The Feminine personality dressing style category is the most maligned. So many women will say to me as they dismiss the feminine “I don’t like frills or flounces” as if these are the only ways to express their innate femaleness. Each of the garments in the picture above is feminine in some way, yet few have a frill or flounce!
The Feminine personality dressing style is about curved lines and softness (rather than the straight, hard lines of the Masculine). This relates to how we read line and design elements, which harks back to the ancient theory of Yin and Yang.
There are so many ways to express your feminine side:
- The feminine silhouette of the hourglass shape
- Soft fabrics that skim and drape
- Delicate prints
- Nature-based prints – florals, butterflies, paisley (stylised floral), dots, circles and any sort of curvy line
- Sheen, shine and sparkle
- Frills
- Lighter colours
- Fine straps on shoes and slim soles
- Bows and embellishments
- Lace
- Touchable fabrics like silk, velvet, fur
- Smaller-scale details and accessories
There is no one right way to express it either. Personal style is all about personal expression.
How do you express your feminine style?
Want to rock a tuxedo jacket in a feminine way?
How to look feminine and powerful
Tips on How to Use Yin and Yang to Make Your Outfit More Feminine (without having to add a frill!)
How to make your outfit more yin or yang
Ways to Balance your yin and yang
Identifying yin and yang in clothing design
This is so me! I’m a curvy girl, and I’ve never felt at home in the androgynous look. I wear lots of prints and florals and colours, soft fabrics and knits. My standard summer wear is a t shirt (usually with a fancy touch somewhere) and skirt. dresses for dress up times. Tween seasons it’s pants with a floaty top (often floral or al floral-ish print) and a cami for decency’s sake. Winter I add a warm cardigan or jacket, but still stick to tops in pretty colours and/or tunic styles. I guess I’d describe my style as feminine with a touch of drama.
Lynne – thanks for sharing your feminine style and how you express it.
i like Fine straps on shoes and slim soles the best
Skirt, skirt, and skirt!! Skirt in wintertime, skirt in summertime. Sometimes I feel that I am the only one in Budapest (under 65 years) who wears skirt!! I feel feminine in skirt and unique in the world of jeans. Plus I wear jewellery which expresses my personality. I like the soft fine materials, like angora, pure silk.
Don’t like most aspects of the ‘feminine’ myself, except for touchy-feely fabrics. Silk, velvet, cashmere are all favourites … But not in feminine colours or shapes.
Tiff – you did love that feminine shaped coat in Cue too!
Very true – that was a gorgeous girly coat!
Loved that coat on you Tiff!
Many thanks for this post — I am one of the “I don’t like the frills” people, and of course you’re right — so going through your list:
The feminine silhouette of the hourglass shape – check!
Soft fabrics that skim and drape – check!
Delicate prints – nope
Nature based prints – florals, butterflies, paisley (stylised floral) – love paisley and leaves
Sheen, shine and sparkle – sometimes for dress-up
Frills – nope!
Lighter colours – check; in fact i specifically like to wear lighter gentler colours around my husband
Fine straps on shoes and slim soles – hmm, medium-fine
Bows and embellishments – nope
Lace – sometimes for dress-up
Touchable fabrics like silk, velvet, fur – nope, but intriguing, might try.
Thank you!
Tall&SLim – isn’t it great we can all express ourselves in different ways – and there is no ‘one way’ to be feminine.
You picked such a nice set of feminine-but-not-frou-frou clothes! There are lots of straight and simple lines, but there’s something in each piece that makes it distinctly feminine. I could definitely wear some of those pieces, and I don’t favor super-feminine things. thanks!!
Thanks for sharing this again, Imogen.
I’m on a journey to increase my femininity, and this article is perfect to encapsulate the elements I’m trying to add to my wardrobe. I’m a minimal, classic girl, and I realized that I could add femininity even to my workout clothes by just buying them in lighter colors. Most of the young women in my weightlifting class were wearing black, and I must have stood out in my peachy pink and white hoodie and leggings. lol
I also traded in my dark chocolate brown puffy down waist-length coat for a slightly longer, shaplier one in off white. It’s much more cheerful in the coldest days of winter, too.
I’m sharing it with my femininity Facebook group too. Hopefully it will spark some interesting conversation.