First, let’s get a quick summary of what the vertical dominant types look like:
- Dramatics: Extreme sharp yang, narrow and long silhouette
- Soft Dramatics: Sharp yang with lush roundness, and of course a long line
- Flamboyant Naturals: Blunt yang with a long line
There is a big problem for women who have vertical yang but no sharp yang, blunt yang or the lushness of the SD. They can say they are D but would need lighter fabrics without the heavy tailoring, or FN but with a narrower silhouette or SD but with a need for smaller shapes.
For this problem I have a solution, and she is called the Delicate Dramatic.
For women with a long, narrow silhouette and subdued rounded shapes.
I pulled a few celebrity examples to give an impression of the Delicate Dramatic characteristics.
Case 1: Eva Green
In the Freely Kibbe group we had a little debate about what type Eva Green is. There was almost a 50/50 split between D and DC. At first, I thought she was a Theatrical Romantic. I definitely saw yang, but not in the D way. I saw a narrow, small boned woman. There is no strong yang but a softer, smaller yang. Which doesn’t have a place in Kibbe’s system.
Eva Green is probably the best example of a Delicate Dramatic. Her body is long and narrow with subdued curves. She looks good in long lines with soft and lightweight fabrics with small details and subdued flow. This is different from the SD, which is defined by her large, sweeping shapes. These lines would likely be too much on her.
Case 2: Anya Taylor-Joy
Another one who got typed mostly D by the group, with some SD answer sprinkled through. She doesn’t perfectly fit with either one… There isn’t much sharp yang but there also isn’t much luscious yin.
Her bones are long but rounded, without them having a blunt appearance. This makes her look softer than other Dramatic women, even though she has very little yin. To me she is a great example of the Delicate Dramatic.
Case 3: Taylor Swift
Let’s bring in the walking controversy herself; Ms Swift. Some people think she is a Gamine, some think she is a Soft Dramatic and some think she is a pure Dramatic. I think if you go by the 13 categories we have, she is in-between a SD and a D. Having not quite enough lushness to be SD but a little more yin than most D women.
Taylor is not what I call the typical Delicate Dramatic like the women above. She has a little more visual weight from a slightly more plump and wide build but still fits in great with this archetype. Her sharp or blunt yang is barely there and her yin is smaller than the yin of the SD.
