Ingenue Fashion
Whereas Dramatic fashion epitomizes intensity and edginess, Ingenue fashion epitomizes softness and gentleness.
These opposite vibes derive from the types’ opposite defining shapes: long, sharp lines define Dramatic. Short, curving lines define Ingenue.
With their absence of harsh angles, Ingenues may visually embody the personality trait of Agreeablness, a trait that comprises qualities such as kindness, modesty, gentleness, and altruism.
Ingenue clothes can also embody these qualities: Ingenue fashion appears sweet rather than aggressive or conventionally edgy. Just as modest people aren’t showy—they don’t brag about themselves—Ingenue fashion won’t appear highly showy or luxurious.
If you’re an Ingenue who wants to dress in edgier looks (not that fashion needs to be edgy), you may be glad to hear that I’ve never encountered a pure Ingenue. So you’ll very likely have another essence or two that can reduce your style’s sweetness.
Even pure Ingenue style, though, can have a lot of range. Below are examples of highly Ingenue outfits.
This look exudes Ingenue vibes in several respects:
Shape—the skirt is circular and short, a quintessential Ingenue shape, and has no Romantic (highly glamorous or conventionally sexy) vibes
Color—bright yet simultaneously gentle—a more stereotypical Ingenue color might be slightly lighter, but this hue still reads as Ingenue in the context of the rest of the outfit
Fabric—light and soft, without being sheer (Ethereal) or shiny or luxurious (Romantic)
Overall vibe—modest, conventionally girly, pretty, sweet. Very Ingenue.
An Ingenue top:
The elements that make this top Ingenue:
Neckline and sleeves—the neckline works as Ingenue because it’s circular (the defining shape of Ingenue and Romantic) but not large or plunging enough to embody Romantic’s glamour. The short sleeves also read as Ingenue, especially given the print.
Print—because of their small, restrained size, the circular florals read as sweet rather than luxurious and Romantic. They’re also arranged in clusters that kind of take on a polka-dot type pattern—polka dots, being small circles, are often Ingenue (though can also be Gamine if they appear bold and energetic).
Color—there’s a lot of soft pink Ingenue color in the florals. Notably, black definitely isn’t a stereotypically Ingenue color—it’s most stereotypically Dramatic or Romantic. But because of the sweet cut and print, the black here doesn’t read as Dramatic (intense, intimidating) or Romantic (mysterious, glamorous). So this is an example of how there often aren’t absolute rules for the color or other elements that a type can and can’t wear. Context matters.
Here’s a dressier Ingenue look:
This dress’s Ingenue elements:
Color—gentle blue, crisp white
Shape—short sleeves and a modest, ankle-revealing silhouette. While shorter dresses, such as just below or above the knee, are more stereotypically Ingenue, longer silhouettes can work if the other elements read as Ingenue, which is true of this ensemble. Critically, the dress’s tiers also break up any long lines and so deemphasize its length—it reads as short pieces of layered fabric rather than an elongated silhouette. This helps it not to read as Ethereal or another elongated essence. (This is also a great example of how the guidelines for dressing for your essences often have a lot of flexibility. Ingenue is a shortened essence, but longer dresses can work if they’re broken up. Similarly, Ethereal is elongated, but hi-low hemlines can be Ethereal, as can short skirts with sheer overlays.)
Print—tiny polka dots and dainty floral lace. Lace often reads as Romantic, but here it works as Ingenue because of its light color and uniform, repeating placement. The lace reads as the demarcation between a series of circular, girly skirts.
Overall vibe—pretty, sweet, neat, delicately detailed; not glamorous, conventionally sexy, or otherworldly
Of note, Ingenue shapes, being smaller than Romantic shapes, often read as more controlled and uniform than Romantic shapes. This may also help the controlled, uniform layers of fabric here to read as Ingenue.
Below is an outfit that appear less stereotypically Ingenue, but is highly Ingenue nonetheless:
What makes this highly Ingenue?
Shape—ballet-inspired fashion, given its gentle, girlish nature, is often Ingenue. This short tulle skirt reads as Ingenue (it’s not elongated or narrow enough to appear very Ethereal), and it’s made very modest with the addition of capris. The capris are also too short to read as one of the elongated essences, and too demure and matchy-matchy to read as Gamine. The neckline could have read as sexy and Romantic, were it not for the modest crew-neck beneath
Color—depending on the cuts and colors, ballet-inspired fashion can also evoke Romantic. Here, the modest styling choices, along with the demure all-white hue, evokes the gentleness of Ingenue
Overall vibe—the look is interesting but not angular or intimidating enough to read as very Dramatic. It’s also somewhat playful but overall evokes Ingenue’s gentle vibes rather than Gamine’s exuberant vibes, especially with the demure color and absence of print. The outfit it is a good example of how you can still be highly creative with fashion even if you lack one of the more stereotypically adventurous style essences.
An outfit that’s more conventionally Ingenue:
Puff sleeves, dainty floral detail on the collar, demarcated but not cinched waist, short circular skirt, pale blue color—all very Ingenue.
As noted, if you have Ingenue, you very likely have significant amounts of one or two other essences. So you’ll likely look most harmonious if your outfits contain both elements of Ingenue and your other essences. Combining Ingenue with other essences can produce an intriguing and appealing juxtaposition.
Finally, in a previous post, I explained why I don’t use the terms “feminine” and “masculine” to categorize the style essences. This post may seem to contradict that contention, given that I describe Ingenue clothes as “girly.”
I don’t view this as a contradiction, because while some Ingenue fashion is stereotypically girlish, all seven core types are harmonious in certain styles that may appear stereotypically feminine. The previous post wasn’t meant to imply that I never apply terms like feminine or girlish to the style essences, just that I wouldn’t ultimately divide the types into distinct categories based on how masculine or feminine they allegedly appear.
