John Lewis style day - help!!

[notanaturalmum]

Hi all,
My husband has bought me a John Lewis style day thing and it's tomorrow and I've no idea what to tell the style girl.
I get two hours and I have to tell her what clothes I like and she goes off and gets me loads of things to try on etc and then I buy what I like

Thing is, I'm in a style rut. I've been pregnant or breastfeeding since October 2016, I've no idea what's trendy. I just know that I feel a bit out of touch. I think the girl might ask me what celebrity styles I like to help gauge what to pick for me. But I don't know many celebrities. Can you guys give me some suggestions so I can swot up for tomorrow please?

I'm 38, a size 12, I used to be trendy.
I like dresses with trainers. I can only think of Holly willoughby style wise.

Any other celebs who are trendy mum type people?

Thanks ever so much

Well, personally I would think if you knew what you liked you would hardly need her help! Just tell her what you do like what you would hate (for instance if you hate jumpsuits etc) if you have a tummy to hide etc.

Good luck and have fun!!

I’ve done this, they ask about your lifestyle what you love what you hate and what your goal is. Mine literally changed my life and now I love clothes and am getting better at putting stuff together.

How did it go?

You tell her exactly what you have told us!

@Hollyhead this is great news.
I wasn't sure if I might have to do mood board type stuff.
Maybe I don't need to prepare as much then. Looking forward to it. Thanks all

You don't have to prepare anything! Just relax and enjoy the experience.

Oh, although taking a pair of shoes you like is a good idea, it helps you judge hem lengths etc.

Can't wait to hear how you get on!

It might help to think of what you might like to wear for a variety of different things e.g. meeting a friend for coffee with or without DC, going for a drink with your husband or friends, a casual lunch or a dinner or a fancy restaurant, a night out, barbeque/dinner at a friend's house.

Fitting clothes to the occasion is one of the hardest things to get right, and I'm guilty of having lots of dressy stuff and not enough really nice casual clothes. And it's the casual clothes I'm usually short of as nights out in fancy restaurants are few and far between!

This sounds fun. Just tell her what you wrote here. Do you have a budget agreed?
Am really interested in how you get on, I'd love this

@Apileofballyhoo you're right. If it's a specific occasion I have no problem eg wedding, birthday party.
It's everyday outfits that I struggle with like shopping with friends or say we go out for the day to an activity or even just Sunday lunch. I just want some basics to put together so I look presentable and grown up I guess.
Will let you all know how it goes

@ssd it's actually free and no obligation to buy but I think I will buy a few things.
DH has said just get what I want, but I'm not a piss taker so will probs just spend £100 maybe of his money or buy one item to be from him and then use mine for the rest. But don't really want to spend a massive amount so hoping she can find me lots of sale stuff.

I've done this a few times - this is why you have 2 hours. They will have a small selection of items ready for you to try on to begin with, but the advisors are very adept at quickly working out what's right for you and will make multiple return trips onto the shop floor for different items.

Be open minded and try everything in to begin with, as the idea is to gently push yourself out of your comfort zone, but at the same time be honest. I've always really enjoyed it.

Even the assistance in getting a decent, well fitting pair of jeans is really valuable.

I loved LOVED mine. I went with a specific task so mine was a wedding and party and trip abroad (all combined) yours would be to update your day to day wardrobe. My stylist was totally on it, brought things I’d not have tried but we’re sort of exactly what I’d wanted. I fell for them immediately. Interestingly in the last hour when she just brought things for fun - as I’d already found what I needed - and she brought the sort of thing I’d normally have gone for it was all totally wrong. It showed me that I was stuck in a rut and I needed fresh eyes. Would recommend to anyone. Just go and enjoy, be honest and tell them what you need for your life and your budget.

I did one of these a while ago. You can be really specific or quite vague. What are you after? Entire outfits? Just tops to wear with existing jeans or something? How much is your overall budget and how much do you want to get with it?
When I did it, I wanted two pairs of smart trousers for work and two or three tops to wear with each of those pairs of trousers and gave her a budget of £500, preferably less. That meant she knew that there was no point in every item being £100+ as I wouldn't be able to buy them all.
Do you want entire outfits? If so, how many? Does an entire outfit include footwear and accessories? Or, if, for example, you've already got jeans and footwear you like, do you just want different tops to go with it? Or do you want a different style of jeans, footwear to go with those jeans and then a variety of tops?
I started off with ten pairs of black trousers, dismissed three of them for not being appropriate and after trying on five or so, the stylist had a good idea of my shape and size. She then went out to the shop floor and brought back every other pair that she thought would fit me. Which was brilliant. As she knew which brand I would be a 12 in, which one a 14, which one a 16 etc. Rather than be taking a bunch of size 14s and getting annoyed when half of them didn't fit.

Ok I said I'd post how I got on

I really really enjoyed it. I usually find clothes shopping so overwhelming and this is experience was just the opposite.

We just had a chat and I said what I'd written above. And she went off and came back maybe 20 minutes later with a whole range of colours styles and prices.
I then yes/no/maybe'd a few things and that helped her gauge my requirements more. As it happens she ended up putting me in what she was wearing which was a pleated skirt, nice jumper and trainers!

But she explained about what shoes/boots to wear with cropped trousers (which I am always confused about). And then kept going and coming back with more stuff that I never would have even seen.

And it wasn't too pricey all stuff that I thought was reasonable.
That being said, I spent £400 which I NEVER HAVE DONE EVER on clothes. But I really liked everything and it's a foundation of a capsule wardrobe which I can grow (which was my requirement). And it's stuff that I can wear now through to late spring easily - all warm stuff.
I got a jumper dress from all saints. A shirt dress from hush. An oversized jumper from max studio which I've never heard of. A pleated skirt from some random brand. An animal print skirt from mint velvet. A light jumper from warehouse and some Adidas trainers.
Interestingly I asked for some whistles stuff but the fit was completely wrong on me and she was like - this will never be your shop (in a nice way). But hush fits me much nicer so that will be my splurge shop of choice.

And when I left, I browsed a few rails and instead of being panicked, I felt calmer and more at peace with knowing what to pick.
So I would definitely recommend it to anybody who is a bit lost and scared of the shops.

Hope this helps anybody who is thinking of doing it. It was great!!

Oh and DH has agreed to go halves which was a nice surprise as I had £100 in my head from him.

Oh wow. I'm going to have to do this when I can save up some money!

Yay! I was just coming on to check if you had reported back. Enjoy your new outfits!!!

That's great OP. Decent of your DH too. Really pleased for you!

@notanaturalmum yeay! That’s exactly the same experience I had OP. It wasn’t Lucy at Westfield was it? She’s amazing!

Glad it was a pleasant experience, OP.
Please can you reveal what shoes to wear with cropped trousers?
Thanks you.

That sounds fab!

Thanks all 🙂
@FesteredFairy it's a minefield.
I tried some wide leg cropped jeans which she said trainers for.
But then some softer fabric ones with a narrow leg she said knee high boots or long ankle boots but slim fit ones not biker style. And a slim heel.
In my head I figured the slimmer the leg the daintier the boot.
But I'm no expert

@notanaturalmum - thanks for those hints!

Which store was it OP if you don’t mind saying?