You’re a Soft Natural if your skeleton or Bone Structure is soft Yang (mostly answers B) while your Body Flesh and Facial Features are soft Yang with Yin influence (answers B with D and E). If you suspect that Soft Natural is one of your possibilities, this article will help. Here’s how to dress a Soft Natural body type.
What makes a Soft Natural?
Physically, a Soft Natural has a strong, broad, and blunt skeleton or bone structure which is softened by a fleshy body type and facial features.
Note: The following descriptions are merely general outlines and not meant to 100% describe a Soft Natural down to her very last detail.
Meaning, two Soft Naturals are unlikely to have uniform Yin and Yang parts. One may have it in her lips while the other in her cheeks, or both. Meaning, just because two ladies are both Soft Naturals doesn’t mean they should look exactly the same.
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 Soft Natural (primarily soft Yang with Yin undercurrent in Body Flesh and Facial Features).
Skeleton (bone structure):
- slightly angular bones
- slightly square or broad shoulders
- moderate to slightly small, up to 5’9″
- moderate to slightly short limbs (a slightly leggy look is also possible)
Body flesh (bust, waist, hips, thighs, upper arms):
- slightly soft; tends to fleshiness
- slightly fleshy upper arms and thighs
- slightly smaller waist that’s in proportion to bust and hips
- slightly curvy; tends to an hourglass shape– but not extremely so!
Facial features (facial flesh and bones):
- full and rounded
- rounded eyes, full lips, soft cheeks
- nose tends to be small and wide or slightly irregular (blunt or wide)
- slightly blunt, or small and irregular facial contours (nose, cheekbones, and jawline)
When overweight, a Soft Natural’s body tends to become extremely soft and fleshy, with the waist thickening. The upper arms, thighs, and hips tend to collect excess weight and cellulite most rapidly.
A Soft Natural will NOT have an:
- extremely tall figure
- extremely straight body type (Dramatic)
- symmetrical body type and facial features (Classic)
- extremely sharp bone structure and features (Dramatic)
- extremely large and broad bone structure (Natural & Flamboyant Natural)
Kibbe-verified Soft Natural celebrities
- Fergie
- Katy Perry
- Heidi Klum
- Helen Mirren
- Sissy Spacek
- Kim Basinger
- Kat Dennings
- Julie Andrews
- Marissa Tomei
- Julianne Hough
- Rene Zellweger
- Barbara Hershey
- Jessica Brown Findlay
How to dress a Soft Natural body type
To dress a Soft Natural, your goal is to follow your own Yin-Yang balance which is soft Yang with Yin undercurrent. If this sounds confusing, the tips below should give you a good foundation as to how.
Before reading further though, please know that the following tips are merely guidelines, not rules. They’ll provide you examples but ultimately, you can bend or break them as long as you’re honoring the Yin-Yang balance of a Soft Natural (soft Yang or Natural with Yin or Romantic undercurrent).
Do NOT focus on each piece of the outfit but on the outfit’s overall look. Remember, the approach needs to be holistic. Your torso is connected to your lower body and vice versa, as with your clothing to your makeup and accessories.
Without further ado, here are some tips on how to dress a Soft Natural.
1. Honor your Natural side first, then Romantic second.
If there’s one thing you need to remember when dressing a Soft Natural, it’s this: Natural first, Romantic second. As long as you follow this principle every time you shop and put together an outfit, you’ll never get lost.
Remember, you are a Natural (soft Yang) more than a Romantic (extreme Yin). Meaning, for your silhouette to look harmonious, you first have to highlight your broadness and bluntness above all else then only add your Romantic side as an afterthought.
The following tips should help you accomplish this. But to make sense of the following descriptions, it’s important that you first understand what’s Yin and what’s Yang. This article should show you visual examples: Yin vs Yang Examples of Kibbe Body Types. Otherwise, read on.
2. Accommodate your shoulders.
Pure Naturals and Flamboyant Naturals have broad, blunt, and prominent shoulders. The same goes for you, Soft Natural. Although your shoulders may be slightly softened by your Yin undercurrent, it’s imperative that the outfits you wear always accommodate the unmistakable width of your shoulders.
How exactly do you accommodate your shoulders? You can do so by simply wearing pieces that do NOT restrict or hide the expanse of your shoulders. Meaning, wide, loose, and open necklines are perfect for you.
Does this mean you can’t wear tight and closed necklines? No. You absolutely can, as long as the stretch and shape allow sufficient space for your shoulders to showcase themselves as among the main highlights of your figure.
You might think this is counterproductive. You’re probably told many times that broad shoulders are masculine (and ugly) while narrow shoulders are feminine (and pretty). But this is simply not the case for all broad-shouldered women.
When you wear an outfit meant to “downplay” your shoulders, your proportion becomes forced and unnatural, leading to an unflattering look. Remember those times when you know something is amiss with your outfit but for the life of you, you can’t figure out what?
Only when you highlight your shoulders will you look graceful without even trying.
Kibbe is all about showing what Mother nature gave you. Only when you start hiding your true shape will you start to revolutionize your clothing. If you’re unconvinced, try it yourself and see the huge difference that you should’ve seen a long time ago.
3. Keep your silhouette soft, flowing, and unconstructed.
This is the part where you honor your Yin undercurrent. Pay attention to the edges of your outfit — your shoulders, neckline, waist, hemline. This is especially important for a Soft Natural.
While you should keep your shoulders prominent and broad to honor your soft Yang, you must keep their edges soft and rounded.
When wearing tailored pieces, go for ones with soft and blunt-edged shoulders and stay away from sharp-edged ones. They look perfect on Dramatics but too severe on your Soft Natural silhouette.
Necklines that work best on you are open, draped, boat neck, soft cowls, or asymmetrical geometrics with rounded edges at the neckline.
The same thing applies to accessories and hairstyles. You look your best when they’re prominent and rounded. Your hairstyle should be soft, free, and loosely layered, creating a slightly tousled and softly sensual look.
4. Keep your waist defined.
While Flamboyant Naturals can rock an outfit with or without waist definition, it isn’t the case for Soft Naturals. Because your undercurrent is Yin, you must ensure that waist definition is always part of the equation. Loose-fitting pieces devoid of waist definition tend to look matronly on you.
Generally, a more relaxed and loosely-defined waist looks better than a tightly-cinched one. You could rock a slightly blousy effect at the waist, with the top draped over the waistline, or a slightly dropped waist as long as the silhouette is fluid. Still, know that you can switch back and forth between loose and fitted depending on your outfit’s overall look.
5. Separates look gorgeous on you.
An obvious use of separates looks flattering on you. Jackets should be unconstructed, soft, and always showing the waist (but not necessarily emphasizing it as a Romantic line would.)
Look for skirts with soft outlines, either full or flared that are flat in the hip area. Straight skirts that are lightweight, draped, or slightly tapered are also great.
Pants, on the other hand, should be lightweight and slightly draped, with a bit of soft-detail or ornate trim (gathers, shirring, soft pleats). Legs may be softly straight, draping about the ankle, or slightly tapered and pegged.
Blouses should be soft, draped, and slightly billowy or clingy. Detail should be slightly antique and intricate, but should not be fussy and overdone. Remember, you’re Natural first then Romantic second.
The more detail there is, the more unconstructed the blouse should be. Sheer fabrics are excellent. The shinier the fabric, the less detail there should be.
6. Opt for soft and flowing prints and patterns
The best prints for a Soft Natural are softly rounded shapes that are abstract and flowing. They could be watercolor-blended or vibrant, as long as they are slightly irregular and soft-edged. Size could be moderate to slightly large.
What Soft Naturals should avoid
Knowing what to avoid is as crucial as knowing what to wear. Hence the following guidelines:
- stiff belts
- overly fitted silhouette
- symmetrical silhouette
- crisply structured bags
- cropped bolero jackets
- animated, perky details
- sharp, severe silhouette
- small, symmetrical prints
- stiff, flat, or flimsy fabrics
- wide, shapeless silhouette
- severe, angular geometrics
- overly fitted and fussy detail
- dull, monochromatic schemes
- extremely angular accessories
- crisped, fitted, and sleek styles
- long, straight, pencil-slim skirts
- heavy pieces that hide the body
- sharply/ severely tailored pieces
- overly intricate and ornate prints
- overly fitted skirts with excess trim
In short, avoid anything that is too Yang (sharp and angular) or too Yin (ornate and fitted) or anything that goes against your broad and blunt bone structure. Your ultimate goal as a Soft Natural is to match your primary soft Yang bones (Natural) while honoring your Yin (Romantic) undercurrent in small doses.
When a Soft Natural doesn’t wear her lines
Here, we have Kim Basinger wearing a suit. I’m sure you would agree that this outfit isn’t her personal best for the sole reason that the suit is too boxy and shapeless to honor her Yin. She looks matronly in it.
While the boxiness may be okay for her soft Yang, it took all the stage and didn’t leave any for her Yin undercurrent. You see, neglecting your undercurrent doesn’t do your Soft Natural figure any favor.
The same thing goes for this hairstyle which lies rather limp and lifeless on her face. If you compare this hairstyle to her soft, long curls previously, there really is no question as to which is more flattering. That said, this hairstyle would look great on a Dramatic.
Another example is this dress worn by Renee Zellweger. Unfortunately for her, the dress is too ornate, full of gathers, and the neckline straight and sharp. The Romantic elements are present but the Natural is nowhere to be found. This dress would look great on a Romantic.
Note when styling a Soft 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. This practice limits the great outfits you could have worn!
- Just because an outfit looks great on a Soft 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 Soft Naturals could look different from each other, not to mention have completely different tastes.
- As with dressing any body type, do not focus on each piece of the outfit. Instead, focus mainly on the overall feel and look of the outfit. For a Soft Natural, it’s being mainly being prominent, broad, and blunt with small doses of Romantic to complement your Yin aspect.
What now?
Need a shopping guide for Soft Natural? Here’s a detailed guide as to which pieces to look for when shopping for a Soft Natural Kibbe body type (from clothing, accessories, makeup, and colors) :
Having both qualities of Romantic and Natural, you definitely want to read:
I am so glad I found this webpage. Kibbe SN all in one spot on the internet. Thank you.
Heidi Klum is no longer classified as a Soft Natural. Even by looking at her photos it is very clear that she is quite tall and elongated and there is not enough curve, her height is the first thing you see. KIbbe reasagined her himself.
She looks SN to me, definitely not FN or D!
Agrre.
Her shoulders are not wide enough for FN and she´s too blunt for SD.
I have the same figure and see myself still as SN although I am 1cm taller than allowed.
Kibbe should have added a 4th tall type.
There´s only three choices:
tall + narrow
tall + narrow + fleshy
tall + wide
What about tall + wide + fleshy???
I feel it’s the same issue with Angelina Jolie. She’s both tall, wide and curvy, hard to say one is more dominant than the other ????
I personally sense a lack of another type, short + wide + noncurvy… I feel most at home as an SN, I see my yin mostly in my height, waist, and some of my facial features – though it may be more ingenue. The lines work for me most of the time, I wouldn’t say I have any actual curves to speak of though 🙂
Thank you for this! So helpful.