You’re a Flamboyant Natural if your Skeleton or Bone Structure (shoulders, limbs, vertical line) is extremely Yang-dominant (mostly answers A) while your Body Flesh (bust, waist, hips), and Facial Features are soft Yang (mostly answers B). Overall, your answers in the Kibbe body test would be mostly B (Natural) with some A (Dramatic). If you think you’re a Flamboyant Natural, this article will help. Here’s how to dress a Flamboyant Natural Kibbe body type.
What makes a Flamboyant Natural?
In a nutshell, a Flamboyant Natural is mainly a Natural (soft Yang) with Dramatic (extreme Yang) undercurrent.
To make sense of the following descriptions, it’s important that you first understand what’s Yin and what’s Yang. This article should give you visual examples: Yin vs Yang Examples of Kibbe Body Types.
Note: The following descriptions are merely general outlines and not meant to 100% describe a Flamboyant Natural down to her very last detail.
Meaning, two Flamboyant Naturals are unlikely to have uniform Yin and Yang parts. One may have it in her lips while the other in her cheeks, or both. One may be curvy in the waist while the other is straight. Meaning, just because two ladies are both Flamboyant Naturals doesn’t mean they should look exactly the same.
Take Princess Diana of Wales and Jennifer Lawrence, for instance. If you Google their bikini photos, you’ll see that while Jennifer’s waist is waspish and shapely, Princess Diana’s is straight. And yet, they are both Kibbe-verified Flamboyant Naturals.
Where they’re similar, however, is with their skeletons or bone structures– and Bone Structure is what matters the most. It dictates how clothes will hang on the body. While Body Flesh (bust, waist, hips) and Facial Features are definitely included in the criteria, they are less important and less influential than Bone Structure (shoulders especially, limbs, and vertical line).
Therefore, a slight deviation from these descriptions is always possible and should not be worried over as long as the overall outline meets the Yin and Yang balance of a Flamboyant Natural (soft Yang with extreme Yang undercurrent).
Skeleton (bone structure):
- Height is usually moderate to very tall– usually 5’5″and over. But it could also be any height– 5’5″ and shorter.
- Large hands and feet (usually somewhat wide, but they may also be narrow, with long fingers and toes).
- large and angular with blunt edges
- broad and square bones
- long arms and legs
- wide shoulders
Body flesh (bust, waist, hips, thighs, upper arms):
- straight and angular (broad, not sharp)
- arms and legs tend toward musculature
- bust and hips tend to be flat or straight (unless very overweight)
Facial features (facial flesh and bones):
- broad or prominent facial contours (nose, cheekbones, jaw-blunt, not sharp)
- eyes may be very large and open or very straight and small
- cheeks are usually taut unless overweight
- lips are usually straight and thin
When overweight, a Flamboyant Natural’s body tends to become square and stocky and the face becomes fleshy and puffy. Extreme excess weight will collect primarily from the waist down.
A Flamboyant Natural will not have:
- A real hourglass figure– not only means waspish waist but also curvy and voluptuous bust and hipline (Romantic).
- delicate facial features with small or sharp bones (Theatrical Romantic)
- extremely petite figure (Romantic or Theatrical Romantic)
- symmetrical body type, bone structure, or facial features (Classic)
- a sharp or extremely narrow bone structure (Dramatic)
Kibbe-verified Flamboyant Natural celebrities
- Princess Diana of Wales
- Jennifer Lawrence
- Colleen Dewhurst
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Cindy Crawford
- Charlize Theron
- Claudia Schiffer
- Natalie Dormer
- Brooke Shields
- Nicole Kidman
- Cameron Diaz
- Julia Roberts
- Amy Adams
How to dress a Flamboyant Natural
To dress a Flamboyant Natural, your goal is to follow your own Yin-Yang balance which is strong Yang with blunt edges. The tips below should give you a good understanding as to how.
Before reading further though, please know that the following tips are merely guidelines, not rules. They’ll provide you examples but ultimately, you can bend or break them as long as you’re honoring the Yin-Yang balance of a Flamboyant Natural (mainly Natural (soft Yang) with Dramatic (extreme Yang undercurrent).
Do NOT focus on each piece of the outfit but rather on the outfit’s overall look. Remember, the approach needs to be holistic. Your torso is connected to your hips and vice versa. Without further ado, here are some tips on how to dress a Flamboyant Natural.
1. Honor your Natural side first, then Dramatic second.
If there’s one thing you need to remember when dressing a Flamboyant Natural, it’s this: Natural first, Dramatic second. As long as you follow this principle when you shop and put together an outfit, you’ll never get lost.
Remember, you are a Natural (soft Yang) more than a Dramatic (extreme Yang). Meaning, for your silhouette to look harmonious, you first have to highlight your broadness and bluntness above all else then only add your Dramatic sharpness as an afterthought.
The following tips should help you accomplish this.
2. Accommodate your wide shoulders.
Among the main characteristics of a Flamboyant Naturals are her strong and wide shoulders, so much so that they’re noticeably wider than her hips.
For fear of looking “too manly”, you might feel the urge to downplay your shoulders to make them look less wide and “more feminine”. This is a big mistake!
Your wide and strong shoulders are NOT problem areas. They are your assets and therefore need to be accommodated. Instead of wearing outfits meant to tone down your shoulders’ width, honor the space they require.
Concentrate on open and unconfined necklines (soft horizontals, boatnecks, camisoles, clean sashes, deep V’s, décolleté, loose and/ or oversized cowls, and open notched collars).
No better example would demonstrate this than the iconic dress dubbed as “Princess Diana’s revenge dress”.
Only once you stop hiding your true frame will you see everything fall in place. Since the outfit would already be in harmony with your silhouette, it would look more flattering and you, more graceful. Here are more examples of outfits honoring the width of your shoulders.
3. Wear geometric shapes with rounded and soft edges.
The soft and rounded edges are crucial in honoring your Natural aspect or soft Yang (soft Yang definition here). While you want your shoulders to be prominently emphasized, you should always keep their edges blunt and a little sloped– not overly sharp, straight, nor angular.
Sharp and angular ensembles are best suited for a Dramatic but would look too severe on your Natural frame. The same goes for your hairstyles and accessories.
To do this, look for softly tailored outfits. Or if it isn’t tailored, look for flowy, unconstructed, and heavy fabrics (think flowy and relaxed Bohemian outfits).
What they do is accommodate your wide shoulders as well as follow your shoulders’ natural shape. This way, your strong frame and shoulders are emphasized without overdoing their sharpness and angularity. Remember, the main rule of Kibbe is to follow your own line and silhouette. If you follow this, you will never get lost.
4. Honor your strong vertical line.
Now that you know how to dress your Natural side (broad and blunt shoulders), it’s now time to honor your Dramatic side.
The Dramatic side of a Flamboyant Natural usually manifests as a strong vertical line or a noticeably elongated part of the body (usually long torso and long legs).
To understand what a strong vertical line means for a Flamboyant Natural, think of an inverted triangle. The top, widest line is her broad shoulders while the tapering, vertical line at the bottom is the elongated part of her body.
To honor the part of you that’s elongated (Dramatic undercurrent) draw inspiration from the Rule of Thirds.
The rule states that a 1/3 to 2/3 ratio (and vice versa) is one of the most aesthetically pleasing divisions of spaces. This is especially true for a Flamboyant Natural.
You can do this by trying out the following:
- Wear a cropped top with long, high-waisted skirts or pants. Or simply tuck in your top to create that “bloused-over” effect or 1/3 to 2/3 proportion.
- To create the 2/3 to 1/3 ratio, a tunic or a long top usually does the job. If it follows the ratio, then expect to look great in it. Another way to do this is to wear dropped waist pieces.
- Lastly, you could divide your outfit into thirds is by wearing a belt at the waist.
Another way to honor your vertical line without following the Rule of Thirds is by ensuring continuity by repeating at least one color from the top and wearing it at the bottom. The following are great examples:
As you can see with Jennifer Lawrence’s outfit, the color black is repeated from her collar to her top down to her shoes, creating a coherent vertical line. The same goes for the subsequent outfits.
5. Unconstructed top, fitted bottom — and vice versa.
This 5th advice is not in Kibbe’s book and should be taken with a grain of salt.
As a Flamboyant Natural, I usually find that when I wear an unconstructed top with an unconstructed bottom, my silhouette somehow looks frumpy.
It’s only when I wear an unconstructed top with a fitted bottom — or a fitted top with an unconstructed bottom — does my outfit look right and flattering. I’ve known some Flamboyant Natural ladies who share the same conclusion so this might be a tip worth exploring.
This is probably because of my narrow hips. It seems as though my hips are too narrow to give shape to an unconstructed pair of pants, shorts, or skirts. However, if your hips are quite wide like Jennifer Lawrence’s or if the bottom is specially tailored for you, then you can probably get away with wearing both unconstructed top and bottom.
On the other hand, a fitted top with a fitted bottom looks great on me as long as the top accommodates my shoulders’ width in fit, stretchability, or design.
6. Separates are extremely exciting on you.
Separates should make up the bulk of your wardrobe. A mix-and-match effect is excellent but be careful to always maintain your Dramatic undercurrent by highlighting your elongated vertical line with strong shoulders as the foundation of your ensemble.
Jackets should be long, unconstructed and loose. Relaxed cuts with broad and soft padded shoulders are best. The length should be from the top of the thigh down. Opt for simple, oversized detail like large lapels, big roomy pockets, easy double-breasted styles worn open.
7. Prints and colors should be bold and vivid.
Prints and colors should be bold and vivid, expressed in abstract geometrics, irregular shapes, or soft-edged asymmetrics. Wild animal prints, tropical prints, and any highly original motif that is both sophisticated and earthy.
8. Add small doses of sharpness as an afterthought.
Having a Dramatic undercurrent, you certainly shouldn’t only focus on your Natural soft-edged shapes but also add small hints of sharpness into your ensemble. You can do this excellently with your accessories.
This outfit of Princess Diana, for instance, is a great example:
Her earrings are chunky with rounded edges (Natural), her shoulders strong but blunt (Natural), but her hat shows a little hint of sharpness (Dramatic undercurrent).
The same goes for this one: blunt shoulders, soft-edged lapel, rounded headdress, but sharp-edged handbag and hat. Very subtle yet they add a sense of sleekness to the outfit which sufficiently underline the Dramatic without overdoing it.
What Flamboyant Naturals should avoid
Knowing what to avoid is as crucial as knowing what to wear. Hence the following guidelines:
- stiff, flat fabrics
- overly fitted pieces
- hourglass silhouette
- sharp and straight lines
- ornate and intricate shapes
- sharp, severe, or still silhouettes
- severe, sharp-edged geometrics
- ultrasheer, flimsy or clingy fabric
- multicolored splashes (too perky for you)
- monochromatic schemes without vivid accessories
- dull colors unless they are executed in rich textures
In short, avoid anything that is too Yang (sharp and angular) or too Yin (ornate and fitted) or anything that goes against your broad and blunt bone structure. Your ultimate goal as a Flamboyant Natural is to match your primary soft Yang bones (Natural) while honoring your extreme Yang (Dramatic) undercurrent in small doses.
When a Flamboyant Natural doesn’t wear her lines
Here, we have Brooke Shields wearing a suit. I wouldn’t say this looks bad on her since the fabric has a little softness in it but it could be better.
This one, however, looks worse. The collar is too crisp and sharp, the silhouette is too narrow, the shoulders too sharp, the fabric stiff-looking, her hair too straight, and her shoes pointed. This would look great on a Dramatic but for the Flamboyant Natural that she is, it just looks too severe to match her soft Yang.
A better version of that suit would be this one:
As you can see, her shoulders are softly defined, her silhouette a little loose and relaxed on her waist, the fabric more flowy-looking, and her hair though straight, has better volume. Overall, this suit is a perfect match for a Flamboyant Natural’s soft Yang and Dramatic undercurrent.
Note when styling a Flamboyant Natural
- Know that clothes alone do NOT have a Kibbe type. Therefore, avoid Kibbe-typing a piece of clothing based on its appearance when unworn or worn by other women other than yourself.
- Just because an outfit looks great on a Flamboyant Natural doesn’t mean it wouldn’t look great on other Kibbe types and vice versa. For instance, contrary to popular belief, bodycon dresses aren’t only exclusive to Romantics, nor is Bohemian only exclusive to Naturals. Any body type can actually wear a Bohemian and a bodycon dress and look great. They would just look different from one another but with the right fabric and customization, any body type can pull off most designs.
- Meaning, don’t be scared to explore and experiment. The system was made not to box you in but to liberate you so you can present your unique expression to the world.
- The goal is to know the principles first then marry those principles to your own taste instead of following a one-size-fits-all rule. For even two Flamboyant Naturals look different from each other, not to mention have completely different tastes.
- As with dressing any body types, do not focus on each piece of the outfit. Instead, focus mainly on the overall feel and look of the outfit. For a Flamboyant Natural, it’s primarily about honoring your soft Yang– mainly being Yang, strong, and prominent but with some Dramatic sharpness in small doses.
Flamboyant Natural Shopping Guide
Looking for an exclusive shopping guide for Flamboyant Natural? This article will show you how to shop for pieces from head to toe: from clothing, accessories, makeup, coloring, and prints.
Having both qualities of Natural and Dramatic, you definitely want to read:
I have known I was an inverted triangle my whole life – I have also always been active and in competitive sports, weightlifting, running. I recently discovered Kitchener and Kibbe and have been typed a textbook FN, soft autumn, natural/dramatic/ethereal essence. Also have long beachwavy hair and have been told I have a “70’s” vibe my whole life. Love bohemian style everything.
Its crazy that I never knew this existed. It would have been so helpful in my teens and 20s! I’m now in my early 30s and getting married. Any recommendations for wedding dress styles? I have always struggled with finding clothes due to my broad shoulders and rib cage but narrow waist. My measurements are 5’9.5”, above bust 34, underbust 30.5, smallest point of my waist 27, and widest at hips 35. I’m fairly flat chested as well.
I would appreciate any advice! Hoping I can find someone who gets my type when I go wedding dress shopping but I would like to have some ideas beforehand, just in case
Amé tooodo lo que escribiste! Me ha ayudado mucho a conocerme mejor y ser más arriesgada a la hora de elegir mis outfits. Seguiré leyéndote y ahora más que sé que eres FN, nos conoces bien! Gran trabajo !
Once I started following a gluten-free vegan diet, I dropped a whopping 45 pounds, and started doing research on what clothes look best on me. I first discovered I was an inverted triangle, and then, with a bit more research, a flamboyant natural. It all makes sense to me now! I remember my mother always having to buy my suits in the separates section once I reached middle and then high school. I always wore a jacket one size larger than the pants because my arms were so long and shoulders so wide. This information is great. My problem now is I am a lover of vintage styles. There are plenty of clothing stores that sell vintage reproductions, but I was wondering if you had any opinion on what might work best for those of us Flamboyant Naturals who follow the fashion of the 1930s and ’40s?
I believe the 1970s curated mostly to the FN body type…since your favorites are the 30s and 40s, I would choose accesories like hats from the 40s which had dramatic undercurrents…tops, coats and suits, maybe not so much, as they had extreme dramatic elements. Dresses may be too Romantic and yin with the exception of a ruched halter dress that may be from the 40s? Some 30s dresses, with very long sweeping skirts on them may work, but the sleeves may be too ornamental. I hope this helps a bit 🙂