All this 'how to be stylish' advice.

Lisagran, I like No1, I quite like No2 and I wouldn't be seen dead in No3

MerylStreep

ExD
I'm always told that I have style. But that might not be what you think is stylish. Could you give us an idea of who you think is stylish.?
I'm trying to find a picture that will link to give you an idea of my style.

Did you find a pic, MerylStreep?

Watching tv I start to wonder if most older women look like Angela Rippon or Helen Mirren so ExD's descriptions are comforting.

*should read “images”

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202010/medium-838534-7498b8c6-98b8-462f-b335-35448bc04211.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202010/medium-443032-20f2c088-e4c5-4b01-b4db-dd9119cf86ca.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202010/medium-264135-d36605f1-48dc-4b5c-84b1-6329c9f7f8fe.jpeg

Which of these 3 I ages (if any!) do you like? One I like, one I love and one I wouldn’t be seen dead in.....

In my head I'm Joanna Lumley so I don't want to be looking at a photo of an overweight, doubled chinned, spectacle wearing, short, dumpy, swollen legged examples of femininity - or the skinny, saggy breasted, thin haired, scraggy necked model suggesting otherwise.

So there!

I don’t read any of the ‘how to be stylish’ stuff. I always imagine that it’s been written by max 37 year olds who think they know what the old dears on GN ought to want.

There was something about dresses for the over 50s some time ago - to me they were virtually all ghastly, which is why I’ve never bothered to read any such stuff since.
I have my own style, thanks!

I admit to being a slave to fashion once, those days have passed for me thankfully! I wear what I like and what I find comfortable, reasonably fashionable for my age demographic, but certainly not high fashion. High fashion often makes me snort with laughter these days, I admit to quite often wanting to hurl The Sunday Times supplementary Style magazine across the room, ridiculous clothes at equally ridiculous prices, who are their target audience one wonders, not me that's for sure I imagine the other Sunday papers have similar fatuous fashion magazines. Possibly one of the upsides of getting older, you shed your inner sheep and become more of your own person and less likely to give a monkeys about the superficial

Yes monica I agree. "Some are born stylish, some achieve stylishness some have stylishness thrust upon them".

I have known people who come into the ' black bin list ' theory and sadly I am not one.

Hetty

I am not sure what you describe is stylish. There is far more to stylish than just being well turned out. It doesn't mean dressed age appropriately.

Some people can look stylish dressed in a black bin bag.

I want to be stylish but only in my own style. I don't care what's fashionable or not fashionable or what the "style professionals" think is cool/stylish/whatever. My mother used to say: Make your own style and be comfortable with it. I do and I am. Someone I work with who has a completely different style from mine said recently that she has always loved my "style" and that I could be a model for Boden!! I have no Boden clothes.

For clarity, my work clothes are cargo pants with full pockets and a T-shirt ?. Maybe it's how you carry yourself that makes the difference.

Plus, in my case, hats.

Good luck, ladies and gents. Do your own thing ?

NotTooOld Wed 14-Oct-20 22:03:15
^Who wants to be stylish anyway? We should all wear what we like when we like.
Spangler - you sound like a very suave gent.^
That's a lovely compliment and sensible advice, thank you.
Aspiring to a style, any style, if you're self conscious about it don't do it. A fellow said to me at the supermarket, "you look great in that hat," when I said that I didn't have the monopoly on hat wearing he understood my meaning. "Oh I couldn't," he replied, "it's a great hat but I wouldn't have the balls to wear it." I smiled and thanked him, then said, "there won't be any two tone shoes in your wardrobe anytime soon then?" "Oh how I wish," he said and went on his way.

The mere word 'stylish' on here instantly makes me laugh.

There are loads of them around this area - the older women: 'smartly' dressed,
hair done,
makeup perfected,
accessories coordinated
etc. etc.

What completely ruins their appearance is the worried, tired, angry, blank expressions they 'wear'. Another downer is the aged 'waddling' walk!

I aim for:

comfortably clothed,
clean,
with a smile!

It's a winner - works for me!

Sunglasses and lipstick = done
(mask wearing means no lipstick needed)

I couldn't care less if I am stylish or not but do like to wear clothes that make me look straighter and thinner and are comfortable.

lemongrove that woman drives me up the wall! Anyone less in need of mobility aids would be hard to imagine. And don’t get me started on the over-50’s life insurance ads!

But you look your most stylish when wearing clothes you are happy and comfortable in, and have the confidence that goes with that. Stylish people are people who have confidence and emanate a sense of style. It rarely has anything to do with what they are wearing.

As for wanting something to aspire to, why should we? We should define our own aspirations and sheepish following other people doesn't count.

NotTooOld
who wants to be stylish anyway
The OP asked for some tips on how to at least get on the first step of achieving this goal
Some of us were trying to help her achieve this goal.

But we would have nothing to ‘aspire’ to, would we, if they used ‘real’ people

"Model is 5' 10" and wears a size 10"

I am never going to be 5' 10"!
I was one of the tallest girls in my class at 12, then stopped growing.

Who wants to be stylish anyway? We should all wear what we like when we like, so long as we are clean and reasonably tidy. I think many of us will have changed our 'style' over the last six months anyway, I know I have. I haven't used a handbag or worn makeup or jewellery either.

Spangler - you sound like a very suave gent.

There is an ad on tv for mobilty aids which features the most elegant slim swan necked woman with silver hair in a trendy style and immaculate pale clothes, surrounded by her doting family as she tries out chairs, mobility scooters, beds, chair lifts etc.It always makes me smile, as she is so perfect!

Teetime

I agree I dont look good in anything no matter how much I spend - too short, too fat, too old, round shouldered, have a definite list to starboard and a p****d off expression on my face because of all of the above (its not a good day).

The mirror tells lies, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Poems of Passion

ExD your OP made me laugh, great descriptions.?

Not too whiffy does for me, these days.

Well, i have met Teetime and dont recognise her description of herself!

M0nica Wed 14-Oct-20 14:27:07
To be honest I am not remotely interested in 'how to be stylish'.
That goes completely against the grain for me. I was born in the wrong era, Beau Brummel could have taken a leaf out of my book. Collar and tie, or bow tie, or cravat. Sports jackets and trousers, with turn ups, of course. Suits, I've got a wardrobe full, two tone shoes, Fair Isle socks and not a single piece of denim in sight. As my lovely lady so eloquently puts it: "One has standards, darling."