When it comes to wardrobe styling, fashion stylists focus on clothing mix and match, so we have more coordinated combinations to wear in daily life. But there is also the mix and match between you and your clothes. Are they a good match?

Have you ever bought something because it looked great on an influencer or a fashion blogger, but it looked not so good on you? People who come to me because of these experiences all want to know what went wrong and why.  

First, there isn’t right or wrong when it comes to fashion style. Everyone should enjoy what makes them happy. Still, there are certainly some types of clothing that are better matches than others in everyone’s case. The most important thing to find out what kind of cloth is the best for you, is to know what type you are. 

There are three major analysis methods in Japan that help to find fashion types. Face type analysis, body frame analysis and personal color analysis. Face type analysis indicates what kind of clothing style you would look good in. Body frame analysis helps you to find the perfect design cut for a better body figure. Personal color analysis tells you what colors can brighten up our skin tone and make us look heathier.

Since the first impressions start with our face, let’s look into the face type analysis and find out how it helps when choosing clothes. This method uses a specific calculation to determine the face maturity (baby-faced or mature-faced), and then checks the sense of face lines (masculine or handsome line or feminine curvy line). 

There are eight types in face type analysis. Which one are you?

Feminine Type

What your face looks like: Mature-faced and soft facial features such as round chin line or curvy double eyelid.

What to wear: Flowing clothes with decorations and elegant ladylike dresses are the top choices. Silky fabrics are especially great matches for the feminine type.

Cute Type & Active Cute Type 

What your face looks like: Baby faced plus a curvy face line and round eyes. 

What that means: They both have real sweet looks with girlish lines. Active cute type gives more energetic impression than cute type.   

What to wear: They both look good in feminine and romantic styles of clothing. Clothes with bright colors and unique design help active cute types bring out their charm. 

Cool Type

What your face looks like: This is what we call handsome type. 

What that means: If you have ever heard of the Japanese all-female musical theatre TAKARAZUKA Revue, all the heroes in these plays are more or less the cool type. Sharp shape of eyes and chins really show them as the modern, smart and independent women.

What to wear: To harmonize cool type’s facial feature, simple and sharply designed cloth suits the best. 

Soft Elegant Type & Elegant Type 

What your face looks like: A mixture of curvy feminine and sharp masculine facial features. 

What that means: Elegant type gives more powerful impressions while soft elegant type shows more delicate and warm feelings of their appearance. 

What to wear: Classic dresses and big flower prints fit elegant type well even in daily life. On the other hand, soft elegant type looks the best in simple design, solid color clothing. They are really good at turning simple outfits into high quality luxury-look. 

Fresh Type & Cool Casual Type 

What your face looks like: Baby-faced plus masculine lines. 

What that means: Fresh type has a casual, down-to-earth look and a friendly impression, while cool casual type usually gives others a cool person impression. 

What to wear: Anything that a high school student would look good in. A French-style, marine T-shirt is a must-have. For the cool casual type, the popular oversize trend matches well. Monochrome colors fit this style more than colorful clothes. 

This article was published in the Sep-Oct 2021 issue of Tokyo Weekender. To flip through the issue, click the image below.