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Experts say Caitlyn Jenner is sending clear messages about her new identity

Many see meaning in the fact that she's spelling her name with a C instead of a K

CNN  — 

What kind of woman is Caitlyn Jenner?

We don’t really know yet. The former Bruce Jenner has been in the public eye for little more than 24 hours, and many of us are still getting used to saying “she” instead of “he.” But based on her splashy introduction Monday in Vanity Fair, we have a few clues.

Experts say Jenner is already sending clear messages about her identity and image.

Let’s try to decode them.

Her name

Vanity Fair reports that Jenner began the selection process for a new name about two years ago and chose Caitlyn over Heather or Cathy.

Many observers see meaning in the fact that Jenner is spelling her name with a C instead of a K. That choice immediately sets her apart from the other famous women in her family: ex-wife Kris and stepdaughters Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, and Jenner’s own daughters Kendall and Kylie.

“The name Caitlyn is very telling,” Los Angeles-based image consultant Laurie Graham said. She notes that as an Irish name believed to mean “pure,” it’s “another way of (Jenner) saying ‘I am being pure and authentic to who I really am.’

“And the name spelled with a ‘C’ instead of a ‘K’ is the most interesting part,” Graham said, calling it “such an obvious separation from … the Kardashian clan of women (and) exhibiting a conscious effort to become authentic in her own right.”

Notably, although Caitlyn is a youthful name, it’s also a generation out of date. The popularity of the name and its variations (Caitlin, Kaitlyn, etc.) peaked in 2000 and has been declining since.

Her style

For her Vanity Fair shoot, Jenner and her wardrobe consultants tried many outfits over a three-hour fitting and ultimately chose an ivory-hued corset for the magazine cover. Style experts have praised this classic, stripped-down look for its simplicity and openness: a woman baring her soul, maybe for the first time.

“You can see a lot of the Old Hollywood classic look in her new image,” Graham said. “It is very old school, pinup-inspired and much more of a ’50s/’60s look than the modern-day, Kardashian over-the-top edgy style.

“This actually makes a lot of sense for Caitlyn, because at 65 years old, she was born in 1949, when this style was at its peak.”

Other photos from the Vanity Fair spread show Jenner looking glamorous in a glittering gold dress and a black off-the-shoulder gown. She wears earrings, heels and red lipstick, and her wavy brown hair tumbles softly down her back.

“Both her hairstyle and wardrobe choice reflect her personal style, which is elegant, glamorous and timeless,” said Naz Meknat, a Los Angeles fashion stylist. “Her taste in wardrobe so far is impeccable, tasteful, classy and ladylike. The dresses she wore in Vanity Fair’s spread shows how comfortable she already is with her femininity.”

In a video posted on Vanity Fair’s site, Jenner says her new presentation is “extremely important” to her.

“I was always worried, (because) you never want it to look like a guy in a dress,” she said. “If you’re going to … come out, you really have to look the part. You have to look very feminine.”

Her body

Scrutiny of transgender people inevitably focuses on sexual aspects of their transition, and Jenner is no different. The Vanity Fair article says that although she has had surgical procedures to make her face more feminine, she has no immediate plans to have genital surgery.

Whether Jenner will feel complete as a woman while possessing a penis is a question only she can answer. But many transgender women don’t have genital surgery, and the transgender community maintains that genitalia do not determine a person’s gender.

Jenner shows some cleavage in her Vanity Fair spread – the accompanying article says her breasts have been augmented – and her once-beefy arms, while toned, look more delicate.

Sources close to Jenner tell TMZ that she chose a revealing outfit for the Vanity Fair cover because she wants to satisfy the public’s curiosity about her body.

But Jessica Diehl, Vanity Fair’s fashion and style director, says that topic “was not so much a discussion” between her, Jenner and photographer Annie Liebovitz.

“I think Annie and Caitlyn and all of us sort of went at it from the perspective of, this is her moment to be in her own skin. We’re not going to take a nude photograph,” Diehl said, describing Jenner as being relaxed and confident throughout the photo shoot.

“The one thing that you don’t really need after months and months of speculation (about Jenner) is further intrusiveness,” Diehl said. “I think the only way to counter that is to be open and honest.”

Her identity

Of course, nobody but Jenner understands the crucible of thoughts and emotions swirling inside her. But after suppressing her gender identity for decades, the Olympic hero turned reality star seems liberated as Caitlyn.

“I’m so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self,” she said Monday on Twitter. In another tweet Tuesday, she joked, “What the hell am I going to wear?” to the ESPYs in July, where she will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

There will be a new reality TV show, more public appearances and more fashion choices ahead. But Jenner now can face them as herself.

“Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie,” Jenner says in a Vanity Fair video. “Every day, he always had a secret, from morning till night. Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets.”