Sense of style

Look on Pinterest, search for age and size, you can find some fantastic clothes that are ageless, stylish and often from obscure Eastern European countries. I'm in my 70's, 5.10 and large size. I've found some super items, got a lovely designer coat at half the price I would pay in U.K., and am checking out a Bulgarian site, their clothes are too short for me but I would wear with leggings. It's all about looking at pictures, checking size details and deciding on an individual style for you. Avoid the Chinese sites, their sizes don't match up to anywhere else's and they take weeks to deliver.

It's usually very dangerous if DD comes shopping with me as we end up egging each other on to buy clothes we wouldn't normally look at!

I have been to 5 funeral services since December and was thankful I had invested in a nice pair of bootcut "dressy" trousers from M&S. In the winter I usually wear a black or dark purple polo under some of my lighter tops. I have a nice black quilted single breasted jacket which is quite flattering and wore one of my many (and I mean many!) scarves to ring the changes. My favourite shoes are from Reiker or Gabor but have never paid the full price - best buy was £19 for a £69 pair. Sales of summer ones usually start in August and winter ones in March when the summer stocks start coming in which is quite laughable here in the North of Scotland!

I'm 64, and yes, I have also lost my fashion sense. Is it something to do with loss of hormones? Or is it because inside, I still think I'm a 25 year old sylph, and can't get my head round my current apple shape?

Go on the internet and look up

www.lookfabulousforever.com/

Lots of marvelous utube tutorials on how to do make up and they sell the products.

Then follow upyour fashion sense with Colour me beautiful.
www.colourmebeautiful.co.uk/home

Look at your wardrobe, take the things you like and see if kettlewell colours have items that help your wardrobe come togehter.

www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/

Then go to a local store with a shopping service and have a session.

Good luck.

PS Boots do a free half hour for make up which can be booked through the internet. Just had one. My Belly dance class member said I looked 10 years younger.

Jalima not "taking the michael" check their website everything is returnable,even face creams if you've tried them and found they aren't right for your skin.I dont think they repackage them and sell again though!!

I go out with my cousin, who, like myself, is 69. She is taller than me, but we are both slim. She puts her rollers in every day, and wouldn't go out without her makeup, wears skinny jeans, stilettos and camisoles, under open jackets. Alongside her, I'm wearing my straight legged bland trousers, a top and cardigan, and Ecco shoes, and an anorak,,or quilted jacket. I may have put on lipstick! I do have nicer clothes, but seldom wear them, unless going somewhere more special, which doesn't happen very often. I know I look frumpy alongside her, but have gotten out of the habit of making an effort to look 'nice'. I wonder sometimes if there's an element of depression which leads us to lose the will to present ourselves in a more attractive light.

keep it simple and classic, wear clothes that fit you and that you feel comfortable in. Get a good fitting bra and maybe some shaping underwear.
I have just brought a high waisted pair of skinny jeans and the difference it made was amazing.
Lots of shops have personal shoppers who can help and advice for free.
size 18 isn't that big but look for illusion clothing that is designed to trick the eye into making you look slimmer.
Don't forget accessories, a big bag some nice earnings and nice shoes even flats can smarten up and outfit.
Smart casual is very on trend right now and can require less effort but still look very stylish.

I dont think they repackage them and sell again though!!
Oh, that's a relief!

I tend to live in jeans, and T shirt in Summer, and jeans and sweater in winter, so no style guru here. I don't have the lifestyle to be stylish . I am tall and slim though 5 feet 9 size 12. I am horrified though when I was thinking back the other day and realised I had not worn a dress for eight years!! wonder where my inner Woman went? Oh well the Dog loves me anyway

Wear what you feel comfortable in and be an individual. In town today I noticed so many wearing the same thing. Trousers or jeans and anoraks. Like a uniform.

The fifties is a difficult age for fashion - I remember it well - still young enough to get away with younger styles but maybe feeling uncomfortable in them. Now I'm 70 I can relax a bit. I wear fashionable trousers, straight leg at the moment, a top and a cardigan, and comfy loafers. My hair is blondish grey, natural, and I keep it in a short bob which I sometimes find boring but it is tidy. I sometimes see glam older ladies but the effort involved in looking like that is beyond me. I like La Redoute, Charity shop bargains, M and S George and F & F.

Actually I think it is more difficult to look stylish now because, as Bijou says, everyone looks the same, wearing the same clothes, from the same shops. Even students look the same. What happened to way-out student dressing?

I look around my City and rarely see anyone dressed so stylishly that I want to emulate them. Everything seems to be droopy, oversized and of poor quality.

I've found a couple of bargains in charity shops too. Interestingly, many of the clothes, even those that weren't expensive to start with, are generally far superior in quality to the current offerings!

And don't forget ebay, op.

I too am stuck in a rut - clothes wise. I have gone from 20plus to 14 (Slimming World), but find I am still drawn to black and baggy clothes. I need to retrain my brain!

I know just what you mean DS64till. I am 5 ft 4 in and an 18. I cant wear heels at all now because of painful feet caused by always wearing heels for years.
I haven't worn a skirt or dress for years I just can get it right.
I go for quality labels buying online at the very end of the sale (one good thing about being an 18)
I go for quality fabrics . I agree EAST, Joules, Crew Clothing,
Dubarry of Ireland, Chesca, Land's End, Boden, yes TU can be good. I find M&S very disappointing lately , where has the quality gone? I like to have a 'pop' of vibrant colour somewhere and repeat it at the neck with a scarf or necklace.

Ditto re the heels toria100 and I can't wear ballet pumps etc, so, unless you're 5' 9" or more and slim as a reed, skirts and dresses just don't look right.

Buy a copy of Staging Your Comeback by Christopher Hopkins.

It's a brilliant book aimed at women over 45 who want practical advice on making the best choices for them. You work through how to choose your clothes, hair style and makeup. I bought a second hand copy and when my Mum saw it, she bought one too. Christopher is a bit 'American', but he's not known in the USA as The Makeover Guy for nothing - he knows his stuff.

Gosh, there are loads of books on this subject. So it really shouldn't be a problem for any of us.

also, White Stuff for clothes and scarves, and Hotter for really comfortable wide-fitting shoes .

I sympathies with the OP - like her I am 5'0" and have managed to get down to size14/16, but it can be dispiriting to look at magazines and catalogues and then find that even when the items come in my size I do not look 'right' in them because they are always shown on 5'9" models wearing a size 8. and decades younger than I am. We have all got so used to seeing these unattainable role models and even if we know we won't look exactly the same, the discrepancy can niggle. My legs are very short, so I often look as though I'm a "normal" shape for an imposing Junoesque woman but with legs truncated. Judi Dench looks wonderful but when I once heard she shopped at Hampstead Bazaar I tried on one of their dresse and it was almost a foot too long. I looked a fright. Now I cope by wearing leggings, a tunic and a long-line Woolovers edge to edge cardigan - I have several of each in different colours and designs and feel OK with how I look. But at 67 I've also had to face the. fact that I'm not going to change shape, and should just enjoy fabrics and colours and abouve all comfort - I'm far happier in jersey knits than in tailored fabric, and feel much more at ease with myself. It does take practice, though, and it's taken me a long time to feel this way ... Good luck!

I noticed that too petalmoore - even M&S or Debenhams websites show a dress that looks just right then in small print it says 'Model is 5' 10" and a size 8'

Many years ago I was given some advice by a very elegant lady, - my old boyfriends Mother of whom I was very fond. She was linked to fashion in a big way.
She said to me that it's always better to buy a size larger than you actually are, so that the clothes skim your figure, rather than hug. How right she was. I would add here that she was the wife of Prime Ministers Harold McMillans P.P.S. so she moved in very posh circles. The other piece of advice is this. If you want to look good make sure that
1. your hair looks good
2. have decent earnings,
3. wear some perfume or EDT, and
4. Some pretty shoes.
It doesn't matter that the dress/trousers/tunic/jumper etc is old, just be sure that it's clean, and ironed; that really applies to any piece of clothing. Pay attention to the rule of 4, and you'll always - hopefully - feel attractive and look good. It does work, I promise, And, doesn't take long.

pretty shoes
oh dear

Haha I know where you're coming from Jalima! Why don't they make pretty shoes in wide fittings? I don't want to wear ugly taupe flats with thick black soles and velcro fastenings thanks very much - yuk!

or black laceups .....