Sewing Kibbe: Planning a Soft Dramatic Winter Wardrobe

Good morning, my dear marmosets! Last week, I posted about the Kibbe System and my incipient plans to overhaul my wardrobe. Your interest in this process--and the fact that anyone still reads my sadly neglected blog--took me by surprise. I'm not alone in this rabbit hole, it seems!

Today, I thought we'd go further into the actual nuts and bolts of my plans. While Kibbe is a deeply flawed system, it's also a useful jumping off point for these changes. Shifting my lens--thinking about my body in terms of bone structure and softness, not just measurements--is altering how I think about clothing. A lot of the suggestions need to be taken with a grain of salt, whether because of impracticality or a decidedly 1980's sensibility, but others are proving pretty insightful.

According to Kibbe, I'm a "Soft Dramatic." He goes into the concepts of Yin/Yang and starts getting florid in his descriptors, but that's all a bit saccharine for me. It just means I have a large, angular bone structure with voluptuous curves on top of it. Think Christina Hendricks, Tyra Banks, or Sophia Loren, for platonic archetypes of this category. Tall, curvy, and extravagantly formed in every way possible.

The rule of thumb for dressing such a body is that the clothes should be proportionate to that feminine drama. Delicate details look fussy or mumsy (a problem I often have!), while overly tailored pieces look too stiff or prim. Fabrics should be soft and draping, silhouettes should have strong vertical lines and large, feminine design features.

Key Points of Soft Dramatic:

• Long lines
• Ornate feminine details
• Strong shoulders 
• Draped silhouettes,
• Open or dramatic necklines
• Avoid: fussy details, small details, overly tailored and simple garments, small prints, the look of separates, stiff or hard fabrics, wide shapeless silhouettes 

All of that sounds gorgeous, but it can also get absurd really quickly, which we need to acknowledge. According to Kibbe, following these guidelines to a tee would mean I walked around looking something like this: 

While this is my favorite dress of all time (an off-the-rack Tadashi Shoji, worn for a fancy awards ceremony), such gowns are not great for running after a toddler, working at a computer, or doing anything other than standing around and looking pretty. Impracticality is a true risk of my particular Kibbe type. The trick is to balance such exalted recommendations with how a real thirty-something human lives her life. I'm intentionally adding draped designs, vertical lines, soft fabrics, and large, feminine details to my wardrobe, just...not necessarily all in the same garment. 

Based on the needs of my drastically reduced closet, I've picked up quite a few new patterns to make over the coming months. When the weather warms up, I'll need to reassess again, but this plan gives me a chance to experiment with new silhouettes while still making pieces I need right now. 

McCall's 7429

Purpose: Anniversary Date

Later this month, Sam and I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe it's been that long, y'all. It somehow feels like we've been married both forever and for no time at all. Time is a funny thing. 

Since our anniversary falls so close to Christmas, we're always visiting my parents in Austin at the time. Not only does this guarantee childcare (Yay for wonderful grandparents!), but it allows us to get dressed up and have a truly fancy dinner date. This year, I'm making McCall's 7429 for the occasion. A knit knot-waisted dress that fits so many of my new requirements--slinky fabrics, draping, and a cohesive look--this pattern is begging to be made up in stretch velvet. 

McCall's 7801

Purpose: Holiday Parties

In addition to our anniversary, there are also a whole slew of holiday events happening this month. My initial plan was to make McCall's 7801 before any of them began, but I encountered some bumps with the bodice of this pattern. Even though it has cup sized pieces, this pattern wasn't drafted for the bustier among us, when it comes to neckline proportions. To fix it, I'm going to sew View C, but substitute a Burda woven wrap bodice that I already know works well. The ruffles may be a smidge undersized for Kibbe's recommendations, but I think the draped skirt and those feminine details still win out. 

McCall's 7534

Purpose: Day Dress

For everyday wear, I'm planning a few long-sleeved versions of McCall's 7534, a mock wrap dress with a shawl collar and extended shoulders. This hits Kibbe's recommendations on almost every level--strong shoulders, softly draping fabrics, long vertical lines--while still being practical for my normal day-to-day life. I have a couple of pretty rayon crepes in my stash that are going to be killer with this pattern! 

Burda 6391

Purpose: Casual Top

And now for something completely different. Burda 6391, a artfully ruched knit top, is one of those patterns that I never would've made a few years ago, but I absolutely love now. That draping knit bodice! Those gorgeous swishy sleeves! Everything about View B screams Soft Dramatic, but also gives me low key Stevie Nicks vibes, so...you know it's at the top of my list. 

Cashmerette Dartmouth Top

Purpose: Casual Top

There aren't many indie patterns that fit the Soft Dramatic recommendations. Many seem to be designed for people who look great in boxy, simple shapes or more casual, laid-back silhouettes. As we've discussed, I've never done casual terribly well. One lovely exception to this indie drought is the Cashmerette Dartmouth Top, a surplice wrap top that has a gorgeous deep v-neck and ruched side seams. Made up in a cozy sweater knit, this is exactly the sort of top I want these days. 

Burda Off the Shoulder Sweater

Purpose: Casual Sweater

Spoiler alert: I've already made this Burda sweater. With the giant cowl neck and ability to become an off-the-shoulder neckline, this fits all of Kibbe's recommendations and channels my love of somewhat ridiculous sweater silhouettes. I love an oversized cowl. Making this was a no-brainer, but making it a cream colored wool knit was perhaps a bit dim. I spilled spaghetti sauce on it, first thing, and needed to have it cleaned, before taking photos. 

Style Arc Nina Cardigan

Purpose: Casual Sweater

I actually made the Nina Cardigan years ago and it's one of the most worn items in my closet. The graceful, but dramatic, waterfall has always suited me and I'd really like a few more of these in other colors. Thrown over skinny jeans and a camisole, it's an elevated look for running errands or dropping Louisa off at nursery school. The waist cinching of the Nina separates it from other waterfall cardigan patterns, giving it just enough extra shaping to avoid looking boxy. 

Butterick 6604

Purpose: Everyday Coat 

Finally, the grandest of my plans! I always want to make a winter coat, but look up to discover it's mid-February and I still haven't decided on a pattern yet. Not this year. Come January 2nd, with the holiday hubbub behind us, I'm cutting into Butterick 6604. View C, with its large collar and flared sleeves, is exactly what I want in a coat, while also having easy-to-fit princess seams. I've got all my supplies prepped and can't wait to start this "someday" project. 

What do you think of my winter sewing plans, friends? Do you have a list of projects waiting to be made this season, or are you focusing on a few special pieces? I'm really excited about trying new shapes and details, thankful for Doctor T's Kibbe series for sparking such creative motivation.

Currently reading: Becoming by Michelle Obama 

Sewing Kibbe: On Style Changes, Style Rules, and the Great Cardigan Extermination

Good evening, kittens!

Tonight, I don't want to share my latest project (which is good, because it's a white sweater that I promptly spilled spaghetti sauce on), but instead take a deep dive into personal style and the philosophy of dress.  This is going to be long post, so you may want to get a cup of tea. It's also going to be: self-indulgent, extremely nerdy, and possibly include a bit of navel gazing. Since this is my blog and my personal style crisis, however, I'm going with it. Consider yourselves warned. It would be understandable, if you chose to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie, instead.

Are you braced? Do you have tea? Good.

Let's talk Kibbe, friends.

Or, rather, David Kibbe's Metamorphosis System. The Kibbe "System" is a rather obscure set of personal style rules from the 1980's, which is having a small renaissance on YouTube and wardrobe planning forums across the internet. It was brought to my attention by the lovely Gillian, of Crafting a Rainbow, who recently went down this rabbit hole herself. Style systems normally drive me crazy. People love telling women what we can't wear, or what would be more flattering on us. As soon as someone tells me what I should wear, my mind starts wandering to explosive devices and creative ways to burn civilization to the ground.

Kibbe's method, however, struck a chord with me. Instead of lumping all women into silly fruit-shaped categories--apple shapes, pear shapes, kumquat shapes--or treating plus size women as if they're all built exactly the same, he instead based his guidelines on how humans are actually built. His system mixes bone structure (what he calls Yin) and overall softness/musculature (called Yang, unsurprisingly) to make its recommendations. While the chosen nomenclature makes me shudder, I appreciate the nuance and thoughtfulness in the method. Even more, it's based on a positive framework. Kibbe doesn't tell you to hide body parts, or try to be thinner, but instead stresses the beauty of each woman's unique shape. He has 13 style identities, or archetypes, based on subtle differences in how women are fundamentally built.

Now, let's take an interlude here. Some notes:

1. I'm not going to go into all 13 archetypes or their differences. There are already some great resources on that. In the sewing community specifically, Doctor T Designs is going archetype by archetype and giving descriptions of each, plus sewing patterns that fit each type. Her introductory post has all you need to know, including wonderful links to resources and ways to find your own type. Her archetype posts are thorough, well-researched, and fascinating. You should definitely follow her series, if you're at all interested in such things! 
2. That being said, there are YouTube Videos on this. To learn more about the types, Aly Art has a video series and test to find your type. 
3. You may not neatly fit into a Kibbe Type. One of my best friends does, while we couldn't clearly pin another down at all. It's an imperfect taxonomy. 
4. This system is problematic. Obviously. All style systems are problematic. Just because Kibbe is of interest to me right now, doesn't mean I don't take issue with society telling women how to dress or even that we have to dress up at all. It's all made up nonsense that has its roots in morality, modesty, and gender role shenanigans. That being said, I like clothes. I like thinking about how I present to the world. I was in a bit of a style conundrum (more on that in a moment) and this is giving me a new framework to process fashion through. That doesn't mean that it's gospel or that it doesn't have a lot of issues. 
5. When you Google Kibbe, you may stumble into weird parts of the internet. There are a few vocal anti-feminists on Reddit who have taken Kibbe up as their personal bible on how to be women, which makes for upsetting reading. Such things have nothing to do with David Kibbe himself, from what I've found, and just prove that the internet can ruin anything. 
6. Wear whatever you like. Period. All style "rules" should be taken with a grain of salt, or outright broken. Wear what makes you feel the best, whether that's yoga pants or ball gowns. 

Right. Now that the fine print is out of the way, let's dive in!

Based on the Kibbe types, I am a Soft Dramatic, which is shorthand for saying I have a voluptuous figure on a large, angular skeletal system. I am tall and big boned, with large facial features, dramatic curves, and no hint of small, dainty delicacy. This really shouldn't have surprised me. My whole life, I have longed to be dainty, but am anything but. Sure, I wanted to be Kristen Bell, but Christina Hendricks is clearly my true style spirit guide. 

If you've read this blog for awhile, you'll know the above photo is not my historical look. For every wiggle dress I've sewn, there are a dozen more poofy, floofy confections. My twenties were swathed in Liberty prints, bedecked in fit-and-flare silhouettes. Ladylike, twee, and delicate were descriptors I gleefully deployed into my wardrobe.

Over the last few years, however, such garments stopped working for me. Many of the clothes I've made in the past--pieces I've loved and worn to death--no longer feel like me. Nowadays, I put on a fit-and-flare dress with a cardigan, then immediately take it off in a huff. Matronly, my mind whispers. Dowdy, it insists. Objectively, they're still beautiful clothes, but I don't want to wear them. They no longer suit my body or my psyche. It has nothing to do with age, really. There are women in the sewing community who wear such pieces well into later decades and look sensational doing it. They look like Dita Von Teese in the same garments that increasingly make me look like a schoolmarm. 

All of these dresses were well loved, worn like crazy, and will soon be made into toddler clothes!

Reading up on Kibbe's system felt like a revelation. Of course, I don't feel comfortable in such things anymore. They're not designed with someone of my proportions in mind. Soft Dramatics need long, draped lines, bold feminine accents, and rich use of color. In other words, drama. My inner style maven has been telling me this for awhile, but I've refused to listen, clinging to the pretty and dainty and sweet. Heck, even my most recent post on Idle Fancy was about yet another ladylike floral dress. I loved it in theory, wore like crazy for a few months, but it never felt quite right. 

That's the crux of it, really. It would be one thing if I felt good in such clothes. Who cares what some random style guru says, if you like the way you look? I typically don't give a fig for supposed rules. But, it's time for a change. A few years past time, honestly. 

So, I'm starting over. 

With Kibbe's loose recommendations and my own evolving tastes as a guide, I'm going to start taking a more analytical approach to sewing. Instead of making what I've historically gravitated toward, I'm going to try a few pieces outside of that comfort area. Bolder colors, more dramatic silhouettes. This might be a bit tricky, since I also need to balance living in a fairly casual city and chasing after a toddler. Casual has never really been my preferred aesthetic anyway, though, so maybe it's time to let that go as well. 

This week, I'm doing a thorough closet clean out. I've already locally donated or consigned most of my unwanted ready-to-wear clothes, including a mind boggling 20+ cardigans, but the thought of getting rid of handmade items has been agonizing. Since most of the fabrics are still in good condition, I'm going to box them up and remake them into clothes for Louisa instead. That plan assuages my guilt, but gets them out out out of my closet. I can't handle staring at them any longer! 

In my next post, I'll share some of the patterns I'm going to sew next and go in depth on silhouette and proportion. I know that wardrobe overhauls and style systems bore some people--including me--to tears, but I'm really enjoying looking at clothing in this way. Applying actual analysis and thought to sewing fills me with a creative motivation that's long been absent in my daily routine of getting dressed. Have you gone through a major style revamp? What sparked the way you currently look at clothing and your own style? As sewists, we all love clothing and getting dressed. I'd love to know what goes through your head, when choosing what to make and wear next. 

Currently reading: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory 

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