Why can't I be smart

I never feel what you might call 'smart'.
I need a style fairy to wave her magic wand.

Although I don't have holes in my tights and I do clean my shoes.

I think you have to hold your head up and be more confident ethel - and perhaps clean your boots and wear something without holes which matches if you want to be unobtrusive!

And we don't all want to look like clones just because we're 60+ (or even 70+).

Ethelbags1, leggings over a mini skirt

ethel, I'm not good at being smart, either. I actually can't seem to manage it! So, at the age of 66, I'm at my happiest wearing leggings or skinny jeans with a long top and boots. These boots can be ankle or otherwise. I do like them to be clean boots....but as I'm not very good at cleaning them, OH does them when he does his (army training) !
Just be yourself, etheltbags. We don't have to toe the line for anyone.

You have got to a time in your life Ethel when you can just please yourself. If you want to have the hippy look well so be it.

I like to have the co-ordinated look with similar shades of purple, lilac, or greens (not the veg). I paint my nails a variety of colours from plum to cherry red. I wear different costume jewellery each day. If anyone dislikes my style of dressing I don't give a toss and neither should you.

Enjoy being YOU

My mum decided in the 80s that she looked a bit like Margaret Thatcher so she wore skirts, pussy cat bow blouses and and carried a handbag but it looked wrong and her natural sort of slight scruffiness broke through. I liked her look much more when she wore flares, a blouse and a cardie.

She always accused me of being among other things, a bag lady and a hippie. Now at 70 I think I've developed a style that is comfortable but definitely not smart. Mum and I couldn't really do smart. Someone said the other day that nature had been kind to me but I know that I always look frayed about the edges. I had an auntie who was effortlessly smart but she was tall and that helped. Do your own thing Ethel I'm sure you look great. As Jalima said we don't all want to look like clones just because we're getting on a bit.

Smart? What that? Most of the time I live in jeans, a polo shirt and a fleece pullover; jogging bottoms in the house. I have always been a hopeless dresser; I have no real idea what goes with what, so when I go out I keep it very simple with smart trousers and a few favourite tops, but, happily, we don't go out very often these day. I have a battered hat that I wear for fishing, but otherwise hats are a no no. I do keep my shoes clean (a hangover from my Army days). I think jalima has it right; it's all about confidence, being yourself, and making sure that the clothes you wear are in reasonable condition, even if they are an eclectic mix!

I'm with the scruffs!!
I dont feel like myself when all dolled up and hate having to go anywhere which demands it.
I can not match items and end up looking a mess in smart clothes!!! lol.
I am happiest in my joggers with a t shirt or fleece in the colder weather and my linen trousers and t shirts in the summer.

I can dress either way and feel comfortable within myself,at home I go for a casual look with jeggings or jeans and loose tops with big scarf and for work it must be trousers and jacket with smart blouse,workwise I have always had to wear smart clothes or Company uniform,first thing I do though is change to comfy clothes as soon as I get home.I've always kept my shoes and boots in good clean order it was drilled into me by my lovely dad who always said you should have nice shiny shoes to start the day

You sound like a lovely eccentric dresser to me. I'd go for The Look big time if I were you.

Instead of changing your style, get some 'best' leggings (sans holes) instead of the denim mini skirt, get one with a touch satin or lace (fashionable just now) give your Docs a polish (or buy new ones) and stick a flower ? behind your ear Carmen Miranda style.

Sounds good to me!

Probably too bleddy old in the tooth to change now I suspect.

Please don't take this the wrong way. You dress how you want and I admire you for it.
When you say your afraid of looking smart because people will "look at you" A lady of my generation would attract mine and probably others, attention far more, dressed as you describe rather than one dressed in conventionally "smart" clothes as that person would blend in.I don't mean in that in a bad way.

Have to agree with ninathenanaand I definitely don't mean it in a bad way. I try to look "smart " when I go out but somehow don't manage it. I have a friend who manages to look like a million dollars cos she knows how to put things together, I just don't seem to have the knack

You sound fab to me. Doc Martin's go with everything, and are very fashionable right now.

Just wondering: do you wear makeup? I think everyone looks smarter with it.

I dread having to adopt a particular look too, and feel uncomfortable-always have-in clothes that are not "me".

Would you be brave enough to post a pic?

I suspect that your friends and colleagues would be shocked if you changed your 'look', etheltbags. So just be yourself, but ditch the holey leggings, please. Oh, and clean the boots. You can get away with most things if you are clean and all-of-a-piece. I'm in my winter 'uniform' of cord trousers and woolly tunics and either loafers or ankle boots. And I feel incomplete if I forget to put on earrings of which I have a vast variety.

Oh join the clan - just can't be arsed frankly - I wear what I feel most comfortable in.

I can either do casual or wedding smart but the middle ground eludes me. I live in jeggings, Ugg boots, long tops, my assortment of trusty cardigans and snood scarves. Both DDs seem to look effortlessly smart-don't know where they got that gene from.

I like wearing dresses as an alternative to jeans + tunics and think I look casually smart - until I pass a shop window and see a windblown little old lady stomping along. I think I look smart when I go for lunch with friends but they have the knack which I lack!

I think it depends what's meant by "smart" too. Is it stylish? Is it matchy? Classic? Glamorous?

If someone said "smart" to me, I'd think of clothing that's a bit conservative. Maybe even frumpy. For me that's knee length skirt with plain tights, too-tight blazer over blouse. Very fussy. And the dreaded black medium heeled court shoes. Or those black or navy polyester trousers that are neither flares nor skinny. Team with a "nice" watch and some ditsy earrings and you've got -smart, but in a very safe, conventional way.

If that's what the OP's friend means by smart, she can keep it imho!

I think its confidence I lack, I just like to be overlooked in a social situation
And yet your a woman of 'a certain age ' going out looking like Worzel Gummidge.
You ask " why can't I be smart " it's rocket science.

It's not rocket science.

I can't recall the OP saying she looked like Worzel Gummidge.

ethel I'm not sure what your dilemma is exactly; do you want to be overlooked ie invisible or smart ie invisible but conventional or something else?

Or maybe the problem is rooted in how you feel about yourself?

I really was a young bag lady. My style has improved over the years, from a very very low start. I did get a bit of direction from a friend and a lot of help from having my "Colours done" and that program "what not to wear" with regard to your body shape.odI d

Other wise I do not do posh dressing, I rarely go anywhere remotely posh.

gettingonabit Your right, Ethelbags1 didn't say she looked like Worzel Gummidge. That was my description of someone who goes out with holes in their tights, dirty shoes and a bobble hat and by her own admission went to a wedding in jeans.
And don't forget: she was the one who asked "why can't I be smart"

Wear what you are comfortable in ethel but maybe leggings without holes? An eclectic mix of clothes can be stylish in itself, as long as boots or shoes are clean, clothes are clean and dont have holes, and hair and nails are clean. You will be wearing what you are comfortable wearing, but do not risk offending anyone by looking as if you havent bothered. Not meaning to offend, but hope you understand what I am saying? There is a big difference between casual/eclectic/hippie and bag lady