Dramatic Gamine Ingenue

“Punk Rock Princess”

Sometimes it’s just really obvious when two people share a style type. Like Dramatic Gamine Ingenues (DGIs) Alexis Bledel and Johnny Depp:

Actress Alexis Bledel

Johnny Depp in some of his iconic roles (AI rendering)

These two stars are basically indistinguishable.

Kidding, of course—the reality is, Alexis and Johnny kind of don’t look much alike.

So how do they share the same style type?

We’ll revisit that question toward the end of this post. But a theme throughout is that DGIs have multifaceted beauty.

Dramatic Gamine Ingenue Faces

DGIs defy stereotypes. Ingenue is supposed to be gentle, and Dramatic is supposed to be loud. But for many DGIs, their sweet Ingenue somehow disguises their intimidating Dramatic:

DGI Emmy Rossum

DGI Lupita Nyong’o

DGI Jamie Chung

DGI Taylor Swift

So maybe the best way to understand DGI is to find someone who’s a clear example of the full blend:

I love that Reese Witherspoon starred in Legally Blonde, because her iconic character arc mirrors her essences: a fun party girl (Gamine) with extreme conventional prettiness (Ingenue) transforming into a competent, powerful lawyer (Dramatic).

Compared to many DGIs, Reese’s Dramatic is more obvious to the naked eye, specifically in her striking bone structure:

Highly Dramatic bone structure. (Dramatic is easy to overlook in faces, because it’s often subtler than this. It doesn’t have to be literally sharp-edged!)

Yet even with her intense bone structure, Reese’s overall vibe isn’t highly intimidating, thanks to her sweet Ingenue and playful Gamine.

With DGIs, you’re looking for the juxtaposition of edgy-meets-sweet. But it’s not always as obvious as it is with Reese Witherspoon.

Plus, Reese could easily pass for having Romantic:

Romantic style almost really works. Especially because Romantic’s and Ingenue’s best fashion has similarity. (For example, deep scoop necks and sweetheart necks suit Romantic, but higher versions flatter Ingenue).

What does really work here: the delicate makeup. Ingenues can handle shimmer and even smokiness. But their best makeup tends to be subtler than passionate Romantic styles.

Dramatic Gamine Ingenue Makeup

Lessons from DGI makeup (that might be useful for other essence blends, too!):

1) Break the Rules

A well-known makeup decree is, “Emphasize your eyes or lips, not both.”

Someone who regularly ignores that advice is DGI Taylor Swift:

Taylor pulls off elongated black winged liner and bold red lips—despite that this isn’t an ideal match for her True Spring bordering on Light Spring color season!

Dramatics and Gamines can handle graphic, high-contrast makeup, including simultaneous eye and lip emphasis.

Sometimes this kind of makeup even works for DGIs with delicate coloring, which leads to:

2) Compare or Contrast?

To find your best makeup, it’s critical to understand the concept of contrast level:

• High-contrast makeup means including some makeup elements that are very light and some that are very dark (like a dark eye and light lip).

• Low-contrast makeup involves using colors that are generally similar in darkness (in terms of the makeup on your eyes, lips, cheeks, skin, and brows).

• Medium-contrast makeup is in between.

From a color season perspective, you’ll want to match your makeup’s contrast level to your natural amount of contrast. So, if your features are inherently low-contrast, then you’d do low-contrast makeup.

But things get more complicated when we consider style type.

Taylor Swift doesn’t naturally appear high-contrast—in fact, her hair, brows, eyes, and skin tone are all fairly similar in depth/darkness.

And yet she’s not bad in high-contrast makeup, like very dark liner and a lighter lip.

From a color analysis perspective, this makeup isn’t Taylor’s ideal.

But from a style analysis perspective, it works.

So, should your makeup’s contrast level match your season or style type? Or should you compromise?

The answer seems to vary from person to person. But especially if you have a lot of Dramatic or Gamine (or Romantic), you might find that you’re very flattered by using makeup to increase your natural contrast level.

Future posts will explore the best degree of contrast for every essence.

3) Consider Your Season

And sometimes makeup works perfectly for your style type but clashes with your season:

This light eyeshadow, dark lip, and dark liner suit Lupita Nyong’o’s DGI blend.

But if you’ve seen the type of vibrant, creative looks she’s capable of rocking, then you may find that this makeup feels a little muted for her Bright Winter season.

And finally, since DGIs have opposite essences, they highlight a key makeup debate:

4) Find Your Best Makeup?

There’s at least two competing views on how to find your best makeup:

1. Match your makeup to your individual features. So, if you’re a DGI, but your eyes are purely Ingenue, you’ll want to stick mostly to Ingenue eye makeup.

2. Wear any of your essences in makeup. From this perspective, a DGI with purely Ingenue eyes could still wear highly Dramatic eye looks.

Which option works? For enhancing harmony, matching your makeup to your individual features is usually the safer choice.

But, sometimes people can rock makeup just for their overall blend, even it doesn’t match their individual features. Doing this might result in a more polarizing look, where some people see it as harmonious and some don’t. Ultimately, what really matters, of course, is whether you like it.

So in that sense, DGI’s best makeup is hard to discern, because two people might view it in opposite ways:

DGI Emmy Rossum—without any makeup, her eyes are mostly Ingenue. But here she’s wearing a bold look—dark liner and shadow over her entire lid.

Does this work really well, since it connects with her overall blend? Or is it a miss, since it conflicts with her gentle, highly Ingenue eyes? Or somewhere in between?

Again, there’s not necessarily a right or wrong—but matching your makeup to your individual features seems to have more reliably harmonious results.

Dramatic Gamine Ingenue Celebrities

Winona Ryder

See DGI celebrities on Pinterest:

• Alexis Bledel

• Emmy Rossum

• Jamie Chung

• Johnny Depp

• Jourdana Phillips

• Krysten Ritter

• Leni Klum

• Lupita Nyong’o

• Madelaine Petsch

• Madonna

• Olivia Rodrigo

• Reese Witherspoon

• Taylor Swift

• Winona Ryder

Dramatic Gamine Ingenue Fashion

DGI style plays with opposites—edgy, bold, and sweet.

DGI can merge many different aesthetics:

• Goth

• Punk

• Edgy

• Eclectic

• Girly

• Coquette

Do these styles have a natural synthesis? Aesthetics described as dark coquette or gothic lolita come close:

Since the Dramatic Gamine pairing is so bold, and so different from Ingenue, DGI can be a naturally theatrical aesthetic. It can blend sweet Ingenue silhouettes and embellishment (like tiered skirts, delicate lace, and bows); Gamine quirky contrast details (like buttons and studded chokers); and edgy Dramatic depth (like moody color palettes and exaggerated angularity).

If you love inventive, standout fashion, this is a dream essence blend.

But DGI can also be more wearable, especially by relying on some unique “basics.”

DGI Wardrobe Staples

DGI “basics” include:

Soft blouses with high collars and bows (Ingenue), plus high-contrast colors (Gamine).

Cropped leather jackets with contrast hardware (Dramatic Gamine).

Ankle boots with contrast buckle detail (Gamine).

Short, pleated, flared, and colorful plaid skirts (Gamine Ingenue).

Thick-strapped Mary Janes (Ingenue Gamine).

Sleek leather panel pants (Dramatic).

Mini skirts with stripe or piping detail (Gamine).

Hard and soft dresses—deep V necks in stiff fabric (Dramatic); straight short shift silhouettes (Gamine); delicate tiny floral scalloped lace (Ingenue).

DGI Accessories

For purses, look for Ingenue circle purses; Dramatic geometric, oversized, avant-garde bags; and Gamine playful mini bags.

For jewelry, look for Ingenue dainty lockets and studs; Dramatic edgy pendants, earrings, and arm cuffs; and Gamine tiny angular earrings and studded chokers.

Can DGIs Wear Denim?

If you have a lot of Gamine, definitely—look for skinny jeans or very close-fitting styles. Soft, slim-fit denim in light colors also suits Ingenue.

For highly Dramatic beauty, denim isn’t ideal, because jeans don’t tend to feel purely imposing or intense.

Dramatic’s best denim will be edgy and sleek, like very dark wash skinny jeans (which also tend to have Gamine).

Color Season Connection?

If you’re a Winter, your palette is an inherent match for DGI:

The Winter family captures Dramatic Gamine intensity and includes many light shades for Ingenue.

Spring and Summer have an even stronger Ingenue connection:

If your palette has many light hues, you can rely on gentle Ingenue colors and express Dramatic and Gamine through other elements.

(You can also add Dramatic and Gamine with high-contrast color combinations.)

Autumn may have the least obvious DGI connection. But that might also make it the most interesting match:

Plus, Autumn’s understated, studious vibe connects to DGI’s “preppy gothic” side.

Upcoming posts will further explore the intersection between color analysis and style analysis, including the most flattering colors for every essence, and how to make any essence work with any season!

I also understand if people prefer to focus only on their essences or only on their season. But for creating beauty and harmony, it’s difficult to rival the results of dressing for both.

Get Ratioed

As a DGI, your best fashion will differ depending on your essence amounts:

• Highly Dramatic—go for the edgiest, most angular and gothic DGI looks, keeping details like lace and ruffles to a minimum.

• Highly Ingenue—focus on conventionally feminine style, adding Dramatic and Gamine more in details.

• Highly Gamine—embrace print-mixing and whimsy. For this version of DGI style, see DGI fashion on Pinterest, where Lupita Nyong’o models her effervescent, joyful street style.

Dramatic Gamine Ingenue Faces

DGIs can be shapeshifters, with faces that assume a surprising range of qualities.

Johnny Depp exemplifies this, easily embodying a pirate, a chocolate factory entrepreneur, and a guy with scissors for hands.

Of all the essences, Dramatic and Gamine pull off the most avant-garde and quirky styling, which explains how Johnny Depp appears harmonious in outlandish costumes and makeup. (Especially since Dramatic and Gamine tend to rock the boldest makeup styles.)

Alexis Bledel is another famous DGI. She probably wouldn’t look her best in the kind of whacky styling Depp regularly wears.

So how can people who look so different share the exact same style type?

To me, Johnny Depp has a ton of Dramatic—that’s his strongest essence. And Alexis Bledel has a ton of Ingenue—that’s her strongest essence. And Dramatic and Ingenue have opposite auras: powerful and imposing for Dramatic, sweet and agreeable for Ingenue.

These two share all the same essences. But Johnny has much more Dramatic, and Alexis has much more Ingenue. The result: their overall vibes are extremely different—even opposite!

So, DGIs can be shapeshifters both because Dramatic and Gamine pull off unusual styling, and because DGIs simultaneously embody imposing Dramatic and sweet Ingenue.

DGI Aura

The DGI theme: it’s really hard to say that they look like any one thing.

And in a way, the fact that this type has such varied vibes really makes the beauty of their individual essences stand out.

Part of why Reese Witherspoon’s youthful Ingenue and Gamine features are so noticeable is because they contrast so markedly with her chiseled, striking Dramatic jawline.

And Alexis Bledel has so much curving Ingenue, it’s easy to overlook her striking Dramatic bone structure. (Whenever I rewatch Gilmore Girls, I usually sincerely think, “Wow, it’s so surprising that she has Dramatic.”) But it is there, and it’s part of why her Ingenue is so noticeable—it has a contrasting Dramatic backdrop.

DGIs possess the beauty of surprise and the unexpected. It’s the beauty of a multifaceted trio becoming unlikely best friends. Of three different plotlines converging seamlessly in a brilliant TV show. The beauty of harmony emerging from variety.

P.S.

A couple more things I find interesting about DGI celebs:

• DGI Leni Klum is the daughter of supermodel DNC Heidi Klum. They have evident similarity, but Leni’s face is notably more compact. Presumably she inherited a lot of Ingenue and Gamine from dad Flavio Briatore (though I haven’t typed him yet).

Leni Klum

Flavio Briatore

• DGIs Alexis Bledel and Krysten Ritter had scenes together on many episodes of Gilmore Girls. On the show, Krysten’s character dates a guy with a long-standing crush on Alexis’s character. Was Krysten cast partly because she and Alexis have similar vibes? The casting choice subtly underscores that Krysten’s on-screen boyfriend was still hung-up on Alexis’s character.

DGI Krysten Ritter. Her Ingenue is emphasized here in light makeup (though the loose tie-dye tee is better suited to Ethereal Natural!)

This avant-garde top could in theory be much harder to pull off, but it mirror’s the edgy side of Krysten’s beauty.