Step 2: Your Body Shape

When I was younger and slimmer, I didn't have to worry too much about how clothes fit me. True I was shorter than average (just under 5'2") but in the days of mini-skirts that wasn't exactly a problem. Nowadays though, apart from the lack of petite clothes where I live in Spain, I have to contend with my waist problem or, more accurately, the absence of any waist. I am a couple of dress sizes bigger than I was in my twenties, unless I find a particularly loose and baggy style that doesn't exactly flatter me.  I'm sure that many over 60s reading this will be nodding in agreement. Finding clothes that fit well isn't easy anymore and it's time to be realistic.  Step 2 - your body shape - proved to be a particularly useful step in Imogen's 7 Steps to Style system.

I already knew that I was a rectangle from the House of Colour style session with Fiona. My shoulders and hips are a similar width and I don't have a defined waist, which in Imogen's terminology means that I'm a straight H shape. The picture below shows styles that suit straight shapes and those that are better for curved shapes.

I  have to confess that over the  years I have tended to look for colours that I loved and not thought about whether the styles suited my body shape. Another picture from Imogen  is shown below, giving an idea of flattering dresses for different body shapes.

I'm quite proud of the fact that I had already worked out for myself that empire line dresses are a good shape for those of us who don't  have a waist to flaunt - maybe I've learnt something since I started writing this blog! If you're not sure what body shape you are, there is a lot of helpful information on the Inside out style blog and of course in step 2 of the 7 steps to style system.

Being vertically challenged, I have instinctively tried to create a column of colour in an effort to look taller and slimmer. You can create a column by wearing a cardigan or jacket that matches your bottom half with a contrasting top, which is what I have tended to do in the past. Alternatively - and this is the most flattering way for those of us who don't want to draw attention to our tummies - we can wear darker tops that match our skirts or trousers, with a lighter cardigan or jacket over it.

There are so many other aspects to consider, such as the shape of your face and whether your features are straight, curved or a combination. My face is oblong, which means that I'm better with short hair and a style that has width rather than height. I have combination features so this should be reflected in the accessories that I use. Is your body well proportioned or are you short-waisted or long-waisted? Are your legs short or are you a lucky long-legged model-like creature? You can guess which category I fall into.

Whoever said getting dressed was easy - and there are more steps to come!

Step 1: Style Personality

First impressions - whether we like it or not - are very important in both work and social situations. How often  have you looked at someone when you first met them and thought: "She looks very confident." or maybe "He seems a bit sloppy."? Come on, be honest!  Of course once you get to know someone really well you may change your mind, but wouldn't it be helpful if the way someone dressed totally expressed their personality?

The first step of Imogen Lamport's 7 Steps to Style system will help you to identify your style personality, which in her system can be a combination of styles and not simply the usual Classic, Dramatic, Romantic and other categories.

Growing up I was very much a tomboy, so when I did the House of Colour style assessment in January last year I wasn't surprised to be told I'm a Natural Gamine. The 7 Steps to Style system has 7 personality types: classic, relaxed, dramatic, creative, rebellious, feminine and elegant chic, but the permutations are endless. I wasn't too surprised to score highly for relaxed followed by elegant chic (I try to be chic even if I don't always succeed!), as that is close to Natural Gamine, however both classic and feminine came next, and I didn't expect that.  It goes to prove that many of us are much more complicated than we realise and it's why one style personality is unlikely to suit everyone.

The above styles are very close to the type of clothes residing in my wardrobe, so the assessment by my House of Colour stylist Fiona was pretty accurate. However it didn't necessarily cover the other elements of my style personality, which I have discovered while doing Imogen's course.

My original style recipe, which I concocted with the help  of others in the 7 Steps to Style facebook group, was "Casual Chic with a dash of Colour and Drama". As with all recipes, it's sometimes good to add other ingredients or swap some for those that suit your taste better. I've decided that I'd like to add some elegance to my wardrobe or be even more ambitious and change my style to "Parisian Casual Chic with a dash  of Colour and Femininity". I  know that colour is very important to me and I will cover that in another post.

If you are unable to invest in the 7 Steps to Style system, you can of course try to define your style personality on your own. There are numerous on-line style personality quizzes, though most are limited in what they can tell you. You may prefer to create a Pinterest board of styles that you love and that you feel would suit you, then analyse them to see if you can come up with your unique style recipe. Look in your wardrobe to find which of your clothes make you feel happy, and decide what elements they have in common.  In my case, not surprisingly, colour is an important element. Once you have a good idea of your own style personality, you can use it as one of the criteria when buying new clothes and accessories. Remember though that this is only step one - there are six more to come!

New Year. New You.

It's a New Year, so all over the world people are making their New Year's resolutions, most of which will have been broken before the end of the month or even before the end of the week. Have you made any resolutions? If so, what are they?

Of course many of us over 60s have become a bit cynical about this and don't have any confidence in our ability to change things. It often helps to have a friend or partner share your determination to become more active or to eat healthier meals: I lost weight one year by going to Weight watchers with a work colleague and running a couple of times at lunchtime with her. Another year I decided to stop adding sugar to my coffee, which proved difficult at first, however now I can't drink coffee with even a grain of sugar in it, proving that we can change if we have the will.

In 2015 I will continue with my monthly hikes and Tai Chi classes, plus I plan to enrol in a dance class. I also intend to continue looking for healthy (but tasty, not boring) recipes, to eat more fresh fruit and drink more water. (Pause while I go to pour myself a glass of water!)

Finally, in 2015 I hope to build up a wardrobe of flattering, versatile clothes and become more stylish. I started the process in 2014 by having a style consultation through House of Colour in London. With the guidance of my consultant Fiona, I established that I am a Natural Gamine and discovered that most of my favourite outfits fitted this definition. You can read more about my session here.

Towards the end of last year I decided to join a facebook group called Evolve Your Style, with different challenges to help us develop our personal style. I discovered this challenge on Imogen Lamport's amazing blog, which has provided me with lots of inspiration. I found the Evolve Your Style challenge so helpful that I then enrolled on Imogen's 7 Steps to Style course, which I can highly recommend if you feel that you are in a bit of a style rut. Many of us give up on fashion once we're in our fifties or sixties, which is a great shame.  We don't have to settle for shapeless clothes and dull colours just because we're over 60 and are afraid of looking like mutton dressed as lamb. What we should aim for is to become  a more stylish version of ourselves in 2015. I'm going to try my best and hopefully you will join me.

Here are some of my outfits from the beginning of last year.

                     

I do like stripes, in case you hadn't noticed, and I do like bright colours - but are these my best colours? Do these outfits make me look taller and slimmer or do the stripes have the opposite effect?

The following outfits are more recent purchases - or present in the case of the patterned cardigan - so are they more flattering?

    

                                

Points to note from the last three outfits:

1. I have created a column of colour in the outfit on the left, with a brown necklace, brown top and jeggings, plus brown shoes. Note also that my hair is brown! Does this make me look taller and slimmer?
2. In the middle photo there is contrast between the colours of the top and the jeggings. however I am wearing a scarf which includes the teal and brown and also gives a vertical line to help me look taller, so I feel that the outfit works. I'm clutching my Enigmatic swatch by the way.
3. In the last photo there is some grey in the cardigan, but probably not enough to tie in with my grey trousers. I don't think I look as slim as in the previous two photos. However I do love this cardigan so I was happy to wear it with this outfit.  Maybe I'll try a grey top with it though next time.

I'm still working on the 7 Steps to Style so I'll be posting more outfits for your comments over the next few months and I'll pass on some of the lessons I've learnt. Remember these are all points that are relevant to me as an over 60, petite, H shape, whose style recipe is "Casual Chic with a dash of Colour and Drama". If you're interested in defining your own style, which may be totally different to mine, you can find more information on the links above. The prices are going to rise on the 4 January so now's the time to sign up.  Sadly I don't get any commission for recommending these programmes, but I do get the satisfaction of knowing you'll find them very helpful if you want to be more stylish in 2015!

Contrasting views

It all seemed very straightforward: I knew my body shape (rectangular or H), my face shape (oblong), my features (a combination of round and angular) and I was waiting for my colour swatch to arrive so my colours could be sorted. I understood what shapes suit my rectangular body, how to create a column of colour to make me look taller (always a bonus!) and what necklines flatter me. Once I had my colour swatch, I would be ready to shop.  Imogen's 7 Steps to Style course had taught me so much and soon I would be as stylish as all the other bloggers out there!

I was feeling very confident - perhaps a little over confident? - until the words "value contrast" and "colour contrast" came into the equation.  What did this mean?  As Imogen had promised to write a blog post on the subject and was looking for volunteers, I sent her a photo as soon as I read the request.  Here it is:

I was delighted when I saw that I had been included as I knew this would help me progress even more. Imogen said that I am high value contrast but low colour contrast. I have dark hair and eyes, however my skin is fair making the value contrast high. On the other hand there is no obvious colour in my face as my hair, eyes and skin are all neutral, which is why my colour contrast is low.

If you click on this link you can look at the other volunteers, who have different levels of value contrast and colour contrast, plus outfits that Imogen has suggested would suit us all. I think Imogen explains the concept very well and I agree with how she defines my contrast levels.  Now comes the tricky bit! When I'm putting together an outfit and I know that the colours and designs all suit me, I also need to take value and colour contrasts into consideration. In my case I will look my best if I wear either a monochromatic colour scheme or dress head to toe in neutrals, both in a high value contrast. I will also look my best if I wear more dark colours than light ones, just using small amounts of light colours to add the contrast.

This is the outfit that Imogen suggested for me:

I love that outfit, however I won't be making any purchases until I receive my colour swatch and have confirmed that the colours suit me. In the meantime, I am using my current wardrobe to try and work out suitable combinations. I may treat myself to some new additions once I have identified which colours work best for me, but the looks below will have to do for now!

         
This was yesterday's outfit. The trousers are a bit too loose though the colour seemed right.  Once I have the swatch, if the trousers look good with it, I'll be taking them to be tailored so they fit better. When I went out I wore a much lighter blue scarf, which provided a better contrast than the necklace I'm wearing in the above photo.

Today's outfit seemed to meet the criteria a lot better. The colour of my top blended well with the colour card and I think the white stripes help with the value contrast, so this is a definite keeper. I posted this photo on the "7 Steps to Style" facebook page and it met with general approval, so I'm confident that I'm going in the right direction.

It is often said that the most stylish women make it all look effortless, but trust me behind the scenes there's a lot of hard work involved.  Having said that, it's also great fun. For all you over 60 women out there, I hope that you will start creating new and more flattering outfits with your own clothes. With Christmas coming up, what better time to add some style and colour to your wardrobe?

Style - the whole package

I enjoyed taking part in the different challenges during Imogen's Evolve Your Style 31 day style challenge and in particular I enjoyed being a member of the closed group on facebook. I was inspired by the other participants, many of whom were incredibly stylish and creative, and I appreciated their positive feedback on some of my more successful outfits! It was interesting to find out which of my outfits worked, which needed a bit more working on and which were destined for the recycling bins.

I then took the big decision to enrol on another of Imogen's programmes: 7 Steps to Style. For any of you who have always wanted a colour and style consultation but don't have any image consultants living near you, this is a very good alternative. If your budget won't stretch that far (and I do think it's incredibly good value for the amount of advice Imogen gives you) then I would suggest going through the different categories on her blog: Inside Out Style. She helps you to identify your face shape, body shape, colouring, personality and the many other aspects of developing your overall style personality. Imogen also gives lots of good examples of clothes and colours to suit your body shape, colouring etc.

As I've mentioned before, there are inevitably a few limitations to how you can express your style personality. If you are rebellious but happen to work in a very traditional working environment, you may have to rein in your rebellious streak until you get home. I'm short, so I know that dramatic clothes will tend to overwhelm me, but I also know that I can add a few dramatic touches via my accessories. 

I'm still working through the 7 steps to style and at the moment I'm stuck on colour. What's interesting is that when I did my colour analysis last year I was definitely cool rather than warm i.e. a jewel winter.  However at the moment there seems to be uncertainty within the group about whether my colouring is cool or warm so Imogen is sending me a set of colour cards that we're hoping will make it clear. Watch this space!

One of the exercises is to define your style personality and I discovered that I was a mixture of several styles, though my main personality traits are relaxed. I do like many elements from the other styles, such as dramatic colours, creative jewellery and elegant chic textures. The style statement that I eventually decided upon, with the help of others in the group (especially Juhli!), is: Casual Chic with a dash of Colour and Drama.

Does this outfit tie in with my style statement?

The outfit shown above is definitely casual and I'd like to think it is chic as well. The bright pink colour adds a touch of drama as well as colour to my outfit. Although they're not very clear in the photo, my toe nails are dark blue to match my necklace and bag.  The length of the top and trousers aren't ideal as they split my figure in half, however the white sandals help to compensate for that as they draw the eyes down. This may not be a particularly stylish outfit in the eyes of the fashion world, but this is me wearing clothes that I feel comfortable in and that I feel express my personality.

When I went for a style consultation earlier in the year, Fiona and I agreed that I was a Natural Gamine. I have created a board on Pinterest reflecting this, however I now feel that there are other elements to add in as a result of embarking on the 7 Steps to Style. So far as my personal style is concerned, I believe that I now have the whole package. Once I have finished this new journey in style, I will post an update on here.

Fashion, Style and Elegance in Women Over 60

If you think that this sounds like a good name for a book, then you're quite right.  I've just read the e-book with that title, written by Patrizia Molechino, and found it refreshingly different. Unlike many style books it doesn't give you just one way to dress stylishly: you know, that list of 10 or 12 essential items including the infamous LBD, which to be honest is too harsh a look for many older women. Instead Patrizia encourages you to express your own individuality.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm not exactly elegant or indeed fashionable, though I do have my own style that can loosely be described as casual chic - with the emphasis on the word casual! I am a woman over 60 though, so I decided to take a look at Patrizia´s book in the interests of research for my blog.  Patrizia's aim is to give more exposure to a large selection of the female population that has been somewhat neglected by fashion and the media in general: yep, that's you and me.

To begin with, the purpose of this book is not to make you look younger (hurrah!) but to help you make the best of yourself. Women with a strong sense of style have never cared about a few wrinkles anyway and have first and foremost always been themselves - think of Diana Vreeland, Anna Piaggi and the amazing ladies of "Advanced Style". However, much as I admire them, my goal isn't to look as fabulous as they do, turning heads whenever I go out. I would just like to be a more stylish and elegant version of myself.

Most of the women in this book aren't famous, which is fine as most of us aren't famous either. They are portrayed as an example of how to achieve looks and styles suited to your own personality. One of the women in the book is tall, slim and blonde - stunningly classy - and as I am short, not-so-slim with dark hair, clearly she isn't the obvious role model for me! I liked the photo of Carlotta with her poodles (the dogs look as elegant as she does) but Cécile and her dog both looked more casual, so obviously I identified more with her style.

Pages from the book

What image do you want to present? As you look through this book, you should consider the different looks as guidelines to inspire you to be yourself, though hopefully a far more stylish version. There are even suggestions on clothes that you can wear to achieve a certain look, with links if you decide to purchase any items - not that I want to encourage you to add to your wardrobe! As an aside, the challenges in Evolve Your Style suggest shopping your own wardrobe rather than rushing out to buy new clothes, so if you have been doing EYS you should have a good idea of how to make the most of your existing wardrobe.

Patrizia is planning to update this book with more examples of over 60 women who have developed their own style. Keep it quiet for the moment, but I may be making an appearance in the next edition! Why don't you submit your own photo and biography and join me there?

Take a look at Patrizia's blog for more details about her book: Patrizia Molechino.360° Fashion. I'm sure this guide to the style and elegance of women in their later years will inspire you just as much as it inspired me. As I state in the side-bar, we may be over 60 but we're definitely not past it!  Even if you are under 60 - and I know some of my readers are - I think you would enjoy reading Patrizia's book and seeing how women of a certain age enjoy expressing their individuality through what they wear.

Evolve Your Style - final part

Have any of you joined in the Evolve Your Style challenge, either by joining the facebook group or by following via my blog? I've just finished and will miss the daily challenges, although Imogen has given us a sheet of additional ones to complete in our own time. I will certainly do them, if only to make getting dressed in the morning a bit more interesting!

Day 25: wear a gift (one you don't wear much).  Day 26: wear green.
Day 27: wear a print (not your favourite one though!)  Day 28: wear feature earrings.

Wearing green

I like the cardigan and the green top on me, however the Evolve Your Style group felt that the cardigan didn't look quite right over this particular top. They suggested either a navy cardigan or a different top under the grey cardigan.

Wearing a gift

This combination wasn't quite right either and some people thought the shirt wore me. Suggestions included wearing the shirt without the cardigan, using it over a plain tank-top as a jacket, wearing a more structured jacket or vest over the shirt. I'll have to try these out to see whether they work!

Day 29: wear a hero piece.  Day 30: wear two parts of a triad.
Day 31: wear neutrals.  Bonus day: wear something old and something new.

Wearing my hero piece - the jacket

Wearing two parts of a triad (purple and green)

Wear neutrals

I received some very positive comments on the last three outfits. The neutral outfit surprised me as I thought it lacked a touch of colour, but it was voted a winner just as it is. Maybe adding more neutrals to my wardrobe isn't such a bad idea after all!