3.1K
How often do you look at fashion shoots and think, “not for me!” …..
I find that with my busy days, I’m more comfortable in trousers than skirts or dresses, and in the summer I tend to favour wide legged linen trousers that always fall well.
But now we are heading back in to autumn and winter, I am happy for once to conform to current fashion and opt for the tighter fitting skinny jeans and trousers.
This cut is all over Paris at the moment: it looks fun and feminine, and is really practical for rushing around all day. Easy to dress up or dress down, especially since they work just as well with brogues as high heels!
This picture is great, yet only French high street fashion. Just love the detail of the leather trim on the suede coat, and the liberty print shirt peeking out beneath a simple cardigan.
Flat shoes in the summer mean ballerines for me, but they aren’t so well suited to our wet autumns. Luckily this season there is a great selection of brogues around. Below pairs from Armani, Church and Gucci, but high street can work well too.
And if you don’t have to run for a taxi, or climb too many stairs, then why not try skinny jeans with high heels.
And for the days when I’m feeling really bright and cheerful, I may even tiptoe into my daughter’s closet and borrow a pair of flowery skinnies! Love them!!
How closely do you follow fashion? Do you just stick to the same style no matter what the magazines are saying, or do you like to find bits from a new season that work for you, and blend into your favourites?
I’d love to know just how important fashion is to you today; do you think that as we grow older we need to may more attention to current styles and not be left behind, or on the contrary is it the time to say “this is my style and I ain’t budgin’!!” ?
photo 1 thanks to Gala magazine[blank]
47 comments
I love and do follow fashion…as best as i can timewise and budget wise. For the basics dresses and shoes, i stick to Prada and it is totally my fit, But then i add little non budget killers items. I am in an industry where i attend at least 2 events a week, and must dress up everyday while conducting business in my showroom, which can become exhausting. Off work, my signature look, skinny jeans, white tee, cashmere sweater. love the looks you selected.
I also love to mix a really good piece with some basic high street stuff. Skinnies with t-shirt and cashmere sounds good to me!
xx
I love this look and in fact purchased a pair of red skinny jeans on Saturday to wear to a prty that night–paired with a fitted white shirt and red and black heels and a black and white chunky necklace. Perfect for the event. Thanks so much for your post.
I adore this look!
red seems to be around a lot this fall
xx
This article is so timely for me. I do think as we grow older we need to stay in tune with current styles. I've recently retired from the corporate world so I get to replace all those boring work clothes (suits) with some fun finds. I am working on doing that right now – it's not that easy for me though. I want to choose current styles that "work" for me and my age to help me look in touch, and in style but not that I am trying too hard. I'd wear any of the outfits that you have shown. Will you come shopping with me? LOL
sorry…that anon comment was from me…Kitty…thanks!
I think the key is to know your style and what your look is…then incorporate a few 'on trend' items..skinny jeans (both colour block and floral) are huge in Australia too right now!
Having this two country life my fashion has really been scaled down. But anyway, mostly British fashion is way too much for me. Too much flounce, too much accesories and too much colour. I stick to clasic seperates in neutrals and mix and match. Much like out of the pages of Ines de la Fressange's book. Some might say that I miss out this way, but I find that when I take myself out of the norm and buy something on impulse or because it's trendy, I end up not wearing it…you know…kind of like that PMS rhinestone sweatshirt that looked like such a good idea.
🙂
I'm sure that moving from a professional environment to 'living your own life' must include all sorts of wardrobe rethinks.
BTW I LOVE to shop with people, the best sort of vicarious fun!!
xx
🙂
That's what good about getting a bit older, you know better what to avoid!
x
Don't talk to me about rhinestone sweatshirts!!
xx
Love the fashion of skinny trousers, just wish I had long skinny legs to wear them. 🙂
Especially as I've gotten older I think more about what I'm buying and wearing. There is a fine line between looking like you are trying to be young and looking well beyond your age. I don't want to dress like my Mother or my Daughter…… just ME. My guideline is fresh, classic and add a surprise element here and there.
I used to have a red suede dress…got all over my boyfriend's jeans 🙂
Love the new French look but wish my 40+ body could squeeze into skinny jeans or cords! Although I do enjoy reading the latest fashion magazines, it's sometimes hard to figure out what is wearable and what is not. So I end up picking up a couple of new things to mix in with the tried and true. I'll even throw in some of my mother's vintage YSL which never goes out of style! Thanks for sharing the new trends from across the Atlantic! XO, Cynthia
I love my pair.. wore them the other day with tons of looks. I purchased a size bigger as being older the 'tight' look isn't a plus but in another size.. wow, great new look. Now the vest and coat.. yes yes yes.. and the bag a few photos down mixed with floral pants.. love.
I try to get only a few new items every season and mix with what I have. Classic and clean mixes with a lot of items in ones closet.
hugs,
Cotton Peony
I love the look of skinny jeans, too. Colors are all the rage here and I am thinking of getting pair in red. I like to wear them with long tunics and flats, then boots when it get's too cold.
You can raid your daughter's closet? You must be thin as a stick! 🙂
XO,
Jane
🙂
a very fine line indeed, Katherine, takes a lot of 'standing back and looking objectively'
xx
red suede! sounds wonderful
xx
vintage YSL is definitely worth hanging on to!
xx
me too, a few items each season just to brighten up the rest
xx
Hi Jane
really not thin as a stick, but I can breathe in a bit!
xx
I just don't have the body for wearing skinny jeans. I think they are cute and if you are super skinny I think they look great. I'm not as big on fashion as I used to be and prefer fabrics that breathe like cotton and linen in a loose fitting style. I'm more a flea market shopper purchasing items for my home. HAH 🙂
I follow it, (the autumn issues of Vogue being favourites) but I'm not enslaved to it. Basically, I wander through fashion pages looking for something that appeals to my taste. I don't tailor my taste to fashion. Skinny jeans, as long as they aren't too skinny, are really quite comfortable. And I'm in two sizes smaller this year, which is a treat. But my favourite are those brogues you feature. The best kind of shoes. Spectators are my favourites!
Thank you for another chic and inspiring post dear Sharon! I've been peeking at your blog for a while but this is my first comment. I love what you do! I always look forward to reading your new post when I come home from work eve sanyary day!
I'm 41 but I just bought a pair of skinny jeans and it makes me feel great!
:)sanya
I LOVE fashion and am of the opinion that unless you keep up, whether that be accessories, make up, hair, that that is a sure way to date oneself. This current love of the skinny jean harkens back to the day of the stirrup pant and leggings combined with a tunic top. That "T" shape is a very forgiving one for most body shapes. Sure, the young and skinny can get away with the cropped sweaters but if one is concerned about one's hips, then just lengthen the top and make it a bit (read "a bit" not gigantic) oversized and you will see that the silhouette is very flattering. And today we have women who celebrate their curvaceousness and a good booty is quite a good thing according to most men. I am 56 in 56 this year and NO ONE knows unless I tell them. My "twenty-something" daughters regularly raid my wardrobe which I find very flattering. And yes, have been wearing skinny jeans since last winter!
Whatever is simple and comfortable works for me and, of course, I like to add my own creations as accessories. Like you, I've bought into the skinny leg look. It's actually flattering, and I love the colors popular now.
Hi Sharon, I just found your blog.
I'm petite. Skinnys work for me, as the wider the leg the more dumpy I look. But hey, I just love this style anyway. It's keeping the weight off that's the challenge.
I've just taken on a cottage renovation in SW England. I have a few French country pieces and want more. They look good if sensitively incorporated.
Jessica
Just for the record, Sharon?….I'm a notoriously haphazard dresser and I pay no attention whatsoever to fashion (although, oddly enough, I suppose, for a Ph.d. in Literature, "Vogue" is one of the only-two magazines which arrive at this house…I love it…the photography, the writing, which is generally very fine….I would probably marry Grace Coddington if she'd have me).
What do I wear? I ALWAYS wore hand-me-downs from my cousins or brothers (including the 7 years-younger one)until I went off to college, where I finally grew another two inches and turned out, at 5'6", to be able to shop somewhere other than the Boys' Department.
fortunately, I'm from a background in which boys and young men ALWAYS AND INEVITABLY wear unremarkable & perfectly predictable (they always came from the same vendors…Brooks Brothers, J.Press in Boston, etcetera) jackets and ties to skool….and khakis/collared-shirt (inevitably blue or white) at home (unless we were working outside, at which times we were allowed to wear blue jeans…although we were NOT allowed to wear them inside the house).
After college (at which we had to wear coat&tie; to class, and during which everything I wore came from my grandfather or great-uncles…and the sort of places that sold this stuff had never changed much, if at all), I taught at boys' boreding skools…..same old khakis, rep-tie, blue blazer.
Basically, I've worn a uniform my entire life. I still get lots of hand-me-downs, particularly since all of my male friends and relatives have gotten married and, consequently, become quite contented & fat. So, their wives give their clothes to me, and I simply have the pants hemmed-up by the ever reliable, 74 year old, ultra-christian-lady Mrs. Barnes (she's an old black lady who owns her own tiny shop at the back of her house….not-surprisingly named "Stitches").
All in all, I usually look like a grey-haired runaway from some Virginia prepskool….which, to be honest, I suppose I am.
As for shoes? I rarely-ever wear them (I work at home and garden barefoot). I do own a few pairs…..a dark-brown pair of oxfords, a pair of tan bucks, a pair of horribly prissy tuxedo shoes (I do still get invited to the sort of grim occasions where one has to wear these), one pair of running shoes, and one pair of very gritty sandals that have been all over Spain and France for the past ten years.
I wear shoes about once per week, and only when I'm driving somewhere else.
Essentially (and as one of my brothers told me a couple of years ago) "You dress like an unsupervised, retarded-adult".
That wasn't exactly politically correct, but I suppose it IS accurate.
And that's the Fashion Update from hereabouts.
—david terry
P.S. I do own ONE "piece" of jewelry….it's a bag of opals that were, at one point or another, a necklace owned by my great-grandmother. I've never figured out if they're bad luck if you merely own them… or do you wear them? My good guess is that you have to wear them to get the bad luck, since my life's been pretty lucky thus far.
Sincerely,
David "Eye on Fashion!" Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
I have skinny pumpkin colored jeans that are almost the same as the one in the photo. LOVE them and having so much fun wearing them. I feel very fashionable and I'm a senior. Thank goodness for the gym….
As far as following fashion, I was in the business early in my career and can't help but pay attention. But if it's not good on me, I say no. No need not to look your best for the sake of fashion.
Sam
Hello Sharon
I love the outfits you have featured. I worked in fashion and I follow trends and colours. I dress in what I feel suits me and for my lifestyle, which is painting en plein aire.Good tailoring and quality design appeals to me. I wear lots of linen and skirts during hot weather.
I have found this post very interesting
Helenxx
I think there is a fine line to tread between becoming a slave to fashion and being stylish. You have to make sure that you are comfortable in what you are wearing and that it suits your body shape. I believe you need to find what your own style is and have a bit of fun embellishing it with a few current trends in your accessories. Overall, you are not going to look very good if you are uncomfortable, or your feet are absolutely killing you because of your massively high heels. I think the most beautiful of people look that way because they are comfotable in their skin and are comfortable with their fashion choices, they find what they like and they wear it. I apply a test to what I wear, I think to myself 'In ten years, if I look back at a photo of what I'm wearing today am I going to cringe' if the answer is yes, you're probably overdoing it. Think the 80's shoulder pads, wacky colour combos and permed hair, I have heard it described as 'the decade that fashion forgot' but when you look back at 80's movies, the perfect one would have to be Pretty Woman, there were horrible clothes around but when you see her dress in the classic new clothes she buys, they are timeless and most of them would still not look out of place even 30 years later.
Oh my, I'm so out of it! I wear jeans, jeans, jeans, old silk shirts, cashmere sweaters and cowboy boots. Lots of black since I do a lot of theatre work. I do have some red pants 🙂 I'm mostly around kids in unglamorous spots! I do have a breakfast with adults tomorrow, I think I'll wear the red;). Oh, love David Terry's comments.
Pat Smith)
Sharon
I think being too serious and precise about following fashion can make some people look silly. Not all fashion suits everyone. Fashion should be regarded as a guideline to a new look. When we are young we can wear the more extreme fashions with more confidence even if the latest trend may not be the perfect look for us, but as we get older we have more of a sense of what actually suits us. The trick is not to get stuck in a rut with an outdated hairstyle or style of dress where people can see at just one look when our heyday or prime time was. I think classic well cut clothes with updated accessories makes more sense than giving away last seasons wardrobe to buy everything new. It's about silhouette and length and keeping it simple. I love the grey pants shown with the red flat shoes. I also really like the style of black pants that are now in fashion. They look good with flats and high heels.
I think most fashion makes a comeback. It's just put together a bit differently each time.
Avid fashion follower Sharon and love to dress up as I am out and about shooting pics it is standard jeans tees and converse for the streets of Paris so at any chance i love to pop on a frock! Heading to Australia for summer and am so looking forward to the easy way of dressing and beach life. I adore this leather trim jacket gorgeous.
Carla x
I love and adore fashion – unfortunately my budget does not 🙁 However I'm not afraid to mix a few fancy pants high end designer bits of clobber with items from el cheapo chain stores. If you sniff through the masses there are some fabulous pieces to be found and all us gals worldwide just love a bargain!!!
I bet observing fashion in Paris is the ultimate, everything just seems so much more elegant there for some reason. When we were there I was really struck by how everyone is so put together but not in a overly done up way.
I'm so impressed that you fit into your daughter's skinny jeans I have nothing else to say! But I agree with it all.
I adore skinny jeans + must run out an grab a pair of red ones. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
Great look although i would probably wear blue jeans instead of the red.
I love fashion… just as much as I adore interiors and all things French… It is a danger… but a fun one… 🙂
I'm 63 and wearing skinny jeans and cords! Everytime I put them on someone comments that I have lost weight! Carol
Hi you have posted very useful and good information to us . So we think it remain helpful for the most of us users . keep it up we will recommend to others .