Having broad and blunt bones, Natural’s answers to the Kibbe body type test, are mostly or all B. Meaning, her Skeleton or Bone Structure (shoulders, limbs, vertical line), Body Flesh (bust, waist, hips), and Facial Features are what could only be described as Soft Yang. And in this article, you’ll learn the principles on how to dress a Natural Kibbe body type.
What makes a Natural body type?
To understand how a Natural looks like, you have to understand what soft Yang is. Soft Yang is a broad, angular, and blunt physicality. It is primarily Yang with a little bit of Yin mixed in. While extreme Yang is narrow and sharp, soft Yang is broad and blunt. If you need photo examples, revisit this Kibbe body type test and compare the photo samples of answers A (extreme Yang) to B (soft Yang).
In the Yin-Yang spectrum of the Kibbe types, Natural lies between the balance of the Classic and the sharp-edged Yang of the Dramatic. It has more Yang than a Classic and more Yin than Dramatic.
If you’re unsure how to differentiate Yin from Yang, this article will give you visual examples: Yin vs Yang Examples of Kibbe Body Types. Otherwise, read on.
Note: The following descriptions are merely general outlines and not meant to 100% describe a Natural down to her very last detail. That would be impossible for it is not uncommon for two Naturals to look different from each other.
Take Angelina Jolie and Liv Tyler, for instance. Both of them are Naturals. But if you compare their faces, Angelina’s face is broad while Liv’s is narrow.
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 Facial Features and Body Flesh (bust, waist, hips) 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 Natural (mostly soft Yang or B answers) in Skeleton, Body Flesh, and Facial Features).
Skeleton (bone structure):
- slightly straight
- broad shoulders
- slightly squarish
- moderate to slightly tall, up to 5’9″
- bluntly angular facial contours (nose, jawline, cheekbones)
- slightly angular with blunt edges (as opposed to sharp like Dramatic)
Body flesh (bust, waist, hips, thighs, upper arms):
- lean and slightly lithe
- straight and muscular
- possibly long-waisted
- slightly long arms and legs
- flat hips and slightly flat bustline
Facial features (facial flesh and bones):
- taut cheeks
- moderate to small eyes
- straight, slightly thin lips
- slightly wide features (open)
- slightly broad, blunt, or irregular
When overweight, your Natural body tends to remain straight (as opposed to becoming curvy like a pure Romantic would). Excess weight broadens your midsection which makes you a little square in shape. Extreme excess weight gives you a very stocky appearance.
A Natural will NOT have:
- sharp features (Dramatic)
- an hourglass figure (Romantic)
- be extremely petite or extremely tall
- symmetrical with evenly spaced features (Classic)
- have a boyishly thin figure with a lack of musculature in the arms and legs (Gamine)
Unsure of your body type? Click here to take the Kibbe test with pictures and examples.
Kibbe-verified Natural celebrities
- Liv Tyler
- Karen Allen
- Ally Sheedy
- Ali MacGraw
- Angelina Jolie
- Carol Burnett
- Chris Evert Lloyd
How to dress a Natural body type
As with other Kibbe types, a Natural needs to follow her own line. Meaning, your ultimate goal is to create an outfit that underlines/ highlights your soft Yang above all else. The following tips will help you do just that. Here’s how to dress a Natural Kibbe body type.
1. ALWAYS accommodate your wide shoulders.
What this means: As a Natural, you should wear pieces that provide enough space for your wide shoulders. This simply means that the width, shape, and stretch of the fabric should be wide enough to accommodate/ provide space for your shoulders instead of squeezing them tight. Boat neck, V-neck, cowl, and decollete are generally your best necklines.
Typical fashion advice would tell broad-shouldered women to wear outfits that downplay their wide shoulders to make them look smaller thus avoid looking masculine.
The idea behind this “technique” is that wide shoulders are masculine and ugly while delicate shoulders are feminine and beautiful.
No advice could be worse than that.
This so-called technique creates nothing but unflattering results. If you’re broad-shouldered and you wear a top meant to narrow your shoulders, then you’re only drowning your real shape and making yourself a bad copy.
Instead of the outfit looking in harmony with your silhouette, you look like a try-hard, an overkill, even inappropriate. (Have you ever found yourself thinking that something is amiss with your outfit but for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out what?)
Kibbe is the opposite of this technique. Instead of going against your real shape, your goal is to work in harmony with it– to amplify what you already have, not fake what you don’t have or subdue who you are.
This principle, of course, stems from the knowledge that all body types– broad or narrow-shouldered, petite or tall, curvy or straight– are inherently beautiful. Nothing has to be faked, nor subtracted. This is the heart and soul of Kibbe.
2. Look for geometric shapes with soft or rounded edges.
Like Dramatic, Naturals look great in geometric shapes. The key difference is that instead of being sharp and angular, the edges have to be soft and rounded. Angular and sharp geometrics would look unforgiving on you while soft rounded ones would perfectly mirror your Natural bones thus complementing your soft Yang.
Therefore, opt for clothing, hairstyle, and accessories with rounded-edged rectangles, soft oblongs, rounded-edged squares, irregular shapes, and soft asymmetrics. The following accessories, hairstyles, and outfits of Angelina Jolie’s are perfect examples.
Her hair shape, while prominent and thick, is soft-edged and blunt. The same thing applies to her earrings and necklaces. The harsh diagonal line of her asymmetrical gown is softened by its rounded, sweetheart neckline. Lastly, her drape is flowy and unconstructed.
That said, while it’s important to wear soft-edged pieces and honor the tiny Yin embedded in your bones, you also don’t wanna overdo that Yin. Avoid overly ornate, intricate, flowing, and swirling lines. They look best on Romantics but would look like overkill on your Natural body.
3. Silhouette has to be unconstructed and/ or softly tailored.
While you certainly want to define your Yang, the manner of doing so must be relaxed and soft to account for that little Yin embedded in your bones.
When shopping for tailored pieces, look for ones that are softly defined at the shoulders– not too angular and sharp as a Dramatic’s would. Your silhouette should always be unconstructed at the edges.
When wearing shoulder pads, make sure that they’re soft-edged. You definitely want defined shoulders but still with a little Yin undercurrent in them.
4. Outfits that hang loosely on the shoulders are flattering.
You probably already heard that Naturals look great in Bohemian ensembles. It’s no coincidence. Outfits that hang on your wide shoulders mimic your shoulder’s shape therefore complementing your bone structure.
They should be your go-to look if you’re running late and don’t know what to wear. You can never go wrong with them. While other body types might run the risk of looking too matronly in them, you, as a Natural would look elegant and sophisticated.
5. Draped waist is perfect for you.
As a Natural, you want your fabric to have enough weight and dimension to match your primarily Yang bones. That said, draped details are great for waist emphasis. They’ll highlight your curves without the risk of looking too overdone in them.
Waist emphasis is a little tricky for Naturals. Wear an outfit with a fitted waist and very lightweight fabric and you’ll look bulky and inappropriate whereas a Romantic would look just perfect.
6. Keep the details minimal.
Unlike Romantic and Theatrical Romantics who can wear ornate and bejeweled ensembles, you should keep the details minimal. Plain and simple is best for you. Any unconstructed or loosely tailored detail works well.
For an air of casual chic, concentrate on open necklines (soft horizontals, boatnecks, clean sashes, deep V’s, loose cowls, notched collars).
Keep gathers and ruffles minimal while pleats should be soft and deep. Dropped and draped waist details (loose sashes, overbloused tops, ties) are excellent as well as slightly dropped shoulders for a little Yin.
You can even use touches of hand embroidery, rough lace, and eyelet as long as you keep them simple and minimal.
7. For a daytime look, matte is more superior than sheer finish.
Whether it’s makeup or fabric finish, a matte finish is far superior to sheen for daytime (even your best silks are crisp orientals). In the evening though, you can go very glitzy with hard-finish sheens (especially metallics, lamé, and thick brocades).
8. You can wear nearly all styles of pants.
Nearly all styles of pants are excellent for you. From very casual, to very dressy, to simple, tailored styles with minimal details.
- jeans
- sweats
- culottes
- cuffed or cuffless
- unconstructed styles
- short, cropped, or long
- elasticized or drawstrings
- shiny, silky, or satiny for evening styles, including pajama styles.
Avoid: Draped, tapered legs styles with gathered waists
8. Separates look extremely exciting on you.
Separates would look so exciting on your Natural body that they should make up the bulk of your wardrobe. In fact, according to David Kibbe’s book Metamorphosis, “you’d do better with an artful mixing of patterns, textures, and colors than you will with an overly matched look which tends to look dull on you.”
What a Natural should avoid
Knowing what to avoid is as crucial as knowing what to wear. Hence the following guidelines:
- sheer fabrics
- flimsy fabrics
- severe, wild belts
- oversized, shapeless silhouette
- any closed or restrictive details
- sharply angular lines (Dramatic)
- severely straight lines (Dramatic)
- flowing, swirling lines (too Yin, Romantic)
- ornate, intricate, frilly lines and details (too Yin, Romantic)
- extremely tailored or unconstructed silhouette (Dramatic)
- clingy fabrics (except for knits)
- extremely oversized details
- full, gathered skirts
- accordion pleats
- overly sparkly makeup (Matte is usually best with just a touch of sparkle added for an evening look.)
When a Natural doesn’t wear her lines
Here, we have Liv Tyler wearing an extremely straight and sharp-shouldered suit. While this honors her primary Yang, this ensemble does not account for the little percentage of Yin embedded in her bones. The overall look is more of an extreme Yang instead of a soft Yang.
As a result, this ensemble looks too severe and harsh on her. Not to mention the stiff look of the fabric both at the shoulders and hemline.
This could, however, better match a Natural if the sharp shoulders were replaced with soft and unconstructed shoulders with a softer and more flowy fabric. Waist emphasis doesn’t hurt but isn’t necessary since the flowy fabric would sufficiently honor her Yin.
The same thing goes to this outfit of Angelina Jolie.
And this:
Note when styling a 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. For example, you, as a Natural, might completely avoid clothes online that look narrow on the shoulders, thinking it wouldn’t accommodate your broad shoulders. However, there are other factors at play (like a fabric’s stretchability and the material used) that need to be factored in. The only way to know for sure is to try them on and see how they fit or hang on your frame.
- Just because an outfit looks great on a 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 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 Natural, it’s primarily about honoring your soft Yang– mainly being Yang, strong, and prominent but with some Yin in small doses.
Pure Natural Shopping Guide
Looking for an exclusive shopping guide for Pure 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 Romantic and Dramatic, you’d definitely want to read:
Thank you very much for this article.
There are not many accurate posts out there about Kibbe Natural. I definitely agree with the clingy fabrics. They rarely look good on me and I’ve always wondered why.
Meanwhile softly tailored long dresses often compliment my body shape.
This guide is extremely useful. I will definitely save this post!
It as hard to come by educated people about this subject. However, you sound like you know what you are talking about! Thanks.