Perfect Style for Over 60 Women

This post was triggered by a comment from Lorette on one of my earlier posts. Like many of us, Lorette uses Pinterest for inspiration, but finds herself leaning towards what she feels are younger looks.  I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, especially if we don't want to end up looking frumpy, however some outfits may need adapting slightly for over 60s.

Tish Jett (A Femme D'un Certain Âge) did a five-part series on Transgenerational Dressing, which I really enjoyed, particularly part V where Grandmère, Mère and Fille all wear the same outfit. If you look at the first four parts, Tish takes one item of clothing and then creates three different outfits with it for the three generations. Search on her blog for "Transgenerational Dressing" to see how she changes the outfits to suit each generation. I found the posts very thought-provoking, especially when I discovered I preferred the Mère's and Fille's outfits to the more appropriate Grandmère's outfits in a couple of posts!

I have set up a Pinterest board that I hope will inspire us all and would welcome your suggestions for other stylish over 60 women to add to it. Before you correct me, I know Inés de la Fressange is still in her 50s, but I think her style is ageless and suspect she will be wearing similar outfits once she is over 60. I also apologise for including myself, but my style recipe is "Colourful casual chic with a little bit quirky and a Parisian influence" so I thought I would include some of my favourite outfits as an example of an ordinary over 60 woman rather than just featuring the superstars! Here's my Pinterest board: Over 60 Style. I hope that you enjoy looking at the different styles and can find one that inspires you. Remember that you don't necessarily want to copy every detail of an outfit, but add your own touches to make it suit both you and your personal style.

Regular readers of my blog, who have seen many of my outfits, will know how the emphasis is usually on colourful and casual. However chic is what I aspire to, I do love to find something unusual and whenever I visit France I try to buy clothes with a Parisian look. This could explain why I have so many striped tops!

Colourful

Casual

Chic?

Quirky

Finally - striped tops! Do I look Parisian in them?

Parisian 1

Parisian 2

The most important things for over 60 women to consider in finding their perfect style are: first to identify your personal style; then to choose clothes that suit your lifestyle as well as your personal style; finally make sure your clothes fit you properly and are in colours that flatter you.

I'm definitely not saying all over 60 women should look the same. The photos above show my personal style, which I feel suits me, but your style may be completely different. You may be more elegant than me, more bohemian or more classic. You may love the flamboyant look of the ladies in Advanced Style, or you may prefer something a bit more subdued (dare I say Parisian?)

I should add a disclaimer at this point: I'm not suggesting for a moment that my style is perfect, though I guess that it's perfect for me! I'd love to hear what you think and am happy to answer any questions. If any of you would like to pin your favourite outfits on my Pinterest board, please feel free to do so. As far as I'm concerned - the more, the merrier.

New Year Style Challenge

I know that I promised to tell you more about Janice of The Vivienne Files' great idea for helping you to sort out your wardrobe - do not fear, I will be posting again later today! - but I wanted to give you all the opportunity to take part in a New Year Style Challenge.

This is a challenge that my younger readers can take part in too - so long as you are over 40 - so no excuses.

The good news is that Sylvia is generously offering some prizes, so I am hoping that I may win my first prize of the year! You are encouraged to use Pinterest to help you to develop your style, though it isn't compulsory, and Sylvia explains how to do so on her blog. If you would like to check out my Pinterest board to give you some idea of what it's all about, just click here.

Sylvia's style assignment for day 1 is to answer the following question: how happy are you with your current style and why?

In my case I now love most of the clothes in my wardrobe, but that is only after blogging for about 18 months and, in the course of doing so, starting to think about my style. This was an early post of mine describing my wardrobe, which just about summed up my style at the time: my schizophrenic wardrobe. I do feel my style is developing in the right direction, but I still have some way to go. I'd probably give myself 6/10 now, whereas before it was more like 1/10.

Today's outfit is one that surprised me.  I'd seen lots of photos of peplum tops but didn't think it was a trend that would suit me. I tried this Hobbs top on out of curiosity: partly because I was looking for a navy top and partly because it was in the sale. It is now one of my favourite pieces, so the moral of the story is to try on different clothes and you too may surprise yourself.

Two trends in one: peplum top and coloured jeans!

My new outfit cost me virtually £4195!

No, I haven't suddenly developed an extravagant streak and spent over £4,000 on clothes, tempting though it might be!  I received an email from Motilo recently, advertising a competition to win a £1000 shopping spree at Matchesfashion.com, so I decided to have a go.  It would make a lovely Christmas present for myself!

I had a great time looking at all the clothes on line and pinning my choices onto Pinterest.  I decided to create a stylish outfit for going out for a walk on Christmas Day after lunch, which has been the tradition in our family for many years.  After making my choices I realised that I had spent a staggering £4195 - so even if I win the first prize it won't cover my chosen outfit!  Oh well, I can but dream.

This is my holiday season outfit for the contest.  Click on the link to see it:  Holiday Season Wish List.  Do you think it is worth that amount of money?

I then decided to see if I could create a similar outfit, but spending a lot less money.  I used Polyvore for this, then saved it on Pinterest as well.  This is my second outfit, which I have saved under Winter Outfits, and which would cost me the far more reasonable sum of £781.

The closing date for the Motilo/Matches competition is 17 December if you would like to have a go yourself.  Here is the link.  Leave a comment below with your link if you enter, as I would love to see your outfit and discover if you spent as much money as I did!