What not to wear...

and I'm a rocket scientist, jeni

Yea and I'm a little green alien xxxxjeni

I always wondered Nellie!

jeni xx

skinny jeans iv decided are not a thing to wear if like me you have slim legs but slightly bigger tummy ie the menopause bump as i call it , if you get them to fit round your tum , you can bet your life you end up looking like Nora batty, as i found out, staight in the bin they went, ho hum atleast my daughter and i had a good laugh .

I agree, cazz - it's the same with leggings, I look like Max Wall...not a good look!

After living in jeans for years I've finally had to admit that my figure just doesn't work with them anymore and I think there are only about 6 people in the entire world who look good in skinny ones. (And even fewer people who look good in jeggings which really are the work of the devil.) I usually go for linen mix trousers or sometimes a skirt. I do have a couple of dresses, but they only get worn about once a year. Years ago I read that if you can only afford cheap clothes you should go for cream as it looks more expensive than bright colours and I've always found that quite helpful.

Why do fashion writers always suggest those of us with generous boobs wear wrapover tops - they just DON'T WORK and ALWAYS GAPE! Does anyone anywhere make clothes which flatter us busties? Always look so horribly matronly! Oh to be flat-chested . . . And please ladies - no black knickers under white trousers - the ultimate fashion no-no

Living in a remote and poor area of rural France I have found it very difficult to buy elegant French clothes. These are a myth outside of Paris and other big cities! the cheaper clothes that are available locally are very strange with bits hanging off them, gathering in unexpected places, cheap lace or broderie, strange hemlines, leggings abused and misused. I wouldn't be seen dead in any of them. fortunately i am a trained couturiere and can make most of my clothes and apart from making for other people - mainly not French! - I have now started sewing lessons for desperate ex pats.

What about denim skirts - the long ones especially are not flattering and don't conceal anything - if someone has big hips for example, they look worse.
Please cover some of your top arms once the bingo look has arrived.
Dress fashionably but according to your age - No beige please.

Oh, beige! My mother swore by it - "Goes with anything and you'll always look smart." Ugh! Makes me look like a baked potato.

I love my denim skirts apart from the fact that they last forever, they are so easy to wear, perhaps too easy! I have one I bought (in Germany) over 20 years ago!

I do agree about trainers but surely by the time you get to our advanced age you should know what suits you and stick to that regardless of what is in fashion. Possibly with a few modifications for age - crepey decolletages kept covered, no above the knee skirts even if you have fabulous legs, and bottoms best kept loosely covered.
Before I moved to Barbados I would also have included keeping arms covered but it is so hot here I am afraid i go sleeveless!

Well fashion is fashion isn't it---at the time we thought we were the ones in the know, I remember bell bottoms and all my clothes being orange or purple, punchos and those metal loop waist band belts, purple and orange are defently back in fashion so we did know what we were doing dont you know

annifrance, I so agree with you about the French and style. We have a second home in Normandy and DD and I often compare the look of the women in our local supermarket with those we see in supermarkets in the UK and British women are without doubt generally more stylish and well turned out than their French equivalents. And, as you say, the choice of clothes in supermarkets and chain stores in the warehouse parks is dismal. However I do find their children's clothes are more stylish DDiL says that when people admire any of DGC's clothes they are nearly always items I have bought in the supermarket in France.

Oh, thanks for the blog, many of your advice are useful for the one who do not pay much attention to fashion, thought the items listed there would be the point where she made her determination to start the fashion journey for herself.

MercedesYang You are young and young bodies can wear many things that old bodies don't look good in. Enjoy yourself

what are "uggs" please? Anything like crocs?

Ugg boots GG - flat, sheepskin and I believe very comfortable. However they come at an eye watering price and if you walk behind girlies wearing them, their feet roll in at the ankle just as our mothers told us not to , so I'm guessing they don't give much support to the feet and ankles.

Heels are OK - they don't have to be really high - flat shoes can put a strain on flat feet. Wraparound dresses can look very nice. Trainers are OK with trousers/jeans and are more comfortable/practical for long walks.

Most people have a reasonable idea what suits their height and shape and know what they feel comfortable in.

I think I've posted about this before but what annifrance says reminds me - why is it so difficult to get inexpensive PLAIN clothes these days? Bits of lace and frills and bows and sequins and buttons used as decoration and embroidery AND now we have an epidemic of 1930s 1940s motifs on the fabric! Plus the well-established floral riots that took over a couple of years ago and are still everywhere on everything.

When most of us have a tummy as the waist exapands my question is - Why do retailers keep stocking trousers that fasten at the front I wonder? Some have side zips which is great. With front zips it's particularly bad when you have a sweater over the top of the zip - it adds an inch and the outline shows through.

I do agree about side zips.. a much better silhouette!

I hate side zips. I find them very difficult with my arthritis