I will wear what I like!

This week Catherine has chosen the trench coat as her theme for wearing what we damn well like. Take a look at the fabulous one she is wearing on her blog Not Dressed as Lamb: it's definitely making a statement and in Catherine's case it's probably saying "Who wants to be age appropriate anyway?"! I wouldn't wear it myself, but (and it's a big but!) it's not because I feel that, as a 60+ woman, it wouldn't be age appropriate. The only reasons are that the colour and pattern wouldn't particularly flatter me,otherwise I would happily wear it too.

The trench coat is usually on any list of "10 essentials that chic Parisians wear", or articles and books on a similar theme, however it tends to be accompanied by words emphasising the importance of it being in a neutral colour such as black, navy or beige. Would a Frenchwoman wear Catherine's gorgeous trench? I'm guessing that they would if they really loved it and knew they would look as good as she does wearing it.

In the photo below, I'm wearing a trench coat that I bought last autumn. It's not in a traditional neutral colour, however the copper isn't a trendy colour that will date, so hopefully it will last me several years.

I'm wearing the trench coat over dark brown jeans and shoes, plus my tan bag doesn't provide a lot of contrast. My colouring is low colour contrast, so the combination is good, however I am also high value contrast, because of my pale skin and dark hair and eyes, which is why I wore this particular scarf. What you won't be able to see is the pair of green earrings I was wearing, so I will point out that the green earrings went beautifully with the green in my scarf. It's these little details that makes choosing an outfit more fun.

Finally, this is me wearing what I like, but what about you? Do you worry about wearing clothes that aren't age appropriate?  On the other hand, do you want to ignore what so-called fashion experts decide are the styles that chic women should wear? By the way, I include myself in the latter category!

I will wear what I like!

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb fame (see under Recommended Blogs on the right) started an Instagram campaign in August last year, after a journalist published a list of 24 things 30+ women shouldn't wear. I have to wonder what that journalist would make of certain things this 60+ woman has worn! Catherine has continued her popular campaign with a weekly link up where women of all ages wear what they like. I thought it might be fun to join in, as the only criteria is to wear whatever you damn well like!

This week's #iwillwearwhatilike theme is yellow, and I have to say that Catherine looks amazing in her yellow outfit. My own outfit of the day is shown below, but do take a look at Catherine's blog and see what some of the other contributors are wearing.

Yellow isn't a colour that I've worn much in recent years. Having done several different colour consultations and been told that I was a winter, yellow wasn't included in my colour swatches. Then I decided to do the 7 Steps to Style course and to my surprise I was told that I was an Enigmatic: deep, smoky and warm. More recently I requested a colour dossier from Maria of Looking Stylish, who confirmed that my dominant colour characteristic was warm with a secondary of soft: so welcome back yellow - and other colours that I haven't worn for a long while!

I remember buying a lovely yellow knitted dress many years ago, though I don't have any photos of myself wearing it. I also bought the trouser suit shown below. This photo was taken in Northern Ireland so I reckon it must have been forty eight years ago. In those days I'd never heard of colour analysis, so I definitely wore what I liked.

What about you? Do you sometimes wear outfits that some people may say are "inappropriate" for your age? If so, don't worry about it. In the link that Catherine gave on her blog, the journalist said that leopard print wasn't appropriate for over 30s - so that includes quite a few of us. Trust me, I'm not going to throw away my favourite leopard print top. So long as you are happy, you should wear what you like, just as I do.