Guide · the system
13 Kibbe types or 10? What changed in 2025
Both numbers are in circulation, and both can be correct depending on which book you are reading. The short answer: thirteen is the 1987 list, ten is the current system, and the three missing types are the pure centres of the Natural, Classic and Gamine families.
If you have searched for a Kibbe test, you have met both charts: a thirteen-type list from the 1980s and a ten-identity list from the 2025 book. They are not rival systems so much as two editions of one. Knowing which one a page is using saves a great deal of mistyping.
The short answer
- 1987, Metamorphosis: thirteen types in five families — Dramatic, Natural, Classic, Gamine and Romantic — with one or two subtypes per family.
- 2025, Power of Style: ten Image Identities in the same five families. Pure Natural, pure Classic and pure Gamine are retired.
- The test itself: the 1987 book included a questionnaire; the 2025 book replaces it with a personal-line reading based on a dominant and an additional trait.
- This site: tests the ten current identities, and keeps the three retired types as reference pages so older charts still make sense.
Why three types were retired
The pure types were the exact midpoints of their families: Natural between Flamboyant Natural and Soft Natural, Classic between Dramatic Classic and Soft Classic, Gamine between Flamboyant Gamine and Soft Gamine. The reported rationale is simple: almost nobody sits exactly at the midpoint. Most people lean slightly yang or slightly yin, so the midpoint label hid the useful information.
That does not make the old pages useless. It makes them family descriptions. If you have always felt “Classic” but could not choose between the two Classic subtypes, the old label was probably doing the work of a family name, not an identity.
The thirteen types, with current status
| Family | 1987 type | Status in 2025 | If retired, read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dramatic | Dramatic | Current identity | — |
| Soft Dramatic | Current identity | — | |
| Natural | Flamboyant Natural | Current identity | — |
| Natural | Retired reference | Flamboyant Natural / Soft Natural | |
| Soft Natural | Current identity | — | |
| Classic | Dramatic Classic | Current identity | — |
| Classic | Retired reference | Dramatic Classic / Soft Classic | |
| Soft Classic | Current identity | — | |
| Gamine | Flamboyant Gamine | Current identity | — |
| Gamine | Retired reference | Flamboyant Gamine / Soft Gamine | |
| Soft Gamine | Current identity | — | |
| Romantic | Theatrical Romantic | Current identity | — |
| Romantic | Current identity | — |
What replaced the quiz
The 2025 method starts with one question: is the dominant line vertical or curved? Vertical means fabric can fall in a long, uninterrupted line. Curve means the line is pushed outward at the bust, hip or both. A second trait then specifies the identity: narrow, width, balance, petite, curve or double curve.
The book also treats 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) and above as automatically vertical, according to a detailed review of the book. Below that height, the visual line decides. This is why a tall reader can answer “curvy” to every other question and still land in a vertical family: the method is reading the whole line, not a collection of parts.
The shift matters for online tests. A thirteen-type quiz that asks about hands, nose and jaw is working in the 1987 mode. A ten-type test that asks about the drape of fabric is closer to the 2025 mode. Neither is “the official test”, because the official quiz no longer exists.
Why so many sites still say 13
The 1987 book is out of print and was, for years, the only source. A generation of blogs, forums and videos built their vocabulary on the thirteen types, and those pages do not disappear when a new edition arrives. Search results also reward the older list because more people use the older words.
The practical rule: if a page is describing a type that no longer exists, read it as a family description. If it is describing a current identity, check whether it uses the dominant-plus- additional logic or the older feature checklist. The two can agree, but they are not the same method.
What to do if you match a retired type
- Natural. Compare Flamboyant Natural and Soft Natural. Longer and wider points to FN; shorter and curve-led points to SN.
- Classic. Compare Dramatic Classic and Soft Classic. A sharper edge and more vertical line points to DC; a softer, rounder line points to SC.
- Gamine. Compare Flamboyant Gamine and Soft Gamine. Sharper and leggier points to FG; rounder and curvier points to SG.
Do not force a choice from a single feature. Read both pages, then use the 18-question test as a second opinion. If the test returns a close call, that is the honest answer: you are between two lines.
The part that did not change
The families are stable: Dramatic, Natural, Classic, Gamine and Romantic. The yin/yang vocabulary is stable. The idea that the identity does not change with weight is stable. And the ethical core is stable: no type is better than another. What changed is the number of final labels and the method used to reach one.
What this means for our test. We return one of the ten current identities. We do not return a retired type, and we do not hide the older pages. If you came here looking for “the 13 Kibbe types”, the type library still lists all thirteen, with the retired entries clearly marked.
13 or 10: questions
Should I use 13 types or 10?
Use ten for a current reading, and thirteen when you are reading older material. The ten current identities are the ones this site tests. The three retired types are reference pages, not outcomes.
I match Natural, Classic or Gamine. What now?
Compare the two current identities in that family. Natural points to Flamboyant Natural or Soft Natural; Classic to Dramatic Classic or Soft Classic; Gamine to Flamboyant Gamine or Soft Gamine. The deciding question is the second trait: length, curve, width, balance or petite.
Did David Kibbe really drop the quiz?
Yes, according to reviews of Power of Style (2025) and published summaries of the book. The 1987 book included a questionnaire; the 2025 method replaces it with a personal-line reading. Online quizzes, including this one, are independent adaptations.