Evolve Your Style

I just love a challenge, so when I read about Imogen's latest style challenge, Evolve Your Style,  I didn't hesitate to sign up for it. It costs $5US to take part and you will receive a daily email from Imogen, plus you can join a closed facebook group where you can post photos of your daily outfit for comments and advice from the other participants. They're a lovely, helpful bunch, I can assure you!

I'm not quite half-way (I've received 14 emails so far) and already there are people who are way ahead of me plus a few that have only just started.It's fine to go at your own pace.

These are the challenges so far, with a few of the outfits that I have worn.

Day 1: wear a Statement necklace.  Day 2: wear something you've had for a long time
Day 3: wear a scarf all day.  Day 4: wear something pink.

Wear a scarf all day

Wear something pink

Day 5: wear a dress.  Day 6: sparkle today

Day 7: mix textures.  Day 8: double up on necklaces

Day 9: wear a bold lipstick.  Day 10: wear 2 prints or patterns

Day 11: wear arm candy.  Day 12: change your hair

Double up on necklaces

Day 13: Be blue.  Day 14: wear coloured shoes.

I'll post more of the challenges plus some of the outfits I wore on particular days in a future post.  In the meantime, even if you don't officially join the Evolve your Style group, why not try a few of the challenges yourself?

Making a statement with scarves

All right - you've been following the advice on my blog (and many other bloggers' fashion-based websites) and have built a wardrobe based on neutrals. You reach into your wardrobe in the morning, confident in the knowledge that you have a coordinated collection of clothes and that every top will go with every skirt and pair of trousers. You decide to wear a navy top with charcoal grey trousers and slip on a pair of navy brogues before checking your outfit in the mirror. You look smart enough and reasonably stylish, but something is missing. Perhaps you should wear a skirt and loafers with your top instead? Your problem is that your outfit is a little bit - dare I say it? - boring. It doesn't reflect either who you are or who you want to be.  Looking at you, people wouldn't have a clue about your style personality.  So what can you do?

I enjoy wearing scarves and have built up a reasonable collection of different coloured scarves, some of which are more suitable for the winter months, but I also have many lightweight scarves that I can wear any time of the year. This is what I would probably do with the above outfits to give them a bit of oomph.

I enjoy making a statement with scarves, and I find them particularly helpful when I'm going on holiday, as they are so light and don't take up much room in my case.  I know many of you aren't fans of scarves though. However don't despair as you can make a statement of your own and liven up your basic outfit with other accessories, as I'll show you in the next post.

Adding interest with prints

Today's assignment for the New Year Style Challenge is to add interest to your outfits using prints and texture. Click on the link above if  you want to join in. It's free, there's a lot of helpful information and you may even win a prize!

My first reaction was that I always use colour to add interest, but then when I started thinking about it I realised that I do use prints on a regular basis too, particularly with scarves.

 

 



Most of the prints show above are stripes. I do love stripes and they have become a wardrobe staple of mine, however a word of warning here. I'm just over 5' tall and the accepted fashion advice is for petite women to avoid horizontal stripes. Yes, you've noticed, these are all horizontal stripes. Did I once say that rules are meant to be broken? If you are over 60, short and not as slender as you used to be, maybe horizontal stripes aren't the best look for you but hey, you're over 60 - if you like them, wear them!

It may be the way that I'm standing in the photos, but I think the third photo, where I'm wearing the navy and white striped jumper with bright pink jeans, makes me look wider and shorter than the one on the bottom row with navy jeans. What do you think?

If you look closely you will see that the dress in the first photo is navy with tiny dots, and you can't miss the polka dots on the blue top in the bottom row.  I also have a shorter sleeveless empire line dress in navy with dots. My other favourite pattern is, in case you haven't guessed, polka dots. Like stripes, polka dots don't really go out of fashion.

I have been a bit wary of embracing the animal print trend, but it's fast becoming a classic like stripes and polka dots. I have a leopard print scarf and some leopard print ballet shoes, both of which are great for preventing an outfit from becoming boring. Talking of animal prints, I am being very tempted by the latest clothes and accessories in houndstooth. I think I'll leave space in my suitcase when I go to London in 8 days' time - just in case!

The final photo above is the dark brown dress that I bought for my 60th birthday party. It's a very subtle pattern, which is ideal for petites. The best advice on wearing patterns is to stick to small or maybe medium prints if you are petite and go for large or possibly medium prints if you're taller. Like many things in life, it's a matter of balance.

What about florals? I do have one or two summery items of clothing in floral patterns, but I tend to avoid florals as they can be a bit "old lady".  I know! I'm 66 years old, so I officially count as an "old lady" - but I don't have to advertise it, do I?

April Style Challenge - never mind the weather!

Have you ever packed for a holiday optimistically, with lots of lightweight bottoms, short-sleeved tops and just one cardigan, only to have the rain teem down nearly every day? That's what this week's capsule wardrobe for the April Style Challenge has felt like. My blue linen trousers are in the wash as I've spilt something on them, but I wouldn't have wanted to wear them today anyway. It's definitely jeans, top and green cashmere cardigan weather! When I venture outside later I will be wearing the navy trench-coat with a warm scarf and boots - and suspect that I may even wear gloves. I had allowed for it becoming a bit cooler this weekend, but the weather is even worse than forecast.

This has given me food for thought about our trip to Scotland in June. I've just looked at the average June temperatures for Eastern Scotland, and the highs are equivalent to the lows in Murcia, Spain. I think two pairs of jeans, two cardigans and a couple of long-sleeved tops may be going into my suitcase, as well as more summery clothes.  Plus an umbrella!

The best option is to take plenty of layers, which I can mix and match both to suit the weather and to change my look, so I don't become bored. A couple of scarves, it goes without saying, will be tucked into the lid of my case. However for anyone planning to travel to Spain in June for a holiday, you should be pretty safe with summer clothes!

PS Does anyone know where I can buy another pair of short petite jeans?  This pair has seen better days!

Take one scarf

I have a lovely collection of scarves, in case you hadn't noticed. I have realised how they can add a touch of colour to an otherwise plain outfit, as well as bringing together different colours so that my outfit looks more "put together" rather than "thrown together"! They are now an important part of my wardrobe, so I thought it would be fun to show how one scarf can be used with several different outfits.

This is one of my favourite scarves, which I have owned for several years.  I can fold it several ways so that different colours are revealed, depending on what colours I am wearing.

                 

I don't own any tops in that shade of pink (perhaps I should look for one?), but I have a pink bracelet that I can add or even a pair of pink gloves. 

Why not try choosing an outfit to wear with your favourite scarf or, if you don't have many scarves, why not buy one to go with your favourite outfit?

If you would like some more ideas about matching clothes to scarves, take a look at The Vivienne Files, which is a constant source of inspiration for me.  Click on the link above to see one of Janice's most recent posts about scarves.

April Style Challenge - Accessorize

I enjoyed the FABruary Style Challenge so much - though some days proved particularly challenging! - that I was delighted when Imogen decided to have another Style Challenge in April. I was also relieved when I saw that, instead of having to wear something specific each day, there was to be a different theme each week. As you can see from my heading, the theme for the first week is "Accessorize".

When I was younger accessories didn't have a large role to play in my wardrobe.  I suspect that my husband wishes that things hadn't changed, as my shoes keep teetering towards his side of the wardrobe!  As I get older I have realised that too many dark colours don't flatter me, though I know the value of good quality basics that don't date, so I use accessories to brighten up my look.

On Monday I wore my navy trench coat and navy jeans when we went out, which on their own might have looked a bit dull.  However I slung this green satchel over my shoulder and tied a multi-coloured scarf around my neck, which contained green and blue amongst other colours, so the overall effect was brighter and even (dare I say it?) slightly on-trend! I bought the bag last year and was pleased to see that green was to be one of the key colours for Spring, as I have never considered myself to be a trend-setter before!

Today my accessory was a scarf that I have owned for many years and never tire of, as it contains some of my favourite colours.  I decided to make the scarf the focus of today's outfit, so wore a top and some trousers that matched it.  I think that my overall look is improved by wearing this simple scarf, which pulls together an outfit that otherwise would have looked like I had grabbed the first two things that I had come across.

Do you have a favourite accessory that you wear to brighten up your basics?  I think it's a great way for those of us who are over 60 to look more up-to-date without appearing to be fashion victims.

FABruary Style Challenge - Scarves

Today's Style Challenge is Scarves, for which I was very grateful.  Partly because it is winter here in Spain so I wear a scarf most days and partly because I have a bit of a sore throat today, so it was lovely to have a good excuse to wrap up warmly.  Today you're in for a treat as I have two photos for you to enjoy!

The first one is my outfit without the extra layers, showing my lightweight scarf.

A couple of style points to make here.  Because I wanted to protect my delicate throat I wrapped the scarf around my neck a couple of times, but as I'm petite it might have been more flattering if I had worn it longer, drawing the eye downwards, which would have had the additional bonus of making me look slimmer.  Scarves are a flattering accessory for over 60s by the way, as they hide our ageing necks! However I love necklaces and have a collection of pretty necklaces that I enjoy wearing, so this usually overrides my vanity.

The second photo shows me wrapped up in one of my favourite scarves, which was a 65th birthday present from my daughters.  It is lightweight, but incredibly warm too.

Right folks - I think that's a wrap!