, then the outline of your body down to your knees. The final result should look like a tight cap-sleeve dress, essentially.

Remove or hide the original photo, and now you have your line drawing!

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Analyzing Your Line Drawing

Observe your line drawing and try to answer the following questions:

• What kinds of shapes are most common in your line drawing? Do you see elongated ovals, circular shapes, sharply defined corners, or trapezoidal shapes with rounded corners?

• Does any particular feature stand out when you casually glance at your line drawing? Try squinting to force yourself to defocus and take in the image as a whole. Even while squinting, does any particular feature appear noticeable? This could be prominent elongation or height, a well-defined waist, broad shoulders, or nothing at all.

• How many heads tall are you? Cut and paste the outline of your head and stack them from the top of your head to the line you drew at the base of your heels. If you are less than 7 heads tall, you may have a short vertical line. However, keep in mind that the vertical accommodation is not limited to height. Vertical can appear anywhere in the body in the form of elongation. For example, the Flamboyant Gamine has petite and vertical - she may be less than 7 heads tall but she still has vertical in her body proportions.

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Process of Elimination

Now that you have your line drawing and an initial assessment of your shapes and lines, let’s clear the board by eliminating some of the body types.

• Petite. If you know you aren’t petite, eliminate Theatrical Romantic, Soft Gamine, and Flamboyant Gamine. If you are very confident that you are petite, then you are one of these three body types.

• Width. If your shoulders are clearly not wider than your hips, eliminate Flamboyant Natural and Soft Natural. If your shoulders are wider than your hips, you may be Dramatic, Flamboyant Natural, Soft Natural, Dramatic Classic, or Flamboyant Gamine. However, if you are very confident that you have to accommodate width in your shoulders when it comes to your clothing selections, then you are either Flamboyant Natural or Soft Natural.

• Curve. Curve is not an easy trait to use for eliminating body types, because as humans none of us are entirely made up of perfectly straight lines. However, if your line drawing includes a clear pattern of rounded ovular or circular shapes, then you are likely one of the soft types.

• Double-curve. Double-curve is quite a rare type of curve which presents as a clear pattern of nearly circular shapes. Those with double-curve will notice that their rounded shoulders and chest create a circular shape which ends around the waistline. Their hips will also create a circular shape which touches or overlaps with the circle created by their shoulders and chest. In your line drawing, this may appear almost like a drawing of a snowman with one circle on top of the other. If you are one of the rare women who see these shapes in their line drawings, then you are most likely one of the Romantic types. In even rarer cases, Soft Classic and Soft Gamine women may have double-curve.

• Vertical. Although vertical accommodation is not all about height, you may be able to eliminate some body types based on height. If you are very tall and clearly elongated, you are likely either Dramatic, Soft Dramatic, or Flamboyant Natural. If you are very short, you are either Romantic, Theatrical Romantic, Soft Gamine, Flamboyant Gamine, or Soft Natural. It’s important to note here that the Natural family has no height limits, but the Soft Natural has a moderate-to-short vertical line and the Flamboyant Natural has a moderate-to-long vertical line and sometimes a very long vertical line.

• Balance. Like curve, balance is another tricky feature to pinpoint. However, if you truly see no prominent or dominant association with any of the previous characteristics we discussed, then you may be very balanced and symmetrical. In this case, you are likely one of the Classic types.

Tie-Breakers

If you’re still struggling to determine your exact body type, here are some common tie breakers that I have encountered.

• Dramatic vs Flamboyant Natural. The Dramatic body type is much narrower than the Flamboyant Natural. And although the Dramatic’s shoulders are typically slightly wider than her hips, she doesn’t have to accommodate the width in her shoulders in her clothing selection. For example, fitting a classic tailored blazer off the rack will likely be very easy for a Dramatic, while it is much more of a challenge for the Flamboyant Natural. The Dramatic also tends to have thinner and sharper bones, with the Flamboyant Natural’s bone structure appearing much stronger.

• Dramatic vs Dramatic Classic. In general, it is fairly easy to differentiate the Classic body types from other body types. This is because the Classic types are very moderate in all aspects. Therefore, the Dramatic will have a clear and prominent vertical line in comparison to the Dramatic Classic. If you see clear elongation in your line drawing and you are stuck between these two types, you are Dramatic. You can also look at facial features for a tie-breaker here. The Dramatic’s facial features will be stronger, sharper, and more geometric than the Dramatic Classic.

• Flamboyant Natural vs Soft Natural. As I mentioned earlier, the Natural family has no height limits, which may confuse you when deciding between Flamboyant Natural and Soft Natural. The difference here is all in the vertical line. The Flamboyant Natural has a long vertical, while the Soft Natural has a short vertical. You may be able to assess your facial features as well to determine your level of elongation. If your face is elongated, then you are more likely Flamboyant Natural. The Flamboyant Natural also has a more prominent bone structure and proportionally wider shoulders than the Soft Natural in general. The Soft Natural’s less narrow hips help support her curvier silhouette by allowing her waist to look smaller in comparison.

• Soft Natural vs Soft Classic. Soft Natural and Soft Classic can often have a lot of similarities in their appearance, especially in the facial features. Here it is important to remember that width is an accommodation for all naturals. So if you don’t have to accommodate the width in your shoulders in your clothing selections, then you are likely not a Soft Natural.

• Soft Natural vs Flamboyant Gamine. The Soft Natural and Flamboyant Gamine have completely different sets of accommodations - width and curve versus petite and vertical. Similar to the previous tie-breaker, Soft Natural must have width. The Flamboyant Gamine is inherently narrow due to her petite frame. Although the Flamboyant Gamine’s shoulders may be wider than her hips, they are still narrow and do not require accommodation. The Soft Natural also must accommodate curve, while the Flamboyant Gamine does not require curve accommodation.

• Dramatic Classic vs Soft Classic. Deciding between the two Classic body types seems like a very difficult task at first, but it’s actually easier than you might think. Because the Classic types are a balanced and blended combination of yin and yang, any small amount of extra drama or softness will determine their specific type. If you believe you are Classic and you see any hint of sharpness in your features, then you are likely Dramatic Classic. The same goes for extra softness with the Soft Classic.

• Soft Gamine vs Theatrical Romantic. It can be difficult to differentiate the Theatrical Romantic description from the Soft Gamine description, although the difference becomes clear when comparing examples of the two. The best way to understand this difference is to notice how the Soft Gamine has an overall more youthful and fresh appearance in her proportions, while the Theatrical Romantic has an overall more sensual and moody appearance. The Soft Gamine will also have more elongated limbs, while the Theatrical Romantic’s arms and legs will be proportionally shorter. You may also notice this difference in elongation in your hands and feet as well.

And if you’re still struggling with your color type, my color and body typing service is always available for the price of a haircut. Plus, if you send me a DM on Instagram I would be happy to give you a discount code to get you started.

Just remember that body type is not a set of rules that you must apply to your wardrobe; it is a lens through which to see your outfits and your wardrobe more clearly. Each of The 12 Competencies of Personal Style is a tool to add to your personal style toolbox, to help you confidently and consistently create outfits that work for your life and your style. So have fun first and foremost!

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Knowing your color type is crucial for honing your personal style. If you’ve explored my channel before, you’ll probably know that color and body type form the cornerstone of every successful capsule wardrobe. Knowing your color type will help you understand why you enjoy wearing certain colors and why others may not work for you. And if you want to wear colors that don’t fall within your color type, understanding how to prioritize your color characteristics will allow you to do so intentionally and with confidence. So today, I’m going to share my three most valuable tricks for narrowing down your color type and prioritizing your natural characteristics.

If you’re new here, this year we are diving deep into The 12 Competencies of Personal Style together, to help you get organized, discover your personal style, and start to build your dream wardrobe. That’s why I’d like to invite you to join the 12-month free email course! By the end of the year, we will master these 12 useful concepts and develop your personal style, so that you can consistently create outfits that you love to wear, and ultimately build your perfect capsule wardrobe.

The 12 competencies of personal style are:

• Color Type

• Body Type

• Core Style

• The Wardrobe Framework

• Wardrobe Editing

• Fit & Measurements

• Silhouette & Proportions

• Color Story

• Texture

• Multidimensional Style

• Conflict & Balance

• and Creating Full Outfits

Let’s start with a quick overview of the 3 Dimensions of Color.

The 3 Dimensions of Color

All colors can be fully defined in terms of three dimensions: hue, value, and chroma.

Hue and Temperature

Hue is the “pure” or spectral color that is most closely related to a given color. It is the attribute by which colors are most commonly classified. For example, red, green, or blue.

In color analysis, a color’s temperature is the most important aspect of its hue. The temperature of a color is defined by its hue. A hue’s temperature can be cool, warm, or neutral. Temperature can also be viewed as warmer or cooler relative to other hues. So color temperature is not purely subjective, it is also relative. For instance, blue is generally considered to be a cool color, but when we look at a range of different blues, we can see that there are warmer shades and cooler shades of blue.

In general, adding blue to a color will make it cooler, and adding yellow to a color will make it warmer. Pure red is neutral - a cool color mixed with red will remain cool, and a warm color mixed with red will remain warm. True green is also a neutral, having equal parts of yellow and blue.

In seasonal color analysis, Spring and Autumn are warm seasons while Winter and Summer are cool seasons.

Value

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. It is the attribute by which color is scaled from black to white. Value can be determined by desaturating the color to identify the most closely related shade of gray.

In color analysis, a season’s value also indicates its level of contrast. Dark seasons, like Winter and Autumn, have higher contrast within their palettes than the lighter seasons of Spring and Summer. Winter is the darkest most contrasted season, and the only season for which pure black and pure white are usually recommended. Next we have Autumn and Spring with medium contrast. And Summer is the least contrasted season.

Chroma

Chroma is the brightness or softness of a color. It is the attribute by which a color is visually different from its most closely related shade of gray. Adding gray to a given color results in a softer, or more muted color. Mixing complementary colors has a similar effect.

Autumn and Summer are muted seasons while Spring and Winter are bright seasons.

In seasonal color typing, each of the basic seasons is defined by a combination of temperature, value, and chroma.

• Spring is warm, light, and bright.

• Summer is cool, light, and muted.

• Autumn is warm, dark, and muted.

• Winter is cool, dark, and bright.

Then, each subtype is further defined by its primary characteristic. Your primary characteristic is the most important characteristic to match when choosing colors for your color palette. Your primary characteristic is either cool, warm, light, dark, soft, or bright.

• Light Spring’s primary characteristic is light.

• True Spring’s primary characteristic is warm.

• Bright Spring’s primary characteristic is bright.

So, now that you understand how each color season is defined using The 3 Dimensions of Color, let’s get into these tricks, because I know they are going to be game changers in the way that you think about your color season.

Trick #1: Black and White

Whenever I’m color typing my clients, the very first thing that I do is assess how they look in pure black and pure white. As I mentioned earlier, Winter is the most contrasted color season, and the only season for which pure black and pure white are typically recommended. This means, if black is one of your best colors and you have a cool undertone, then you can narrow down your color season to one of the Winter types. If you feel that black is one of your best colors and you have a warm undertone, then you must be either Dark Autumn or Bright Spring. If black is one of your worst colors, you can instantly eliminate all of the Winter types.

Trick #2: Use Your Worst Colors

Speaking of our worst colors, analyzing the colors that are least flattering on us is a super powerful tool for narrowing down our color seasons. Go into your wardrobe and pull out any colors that you hate to wear, write them down from memory, or if you’ve joined the course you will be receiving a free swatch library which you can page through to identify your worst colors.

Now, how would you describe these colors? What characteristics do they share? Are they light or dark? Do they have warm or cool undertones? Are they bright and clear colors, or complex and muted colors? If so, write down those key words: cool or warm for temperature, bright or muted for chroma, and light or dark for value. It’s okay if you only see one commonality. Just write down what you see. These common themes represent characteristics that are disharmonious with your natural beauty.

Temperature and brightness tell us the most about our coloring, so focus on eliminating seasons that don’t suit your undertone and chroma first. If one of your disharmonious characteristics is “muted,” then you can eliminate the Autumn and Summer types. If you dislike all warm colors, then eliminate Autumn and Spring.

With value, I make an exception. I don’t believe that you should eliminate entire seasons based on how well you suit light or dark colors. However, you can eliminate specific subgroups. So, if one of your disharmonious characteristics is “dark,” then you won’t be Dark Autumn or Dark Winter.

And if one of your disharmonious characteristics is “light,” then you can eliminate Light Spring and Light Summer. However, I would not recommend that you eliminate Spring and Summer altogether. I often see clients who are cool and muted, but think they must be Winter because they don’t suit light colors. In reality, they are Summers whose primary characteristic is either cool or muted, rather than light. Therefore they look great in dark, cool, and muted shades within the Summer color palette.

Trick #3: Your Sister Season

Now that you’ve eliminated some possibilities by analyzing your worst colors, you can probably determine which of the four basic seasons suits you best - Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter. So how do you finally determine your subtype? This is where the concept of Sister Seasons has been extremely illuminating for me and my clients.

Your Sister Season is such an illuminating tool because it offers an easy process of elimination for determining your exact seasonal subtype.

So what is your Sister Season?

Sister Seasons are pairs of seasonal palettes that share the same primary characteristic - light, dark, bright, soft, warm, or cool. Your Sister Season is the only seasonal subtype that will suit your natural coloring even though it lies outside of your basic season family.

So, if your specific subtype is Bright Winter, then your Sister Season is Bright Spring, both of which share the primary characteristic “bright.” If your specific subtype is True Autumn, then your Sister Season is True Spring, both of which share the primary characteristic “warm.”

Now, you can easily use the concept of Sister Seasons to confirm your seasonal subtype.

Let’s say you know you think you belong to the Bright Spring color type. You can confirm this by trying on colors from Bright Spring’s Sister Season, Bright Winter. If you are a Bright Spring, then the Bright Winter color palette will suit you as well. The same idea holds for all other color types.

If you have no idea where to start, then try on colors from all three potential Sister Seasons. If you know you are in the Spring color family, you’ll try Light Summer, True Autumn, and Bright Winter. When I use this exercise with clients, it becomes very clear which two options are least suitable. If you are a Bright Spring as in the previous example, then True Autumn colors will look too warm on you, and Light Summer will look too muted.

Now that you’ve learned my three most valuable tricks for determining your color type, I hope you’ll be able to confidently choose your color season and start building your wardrobe color palette! Don’t forget to sign up for the course to get access to the free swatch library and all of the exercises to guide you through the process.

And if you’re still struggling with your color type, my color and body typing service is always available for the price of a haircut. Plus, if you send me a DM on Instagram I would be happy to give you a discount code to get you started.

Just remember that color type is not a set of rules that you must apply to your wardrobe; it is a lens through which to see your outfits and your wardrobe more clearly. Each of The 12 Competencies of Personal Style is a tool to add to your personal style toolbox, to help you confidently and consistently create outfits that work for your life and your style. So have fun first and foremost!

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A new year is upon us, and you are finally ready to get organized, discover your personal style, and build the foundation for your dream wardrobe. If you’re overwhelmed, I understand the feeling.

There are so many things to consider when developing your own unique personal style. And if you’re like me, I know that you love to take an analytical and scholarly approach to style. But you also want to augment that with creativity. You want to take all that knowledge and creativity and actually create outfits that you can wear right now, while working towards building your perfect capsule wardrobe.

That’s why I’d like to reintroduce you to the 12 Competencies of Personal Style, and invite you to join a 12-month free email course to help you master these concepts and develop your personal style, so that you can consistently create outfits that you love to wear, and ultimately build your perfect capsule wardrobe.

The 12 competencies of personal style are:

• Color Type

• Body Type

• Core Style

• The Wardrobe Framework

• Wardrobe Editing

• Fit & Measurements

• Silhouette & Proportions

• Color Story

• Texture

• Multidimensional Style

• Conflict & Balance

• and Creating Full Outfits

During the 12-month email course and on YouTube, we will focus on building one competency each month. We will complete exercises designed to help you develop your personal style, and build your own personalized style book along the way. So, I invite you to subscribe and join the email course!

In the meantime, let me give you an overview of each of the 12 Competencies and some of the fun stuff you have to look forward to in the coming year.

Color & Body Type

The first two competencies are crucial for honing your personal style - color type and body type. If you’ve explored my channel before, you’ll probably know that color and body type are always the foundation of every capsule wardrobe. I recommend using the 12-season color type and yin/yang or Kibbe body typing systems, but any system that works for you will satisfy these initial steps. It’s important to note that these two steps are not meant to narrow down your options, but to help you become more observant and intentional about your style.

Knowing your color type will help you understand why you enjoy wearing certain colors and why others may not work for you. And if you want to wear colors that don’t fall within your color type, you can do so intentionally and with confidence. For instance, if you are a Soft Summer color type, but you enjoy dark and moody color combinations, you can choose to use the darkest colors within your Soft Summer color palette, like dark gray or navy. Alternatively, you can choose black for an intentionally sharp and intense look.

Similarly, knowing your body type can give you a lot of comfort in knowing how to embrace and enhance your unique beauty. I recommend the yin/yang or Kibbe body typing system because it teaches you how to create harmony with your body, and doesn’t encourage you to correct or hide your shape. In this system there are ten different body types: Dramatic, Soft Dramatic, Flamboyant Natural, Soft Natural, Dramatic Classic, Soft Classic, Flamboyant Gamine, Soft Gamine, Theatrical Romantic, and Romantic. Each type has its own unique style lines and clothing recommendations.

Color and body type are not a set of rules that you must apply to your wardrobe. Each of these systems is a lens through which to see your outfits and your wardrobe more clearly. Tools not rules.

During the first two months of the course, I’ll be giving you resources and exercises to help you understand your color type and body type, start to create your wardrobe color palette, and test out your style lines.

Core Style

The next important step is to define your core style in three words. The key to successfully building the perfect wardrobe is to verbalize your style.

So how do you define your core style? The most useful way to define your core style is with three adjectives. And it’s very important that you distill your adjectives down to three. Think of these three words as your own personal brand. Your three words are the three elements that you really can’t go without. If any one element is missing, you won’t feel like yourself.

These three words are your core style. Like color type and body type, your core style is another lens in your toolkit that brings clarity to your wardrobe. In the third month, we will learn how to uncover your core style and start creating your own style dictionary.

The Wardrobe Framework

The fourth competency in the 12 Competencies of Personal Style is The Wardrobe Framework. The Wardrobe Framework consists of three categories that every stylish and practical capsule wardrobe must include: Essentials, Seasonals, and Statements.

This will be a month to regroup and get organized in your current wardrobe. We will categorize your current Essentials, Seasonals, and Statements and start to observe how they stack up against your color type, body type, and core style.

Using this wardrobe framework, your Essentials should make up about 50-60% of your capsule wardrobe.

Notice that I don’t use the word “basics.” When you’re looking for the perfect basics for a capsule wardrobe, what you’re really looking for is Essentials. Essentials are your basics, but better. They are your basics that take into account your color type, body type, and core style. And all together, your essentials should create a complete capsule wardrobe in and of themselves. And one that is not at all basic or boring. When you build a foundation of essentials rather than basics, even your worst day becomes quite stylish.

Remember - essentials should be useful pretty much year-round, and should take into account body type, color type, and core style. However, it’s okay if they don’t check all three boxes. What’s most important is that you feel great in them and can mix-and-match them with your Seasonals and Statement pieces.

Your seasonals should make up about 20-25% of your capsule wardrobe.

Seasonal items are those that can be worn 3-6 months out of the year and that you plan to bring out year after year. Usually these incorporate seasonally appropriate colors or textures and perhaps include some macro-trends that you expect to enjoy for several years. Your Seasonals can consist of just a few key items, like a coat and boots, or they can create entire mini-capsules that completely transform your Essentials for a particular season. The main idea is that these items are seasonally appropriate and rotate in and out of your wardrobe each year. They are absolutely practical, and because you are rotating them in and out of your closet, they bring excitement to your wardrobe each season, even when you aren’t buying new things.

Finally, your statements should make up about 20-25% of your capsule wardrobe.

Statement pieces are those items that you really have a strong emotional connection with, and are excited to wear now regardless of whether or not they make any practical sense. These are the items that really excite you and keep your wardrobe feeling fresh. They are still items that you plan to keep for a very long time, but they may rotate in and out of your wardrobe asynchronously with the seasons. The primary purpose of Statements is the pure enjoyment of style and self expression.

Wardrobe Editing

Once you’ve learned about The Wardrobe Framework and done some reflection, it’s time to analyze and edit your existing wardrobe. Editing your wardrobe is not about tossing out or selling half of your current wardrobe. In fact, I advise against frequent or extreme wardrobe culling because it can become very wasteful habit in the long run. If you have the space, I recommend storing your questionable items and returning to them in future seasons.

So, instead of traditional spring cleaning, we will focus on creating a visual guide or catalog of your existing wardrobe. We’ll try on everything and make some key observations about fit, fabric, texture, and proportion - that will help to frame and refine the way that you look at your clothing, outfits, and personal style. Plus, this catalog will be super helpful whenever you choose to shop or reconfigure your capsule wardrobe in future seasons.

Then, we can store away any misfits that don’t belong in the current season or maybe just don’t feel right in the current moment. And because you’ll have your wardrobe catalog in hand, you won’t forget what you have in storage come next season.

Fit + Measurements

Using the information you gleaned from wardrobe editing, you can now create your own personalized fit and measurement guide. You’ll learn how to take your measurements, analyze your fit preferences, and use body and garment measurements to make better purchases when shopping online. Your fit and measurement guide will also form the foundation for the next module, silhouette and proportions.

In the second half of the year, we will move into more advanced topics. I’m just going to give a very quick overview of each, because there is so much to cover that I really can’t do it justice in this video.

Silhouette + Proportions

The seventh lesson in our 12 Competencies of Personal Style will be silhouette and proportions.

There are many aspects to silhouette, such as waist emphasis, waist placement, shape, width, and vertical line. Proportion refers to the visual size of individual parts of the outfit in comparison to other items and your own body proportions.

Your experience with silhouette and proportion will be highly influenced by your body type and core style. In this module, we will learn about each element, conduct some outfit experiments, and make observations. Then, we’ll formulate three key outfit formulas that perfectly align with your body type and core style.

Color Story & Texture

An extension of silhouette and proportions is color story, since the use of color within an outfit can drastically change the visual proportions.

Not only can color alter visual proportions, but color can alter the visual mood of an outfit as well. Color and texture can also create focal points within an outfit.

In these two modules, we’ll explore each aspect of color, texture, and using focal points to tell a story with your outfits.

Multidimensional Style

Once you’ve mastered the first nine concepts in the 12 Competencies of Personal Style, you’ll be ready to expand beyond your core style.

Multidimensional style is all about tailoring your outfits to your unique circumstances and moods. We are all multidimensional people with a variety of roles to play in our daily lives, and our wardrobes should support that. In this module, we will work to identify those roles that we want to fill or moods that we want to create. Then, we’ll practice expanding our core style to create outfits that suit those roles while still feeling like ourselves.

Conflict + Balance

Creating conflict and balance is a technique for assessing your outfits emotionally and creatively applying your personal style. You’ll learn how to assess contrast and harmony within an outfit and when to add or remove elements to create balance and visual interest.

Full Outfits

Finally, we will practice combining all 12 Competencies to create full outfits and identify critical gaps in your current wardrobe. And by the end of the year, you have completed your personalized style book which will be an invaluable tool as you continue to build your perfect capsule wardrobe.

So, whether you are just starting your personal style journey, or want to take your wardrobe to the next level, I invite you to subscribe and join the course! I can’t wait to get organized and develop our personal style together in the new year!

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Autumn Season | Summer Color Type

24 Pieces // 51 Outfits

Today, let's combine Classic and Natural style essences to create a casual and functional capsule wardrobe for the autumn season!

I’ve had quite a few requests for capsule wardrobes that combine the Classic body type and the Natural essence, or vice versa. So I’ve created a capsule example combining these two style essences that I hope can provide some inspiration for anyone who wishes to combine the Classic and Natural styles, regardless of body type.

If you’re not sure what your body type is, I would love to invite you to book a color and body typing package with me!

And if you’d like to learn more about the Classic or Natural body types, make sure to check out my body type capsule wardrobe series here when you’re done watching this video!

Combining the Classic + Natural Style Essences

Combining the Classic and Natural style elements creates an aesthetic that balances timeless elegance with a relaxed and effortless effect. 

Both styles appreciate symmetry, but while Classic gravitates towards tailored and refined pieces, Natural embraces relaxed and unconstructed designs. When marrying these two styles, aim for a harmonious blend of structured pieces, relaxed fabrics, and earthy textures. 

Necklines should be simple, unembellished, and open; think unbuttoned shirt collars, V-necks, and sleeveless tops. Sporty necklines such as crewnecks and halter necks are also excellent for this style combination. 

Lean into straight, slightly relaxed, or slightly fitted silhouettes. Steer clear of anything too oversized or overly rigid. 

Accessories can be understated or bold, but should be medium-to-large in scale to play up the Natural essence. Finally, outfit details such as a gentle waist definition can be achieved with a well-placed belt, tailoring, or a French tuck. Combining Classic and Natural styles results in a look that's effortlessly polished.

Color Palette

For this capsule, I wanted to create a serene and tonal palette with just a bit of contrast, suitable for a soft and cool Summer color palette. Let’s start with shades of gray, taupe, and beige to provide a varied neutral foundation for this palette. Then, add a muted black and soft white to provide some contrast. And finally, lavender, lilac, baby blue, and sky blue for our statement colors.

Capsule Wardrobe

The final capsule includes 6 tops, 6 bottoms, 1 dress, 2 jackets, 4 shoes, and 5 accessories for 24 items which can create at least 51 interchangeable outfits.

6 Tops

black denim short sleeve // white square neck tank (OR) // cream silk shirt // lilac v-neck sweater // halterneck blouse // light blue sweater

6 Bottoms

cream faux leather trousers // gray pleated trousers // taupe straight-leg jeans // purple leather pants // blue midi skirt // dark blue wide-leg jeans

1 Dress

blue unique shirt dress (OR)

2 outerwear

gray blazer // light gray trench (OR)

4 Shoes

black strappy sandals // beige dr martens // black ankle boots // white sneakers (OR)

5 Accessories

colorful silk scarf // blue zebra shoulder bag // black raffia tote // purple floral choker // black and white hat

51 Outfits

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Spring Season | Summer Color Type

28 Pieces // 60 Outfits

Today, let’s create another casual capsule wardrobe example for the Theatrical Romantic Kibbe type! 

My goal for this series is not to provide “the perfect” capsule wardrobe for a specific body type, but to show a few concepts, items, and style elements that you can adopt for your body type. I want to break out of the common Kibbe stereotypes and show you how you can really own your personal style while still incorporating items and combinations that honor your body type.

A Client Capsule Example

This time, I’m sharing a capsule wardrobe that I recently created for a client with a Theatrical Romantic body type and a Soft Summer color palette.

I thought this capsule wardrobe example would really resonate because this client’s goals for her capsule are quite common. She is looking for a mostly-neutral color palette with just a few pops of soft summer colors. And although she knows it may not technically be her best color, she wants to include plenty of black within her palette because her personal style just doesn’t feel the same without it.

She has a casual, classic, and minimalist style with a bit of a romantic touch. She loves skinny jeans, faux leather leggings, peplum tops, and long cardigans which goes to show how our style intuition can often line up very well with the clothing recommendations for our body types. She’s also a strict vegan. And finally, she wants to keep each item around $100-$200.

Color Palette

This client is a Soft Summer color type who wants a mostly neutral, minimalist color palette with just a few pops of color. I started her color palette off with a cool cream and black as the base. Although black is often not recommended for Soft Summers, black is very important in this client’s personal style and her current wardrobe. So let’s give her plenty of options in black! Once she is able to experiment more with a lighter, Soft Summer color palette and black becomes less of a comfort zone for her, she can choose to use black more strategically to create an effect, or perhaps to use black only in certain seasons. But until then, it’s always important to include the colors that you love most in your capsule! 

Then, for a bit of color, let’s add light denim blue, dusty pink, and rose. This client already owns a few pink pieces, including a bold pink blazer which we are going to incorporate into this capsule.

And finally, let’s add a few more variations of light neutrals to give more depth and interest to this mostly-neutral color palette. Off-white, cool beige, and neutral camel brown complete the color palette.

Capsule Wardrobe

Now that we have our color palette, let’s put together our casual Theatrical Romantic capsule wardrobe.

I had worked with this client before, so there were a few items that we had chosen during previous sessions that I knew I would be including in her capsule. A pink blazer, a white cap sleeve bodysuit, a pink longline cardigan, a beige blazer, a long sleeve knit with a sweetheart neckline, a baby blue t-shirt, a pair of blue skinny jeans, a pair of beige or taupe ankle boots, a pair of white sneakers, and a camel structured bag.

For her capsule, she really wants to take things back to basics and choose items that are either very well suited to her body type, or that are items she already loves to wear. So let’s see how we can add some simple but elevated basics to round out her wardrobe and give her tons of outfit options that she will enjoy wearing.

The Final Capsule

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 4 bottoms, 1 romper, 5 jackets, 5 shoes, and 3 bags for 28 items which can create at least 60 interchangeable outfits.

** Note that not all item recommendations below are vegan.**

9 Tops

beige tie-front peplum top // white peplum top // white sweetheart neckline top // black peplum top // white t-shirt // light blue t-shirt // cream v-neck cardigan // black bandeau top (OR, tank) // cream bandeau top

4 Bottoms

white tiered maxi skirt (OR) // black tapered trousers (OR) // blue skinny jeans // cream belted trousers

1 Romper

white shirt-style romper (OR)

5 outerwear

long pink cardigan // cream classic blazer (OR) // black motorcycle jacket (OR) // pink blazer (sold out) // light camel cardigan (OR)

5 Shoes

white sneakers // beige ankle boots (OR) // pink flats (OR) // black loafers (OR) // white sandals (OR)

4 Accessories

silver drop earrings // pink vegan leather tote // white vegan clutch // camel structured bag (sold out)

57 Outfits

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Autumn Season | Spring Color Type

26 Pieces // 57 Outfits

Hey everyone! Today, let’s create a capsule wardrobe example for the Romantic Kibbe type! 

As I’ve mentioned before, my goal for this series is not to provide “the perfect” capsule wardrobe for a specific body type, but to show a few concepts, items, and style elements that you can adopt for your body type. I want to break out of the common Kibbe stereotypes and show you how you can really own your personal style while still incorporating items and combinations that honor your body type.

If you’re not sure what your Kibbe body type is, I highly recommend checking out Aly Art, her channel is huge. I have also enjoyed Elyssa Aesthetic and Style Thoughts by Rita, and Justine Leconte has also made a video about the Kibbe types. Of course, I will also continue to talk about the Kibbe body types if that’s something you guys are interested in, so I welcome you to leave tons of questions below so that I know exactly what you want to learn about next!

Introduction to the Romantic Body Type

Before we dive into Kibbe’s descriptions of the Soft Dramatic body type, I would just like to say that everything I am presenting here is my own interpretation of Kibbe’s work and may not always align with David Kibbe’s intentions. I’ll always encourage you to check out the Strictly Kibbe Facebook group if you’d like to learn more straight from the source. Okay, now let’s get into an introduction to the Soft Classic woman.

All of the Kibbe body types are primarily described by their unique mix of yin, or feminine traits, and yang, or masculine traits. The Romantic woman is 100% “yin” in both her bone structure and her body structure. Her dominant descriptors are delicate and curved. She has a short vertical line, small bone structure, defined waist, and rounded shoulders and hips. Her shoulders, waist, and hips create an hourglass or pear shape. Her facial features are also delicate, soft, and full; often with large rounded eyes. 

Some great examples of Romantic women are Beyoncé, Helena Bonham Carter, and Emilia Clarke. Marilyn Monroe is another Kibbe-verified Romantic.

Romantic Keywords

Keywords for the Romantic include:

• Delicate

• Curved

• Small

• Short

• Soft

• Rounded

• Airy

• Draped

• Lush

• Gentle

Color Palette

So, now that we know a little bit more about the Romantic body type, let’s talk about the color palette for this capsule wardrobe.

This capsule is for a Romantic woman with the spring color type, who is a mom who works from home and wants to be comfortable, but also dress more artsy. She likes classic, minimal style, and monochrome looks. To keep the base of this capsule light and minimal, I started with cream and white. Next, let’s sprinkle in some earthy shades of brown to give a more autumnal feel to the neutral palette. And to create some artsy, creative looks, let’s add bright red-orange, deep ocean blue, fern green, and army green as statement colors for this capsule.

Capsule Wardrobe

Okay! Let’s put together our Romantic capsule wardrobe.

As I mentioned previously, this particular woman is a mom who works from home who wants to be comfortable, but also dress more artsy. She likes classic, minimal style, monochrome, jeans, scoop-necks, plaid, and workwear-inspired pieces. She doesn’t like frilly things, big bold prints, high necklines, or anything that might shorten the appearance of her legs.

To accomplish an artsy look, there are a few different methods she can employ. She can use bold color combinations, sophisticated monochrome looks, interesting textures, or avant-garde cuts, silhouettes, or prints. While big, bold prints, frills, and high necklines are no-go’s for her, there are plenty of possibilities for bold, artistic looks if we pay close attention to finding unique textures, cuts, and color combinations.

Just as I did in my previous video, I will be showing you some examples of non-traditional Romantic outfits, but let’s start with a few pieces that are solid choices for the Romantic body type. 

For the Romantic woman, light and flowy fabrics with rounded shapes and waist definition are on the top of the list.

This red cowl-neck blouse is perfect for the romantic type. The soft draping and rounded shapes at the neckline will accentuate the bust, and the light fabric will skim your curves and allow for waist definition when tucked in or belted. This will also be a great fall layering piece when paired with some workwear-inspired outfits. 

Another creative piece for the Romantic type is a pair of skinny jeans with an interesting belt detail. Skinny jeans might not always be trendy, but they have become a classic and are one of the most flattering denim styles for Romantics. Waist accentuation is always a bonus and this denim bow waist is a great way to add personality and detail to a simple jeans-and-a-top outfit.

Now let’s talk about a few pieces that are personalized for this particular client, but don’t necessarily follow every dressing “rule” for the Romantic kibbe type.

As I mentioned earlier, this client doesn’t like very many prints, but she does love plaid. Plaid is not usually recommended for the Romantic type and is more likely to be recommended for the Natural type. A boxy and thick plaid top would likely not be the best choice for a romantic. However, this top has a cut that accentuates the waist and bust, and includes some rounded lines at the shoulder, which makes it a wonderful choice for a Romantic who wants to include plaid in her capsule wardrobe.

This client also wants to include some workwear-inspired pieces in her wardrobe. To accomplish this, we need to find pieces with soft and light fabrics, or pieces with clear waist emphasis, to avoid selecting the boxy and masculine workwear styles that have been on trend for a while. First, I chose this unique blazer-inspired piece with a light, flowy fabric and amazing belt detail. This piece ticks so many boxes as it is unique and creative while having some workwear-inspired flare. 

If you are a Romantic and you want to go for a more traditional blazer, one option would be to choose a short, peplum style blazer in a thin, flexible fabric. However, for this capsule I wanted to play up the creative vibes with this striking hourglass blazer. The shoulder line of this blazer is admittedly quite sharp and could suit more yang body types as well, but the hourglass silhouette will be so flattering on the Romantic body type. The wrapped lapel also creates a beautiful s-curve line throughout the garment. If fitted correctly, I think this could still be a beautiful blazer for a creative Romantic type who wants to make a statement with her look.

Okay, now that we’ve talked about some standout pieces and why they work for the Romantic type, let’s finish up the rest of the capsule.

For tops, I want to add a few more basics and a couple of warm sweaters for the autumn season. I added this knitted top with a sweetheart neckline, two white scoop-neck t-shirts in different sleeve lengths and fits, a chocolate brown sweater set with an interesting neckline, a silky cream camisole, a white one-shoulder top, and a cream tie-front cardigan.

For bottoms, I added a bold pair of warm red denim, a pair of cream cigarette trousers, and a pair of comfy white jeans. And one bold knit dress with an off-shoulder detail.

To achieve a creative style, I think outerwear and accessories are great opportunities to make an impact. So, let’s choose a couple more coats. This cropped sherpa-style jacket is a fun option and an interesting texture to incorporate into an outfit. And let’s also add a classic tie-waist coat in cream. A monochrome look with this coat would be such a chic option for creative events.

For shoes, a pair of printed sneakers in neutral tones is a great way to add some interest without overpowering an outfit. Plus, this client is a mom so sneakers or other flat shoe options are key. Let’s add a pair of neutral flats as well. And for occasionwear, a pair of cream ankle boots and these fun sherpa-textured mules will cover all the bases.

A couple of trendy, yet classic bags will go wonderfully with this capsule. This Coach Pillow Tabby in cream is super fun and will remain a classic for quite some time due to the classic color and overall shape. And this Proenza Schouler clutch is a nice light and airy option with a bit more of a polished look. Finally, for a pop of color and personality, let’s add a velvet headband and a forest green beanie to the mix.

The Final Capsule

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 4 bottoms, 1 dress, 4 jackets, 4 shoes, 2 bags, and 2 accessories for 26 items which can create at least 57 interchangeable outfits.

9 Tops

white scoop-neck (OR) // brown sweater combo // red cowl-neck top // plaid peplum top // sweetheart neckline top // cream satin tank // long-sleeve scoop-neck tee // tie-front cardigan (OR) // one-shoulder blouse

4 Bottoms

cream trousers // red bootcut denim // white straight-leg jeans // belted skinny jeans

1 Dress

one-shoulder dress

4 outerwear

hourglass blazer (OR) // belted blazer-style top // white wrap coat (OR) // cropped shearling jacket (OR)

4 Shoes

cream ballet flats // shearling-textured mules (sold out) // neutral patterned sneakers // cream ankle boots

4 Accessories

ribbed beanie (OR) // velvet headband // coach pillow tabby // loeffler randall clutch

57 Outfits

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Autumn Season | Winter Color Type

23 Pieces // 54 Outfits

Hey everyone! Today, let’s create a capsule wardrobe example for the Soft Classic Kibbe type.

My goal for this series is not to provide “the perfect” capsule wardrobe for a specific body type, but to show a few concepts, items, and style elements that you can adopt for your body type. I want to break out of the common Kibbe stereotypes and show you how you can really own your personal style while still incorporating items and combinations that honor your body type.

If you’re not sure what your Kibbe body type is, I highly recommend checking out Aly Art, her channel is huge. I have also enjoyed Elyssa Aesthetic and Style Thoughts by Rita, and Justine Leconte has also made a video about the Kibbe types. Of course, I will also continue to talk about the Kibbe body types if that’s something you guys are interested in, so I welcome you to leave tons of questions below so that I know exactly what you want to learn about next!

Introduction to the Soft Classic Body Type

Before we dive into Kibbe’s descriptions of the Soft Dramatic body type, I would just like to say that everything I am presenting here is my own interpretation of Kibbe’s work and may not always align with David Kibbe’s intentions. I’ll always encourage you to check out the Strictly Kibbe Facebook group if you’d like to learn more straight from the source. Okay, now let’s get into an introduction to the Soft Classic woman.

All of the Kibbe body types are primarily described by their unique mix of yin, or feminine traits, and yang, or masculine traits. The Soft Classic woman is a balance of yin and yang with just a bit more “yin.” She is symmetrical and proportional with a romantic undercurrent. Her dominant descriptors are balance and curve. She has a moderate vertical line and has a balanced appearance with a somewhat delicate bone structure and slightly curvy figure. She has evenly proportioned waist, bust, and hips and her arms and legs tend to be moderately short. Her facial features are also symmetrical, soft, and full. 

Some great examples of modern Soft Classic women are Lupita Nyong’o and Marion Cotillard. Other Kibbe-verified Soft Classic celebrities include Olivia de Havilland and Grace Kelly.

Soft Classic Keywords

Keywords for the Soft Classic include:

• Symmetrical

• Curved

• Balanced

• Smooth

• Draped

• Tailored

• Delicate

• Elegant

• Sophisticated

• Composed

Color Palette

So, now that we know a little bit more about the Soft Classic body type, let’s talk about the color palette for this capsule wardrobe.

This capsule is for a Soft Classic woman with the winter color type, who wants to include some color but prefers subtle, blended combinations of primarily neutral colors. To accomplish this, I started with a base of cobalt blue and navy. 

Because we want to create soft, blended color combinations, I won’t include any complementary colors in this palette. Instead, let’s choose a few analogous colors to include. I chose a deep teal, royal emerald, and icy grape as the statement colors for this capsule. And for the neutrals, let’s keep it cool and classic with black, gray, and white.

Capsule Wardrobe

Okay! Let’s put together our Soft Classic capsule wardrobe.

Just as I did in my previous video, I will be showing you some examples of non-traditional Soft Classic outfits, but let’s start by talking about a few pieces that are harmonious with the soft classic body type. 

This emerald green wrap dress from Diane Von Furstenburg is definitely a hero piece for the Soft Classic. Although it is not perfectly symmetrical, the classic wrap dress in a soft fabric gives a soft and balanced look. The knee-length is perfect for the Soft Classic’s moderate vertical line, the draped fabric creates soft rounded lines, and the subtle tie waist accentuates her delicate curve. 

Another great Soft Classic piece is this blazer. The light fabric and curved lapels and hem all help to create softly rounded shapes on the body. 

Another element to look for is a scoop neck or u-neck. I chose three tops in colors from the core color palette to create a nice starting point for this capsule. Similarly, a softly rounded, classic pair of navy trousers and a pair of dark wash denim are a great place to start for the Soft Classic as well.

Now, let’s have a little bit of fun with the rest of the capsule. This client loves elevated basics and wants to maintain some sophistication while keeping the capsule casual, and just a little bit edgy. 

For bottoms, let’s step slightly outside of the Soft Classic realm with a midi-length denim skirt and tailored black waxed denim. As I mentioned previously, this client likes to have a little bit of edge in some of her outfits. 

While overly dramatic styles would look far too edgy and overpowering on the Soft Classic, just a little bit of sharpness will go a long way to create an edgy look. The tailored and symmetrical nature of these pieces is harmonious with the Soft Classic type although they are admittedly a bit more on the yang side of the spectrum. The slight yang tendency of these pieces will look quite edgy on the Soft Classic, which is the intended effect. However, when worn with delicate and soft tops, the overall look can feel right at home on a Soft Classic.

Moving on to dresses, let’s add a couple options in varying lengths. Although a knee-length dress is admittedly the best length for a Soft Classic, slightly shorter or slightly longer lengths are still within the realm of possible. This symmetrical square-neck dress is a great early-fall option and offers a lot of opportunities for layering. And this midi-length shirt dress is classic and versatile.

Finally, the bag is a soft, medium-sized pouch bag from Bottega Veneta, although a classic crossbody bag would be great for this capsule as well.

The Final Capsule

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 4 bottoms, 3 dresses, 3 jackets, 3 shoes, and one bag for 23 items which can create at least 54 interchangeable outfits.

9 Tops

cobalt scoop-neck tee // navy scoop-neck bodysuit // white shoulder ruffle top // navy cardigan // off-shoulder sweater // purple ribbed turtleneck (OR) // teal criss-cross top // collared sweater // white scoop-neck tee

4 Bottoms

a-line denim skirt // ankle trousers // dark wash denim (OR) // coated straight-leg jeans

3 Dresses

emerald wrap dress (OR) // silk midi dress // tie-shoulder mini dress

3 Coats

shearling jacket // wool wrap coat // rounded black blazer

3 Shoes

silver bow heels // adidas sambas // loafer-style boots

1 bag

bottega veneta pouch

54 Outfits

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Hey everyone! Welcome back to my ultimate wardrobe series where I’m giving you absolutely everything you need to create your perfect wardrobe!

Today, let’s talk about why personal style is so important and how building your perfect wardrobe will change your life. Then, let’s set some goals together so that you can form a clear picture of where your new wardrobe will take you. When you’re ready, you can download this free Goal Setting Worksheet so that you can follow along!

Before we get started, if you’re overwhelmed with the idea of revamping your wardrobe, booking a capsule wardrobe consultation with me is a great place to start. It includes a one-on-one style talk with me, color and styling recommendations to enhance your unique beauty, and curated outfit recommendations that will get you going in the right direction for your life and style goals. Check out my services here if you’re interested (or grab a gift card for the perfect last-minute holiday gift)!

Now, let’s talk about why your personal style is so important.

Why Personal Style is Important

Personal style is a powerful tool for achieving greater life changes. What you wear and how you present yourself can have a big impact in your career, your relationships, and within yourself. But these changes don’t have to be massive to make a significant impact in your life. Maybe you just want to start speaking up more, form a good habit, or feel more in-tune with yourself.

How we dress is also connected to our purpose in life and the meaning that we create for ourselves and others. Style is not only about looking good or feeling good, it’s also about representing what we believe in and how we contribute to the world around us. You have been gifted with a unique beauty and unique talents to share with the world. And, at its best, your wardrobe should enhance and facilitate that.

Small changes in the way you dress can have a big impact on the way others see you, the way you feel about yourself, and even the way you behave. And while this is such a great superpower of personal style, the possibility of change is also the reason why many people are afraid to embrace their true style.

Style is also just fun! Maybe you’re not that into fashion and you want your wardrobe to be utilitarian and practical. That’s a valid goal. However, if you’ve clicked on this video you probably want more than that. Most of us want to have fun with our personal style. This aspect of fun is also a really important way to improve your daily life. 

Don’t wait for your life to change around you. Don’t wait to lose weight, make more money, or move to a different city. Take action to change your life now. Invest the time and effort to create a wardrobe that will help you achieve your goals and create meaning in your life.

Setting Your Goals

Now that we’ve established how important personal style can be and how it can change your life for the better, it’s time to get to know your goals. Finding your personal style and building your perfect wardrobe starts with learning about yourself. In fact, the majority of this series will focus on helping you understand yourself first and foremost. So let’s start the process of self discovery by setting your goals.

Internal Goals & Self Expression

How do you want to feel? What emotional roadblocks are you facing? Are you trying to build a new habit, reclaim your life after going through a difficult time, or improve your mental or physical health?

Many women who are interested in building a capsule wardrobe want to adopt minimalism, save money, or curb bad shopping habits. But maybe your goal is to be more extra, more expressive, or just work on developing your style. Or you might have a more pragmatic goal like improving your health or social skills.

All of these are examples of internal goals that you might want to integrate into your personal style expression and wardrobe planning.

External Goals & Making An Impression

How do you want to be seen by people around you? What leadership roles do you have in your life or want to develop?

You might want to start spending more quality time with your husband or maybe you’re still looking for the right partner and you want to make sure you’re communicating your personality fully through your outfits. Maybe you are moving up the ranks in your career and you need to create some visual separation between yourself and your direct reports. Or perhaps you want to be a source of inspiration for your friends. Maybe you’re a mother who just wants to elevate her everyday activities and make them more special for herself and those around her.

These are examples of external goals that might impact your wardrobe selections based on the impression you want to create on others.

Impression vs Expression

Some of your goals might dictate what kind of impression you want to make on others, while other goals will inspire your unique self expression. Depending on the circumstances, each outfit you create should be a balance of impression and expression. 

For example, when attending an important interview, your outfit will likely be centered primarily around the impression that you want to make, and maybe only 5% of the outfit will be focused on self expression - maybe you bring in some personality with your earrings and makeup. 

On the other hand, you might want to create a vacation capsule that fully expresses your personality, and puts less emphasis on the impression that you might be making on those around you.

Your Challenge

So, I challenge you to take the next 20 minutes of your day to reflect and write down at least one internal and one external goal. Then take each of these goals and think about two specific ways in which they might impact your personal style or your wardrobe. For example, if your internal goal is to feel more powerful, this might impact your style by adding more color and being slightly more dressed-up than those around you. And maybe your external goal is to inspire your family to be more active. This might impact your style by adding some cute workout outfits and casual clothes that you can easily run around in while still looking stylish.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can download this free Goal Setting Worksheet. You deserve to create the wardrobe that will help you achieve your goals and change your life for the better!

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Autumn Season | Autumn Color Type

24 Pieces // 54 Outfits

Hey everyone!

I know a lot of you guys are interested in the Kibbe Image ID system, so I thought it would be really fun to put together some capsule wardrobe examples based on the Kibbe body types.

Today, let’s create an autumn capsule wardrobe for the Soft Dramatic Kibbe type.

For this Kibbe series, what I’d really like to do is break out of the common Kibbe stereotypes and show you how you can really own your personal style while still choosing items and combinations that honor your body type.

If you’re not sure what your Kibbe body type is, I highly recommend checking out Aly Art, her channel is huge. I have also enjoyed Elyssa Aesthetic and Style Thoughts by Rita, and Justine Leconte has also made a video about the Kibbe types. Of course, I will also continue to talk about the Kibbe body types if that’s something you guys are interested in, so I welcome you to leave tons of questions below so that I know exactly what you want to learn about next!

Introduction to the Soft Dramatic Body Type

Before we dive into Kibbe’s descriptions of the Soft Dramatic body type, I would just like to say that everything I am presenting here is my own interpretation of Kibbe’s work and may not always align with David Kibbe’s intentions for his system. I’ll always encourage you to check out the Strictly Kibbe Facebook group if you’d like to learn more straight from the source. Okay, now let’s get into an introduction to the Soft Dramatic woman.

All of the Kibbe body types are primarily described by their unique mix of yin, or feminine traits, and yang, or masculine traits. The Soft Dramatic woman is a combination of sharp yang with a pronounced yin undercurrent. Her dominant descriptors are elongated and curved. She has a long vertical line and is moderate-to-tall in height with long, angular limbs. Although she is quite tall and is yang-dominant, she can appear delicate due to narrowness. She is a tall, elongated hourglass with a moderately defined waist. She appears soft, particularly through the bust and hips. Her facial features are also full and lush, often with large rounded eyes and full lips but will also include some sharpness in the nose, cheekbones, or chin. 

A great example of a Soft Dramatic is Sofia Vergara. If you are a Soft Dramatic, I highly recommend looking at Sofia's style for inspiration on how to execute both casual and formal Soft Dramatic looks. Other Kibbe-verified Soft Dramatic celebrities include Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner.

Soft Dramatic Keywords

Keywords for the Soft Dramatic include:

• Elongated

• Curved

• Enveloping

• Lush

• Lavish

• Draped

• Powerful

• Flowy

• Polished

• Detailed

Clothing Recommendations for Soft Dramatics

Bottoms

• Flare jeans

• Boot leg jeans

• Skinny jeans

• Straight leg jeans

Tops

• Wrap tops

• V-necks

• Rounded necklines

• Off-shoulder necklines

• Draped outerwear

• Long cardigans (knee-length or below)

Details

• Large round accessories

  • Earrings

  • Sunglasses

  • Statement necklaces

• Large bags

• Long scarves for added softness

• Ruched detailing

• Wrap detailing

• Head-to-toe monochrome or tonal looks

• Lightweight, draped fabrics

Qualities to avoid in clothing selections include stiff structured pieces and heavy fabrics.

Color Palette

So, now that we know a little bit more about the Soft Dramatic body type, let’s take a brief detour to talk about the color palette for this capsule wardrobe.

I’ve had some requests for color palette examples for the autumn color type, so I want to include some warm and moody tones in this palette. I started with one of my favorite color combinations, khaki green and ripe orange. 

Using two of my favorite tips for creating complex and interesting color palettes, I added a light yellow and chocolate brown which are both analogous to orange, then I added a deep muted blue which is complementary to orange on the color wheel. Now, we can create both blended, tonal looks and bright, contrasted looks by combining the analogous and complementary colors in different ways with different outfits. Finally, let’s add black, white, and gray to build up the neutral foundation for the palette.

Capsule Wardrobe

Okay! Let’s put together our Soft Dramatic capsule wardrobe.

Now, I will be showing you some examples of non-traditional Soft Dramatic outfits, but let’s start this capsule off strong with the hero piece for the Soft Dramatic - the curve-hugging maxi dress. This khaki green dress from Significant Other is THE ULTIMATE Soft Dramatic piece. The rounded cutout highlights the waist while draped detail hugs and enhances the natural curve of the body. The long length in the skirt and arms and high neckline are also elongating and play up the Soft Dramatic’s long vertical line. I also snagged this yellow dress from the same brand, which fits with the autumn color palette and has more of a casual feel that could easily be worn with sneakers or a short jacket for a daytime look.

Moving to tops, another key piece for this capsule is this khaki green ruched off-shoulder top. The ruched detail is figure-hugging and creates soft lines which are harmonious with the Soft Dramatic. Off-shoulder necklines are also a gorgeous option for casual Soft Dramatic outfits since they are easy and effortless while also exuding a bit of understated glamor.

The Final Capsule

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 4 bottoms, 2 dresses, 2 jackets, 4 shoes, 2 bags, and one pair of sunglasses for 24 items which can create at least 54 interchangeable outfits. The color palette for this capsule is an earthy and moody combination of brown, orange, army green, yellow, dark blue, black, white, and gray. The color palette is warm, deep, and slightly muted, great for the autumn color type.

9 Tops

green ruched top // blue silky blouse // subtle peplum top (OR) // white wrap shirt (OR) // striped wrap shirt // black knit sweater (sold out) // brown t-shirt // orange longline cardigan // charcoal sweater

4 Bottoms

gray straight leg jeans // wide leg tailored pants (sold out) // coated flare jeans (OR) // blue wide leg jeans

2 Dresses

khaki cut-out maxi dress // yellow one-shoulder dress

2 Jackets

cropped puffer jacket // black wool jacket

4 Shoes

western-style ankle boots (OR) // converse hi-tops // orange mules // lug sole boots

3 Accessories

metallic bag (sold out) // loewe puzzle bag (OR) // orange statement sunglasses

54 Outfits

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Travel Capsule Wardrobe | Summer Season | Winter Color Type

34 Pieces // 105 Outfits

Hey everyone! Today I thought it would be fun to take you through my entire process of creating my travel capsule wardrobe for an upcoming trip to Nashville. I think this will be really useful because not only will it give you some ideas for your next travel capsule, it’s also kind of a microcosm of the capsule wardrobe curation process. So you can take these exact steps and apply them when you create your day-to-day capsule wardrobe as well.

The Planning Process

What are Your Goals?

The first thing I ask myself any time that I’m planning a wardrobe is: what are my goals for this season or this trip?

My main goal for this capsule is to create a few new looks that represent my current style and maybe try a couple new silhouettes or textures. I also want to focus on completing the looks with the right accessories to achieve a moderate level of visual interest and ensure that they aren’t too basic.

Create Your Calendar

Next, I put together a calendar of all of the activities I have planned for the trip or season ahead. This helps me figure out how many outfits I’ll need for each activity.

For our Nashville trip, we are taking our dog Basil, so we will be taking two travel days on each end of the trip to drive down. On the first leg of the trip, we plan to stay in a rural area with a farm nearby, so I think we might like to go for a bit of a nature walk after driving in the car all day. The next day, we will arrive in Nashville so I think we might find a nice place to go for dinner and drinks. Over the weekend, I’ll be attending a bridal shower and a wedding, so I need very specific outfits for each of those events. Now, I’ll fill out the rest of the calendar with various activities that I think we will want to do, like going for coffee, meals, and doing some sightseeing.

If you’ve ever been to Nashville, what was your favorite part of your trip? I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments!

Based on my calendar, I’ll need at least:

4 - Travel Outfits

4 - Daytime Activity Outfits

5 - Dinner/Drinks Outfits

2 - Concert/Bar Outfits

1 - Bridal Shower Guest Outfit

1 - Wedding Guest Outfit

Start With What You Have

So, now that I know how many outfits I need for each activity, I’ll start building the capsule with items that I already own. I keep a folder on my computer full of images of everything in my wardrobe, so I can easily drag and drop them into a Keynote to visualize my capsule (watch the video to see how). I highly recommend doing this for your own wardrobe if you can. Every time you buy something new, take a screenshot and save it to your own wardrobe folder. This will make planning your future capsule wardrobes so much easier.

For my Nashville capsule, I’ve pulled together a bunch of band tees, some tank tops, a tube top, a couple of button-down shirts, and a couple of knit tops with interesting necklines. I’ve also added some jeans, a pair of wide-leg culottes, and a couple pairs of shorts, three dresses, one leather jacket, and a few pairs of sneakers and low-heeled sandals. I thought about adding some western-style boots, but I think it will be a bit too hot for the ones that I own, and these wouldn’t do well in rainy weather either. I also added two bags, my Chanel classic flap and this really cool Cult Gaia Ark bag that I love for summer and always get so many compliments on. And let’s add a pair of sunglasses too (keep scrolling to the final capsule for links to all the items).

Identify Gaps

So this is a really good start, but there are a few gaps that I can see right off the bat. First of all, I only have two pairs of shorts and they’re both denim cutoffs. Since it’s going to be pretty hot during most days, I’m going to need to add a few more pairs of shorts so that I don’t end up wearing the same two pairs every day. I also need to add another pair of shoes that will be comfortable to walk around in during the day.

If you want to extend the life of your shoes, it’s important to rotate between at least two pairs so that you can give each pair a rest for at least a day between wears. This will allow the shoe to relax back into its intended shape and help to keep them looking nice and new as long as possible. 

I also might want to add a pair of stylish, weatherproof boots for rainy days. I also only have one jacket selected. I should probably either choose a couple more jackets from my existing wardrobe or add a new one so that I have more options. I’ve also been on the lookout for the perfect denim jacket, so maybe I’ll see if I can find one.

Gather Inspiration

Before we go shopping for anything new, let’s gather some inspiration to help paint a visual picture of what this capsule could look like. I’m going to head over to Pinterest and create a board where we can start dumping some photos.

As I’ve been thinking about this trip, I’ve come up with a few trends or themes that I want to include. Check out my Pinterest board for some examples!

Monochrome

The first theme is monochrome. As you might have noticed, I have a lot of monochromatic outfit options in black and gray, but I want to start adding more monochromatic outfits in other colors. 

Boxer Shorts + Oversized Shirt

I’ve also noticed this trend of wearing boxer-style shorts with a matching, oversized shirt which I think looks really cool and chic. It definitely meshes well with my personal style and looks like it would be a really comfortable daytime vacation outfit.

Athleisure

Since we are going to be walking around a lot, this trip will also be a good time to add some athleisure elements. I’ve also been eyeing the Prada Cleo bag ever since I included it in my Spring/Summer outfit formulas video a while back, and I think it really amps up the athleisure vibe and takes casual outfits to the next level.

Go Shopping!

Now that we’ve collected some inspiration and have a better idea of the creative direction for this capsule, let’s go shopping! Watch the video to see my process!

The Final Capsule

The final capsule includes 34 items and can create at least 105 outfits. The color palette for this capsule is a deep and moody combination of red, blue, navy, emerald green, black, white, and cream. The color palette is cool, deep, and saturated, great for the winter color type.

11 Tops

blue striped shirt (OR) // black tube top // cream bing tee // white ribbed tank // green anine bing tee // black one-shoulder knit (OR) // white one-shoulder tank (OR) // red off-shoulder knit // black one-shoulder tank (OR) // linen shirt // charcoal bing tee

7 Bottoms

wide leg leather pants // white denim shorts (OR) // kick flare jeans // striped boxer shorts (OR) // high rise stove pipe jeans // black denim shorts (OR) // dark blue culottes (old)

3 Dresses

white linen wrap dress (longer version) // navy strapless cocktail dress // black linen wrap dress (similar)

3 Jackets

black leather jacket // black denim jacket // blue denim jacket

6 Shoes

black two-strap sandals (OR) // white sorel sneakers (OR) // black lug-sole boots (OR) // platform vans old skool // white strappy sandals (OR) // black sorel sneakers (OR)

4 Accessories

black chanel classic flap // cult gaia ark bag (dupe) // black prada cleo bag // dolce & gabbana squared sunglasses

105 Outfits

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Today let’s talk about 5 MORE tips to level up your wardrobe. If you want to see my first 10 tips, check out this post and then come straight back here to learn the rest.

These tips are sort of in order, so if you want to you can tackle them one by one. There are some heavy hitters here, but if you want some easy tips to start right now, subscribe to my YouTube channel or email list so that you don’t miss the next five simple, accessible tips to level up your wardrobe!

1

Think About How You Dress Rather than What You Wear

This tip is inspired by Style Thoughts by Rita. I just recently discovered her channel and she has created a framework for thinking about personal style that I have found really useful and inspiring. In Rita’s system, she divides personal style into four quadrants which are based on the logic that different women use when getting dressed. 

The first distinction in Rita’s four quadrant system is your essence, which Rita categorizes as either Left or Right. The Left essence is characterized as sensual or sensory, enveloping, intriguing, and elemental. The Right essence is described as radiant, inspiring, dreamy, refined, and luminous.

The second distinction is your styling approach, which Rita categorizes as either Up or Down. The Up styling method is dramatic, glamorous, mysterious, and communicates effort. The Down styling method is delicate, intuitive, approachable, understated, personable, and communicates ease. She describes this “upness” or “downness” as a filter through which a person expresses their Left or Right essence.

Within each category, Left + Up, Left + Down, Right + Up, or Right + Down, Rita has created five style archetypes with celebrity examples which you can use as inspiration for cultivating your own personal style.
Not only is this an inspiring new way to think about style, Rita has a really fun personality and has a way of speaking about style that is really encouraging and inviting. I definitely recommend that you watch some of her videos to learn more about each quadrant and to gather some inspiration for developing your personal style. Check Rita’s essence system video, and be sure to give her lots of love and subscribe to her channel!

2

Find Your Kibbe Body Type

If you were asked to describe your body type, what would you say? Would you compare your shape to a fruit or an object? While I think all body typing systems can be useful, and none are perfect, the Kibbe body type system is definitely a step up from the simplistic Hourglass, Inverted Triangle, Apple, Pear, and Rectangle categories that many of us are familiar with.

The Kibbe system consists of 5 main categories which are broken down into 13 body types, each representing a unique mix of yin and yang essence. Yin describes feminine traits like soft, curvy, and short while yang describes masculine traits like angular, structured, and long. The five main types are dramatic, natural, classic, gamine, and romantic. In addition to the pure types, there are eight subtypes: soft dramatic, flamboyant natural, soft natural, dramatic classic, soft classic, flamboyant gamine, soft gamine, and theatrical romantic.

The goal of the Kibbe body type system is to help you dress in accordance with your natural silhouette, or “lines.” In simplest terms, Kibbe’s system will help you understand your body and identify items of clothing which enhance and harmonize with your unique beauty. If you’re interested in finding your Kibbe type, I suggest joining David Kibbe’s Strictly Kibbe Facebook group where David provides resources and guidance for women to type themselves. And comment down below if you’d like to see a series of capsule wardrobes for each Kibbe body type!

3

Go On a Pinning Spree

Pinterest is a great tool for developing your personal style. Get on Pinterest and create a Style Inspiration board. Start pinning outfits that you connect with and could see yourself wearing. And remember you’re not limited only to Pinterest search - you can also pin photos directly from your favorite blogs, brands, or Instagram.

Once you’ve accumulated several images, go through your board and edit it down to the ones you feel best represent your style. Now you can continually add to and look back on this board whenever you need direction or inspiration for your personal style. I have a running board called “Style Ideas” where I do this for myself. If you’re not sure where to start, you can follow me on Pinterest where I have boards for various style types, Kibbe body types, colors, and even some style keywords that might help you start to discover your personal style.

Now, I would recommend creating a second board where you can store more practical looks which contain at least one or two items that are similar to ones you already own. Start with your Style Inspiration board and pin all of the outfits you could see yourself wearing to your new board. It’s important that you only pin outfits that you can already create with your current wardrobe or ones that contain items that you are planning on adding to your wardrobe soon. Especially if you are just starting out on your personal style journey, you don’t want to be overwhelmed with looks that you can’t or won’t wear yet. You want this board to be full of outfit ideas that you can recreate whenever you feel like you have nothing to wear. Each week, I challenge you to pick one outfit from this board and recreate it with items you already own.

4

Build Outfits, Not Capsules (Or Vice Versa)

One thing that capsule wardrobes can lack by nature is distinct, head-to-toe looks. Because most capsule wardrobes are meant to be minimal, all of the pieces must mix and match together to create a maximum number of total outfits. However, this might make certain items or outfits feel less special or personal. If you have been using capsule wardrobes for a while, I challenge you to try an outfit-based approach next time you decide to add something new to your wardrobe. Use the inspirational pinterest board you created in the previous step to help you create one new head-to-toe look that fully expresses your style.

When you’re exploring this outfit-based approach, don’t worry about traditional capsule wardrobe rules. The pieces in this head-to-toe look don’t have to mix and match perfectly with all your other items. Just focus on creating a look that expresses your personal style and suits your lifestyle. Have fun with it and focus on the details down to the specific shoes, bag, jewelry, hairstyle, and makeup look to complete the outfit. This approach can really help you break out of a personal style rut and refocus the creative direction of your wardrobe. It also gives you practice with creating full looks that are expressive, creative, and special to you. And once you create that one new outfit that you love, so many new style possibilities will start to unfold for you.

And vice versa, if you have been building your wardrobe one individual outfit at a time, you might find it refreshing to build a capsule wardrobe around those outfits that you already love! Start with what you already own and begin by trying on all of your tops with all of your bottoms and recording which outfits work for you. Don’t worry about forcing absolutely everything to mix and match, and don’t get rid of your favorite outfits just because they don’t match with anything else you own. Just play around and see how many new outfits you can create. Then, start thinking about what you might be able to add to unify your wardrobe and expand the number of outfits you can mix and match. Maybe it’s some simple basics or maybe it’s more pieces in your core color palette so that you can create bold monochromatic looks with your statement pieces. 

Thinking about your wardrobe both as a whole and as a collection of head-to-toe outfits will help you master the art of maximizing your wardrobe and your personal style at the same time.

5

Curate Your Accessories Capsule

And on the topic of creating head-to-toe looks, finding the right accessories for you is key. You can even think about your accessories as a capsule of its own - a selection of well-curated pieces that you love and cherish. This could include jewelry, scarves, hair accessories, handbags, or anything else you might want to add to your look that isn’t a part of your core outfit formulas (i.e. tops, bottoms, and usually shoes and jackets). Accessories make a huge impact on your overall look, so don’t neglect them! Check out my favorite place to buy pre-owned handbags and accessories and start curating your accessories capsule!

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Smart Casual Dress Code | All Seasons | Summer Color Type

35 Pieces // 156 Outfits

So today, let’s talk about the enigma that is the Smart Casual office dress code. Plus, I’ll be sharing a Smart Casual work wardrobe for the summer color type. But first, what is Smart Casual, what kinds of things can you wear, and how should you put together Smart Casual outfits for work?

What is the Smart Casual Dress Code?

The Smart Casual dress code can be ambiguous and encapsulates a range of different clothing items and outfit combinations. Smart Casual requires full looks that include a balance of polished business attire with relaxed elements. This is great because it provides opportunities for you to bring more of your personal style into your workwear wardrobe. However, it can feel challenging to create the perfect balance of casual pieces and formal business attire. 

Especially if you are aiming to create a minimal capsule wardrobe full of Smart Casual outfits, some outfits will naturally come off more formal or more casual. However, creating a Smart Casual capsule wardrobe might not be as challenging as you think. A few key accessories, like a pair of heels, casual flats or polished sneakers, a colorful scarf or funky earrings can be tools in your arsenal to dress up your more casual outfits or dress down the formal ones. Plus, it can be great to have more formal outfits for presentations, meetings with clients, or interviews; and more relaxed ones for casual Friday or after-work events.

Smart Casual vs Other Dress Codes

Smart Casual is probably the most relaxed office dress code. While a creative office might allow for less polish or refinement in an outfit, expectations for creative execution are likely to be higher.

Smart Casual is more versatile and flexible than business casual, allowing for more color and a wider range of items that can be appropriate, like dark wash denim, shirt dresses, and jumpsuits which aren’t typically considered appropriate for business casual. While many people may opt for neutral color palettes, there is room for brighter color combinations in most Smart Casual environments.

Smart Casual also offers opportunities to wear very formal pieces, like suit separates, that are usually associated with Formal business attire. Although a traditional full matching suit in a conservative color worn with a crisp white shirt and heels which would be right at home in a Formal office would probably come across much too formal for a Smart Casual office.

Smart Casual Pieces

Some examples of smart casual pieces include:

Dresses

• Knee-length or midi-length collared shirt dress

• Knee-length or midi-length wrap dress

Bottoms

• Dark wash blue or black jeans without distressing

• Trousers

• A-line Skirts

• Pencil Skirts

• Flowy Skirts

Tops

• Cardigan

• Camisole

• Blouses

• Button-up shirts

• Fine knit sweaters

Tailoring

• Relaxed suits

• Formal jumpsuits

• Blazers

Shoes

• Ballet flats

• Loafers

• Low heels

• Mules

• Clean polished sneakers

The Smart Casual Capsule Wardrobe

The final capsule includes 35 items and can create at least 156 outfits. The color palette for this capsule is a light and radiant combination of lavender cornflower blue, and cool pink with pops of yellow and muted lime green. To provide some grounding for the looks, over 50% of the items are neutrals in off-white, white, navy, and black. The color palette is cool, light, and soft, great for the summer color type.

15 Tops

beige cardigan // lavender floral top // blue cotton shirt // blue knit polo // off-white flowy top // short sleeve white shirt // navy asymmetric tank // lavender one-shoulder top // white t-shirt (or this one) // lavender open-knit cardigan // cornflower blue cardigan // white vintage style top // pink one-shoulder bodysuit // cream halter top // blue puff-sleeve top

6 Bottoms

black leather skirt // white trousers // yellow straight-leg jeans // dark wash wide leg jeans // navy a-line skirt // black trousers

2 Dresses

white shirt dress // lavender tank dress

2 Suits + 1 Blazer

white tie-waist blazer // pink suit jacket // pink suit pants // chartreuse suit jacket // chartreuse suit trousers

4 Shoes

cream heeled mules // lavender ballet flats // black loafers (or these chunky ones) // polished white sneakers

3 Accessories

black hobo bag // colorful scarf // chartreuse handbag

156 Outfits

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Hi everyone! Welcome back! Since you clicked on this post, it’s very likely that you share my love of capsule wardrobes. Or maybe you’re not quite sure if capsule wardrobes are for you. Today, let’s talk about what a capsule wardrobe is, how absolutely anyone can apply the capsule wardrobe mindset, and my 10 essential capsule wardrobe rules to live by. 

The Capsule Wardrobe Mindset

What is a Capsule Wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of items that are fully interchangeable and provide outfits for a specific purpose. For example, you can have a seasonal capsule wardrobe full of day-to-day outfits, a travel capsule for a specific destination, or an office capsule geared toward achieving your career aspirations. You could create one year-round capsule wardrobe, or several capsule wardrobe “modules” that build on one another to create a greater whole.

Anyone Can Apply the Capsule Wardrobe Mindset

A capsule wardrobe should not be required to contain a certain number of items for all people. Neither are you limited to having only one capsule in your full wardrobe. Rather, I like to think about capsule wardrobes as a framework or a mindset to apply when looking at any wardrobe. The Capsule Wardrobe Mindset is defined by 10 basic principles. Building your wardrobe with these 10 rules at the foundation will help you fully express your style, avoid impulse shopping, and always have something fantastic to wear for your unique lifestyle and goals.

The 10 Capsule Wardrobe Principles

Selectivity

Only keep items that you love. When you try on an item that is perfect for you, it should click right away. If you find yourself debating whether or not to keep something, get rid of it. Be ruthlessly honest with yourself and return items that don’t fit right, feel right, or suit your personal and style goals. Don’t be afraid to be picky.

Definition

Develop a strong sense of your personal style and your signature look. Create a moodboard of outfits that you can see yourself wearing. This visual definition of your style will bring clarity and focus to your wardrobe that words cannot. If you aren’t sure where to start, check out my Pinterest where you can find inspiration boards for various style types. Pinterest is also a great place for you to create your own board to start curating and defining your unique personal style. 

Quality

Focus on building a collection of high-quality pieces that last for multiple seasons, or even years. Learn to identify quality materials, construction, and fit. Poor quality items are often less flattering and must be replaced often. You could even end up spending more money on cheaper items because of how frequently they must be repurchased. Building a closet full of high-quality items that last for years will allow you to waste less and use more of your budget to build upon your wardrobe and evolve your style.

Authenticity

Embrace your individuality. Contrary to the mainstream, black and white, laundry list capsule wardrobes out there, let your capsule wardrobe fully express you. Don’t feel trapped by traditional style types. Combine elements from more than one style type to create your unique look. Being authentic will bring a unique timelessness to your style and your wardrobe.

Direction

What are your personal goals? Career goals? Relationship goals? Each of your goals will likely require you to take part in different activities and therefore wear different outfits. For example, you may need formal business wear to meet your career aspirations, date night outfits for time with your significant other, and athletic wear to achieve fitness goals. Make sure to write down your goals and determine how many outfits you will need for each associated activity. The perfect capsule wardrobe should be tailor-made to help you achieve your aspirations in life. 

Harmony

A capsule wardrobe strives to be harmonious with your natural beauty, an extension of your best self. This includes color harmony, body harmony, personal style harmony, and alignment with your personal goals. Search out items in cuts and colors that harmonize with your natural beauty, preferences, goals, and personality.

Investment

A capsule wardrobe is an investment in yourself, your image, and your future. Invest the necessary time and money into selecting high-quality garments that are perfect for you. One perfect piece is worth 10 half-baked ones.

Practicality

Prioritize practicality and wearability. Strive to include elements of your authentic style in every outfit, but ensure that your wardrobe is appropriate for your daily lifestyle. Account for weather, dress codes, and comfort when selecting items and evaluating outfits. Aim for form and function within every piece.

Versatility

Maximize your outfit combinations by selecting items in a diverse range of cuts and colors that are fully interchangeable with one another. If you’d like to keep your capsule small, try to avoid including several similar items. For example, 3 pairs of dark wash skinny jeans will bring less versatility than one pair of light wash kick-flare jeans, one pair of dark wash skinny jeans, and one pair of black wide-leg denim. The intersection of variety and cohesiveness is the key to creating maximum versatility with only a small number of pieces.

Evolution

Personal style is a journey. Use every season as an opportunity to learn more about yourself, redefine your goals, and evolve your personal style. Each season, evaluate your capsule and take note of which items you wear the most. Then, take an honest account of the items that you don’t often wear, and consider selling, donating, or recycling them. Anything that makes you anxious, doesn’t fit properly, doesn’t match with most other items, or hasn’t been worn in the last year should go. Then, reevaluate your life goals and adjust your capsule accordingly. No need for a huge overhaul every season. For example, you might remove one old item and add two new items to slowly evolve and grow your capsule. Take it slow and have fun improving your style every season!

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Summer Season | Spring Color Type

30 Pieces // 120 Outfits

Today I have another color palette example for you, plus some tips for summer layering and mixing prints in a capsule wardrobe. This example is inspired by Jasmine who has been typed as a spring color type and is looking to incorporate more bright, spring colors into her wardrobe. 

Jasmine mentioned that she was typed as a Blue Spring by House of Color. While I took a more general approach to creating this capsule wardrobe color palette, I will note that the end result lies somewhere between the Paint Box Spring and Blue Spring color types from House of Color. 

Jasmine has a casual, chic style with feminine touches and she values ease and practicality. She likes to wear jeans and leggings, but she prefers to avoid boxy trousers and high heels. She also wants to incorporate layering into her wardrobe.

Taking all of this into account, let’s see what kind of capsule wardrobe we can create for Jasmine!

The final capsule includes 30 items and can create at least 120 outfits. The color palette is warm and bright, great for the spring color type.

Building Jasmine’s Color Palette

I don’t know much about Jasmine’s coloring other than that she was typed as a spring. Let’s assume that she is warm, light, saturated, and contrasted.

For her base colors, let’s choose grass green and juicy orange. Then, for supporting colors, let’s add true red which is analogous to orange, as well as light blue to compliment her blue spring color type. For neutrals, a variety of warm tans, cream, white, and black will help to tone down and balance the bright color palette, providing more versatility in her outfit selections.

The final color palette is a bright and juicy combination of grass green, bright orange, true red, light blue, white, black and tan - perfect for a bright spring color type.

Summer Layering Ideas

Mixing Prints in a Capsule Wardrobe

A Vibrant & Casual Capsule Wardrobe

The final capsule includes 12 tops, 8 bottoms, 1 dress, 3 jackets, 4 shoes, and 2 bags, for 30 items which can create at least 120 interchangeable outfits. Keep scrolling for links to all of the items!

12 Tops

striped Parisian-style shirt // orange racerback bodysuit // green peplum halter top // pinstripe open-back top // orange muscle tee // tan corset top // orange striped t-shirt // light brown tank top // red tie-waist crop top // green hourglass tee // white silky camisole // cream slit-side tank

8 Bottoms

blue kick-flare denim // orange silky tailored shorts // cream joggers // green striped shorts // white slit-front leggings // tan tailored shorts // cream linen skort // tan kick-flare jeans

1 Dress

tie waist t-shirt dress

3 Outerwear

double-breasted blazer // classic trench // cream leather jacket

4 Shoes

low-heeled strappy sandals // colorful white sneakers // woven white slides // neutral Vans Old Skool

2 Bags

rattan shoulder bag // neutral geometric handbag

120 Outfits

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Ever felt like you have nothing to wear? Enter one of the best tools that you can have in your capsule wardrobe toolbelt - outfit formulas. Outfit formulas are easy two-to-three-piece equations that can help you get inspired to create new outfit combinations with items you already own. Having a few favorite outfit formulas in your back pocket can combat the feeling of having nothing to wear and help you get dressed in a pinch.

Today, I’m going to be sharing five effortlessly cool outfit formulas for spring and how they can be adapted to different style types. Let’s get started.

Shirt Dress + Heeled Sandals

One of the simplest ways to look put together is to throw on a well-fitting shirt dress. Go classic with a striped t-shirt dress and two-strap sandals, or make it casual with a pair of slides or sneakers. For a preppy look, try a polo dress and low-heeled mules. Or get creative with an asymmetric oxford-style shirt dress and some funky accessories.

Straight Leg Jeans + White Shirt

Another super easy go-to is straight-leg jeans and a white shirt. For the creative style, a boxy, oversized cap-sleeve shirt with monochrome gray denim makes a great backdrop for these emerald mules and a contrasting bag. For a more classic look with a romantic twist, try a white shirt with pleated bell sleeves and a tie waist with some classic dark wash jeans and black heeled slides. And for the casual style, light wash denim with a classic oxford shirt and some ankle boots or sneakers is an easy and chic option.

Knit Skirt + Sweater + Sneakers

A more unexpected but fun combination for spring is a knit skirt, sweater, and sneakers. For this outfit formula, I love a tonal or monochrome look. Mix a jewel-toned knit skirt with a hoodie in a lighter shade for a cool athleisure take on this outfit formula. Or, go full monochrome in a neutral colored skirt and cardigan for a casual look with an elegant twist. And if you’re looking for something a little more edgy, go for a shorter skirt in a fun print, black wrap sweater, and Vans.

Trousers + Puff-Sleeve Top + Sandals

Next, let’s try trousers and a puff sleeve top. In my experience, trousers are a very underutilized garment and are often relegated to work wardrobes only. However, they’re a great alternative to denim if you’re willing to try incorporating some trousers into your everyday capsule.

For a romantic look, try a floral puff-sleeve top with some wide leg trousers and strappy sandals. If you’re feeling bold and creative, pair some bright-colored trousers with a simple white top and statement heels. Or try some black track-style trousers with an exaggerated white puff-sleeve top for an editorial take on the athleisure style.

Denim Shorts + Crop Top + Jacket

Finally, for those really warm spring days, consider pairing some denim shorts with a crop top (or tank top) and jacket. For an effortlessly cool athletic look, combine these crossover denim shorts with a sporty bralette, bold track jacket, and ball cap. For a more elegant and dramatic look, start with a black and white base and add a boxy cropped blazer and strappy heels. Or throw a leather jacket over a halter top or bikini top with some funky sneakers for an edgy street-style vibe.

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One of the most common questions I receive is, “what color season am I?” Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t really need to know your seasonal color type to create your perfect capsule wardrobe color palette. Here’s why, and what to do instead to create your perfect color palette without all the cost, confusion, and restrictions of purchasing and following a professional seasonal color analysis.

Want to learn more about the 12 seasonal color types anyways? Get the Color Guides!

Problems with Seasonal Color Analysis

Confusion & Incorrect Results

It’s not uncommon for many people to become confused about their seasonal color type. In fact, the most common questions I receive on my channel are those asking for help in determining their color type. Often, women are even mis-analyzed by professionals and have reported being given multiple different results on multiple occasions. Frameworks like seasonal color analysis are supposed to make our lives easier. But more often than not I hear from women who are frustrated, confused, and don’t trust their results.

Cost

Professional color analysis services can cost hundreds of dollars, let alone the cost of purchasing new clothing to match your results. And with so many women still feeling confused or unsure of which colors work best for them even after receiving advice from a professional, it's hard to justify the price.

Restrictions & Lack of Personalization

If you’ve ever tried to determine your seasonal color type, you’ve probably had the experience of looking up a color palette example and thinking, “I don’t even like half of these colors!” Not only can this feed into the confusion around your color type, it can also create a feeling of restriction.
The truth is, some colors within a seasonal type might not look good on you, even if you technically do belong to that season. However, it can get boring when you feel like only a few colors in your seasonal palette are wearable for you.

We also have to consider personality, lifestyle, and preferences. First, let’s talk about lifestyle. In some cases, certain aspects of your lifestyle might encourage you to wear some colors and discourage you from wearing other colors. For instance, if your school or workplace has a uniform, you may be forced to wear a specific color every day. Or, if there is a dress code, you may be restricted in which colors you can wear. For example, if you work in an office with a formal business attire dress code, it may not be appropriate to wear a brightly colored suit. You may need to add certain colors to your color palette in order to accommodate these areas of your life. For example, even if black is unflattering on you, you may need to add black to your wardrobe if your work uniform must be black. Don’t worry, I’ve included some tips and tricks you can use to make almost any color work for you at the end of this post.

Next, take into account your personality and preferences. Don’t let seasonal color analysis stunt your creativity or suppress your personality. If there is a color you love wearing that doesn’t appear in your seasonal color palette, don’t be afraid to add it to your wardrobe anyways. If you have a bright and bubbly personality and you enjoy wearing bright fuschia pink, do it! Even if bright colors don’t perfectly suit your natural coloring, they can still look right at home if they match your personality. Similarly, you may like to wear a lot of black or dark colors and that’s okay too. You will always look best when wearing colors that you love because of that extra confidence that you will project out into the world.

Likewise, if there are colors in your color palette that you personally hate, remove them. Don’t feel in any way required to wear colors just because they appear in a color palette that has been supposedly prescribed to you. I would recommend removing them altogether by creating your own personalized color palette graphic. This way, you can feel a sense of visual clarity and inspiration when looking at your color palette. 

Check out my extended guide on how to create your visual color palette. This guide includes everything you need to put together your own personalized color palette, broad color palettes for each seasonal color type to use as a starting point, and even more specialized capsule wardrobe examples to show how your color palette could be implemented in real life. 

How to Create a Color Palette without Seasonal Color Analysis

First, Know Your Undertone

If you’re still interested in seasonal color analysis, or even if you just want to create your own color palette from scratch, the first and most important thing you need to know is your undertone. In my experience, matching your undertone family has the single biggest impact on how flattering or unflattering a color will look on you. Honestly, if you don’t want to bother creating a complex color palette for your capsule wardrobe, you can stop here. As long as you stick to your undertone family, you’ll be good to go for the vast majority of your color choices. If you’re not sure about your undertone, check out the video link below where you’ll learn how to determine your undertone in five easy steps.

RESOURCE // What is My Undertone?

Use Seasonal Color Analysis as a Starting Point

If you know your undertone, you don’t really need to go to the trouble of determining your seasonal color type. However, if you have been professionally analyzed or if you think you know your seasonal type, you can always use seasonal color analysis as a starting point for your capsule wardrobe color palette. Remove colors you don’t like and add the ones that you love that might be missing to create a visual guide for yourself. Then, edit as necessary to ensure that your color palette is cohesive and all of the colors mix and match to your satisfaction. Remember to try to stick within your undertone family, although some excursions outside of your color family might work if you can be strategic about how they are implemented.

RESOURCE // How to Find Your Best Colors According to Color Theory

Try My 5-Steps to Create Your Perfect Color Palette

And if you just don’t want to bother with seasonal color analysis whatsoever, but you still need some help in creating your perfect color palette, check out this video where you can learn my five step process to creating a color palette that perfectly aligns with your natural beauty. We don’t need someone to categorize us just to understand which colors look great on us! The basis of this method starts by understanding your natural beauty and experimenting with the clothing that you already own to physically experience which colors look best on you.  And don’t forget to download the free guide so that you can easily follow along and create your visual color palette.

RESOURCE // Get Your Color Guide!

How to Wear Colors that are “Wrong” for You

Finally, let’s talk about how you can wear colors that are “wrong” for you or do not appear in your seasonal color palette. First and foremost, the bottom line is that you can really wear any color you want in any way that you want. But, if you’re looking to take your wardrobe to the next level, you may want to consider some of these tips to reduce the negative impact that less flattering colors could have on your look.

The gist of the matter is that we want to prioritize the appearance of our faces when we are trying to enhance our beauty with color. Our face is the first thing that others will focus on when interacting with us. Therefore we want the items of clothing and accessories closest to our face to be as close to our perfect color palette as possible, while items that are further away from our faces can deviate more from our perfect color palette if we want them to.

Wear Them on Your Lower Half

So, one way to incorporate colors that are “wrong” for you is to wear them on your lower half. You can also wear them as accent colors, such as a stripe or detail within a top, or accessories like bags or shoes which are typically held at the lower torso or below the waist.

Wear Accessories in Flattering Colors Near Your Face

On the other hand, if your top happens to be an unflattering color, you can wear a scarf, large earrings, headband, or other accessories near your face. As long as you are allowed to add one of these types of accessories, this is a great strategy if you’re forced to wear a certain uniform for school or work.

Pivot to a Similar Color Within Your Undertone Family

Finally, if you want to take your wardrobe to the next level, consider pivoting from a color that is “wrong” for you to a similar one that is more flattering on you. For example, if you love fuschia pink but you have a warm undertone, try swapping it for a warmer punch pink or coral with a similar level of brightness and saturation. This version of pink will flatter your warm undertone while still providing the same level of energy as fuschia. Or, if you like the edginess of black but have lighter hair and eyes, try swapping black for charcoal gray which still has the richness and edginess of black while being better suited to your lighter coloring.

I hope these tips help you to worry less about fitting into a specific seasonal color type and empower you to create your own perfect capsule wardrobe color palette! If you ever have any questions or suggestions, I would love to chat with you in the comments!

RESOURCE // Get the Color Guides!

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All Seasons | Winter Color Type

27 Pieces // 81 Outfits

Hey everyone! Today I have a winter color palette example for you! Plus, some tips on what to do if you like wearing dark colors but have light or gray hair; and I’ll be talking about how to blend classic and creative style elements to create a classic capsule wardrobe with a twist.

Today, I’ll be sharing a color palette and capsule wardrobe example for the winter color type. This example is inspired by Julie who left a lovely comment on my video on how to build the perfect color palette.

What kinds of color palette examples would you like to see next? Tell me a little bit about your style and which colors you like to wear in the comments down below, I’d love to make a video for you too!

The final capsule includes 27 items and can create at least 81 outfits. The color palette is cool, deep, and bright, great for the winter color type.

Building Julie’s Color Palette

Julie has a cool undertone and she enjoys wearing dark and bright colors. She would like her base colors to include navy, pink, and green, and she has identified cobalt blue and fuchsia as potential supporting colors since she tends to receive a lot of compliments when she wears these colors. This is an amazing start and Julie is doing everything right when it comes to identifying her perfect color palette. 

Her only concern is that her hair is becoming lighter over time and is often perceived as light brown or dark blonde, so she wonders if she should continue wearing the dark colors that she loves or if she should lighten up her color palette due to her lighter hair color. My advice is that she should continue wearing all of the colors she loves, regardless of her lighter hair color. All of the compliments she receives when she wears dark and bright colors are a sure sign that these colors are still flattering on her, plus wearing what you love should always trump conventional color season guidance (although it is important not to avoid trying something new)! 

However, I do have one quick tip when it comes to wearing dark colors with light hair. When choosing neutrals, stark black may create a heavier contrast than the contrast that exists in your natural coloring if you have light skin and medium-to-light hair. Choosing charcoal gray or navy as alternatives to black will bring more harmony with your natural beauty, especially for tops, jackets, or any items that are worn close to the face. 

Since Julie already did a great job of identifying some beautiful deep and bright colors for her color palette, there isn’t much work we need to do to complete it. Since she has a cool undertone, I’ve included an emerald green, navy, cobalt blue, and various shades of fuchsia which are colors we already know she loves to wear. For an extra pop of color and to bring some lightness and brightness into the palette, I added cornflower blue as an additional accent color. 

Finally, let’s select neutrals. Since Julie’s color palette already includes navy blue, let's also add various shades of gray and some crisp white to shake up the neutrals. 

The final color palette is a vibrant combination of emerald green, fuschia, gray, white, and blue - perfect for the winter color type.

A Classic & Creative Capsule Wardrobe

Now let’s put this color palette into action. Julie mentioned that she has a very classic and simple style consisting of button-down shirts, dark wash jeans, sweaters, and tees with nice details. She likes comfortable, but well-structured pieces. For her, I thought it would be interesting to search out some elevated basics and take her “classic with a twist” style to the next level by mixing in some creative style elements.

I made sure to start with a base of basics that align with Julie’s existing wardrobe. Two pairs of dark wash denim, a silk button-down shirt, a cotton button-down shirt, a crisp short-sleeve button-down, two elevated tees with interesting details, and a simple v-neck sweater.

To bring some personality and interest to Julie’s wardrobe, I added some creative pieces to her classic base. A great way to introduce some funky items into a classic wardrobe is to choose pieces that are either colorful with a classic shape, or neutral if they have a unique shape. Some pieces that accomplished this balance of classic with a twist include an emerald hoodie for a comfortable athleisure option, a dark emerald wrap skirt in a comfortable fabric and a classic pencil shape, a pair of silky navy joggers which adds an interesting shape while remaining understated in color, and some bright fuschia trousers for a twist on a classic wardrobe staple. Then, I brought in a bit more pink with a simple collarless shirt dress and a beautiful asymmetric cocktail dress which can be dressed up for parties or worn to work with a blazer. And of course, a couple pairs of fun heels and this super cool Mulberry Softie bag to punch up Julie’s accessories.

For a more classic or workwear inspired wardrobe, you could even swap out two of the outerwear pieces for a blazer and a trench coat and add a pair of pointed toe pumps to create more business-casual workplace appropriate outfits.

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 6 bottoms, 3 dresses, 3 jackets, 4 shoes, and 2 bags for 27 items which can create at least 81 interchangeable outfits.

9 Tops

gray ruffle sleeve t-shirt // navy v-neck sweater // blue button-up shirt // navy high-neck sleeveless top // emerald green hoodie // short sleeve white button-up // charcoal sleeveless tee // gray silk shirt // cobalt blue tank top

6 Bottoms

dark blue denim (or these) // navy cargo joggers // fuchsia trousers // dark gray denim // emerald pencil skirt // medium wash denim

3 Dresses

blue shirt dress // fuchsia one-shoulder dress // pink collarless shirtdress

3 Outerwear

denim shirt jacket // pink longline cardigan // gray boxy jacket

4 Shoes

white sneakers // emerald heeled mules // white studded ankle boots // pink strappy sandals

2 ACCESSORIES

black hobo bag // mulberry softie bag (or this one)

81 Outfits

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Spring Season | Spring Color Type

26 Pieces // 78 Outfits

Hey everyone! So lately there’s been a lot of interest around my post on capsule wardrobe color palettes where I explained my 5-step process for creating a color palette that is harmonious with your natural beauty. Since there has been so much interest in that video, I thought you might like to see some color palette examples for different color types using that same 5-step method to give you a little bit more inspiration if you’re not sure where to start.

Today, I’ll be sharing a color palette and capsule wardrobe example for the spring color type.

And before we get started, what kinds of color palette examples would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments down below, I’d love to create a capsule wardrobe example for you!

All in all, the final capsule includes 26 items and can create at least 78 outfits. The color palette is warm and bright, great for the clear spring color type.

An Example of Color Analysis

The key to creating a color palette that harmonizes with your natural beauty is to select colors that share common traits with your own natural coloring. For this color palette example, let’s imagine a woman such as the woman pictured below.

As you may be able to see, she has a warm undertone. On a spectrum from light to dark she has a medium value overall. She also has high intensity to her coloring meaning that she looks saturated and bright rather than soft and muted. And because her hair, eye, and skin color are quite similar to one another, she has low-to-medium contrast within her coloring. 

Color Analysis

Warm, medium depth, high intensity, saturated, bright, low contrast.

Part of the reason why I like to look at individual qualities of a person's coloring is because there is so much confusion surrounding seasonal color types. But for the sake of healthy debate, what color type would you choose for her? If I had to classify her into a particular seasonal color type, I would say she is a clear spring. Do you agree? Leave me a comment letting me know which color type you think she is, I would love to know your thoughts!

Creating a Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette

To create her color palette, we must first understand which colors she enjoys wearing. We can see from the photo that she might enjoy wearing neutrals, but it’s best to start with non-neutral colors and add our neutrals at the end. Let’s say that she also loves to wear green which would pair well with her hazel eyes.

Next, we would like to add at least one additional non-neutral color to her color palette in addition to green. In my video on how to build your perfect color palette, I talked about adding colors which are analogous to those chosen in the previous step. So let’s add blue as our analogous color. 

Another trick you can use if you’d like to be a little more bold with your color combinations is to choose complementary colors within your color palette. For this woman, a warm red like peach or coral would add complexity and interest to her color palette when paired with her green clothing items, while also bringing in a warmer color that enhances her natural coloring. So let’s add coral red to her color palette to round out her base colors.

Next, we can add at least one supporting color to the mix. Since her choice of green in the previous steps is more of a neutral green, let’s add a warm lime green that will align better with her value and undertone.

Finally, let’s select neutrals. Although this woman is wearing a cool gray tone in the photo, I think warm neutrals would suit her well. I personally feel that black would be a bit harsh on her. So let’s add shades of tan, cream, and white for her neutrals.

The final color palette is a vibrant combination of coral red, lime green, emerald, and blue paired with earthy neutrals.

A Capsule Wardrobe Example

Now let’s put this color palette into action. From the photo, this woman appears to enjoy wearing sporty athleisure styles. So today I’m going to share a feminine athleisure-inspired capsule with an even mix of casual and dressy styles, great for a variety of weekend activities.

This capsule includes 26 items and can create at least 78 interchangeable outfits.

The final capsule includes 9 tops, 6 bottoms, 2 dresses, 3 jackets, 4 shoes, 1 bag, and 1 hat. If you’re interested in taking a closer look at this capsule, check out the description box below for a link to my blog as well as links for each individual item.

I wanted to show an example of how you can incorporate bold color combinations in a really accessible way. By keeping most of the bottoms and jackets neutral, we can add a few bold tops, a brightly colored dress, and a couple of stand-out accessories. This ensures the entire wardrobe is still easy to mix and match since there aren’t so many bold items that every outfit becomes overwhelmed. However, there are opportunities to create very bold color combinations in some outfits and very neutral combinations in others, which makes for a much more versatile outfit selection.

9 Tops

forest green sweatshirt // white tank top // asymmetric bodysuit // square-neck crop // off-shoulder sweater // white bing tee // blue button-up // coral bralette top // unique blue bodysuit

6 Bottoms

knit wrap skirt // levi’s ribcage jeans // criss-cross denim shorts // springy ankle pants // patterned ruffle skirt // white denim shorts

2 Dresses

white maxi dress // asymmetric t-shirt dress

3 Outerwear

denim biker jacket // brown leather jacket // oversized denim jacket

4 Shoes

golden goose hi star sneaker // song of style lime soiree heels // on roger clubhouse sneaker // tony bianco cognac mule

2 ACCESSORIES

loeffler randall emerald pleated clutch // stand studio faux leather cap

78 Outfits

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Today I’m going to be showing you why NOW is the best time to buy a designer handbag, and which ones to invest in. 

This is going to be a little different than my usual capsule wardrobe content, so bear with me though just a little bit of economics and math. I promise it will be worth it! There’s a designer handbag at the end of this tunnel.

Inflation

As you may know, inflation has been through the roof for the past year and is predicted to continue to increase AND to remain high throughout at least the rest of 2022 and likely longer. Average inflation rate in 2021 was 4.7% and has averaged 7.7% so far in 2022 and is currently at 7.9% with an upward trend. According to Kiplinger, the surge in gasoline prices this month will push inflation to near 10% and the inflation rate will remain high through the rest of the year, ending at 6.5% or so in December.

So, what does this mean for all of us? It means that our cash savings have been decreasing in value since the beginning of 2021, a trend which is predicted to continue. But, I have some good news. That designer handbag you’ve been eyeing could be part of your answer to this problem.

Investment Alternatives

You might be wondering how a designer handbag could be a good investment. Well, let’s talk about some of your investment alternatives. 

First, the stock market. Goldman Sachs is only predicting a 2.1% increase in the S&P 500 in 2022 from its open on January 3, 2022. With inflation set to outpace overall stock market gains for at least the next year unless you’re lucky enough to beat the market, investments in the stock market are only marginally better than cash right now.

The next most popular investment would be US Treasury Bonds. According to Bloomberg, 5-year bond yields are still only around 2.1% as well with 30-year bond yields not much better at 2.4%.

And high-yield savings accounts are only offering around 0.6% interest these days!

While real estate would be a good investment option expected to keep up with inflation, a huge down payment and mortgage is required as well as recurring utility and maintenance costs.

These options all sound pretty bad, right? What if I told you that the right designer handbag could maintain its value through inflation and actually help you save more money in today’s economic environment?

The Best Investment Bags

So, before we get into the math, let’s talk about which designer handbags make the best investments.

A great resource for discovering which brands and styles are currently holding their resale value is the Comprehensive Luxury Appraisal Index for Resale Report, otherwise known as CLAIR. This yearly report is released by the luxury bag resale store Rebag.

According to CLAIR, the best brands for resale are Hermès (The Unicorn), Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Gucci, and Christian Dior.

It is well known throughout the industry that Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès historically have the best resale value in the handbag market, with certain styles even beating the stock market in appreciation. Let’s take a deeper look at these three brands to see which particular styles make the best investments.

01 // Hermès

There’s a reason why the CLAIR report calls Hermès “The Unicorn.” Hermès bags are extremely hard to acquire and most will retain or increase in value. The Hermès Birkin bag retails anywhere from $9000 to $150,000 and can see resale prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

SHOP HERMÈS // The Birkin

The Hermès Kelly also retains or increases in value, and certain styles in both of these bags have historically outperformed the S&P 500.

SHOP HERMÈS // The Kelly

02 // Chanel

Another handbag that has outperformed the stock market is the Chanel Medium Classic Flap in Caviar Leather. A representative from LePrix noted that her version of this bag increased in price by 206% over a ten year period while the S&P 500 return was 49% over that same period. 

SHOP CHANEL // The Classic Flap

Another Chanel bag worth considering is the Chanel Boy Bag. While the Chanel Boy Bag retains about 80-90% of its value, adjusted for inflation, it has joined the ranks of the Classic Flap and has maintained popularity since it was introduced in 2011. In today’s inflationary environment, even a bag that retains only 80% of its value is a better investment than cash. 

SHOP CHANEL // The Boy Bag

According to Rebag’s CLAIR report, the 19 Flap Bag, which was designed in 2019 to commemorate the death of Karl Lagerfeld, is currently reselling for 110% of its value.

SHOP CHANEL // The 19 Flap Bag

03 // Louis Vuitton

Finally we have the Louis Vuitton Neverfull tote bag which is reported to retain 85-120% of its value with limited edition bags seeing upwards of double the resale value. According to CLAIR, the Neverfull along with four other Louis Vuitton bags hold an average of 125% of their value on the resale market.

SHOP LOUIS VUITTON // The Neverfull

Let’s Do the Math

So, now that we know how to find the projected resale value for designer handbags, let’s finally do a little bit of math to show why NOW is the best time to buy a designer handbag.

Say you have $8000 in cash right now that isn’t allocated to an emergency fund or retirement fund. Assuming that the average inflation rate over the next three years is 5%, we can calculate the Future Value of that cash after three years using the Future Value equation. After three years with inflation at 5%, that $8000 will only have the purchasing power of $6859 in today’s dollars. Not so good, huh? 

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The Future Value of Cash

Present Value x ( 1 - Inflation Rate ) ^ ( # Years ) = Future Value

$8000 x ( 1 - 0.05 ) ^ 3 = $6859

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However, if you were to purchase the Chanel Classic Flap for $8000 today, which retains 97% of its value adjusted for inflation, that bag would be worth $7760 in today’s dollars after three years. That means that the Chanel Classic Flap retains 13% more value than cash over that three year period. PLUS you get that bag that you’ve always wanted.

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The Future Value of the Chanel Classic Flap

Present Value x ( Value Retention after Inflation ) = Future Value

$8000 x 0.97 = $7760

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I really hope you enjoyed this topic and I hope it inspires you to think a little bit more about your financial future and how you can be financially savvy while also investing in things that you will love and appreciate for years to come.

The information presented in this article does not constitute professional financial advice. All investment strategies involve risk of loss. If you have any doubts as to the merits of an investment, seek advice from an independent financial advisor.

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Spring Season | Summer Color Type | Pear Body Type

25 Pieces // 72 Outfits

Welcome back! Today I’m sharing a spring capsule wardrobe with a cool and light soft summer color palette. This capsule is inspired by a subscriber who mentioned she was looking for examples of soft summer color palettes for her capsule wardrobe. She also mentioned that she has a pear body type, and is looking for outfit ideas for date nights and day-to-day outings, so I made sure to keep those considerations in mind when putting together this capsule wardrobe.

All in all, the final capsule includes 25 items and can create at least 72 outfits. The color palette is cool and soft, perfect for the summer color type.

9 Tops

green crew-neck sweatshirt // elevated v-neck tee // pink button-down shirt // floral peplum top // green off-shoulder bodysuit // white puff-sleeve crop top // cream square-neck knit // white statement top // pink puff sleeve tee

6 Bottoms

black leather pencil skirt // white ruffle mini skirt // white wrap skirt // white wide leg denim // cream cropped trousers // light blue denim

2 Dresses

purple ruffle mini dress // pink wrap dress

2 Outerwear

cream wool coat // beige leather jacket

6 Accessories

nude strappy sandals // low heeled strappy sandals // beige vans old skool // cowboy style ankle boots // rattan tote bag // yellow Marc Jacobs snapshot

72 Outfits

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