šŸ‘™Find Your Best Lines: The Body Matrix

I woke up at 5.30 in the morning with an idea that just could not be slept on. I have thought of a framework for finding your best silhouettes. I have felt for a while there are a couple of gaps in the Kibbe system, or, at least, elements he doesn't prioritise that I would. I have been feeling recently that there are some body types which arenā€™t represented in other systems, and the style advice given to them would be ineffective. I am so excited to share my thoughts with you!


What you will learn todayā€¦

šŸ‘ˆ Style Framework: The Body Matrix

šŸ‘– How to dress for your body matrix type

šŸŒˆ How can you be sure you are right on your typings?


Framework: The Body Matrix

In each outfit there are three dichotomies:

wide vs medium vs narrow

short vs medium vs long

straight vs medium vs round

The idea is to make the process of finding your best silhouettes simpler and more intuitive. For example, my lines are narrow + short + round (NSR). My mum is medium + short + straight (MSS).

If you are in the middle, try as hard as you can to lean one way or another, for example, I know I feel slightly short, so short is the best fit - you donā€™t have to be extreme of any of the categories. If you feel completely in the middle, choose medium e.g. narrow + medium + straight. There are 27 combinations of body lines.

If you are unsure, trace an outline of your frame in procreate and note down what you see

WATCH THE TIKTOK


How to dress for your body matrix type

Dressing for your type involves echoing your features in your clothing.

Your width is reflected in your necklines, sleeves/hems and accessories

Your length is reflected in the length and size of pieces

Your shape is reflected in the shape of the pieces

If you circled ā€˜wideā€™, you would wear necklines, sleeves/hems and accessories which areā€¦

  • flared

  • open

  • wide

  • flowing

  • chunky

If you circled ā€˜narrowā€™, you would wear necklines, sleeves/hems and accessories which areā€¦

  • closed

  • narrow

  • sharp

  • cinched

  • little

If you circled ā€˜longā€™, you would wear pieces which areā€¦

  • long

  • large

If you circled ā€˜shortā€™, you would wear pieces which areā€¦

  • short

  • small

If you circled ā€˜straightā€™, you would wear pieces which areā€¦

  • straight

  • structured

  • stiff

  • geometric

  • pointed

If you circled ā€˜roundā€™, you would wear pieces which areā€¦

  • round

  • soft

  • open

  • lush

  • curvy

  • hourglass

If you are 'mediumā€™ for any of the dichotomies, you would wear pieces which areā€¦

  • medium

  • moderate

  • balanced

  • even

  • simple

In other words, if you sit medium, slap-bang in the middle between wide and narrow, you would have neckline which are neither particular open nor closed, in other words it would be moderate and even


WEEKLY CURATION

šŸ‘  YouTube - How to Recreate 80s Style in a Modern Way by Lydia Tomlinson | I am totally obsessed with the 1980s and I think Lydia did an amazing job at modernising these trends for the 2020s

šŸ° TikTok - Should we be wearing fur? by Mina Le | Minaā€™s take on the fur debate is one I really agree with, but I also love how she is really respectful of how others might feel about it. Mina is a vintage collector and

ā˜•ļø TikTok - what Jane and beryl wear | an absolutely hilarious, flamboyant duo in London drinking tea in the freezing cold looking fabulous

šŸ‘ž Reels - Parker York Smith | I am still completely obsessed with watching parkerā€™s reels, his videos are such beautiful quality and I am going to learn how to do that from him if it is the last thing I do


šŸ¤ Check out our Style Scholars community

Want to learn to dress your best? Go through the process of transforming your style with guidance across the year.

  1. Weekly exclusive livestreams: workshops, Q&As, case studies

  2. Resources: notion templates, exercises and challenges

  3. Community: learn from each other, share your outfits and your learnings

Check out the Style Scholars community HERE


New Uploads:

šŸ„¾ YouTube - How Hyper-Practical Basics Will Transform Your Style | You are focusing on the wrong basics! By being more intentional about the practical items you buy like you walking coat, your work bag and your summer sandals, your style will have the biggest improvement it has ever seen.

šŸŽ€ Reel - I chatted with Zooey Deschanel about her Kibbe type | Zooey has such iconic Flamboyant Gamine style, and I told her so over on Instagram and she actually replied!

šŸŽø Reel - How do you dress edgy and feminine at the same time? | I am trying to make more styling videos to put these concepts into practise

šŸ‘— Reel - My Mrs Maisel-inspired 50s evening outfit | Can I be the most overdressed person at a restaurant? Absolutely yes


Ask Me a Question!

This weekā€™s question comes from Sidney, thank you so much! She asksā€¦

ā€˜Is there ways to double check what your colors, body type or essence are? Iā€™ve figured generally what I might be. But I donā€™t want to go out and buy a ton of stuff only to find out Iā€™m like a soft natural not a soft gamine or something like that. Cause sometimes itā€™s hard figuring out this stuff for yourself. So any advice for double checking in some kind of way?ā€™

Ultimately, itā€™s something that just takes time. Like with most things in life, there isnā€™t really a simple, quick answer! The best way is a little trial and error. If you havenā€™t looked at my advice in this blog post on the L.O.N.G Method (read here), I really recommend that - essentially this breaks down the steps to findingyour types into: learn about them, get objective about your features, narrow down and follow your gut. I think itā€™s important to remember there isnā€™t some devine answer; weā€™re not fortune telling here. All we can do is use them as tools to get closer to your best lines, so have a practise in the shop trying on different lines together and seeing how you feel, doing different types of line drawing, defining your features in more depth. It should never feel like just a guess based on the surface level. I would suggest that you donā€™t rush into buying a ton of stuff anyway, even if you are 100% sure, you should always start with what you own, seeing what aligns with your guidelines and what doesnā€™t, then what feels good and why. The testing should start at your home long before you go to any shops!

I would love to use this newsletter to get to know you guys a little and create a little community of style fanatics! This newsletter is a great opportunity to answer some of your biggest questions.

If you would like to submit one you can do so using the button below:


Until next timeā€¦

Thank you for reading this weekā€™s newsletter. I post every Friday at 4pm. I am on a mission to make this the best style newsletter in the world, but I need your help. If you have enjoyed todayā€™s newsletter, please share a link with a friend you think might like it to. And if this is your first time reading Curate Yourself, subscribe using the button below ;)

Ellie-Jean x

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