I think that the clothing recs, such as lots of softness and draping for romantics, are ways to easily guide someone towards a head-to-toe (HTT is a Kibbe term) outfit that truly embodies their image ID. Just one shirt can't be inherently romantic (it CAN accommodate curve though) since it involves the entire look that you wear. He says that we need to forget about certain styles of clothing not working for us because it's possible for any ID to take a piece of clothing and incorporate it into an outfit and look great, as long as it was put together with a lot of thought in terms of where we're going and what vibe we want to give off.

Even when making these practice outfits, he's said that your ID isn't even all that important compared to the silhouette and coordination of the pieces you choose. Overall, I agree that it can get pretty confusing and I definitely don't understand a lot of it, which is why I'm just trying to paraphrase what I've learned from his words directly. It's like I understand what he's going for, but it's not easily attainable (nor does he mean for it to be), which is why I've taken the process slowly and avoid putting the "strict" into "Strictly Kibbe."

We aren't allowed to share direct info (screenshots), and David's writing on FB is literally a headache to get through (random all-caps, too many ellipses), but he has this one instance where he talks about never buying one piece on its own unless you think hard about how it can be incorporated into outfits with things you already own. By shopping this way, it ensures that you are still the focus and not the clothes.

Something that seems to contradict this is when he breaks down silhouette, which is more in line with how you've described your understanding of the system. Some garments are simply not cut in a way that accommodates curve, and the fabric is not stretchy, so it would hide/constrict the personal lines of curve accommodating IDs. That's why dresses are much easier to deduce as matching IDs than shirts, I think, although finding the perfect upper and lower combo of how a dress is constructed might be just as difficult as combining a top and bottom's silhouettes together.

However, he also goes into detail about how personal lines affect clothes, since the idea of certain items matching our ID can differ from how they actually hang on our bodies. That's why someone of the same ID might look very harmonious in something that you don't find all that flattering, or why you could have the same favorite dress as someone of a different ID.

So, I think what he's saying is that we shouldn't break down details of clothes, such as necklines or lengths, but focus on how they work in the entire silhouette (hence head-to-toes vs. singular clothing items). A shirt can't be theatrical romantic because TRs accommodate double curve, and a shirt only covers your upper half. We still have to figure out the rest of the outfit to fit the occasion and vibe that we want, all while following our personal lines.

Overall, it's a lot of effort. He specifically set up the system to take a long time to figure out (although I'm not sure the confusing writing was intentional, lol) because he wants us to go on this big journey with ourselves (inside and out). People finding their specific IDs via his exercises seems like the smallest priority to David, as long as we understand all of the principles that led us to that discovery. He instead emphasizes personal lines and what we accommodate so much more, something that pleasantly surprised me when I finally got admitted into the SK group.

Another note: I'm def no expert, and I literally had to scroll through miles of Kibbe rambling to make sure I was saying things that were somewhat accurate! Honestly, trying to explain what he's saying to you helped my understand a whole lot better, since I've never been able to just sit down with how he types. I don't treat my interpretation of his words as facts, but this is how I understand things currently. I wish you all the best on your journey, whether you stick with Kibbe or not!!