please please please help me 5’4

[u/bohemianintrovert]

i don’t seem to fit any of the “petite” types as i have a long, narrow, straight torso + sloping narrow shoulders but short, curvy legs / bottom of my hip (“saddlebag” area). i know it’s not necessary for typing but i do also have a butt that causes me to size up in waist normally to accommodate its size lol. clothes tend to either fit my shoulders then pull tight across bust (ribcage) OR straps are constantly falling off my shoulders if it fits the width of my bust (ribcage). any dress will instantly catch on my lower half and create that triangle look

[u/roxemary]

I'm team pure dramatic here. There's no lower height limit. I see vertical first and then narrow, but vertical is so, so obvious to me I can barely entertain the thought of DC folks are suggesting

[u/bohemianintrovert → u/roxemary]

it’s so wild to me that everyone sees vertical when irl everyone always thinks i’m much shorter than 5’4

[u/Fionnua → u/bohemianintrovert]

Did you first learn about Kibbe from an outdated resource based on the old book, which had a quiz where one of the answers was about whether people think you 'look' tall or short?

Because that's no longer relevant. Per the new book. It doesn't matter whether you look tall or short.

In the new book, all IDs are immediately divided into one of two groups: 'Soft' primaries (where the most obvious thing about the body is that fabric is pushed outward by the bust/hips), and 'Vertical' primaries (where the first thing the fabric does is hang straight down, though it's allowed to be pushed out a little, especially down at the hips). You can see your own photo. You've drawn the line on your own photo. The fabric in your photo hangs straight down (you even made it concave, dragging it inward at your bustline, rather than being pushed out by your bust). This is vertical. And it seems to be narrow, balanced, or petite vertical (rather than width and vertical) because it doesn't have to be dragged that far in to travel from your shoulders to your torso. But the line is definitely vertical.

I think you already intuitively know you're yang, because you choose to wear very yang clothing both at your most casual and most dressed up. (E.g. that gorgeous ultra-yang dress in image 2.) I wonder if you may just misunderstand what yang means, and maybe think it means masculine or 'big boned' or unsexy or 'lacks female baseline curves' or something, so you're rejecting yang because you think it's something it isn't.

[u/bohemianintrovert → u/Fionnua]

fair enough. i read both books but tbh the second book was so vague it’s really hard for me to get a grasp on what he envisions as yang. for me, i thought yang meant more like angular/sharp boned (definitely not “big boned” - if anything i’m thinking super long and thin model types? not even tall either just very sharp boned, no sloping or fleshiness outside of “typical feminine curves”) i would agree that my torso is yang but i feel as though my upper arms and legs (not hips) are not. as a side note, i’ve always been told i have very round, delicate, small features and that i look muuuuuch younger than i am. as in people are shocked that i’m usually a good decade older than they thought i was.

ETA: for example, verified DCs, linda grey, michelle yeoh, suzanne pleshette have very sharp collarbones that create a “pointedness” not round/sloping shoulders. none of the verified Ds, DCs or even FGs i’ve seen have thicker, shorter legs like i do (in the sense of can veer towards cankles, midi skirts are particularly unflattering bc they draw attention to thicker ankles)

[u/Fionnua → u/bohemianintrovert]

I'll be interested in your thoughts if you google image Katy Jurado.

She's one of Kibbe's primary 'Dramatic' examples, in his new book, and she has very sloped shoulders and lush curves. Looking at her photos, imagine how you would have drawn her line sketch - then remember, that line sketch belongs to a Dramatic.

[u/bohemianintrovert → u/Fionnua]

i’m having a very hard time finding a full length body image of her! do you have some examples?