How we inherit our style types—and how our genes can help us find our essences

If DNA had a style type, it would be Ethereal Dramatic—S-shaped curves combined with sharp straight lines.

Years ago, when I first learned about the seven style essences, I tried to type myself essentially just by guessing. I thought my face fit the descriptions of two of the seven essences, so I decided those two essences comprised my style type.

It wasn’t until several years later, when I started trying to determine a systematic way to type people, that I realized that while I had correctly identified two of my significant essences, I had omitted a third.

When one day I decided to type my parents, just out of sheer curiosity, I realized that they both had significant amounts of this third essence that I’d previously failed to see in myself. For my dad, it’s actually his dominant essence.

This got me thinking that maybe we inherit our style type in a predictable way, and that one way to clarify the accuracy of my typings would be to type not only the person I’m directly interested in typing but also to type their biological parents.

Do we inherit our style essences from our parents?

I’ve now done this with many celebrities and non-celebrities, and I’ve concluded that we do in fact inherit our style type in a fairly predictable way. That is, based on my observations, your style type will very likely be some combination of your biological parents’ style essences. You’re specfically most likely, though not guaranteed, to inherit your biological parents’ most prominent essences.

For example, Lisa Bonet is a Romantic Ethereal Dramatic, in that order, and Lenny Kravitz is a Dramatic Gamine Classic, in that order. Without ever seeing their biological daughter, we could guess that she’d have a significant amount of Romantic, given that it’s her mom’s dominant essence. We could also guess that she’d have a significant amount of Dramatic, given that it’s her dad’s dominant essence, and that her mom has significant Dramatic, too. We could even reason that she’d likely have a third essence, given that her parents also have significant amounts of other essences, and that her third essence would likely be either Ethereal or Gamine (given that dad has more Gamine than Classic).

Our guesses were right—daughter Zoë Kravitz is a Romantic Dramatic Gamine, with alluring curving Romantic features, sharp Dramatic bone structure, and the ability to pull off a Gamine pixie.

While I would never type someone using only the knowledge of their biological parents’ types, knowing their parents’ types can strengthen our confidence that the type we’ve arrived at, after carefully and systematically comparing their face to different styles of clothing, is in fact accurate.

What about siblings’ style essences?

In some cases, determining our siblings’ types can also be helpful for understanding our own. For example, I was initially skeptical of my typing of Zooey Deschanel as a Natural Classic Ingenue, because I assumed she’d have Gamine based on the characters she’s typecast as, and also there’s lots of memes about how she looks like Katy Perry, who I’ve typed as an Ethereal Dramatic Gamine.

But then I typed Zooey’s sister Emily Deschanel and also came up with Natural Classic Ingenue. And I realized that the Natural and Classic elements are easier to see in Emily’s face—I think she got a larger amount of both of those essences than Zooey—but are still present in Zooey’s face, just in smaller amounts.

As to why Zooey may strongly resemble Katy Perry despite that they share none of the same essences, it’s an interesting phenomenon—complicated enough for a separate post. Briefly, I think people can resemble one another in a literal sense while having very different essences, and this is the case with Zooey and Katy—they do have similar literal features, but subtle differences to their features produce big differences in their faces’ vibes.

So, the knowledge that style essences are inherited may help you to determine your own type. If one or both of your biological parents appears to have a very prominent amount of a given essence, there’s a good chance (though it’s not guaranteed) that you have that essence as well. And if there’s an essence or essences that both of your parents definitely seem not to have, there’s a good chance you don’t have it, either.

Am I adopted?

If you’re pretty sure you have one or more significant style essences that neither of your parents has, does that mean you’re adopted? Possibly, but another explanation is that you’ve mistyped either yourself or your parents.

Another possible explanation is that, because of the incredibly complex nature of human genetics, you may present with a significant amount of an essence that neither of your biological parents has. It’s likely that this does sometimes happen, given genetic mutations or other phenomena that are beyond my understanding.

So I would say we can’t conclude that someone is adopted based on typing them and their family. As stated, in my observation, your style essences are likely a combination of your biological parents’. But like a lot of things in nature, there’s almost definitely exceptions to this rule.