How to Do the Kibbe Personal Line Sketch for Soft Gamines

This guide is built on David Kibbe's book The Power of Style, which walks through the updated approach for finding your Image Identity using the Personal Line.

The Image Identity Formula

Image Identity is the updated name for what was once called Kibbe Type, and it consists of two essential pieces: Yin/Yang Balance and Personal Line. Your Yin/Yang Balance describes your physical body, placing you on a scale that runs from sharp yang to soft yin. Your Personal Line, however, acts as the blueprint for your clothes, providing the guide that a silhouette needs to follow to look its best. When you combine these two parts, you arrive at your specific Image Identity.

What Is Personal Line

Your Personal Line is a continuous outline that shows how all of your body's proportions fit together. Because it isn't something you can see directly on your body, you must learn how to define and draw it by looking at your shape as a whole unit.

Every Personal Line has two pieces: a Dominant and an Additional trait. There are two possible Dominants—Vertical and Curve—and six possible Additionals: Curve, Width, Narrow, Balance, Double Curve, and Petite. Note that Vertical only ever appears as a Dominant. Once these two are combined, you have your Personal Line, which your clothing silhouette is then designed to follow.

The Five Archetypes on the Yin/Yang Scale

The yin/yang scale is anchored by five archetypes that serve as reference points for every identity.

• Dramatic represents the extreme yang end of the scale, characterized as narrow and elongated.

• Romantic is at the extreme yin end, defined by a lush and curvaceous frame.

• Classic is the balance point, sitting perfectly between the two extremes.

• Natural is also yang, but with a blunt rather than sharp character.

• Gamine is a unique combination of opposites, featuring a small yin size with a sharp yang frame.

Your specific Image Identity finds its place along this same scale in relation to these five archetypes.

The Fabric-Draping Method

To work out your Personal Line, you use a method involving imaginary fabric draped from your shoulders. Picture a length of silk chiffon, weighted at the bottom, and watch how it behaves as it falls. It will either run in a straight downward line or be pushed outward by your bust and hips.

A straight fall indicates a Vertical Dominant. If the fabric pushes out at the bust, cuts in at the waist, and pushes out again at the hips, your Dominant is Curve. This fabric is not a literal outline of your body, nor is it pulled tight against you; instead, it skims your frame as it falls from the shoulder to reveal your Dominant trait.

How to Do the Sketch

In practice, the Personal Line is set by sketching that imaginary drape directly onto a photo of yourself. You’ll need a full-length, front-facing photo taken in form-fitting clothes while standing in a relaxed pose with your arms at your sides. For the best results, set the camera about ten feet away at chest height and avoid using a mirror.

On the photo, draw the path the fabric would take as it falls, starting where the shoulder meets the upper arm. A straight, unbroken downward line is a Vertical Dominant, while a line that pushes outward at the bust and hips is a Curve Dominant.

It is important to trust the sketch as your only source rather than referring back to individual body parts. Height also counts: anyone 5'6" or over is automatically Vertical. Under that height, both Dominants are possible, though Curve only appears under 5'6". Once the Dominant is set, the Additional trait is sketched on top to complete the Personal Line. This combined sketch then serves as the foundation for your Complementary Silhouette.

The Soft Gamine Image Identity

Soft Gamine is an identity defined by a combination of opposites with a pronounced yin influence. Its Personal Line is Vertical plus Petite, and height is typically under 5'5". The resulting silhouette pairs two distinct elements: a base that moves fluidly around the body's curves, and separate pieces or accessories that add "staccato" breaks to the line.

In the drape method, the imaginary fabric is pushed out by the bust and hips, but that curve is packed inside a compressed, smaller-scale frame. This creates a silhouette that requires both a curved base and frequent visual breaks, along with intricate detail to honor the compact proportions of the body.

Reading Curve Dominance in the Sketch

This is my personal theory, what I see in the Curve sketch is two areas that provide the most information: the shoulder line and the waist leading into the upper hip. Reading these together reveals which Curve Image Identity is in play:

• Romantic: The line travels around the curves with a clear cut at the waist, and the bust curve pushes past the shoulder line.

• Theatrical Romantic: The line narrows inward at the shoulder, the waist cuts in, and the curves are held within the shoulder line.

• Soft Natural: The line moves outward at the shoulder, and the bust curve is contained within that wider line.

• Soft Classic: The shoulder line remains neutral, the waist is subtle, and the hips stay balanced with the shoulders.

• Soft Gamine: The shoulder line is brief, and the curve is packed into a compact, small frame.

The Soft Gamine Sketch

A Soft Gamine sketch is defined by scale and compression. The shoulder line and the overall silhouette are both short, with the curves sitting packed tight within a smaller frame.

The waist area in this sketch can also carry a subtle yang quality, often appearing with some straightness or a clearly defined cut even within a curved outline. This unique mix of compressed curves and a sharper waist is exactly what gives Soft Gamine its specific read—everything is reduced, pulled in, and short from top to bottom.

The Seamstress Lens

From the perspective of a seamstress, fitting a garment to a Soft Gamine frame requires small, targeted adjustments. She would pull the shoulder line upward so the garment sits correctly on a petite frame, and then she would add detail rather than breaking the line with sharp angles. She might use yin elements like feather trims, shaped hems, or collar accents to create visual breaks that work with the body's curves.

For more on this perspective, see A Seamstress Walks Into a Bar.

Other Ways to Discover Your Kibbe Type

While the fabric drape and sketch method is David Kibbe's current approach, there are other ways to find your type. The original was the quiz, which used questions about bone structure, flesh, and facial features. This was followed by requesting help from online communities. Then I developed the standard photo analysis tool, which uses computer vision to read body proportions and yin/yang from a photo. I later updated to the premium approach by adding 3D body mapping, sketch output, and virtual try-ons to show how different clothes look on your frame. Discover your type today!