What is the difference between Kibbe, Kitchener, Body Matrix, Style Roots
So often I talk about essences and get someone in the comments saying something akin to: “but she’s a theatrical romantic! not a gamine!” which always leaves me banging my head against a wall. From my perspective, I talk about the different systems so much that I imagine everyone is keeping up with me - but of course if you only see a few videos it makes perfect sense that you would get confused. I had someone the other day say something like “what is this mushroom mountain flower stuff I’ve only heard of gamine and romantic, am I behind?” only by about two years my friend, but that’s okay - let’s break it down
Kibbe body types
The system that started it all (for me). This is a system developed by a guy called called David Kibbe in the 1980s, who is alive (which often surprises people for some reason) and active on a Facebook group called Strictly Kibbe which has exercises you can do to help you get closer to your ID. He doesn’t actually approve of the term ‘kibbe body types’ and instead calls it your Image Identity - there are 10 IDs: Dramatic, Soft Dramatic, Flamboyant Natural, Soft Natural, Dramatic Classic, Soft Classic, Flamboyant Gamine, Soft Gamine, Theatrical Romantic, Romantic. The idea (in short) is that you analyse your unique features - particularly your body lines - to find your yin/yang balance and match with the relevant style image. I started my TikTok talking about Kibbe, but for various reasons this is no longer the main focus of my page, so if you hear me talking about ‘gamine’ ‘dramatic’ I am probably referring to…
McJimsey/Kitchener Essences + Truth is Beauty
The essence system was pioneered by Harriet McJimsey in the 60s after learning about Belle Northrup’s yin/yang theory for women’s style. Harriet identified 6 style archetypes for 6 different kinds of women: dramatic, natural, gamine, classic, ingenue and romantic. Dramatics are the most yang (sharp, long, large) whilst romantics are the most yin (soft, rounded, small). John Kitchener revived the essence system by adding angelic/ethereal essence - a mature type of yin essence. The essences officially encapsulate both your face and body type, but my personal preferred perspective on the essence is the truth is beauty system which focuses much more on facial features and narrows down to 3 main essences.
The Body Matrix
After working with Kibbe for a long time, there were needs I spotted in my clients which weren’t addressed by the system, and so I created my own body type system which helped to provide guidance for a larger range of body types - 27 in fact - based on three elements:
width: wide / medium / narrow
length: long / medium / short
shape: straight / medium / round
I wanted a way to talk about body types and silhouette without it being so complicated - to provide a clear, actionable framework. Knowing you are wide short straight feels much easier to me than trying to decide if you are a flamboyant gamine or a flamboyant natural where you don’t easily fit in either. The idea is rooted in what I love about the kibbe system: to feel harmony with your clothing, just reflect your own features, so if you are narrow short round you wear clothes which are narrow, short and round.
Style Roots
Style roots is my response to people who constantly asked me: “I feel like I’m a romantic, but I don’t want to look sexy; it’s just not me - what do I do?”. I feel you can combine your best body lines with the styles you enjoy, so you use your body matrix to find what suits you best + your style roots to add your own personality. The style roots system essentially suggests that you identify 3 underlying ‘roots’ to your style, choosing from: mushroom, mountain, fire, flower, sun, stone, earth, moon.
Mushroom - elegant, timeless, neutral, simple
Mountain - formal, professional, exaggerated
Fire - royal, glamorous, sensual, sexy
Flower - delicate, sweet, innocent, soft
Sun - playful, creative, experimental, eccentric
Stone - sporty, casual, urban, industrial
Earth - rugged, natural, rural, easy-going
Moon - rebellious, dark, edgy
You can choose 3 which feel most close to your personality + taste, or check out my style roots quiz HERE ✨
Hopefully for any of you who were feeling confused on occasion, or thinking “I was so sure she was typed as <insert here>” when I am saying something completely different, hopefully this explains how I use these beauty-typing systems and what the differences are between them
What’s new:
💭 YouTube
🕺 Male style roots | I had so much fun this week updating the male style roots pinterest boards with some more ideas. Flower and fire were challenging to say the least, but as soon as I hit James Bond (🔥) I was away there.
💰 NEW Ellie-Jean Consulting | I have been working on a new side hustle of mine for the past six months, and I decided to finally take the jump. If you run your own business and would like to make your work easier, more enjoyable and profitable, check out my new YouTube channel where I am posting content weekly