current trends - help me shop

[Anonymous]

What are you noticing? I feel so out of date. Exhausted by searching for clothes online. Give me a brief rundown, please! For reference: I am 55, in a relative field and WFH primarily, 5'8", big boobs, flat torso, size 12-ish and soft in the lower body, somewhere between a pear and hourglass. My larger size is new so I need to shop for Spring. I am not a leggings person.

What would you buy for being out and about casually (errands, dinners, coffee with friends, meetings at kids' school, that type of thing)? I am working to get back in shape and maybe lose weight, so don't want to invest too much.

[Anonymous]

Beige, brown, gray
Any jeans except skinny
Tuck in your shirt
Wear a belt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beige, brown, gray
Any jeans except skinny
Tuck in your shirt
Wear a belt

i’ll take skinny jeans over the current trend of the weird jeans with the gigantic open bottoms that also stop right before the ankle. They look ridiculous and I have yet to see a single person that they look flattering on. Barrel I think they are called? The worst ones yet.

[Anonymous]

If you are 55, and large and soft, you don't need to worry about trends. Find some good jeans, avoiding the skinny ones for multiple reasons, and tuck your shirts in.

[Anonymous]

At 55 you should really have your own style and not need to follow trends. You'll look insecure, or like you are trying to recapture your youth (pathetic).

[Anonymous]

Yes. Decide on a minimalist uniform that works for your real life. Buy the best fabrics you can afford. Accessorize. One friend collects silk scarves. Another frequently buys handbags in a trending color, but nothing that looks juvenile.

Vivienne Files is a blog you might like if you don't know it. But use it just to understand the concept. Give it your own spin.

[Anonymous]

1 pair of slim wide leg blue jeans in medium wash
1 pair of white straight leg ankle length denim
1 pair medium rise straight legged linen pants in beige

3 nice tshirts (look at gap or similar) in white, black, maybe navy

blue and white striped button down

short sleeved multi-color - could be floral or another pattern - flowy top (look at Loft and Boden)

tan or beige belt

As others said, tuck in your shirts and wear a belt. Cute sandals or slides or sneakers.

[Anonymous]

You need to think about your figure and what looks flattering on you. Not what's fashionable. What part of your body looks the best and do you want to dress to highlight that: nice legs, torso, etc? What parts do you want to hide? Pick clothes based on that. What skin tone are you? Warm? Cool? Neutral? Do your research, figure out which colors suit you best.

There also a lot of interventions out there to make you look more youthful: hair dye is an obvious one, but there are lasers for clearer skin, red light therapy masks, retinol (plus sunscreen), and also, if you're into that, injections and facelifts. If you want to go beyond appearance and cosmetics, you will need to lose weight and tone.

[Anonymous]

A facelift is definitely one of life's little luxuries at that age. I am getting one around 55-62.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 55 you should really have your own style and not need to follow trends. You'll look insecure, or like you are trying to recapture your youth (pathetic).

Was that really necessary? Why do you have to be rude to PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At 55 you should really have your own style and not need to follow trends. You'll look insecure, or like you are trying to recapture your youth (pathetic).

Was that really necessary? Why do you have to be rude to PP?

Following trends doesn't make you look pathetic or desperate, not at all. Plenty of rich mature women are swanning around with the latest couture looks.
The problem with following trends is going in blind - new styles may not actually look great on you. It's one thing for a billionaire who spends hours at the gym or doing injectables and who has an entire cosmetics team at her beck and call to wear whatever she wants because she's slim and has the time, or a stylist, to look super-put together... quite another for a middle class woman without the time or money to perfect her appearance to try on all these styles without an understanding of what looks good on her.

So the first order of business is to understand what looks good on you, OP. It's brain work you need to do, before pulling out your credit card. Ultimately, it will save you a lot of time and money.

[Anonymous]

Agree, a couple good things to know -

What body shape are you
What colors look good on you/ season if you do that/ best neutral colors
What you will wear regularly / where you go
What you like

Then google or ask Chat for styling help. I would start with basics.

[Anonymous]

You seem like a good candidate for the classy cotton shirt maxidress in blue/beige/black with a gorgeous big stones necklace and good flowy shiny hair. Think Nigella Lawson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are 55, and large and soft, you don't need to worry about trends. Find some good jeans, avoiding the skinny ones for multiple reasons, and tuck your shirts in.

This and buy cute tighter fitting tops - we have to go with the shape we’ve got. I’m in a similar boat - 50, size 4, 130lbs, 5’3”. I was always 115 and muscular until perimenopause struck me in the bottom - which suddenly has cellulite despite doing weights. Opposite to you I’ve decided to do the best with what I had and maintain instead of fight the uphill battle - so I spent a lot to buy a wardrobe to fit my new body. I have great jeans and some large leg wool pants that I LOVE. I pair them with very nice tops, some of which are sleeveless- because my arms are still muscular (I have small boobs - so for you get tighter tops). Get a really nice haircut and don’t forget to wear your smile. You’ll look great - embrace the changes in the best way possible. Nothing is worse than a 50+ trying to look 20.

[Anonymous]

Levis 501