Sense of style

I haven't worn heels or a skirt for almost 5 years, when I was made redundant and became a lady of leisure. (Ha!) I still have a couple of pairs of lovely lovely shoes in the bottom of the wardrobe and look longingly at them from time to time but never actually wear them as it seems inappropriate and too much faff. I hate shopping these days as I can't tell if I look like mutton dressed as lamb and just get depressed at how out of touch I feel. However, I have promised myself an outing with a personal shopper to try and revitalise my dress sense and stop me feeling a frump. I might even get to wear my heels!

I think colour is important - too many older people wear beige.

Apropos the advice about colour me beautiful and Kettlewell, Years ago I had a colour consultation with CMB and came out as winter. I've just clicked on their link , and they seem to have changed their way of defining ones group of colours to deep / warm , clear/ cool etc. Has anyone here had a consult. from them?

Lazigirl I Kondoed my house, it's amazing!!!!

Not the black laceups, pleeeease
sorry!!

Thank you for the Adini tip - looks worth investigating.
I do like natural fabrics in the summer especially and some of them are viscose but they look very pretty.

I also adore adini golden girl. Their tunic tops are fabulous for disguising a chubby middle and the stretchy jersey fabric is so comfortable whilst still managing to look fashionable. Think I'll buy direct in future now I know my adini size (L) as my local boutique seems to just add 20 quid on to every price in the catalogue!

I think I'm stylish and then I look in the mirror and see my bumps and lumps but as long as I'm comfortable so be it. I like Adini [though their latest catalogue is a bit disappointing I think; I like Boden [when they have special offers]; White Stuff; and just recently Joe Browns. I too think that hair is important and even though I'd love long hair again I know it won't suit me. For shoes I like Reiker. I have to have one shoe built up so that inhibits the number of shoes I dare buy but they have such unusual styles and they are soooo comfortable. I'm off jeans at the moment as my tummy muscles went south when I had an accident and are only now beginning to become a tad tighter. I quite like the pull on jeans and also trousers from Lands End and occasionally from Cotton Traders. Scarves are a boon and I don't go anyway without jewellery or make up [nothing OTT]. If I feel good then I stand taller - and I don't care what anyone else thinks - even DH

Noooo...!! Not the black laceups, pleeeease ? ? . Sorry OP we're waffling on about shoes and it's not what you asked. Perhaps we should start a new thread about the problems of wide feet Jalima?

Good advice LSP. Are you Marie Kondo?

Despite not really having decent earnings, owing to being a pensioner, I am lucky enough to have some lovely earrings, which makes up for it.

Before you buy another new thing sort out what you have, Get every item that you own and strip it out of the wardrobe, only put back what you love, make room for new things.

I love to shop on Ebay and charity shops but I know what I like and what suits me, I like funky skirts with flats and knitwear and lots of my stuff goes with other stuff so it always looks new.

Wear what makes you happy, colours that you like, fabrics that feel good and above all comfortable shoes.

although they are apparently quite fashionable.

But not with summer clothes

or black laceups .....

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!

pretty shoes
oh dear

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.

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'

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.