To hate all clothes... too young or too mumsy

[gwincath]

Having a mare picking clothes for a few special occasions coming up over the next few months... I'm late 40s and clothes just either seem too young or too mumsy, I just wanna look nice
Any store/brand suggestion appreciated

Thanks Hamiltoes will have a look, Marks and Spencer’s had the colour but they were jeggings and not proper jeans, I was so excited when I saw them, then the crushing disappointment set in, so near yet so far....!

A good exercise is to search on eBay for a brand, then look at the other 'suggested' keywords running below the box. You can end up down a rabbit hole coming across brands you didn't know existed. Click on them and you get a good idea of what they're like from the eBay stuff on offer.

Have you looked at Esprit? Always find a lot there to like and I'm 44.

Decide what kind of things you want then look online. eBay, Etsy, etc. It's also handy to have and be able to use a sewing machine to do little nips and tucks.

I also recommend Zara op.

I only discovered it last year whilst on holiday in Spain with my skinny relative who buys everything there.
I told her I would wait outside and have a cig but ended up going in and was amazed.

I'm a size 18 and thought that Zara wouldn't fit me. I wanted everything.

Back home we have an absolutely huge Zara at Liverpool One and I had never stepped inside it. It's now my go-to.

I'm 40.

I love jigsaw.

Agree. For work I'm always trying to find something that's not 'flirty intern' but isn't Miss Trunchbull. Impossible.

I look on Pinterest for a bit of inspiration . I especially like the capsule wardrobes. I then shop on EBay for similar things. It's also a good idea to google people's whose style you like and the search ebay for similar.

This stuff is nice, not work wear per se though: www.sola-mia.com

Uniqlo for basics baukjen for good quality tops

Cos and Toast

I had the same problem but solved it with Leon Max shoes (LOVE his stuff) and a black silk jumpsuit. All Saints are good for quirky non frump age appropriate stuff (38 in my case).

I know your pain. I've been looking but not found a thing. My upper limit is Warehouse or Oasis but nearly everything in Oasis was blue. I don't like blue except for jeans. Grrrrr.

Cos and Hush are fab!

Boden? Jaeger and Reiss for more formal wear.

OP I am the same age and also end up with Fat Face stuff. I have the same problem, so if you solve it, I'd be happy to hear.
The problem I seem to have is that I've 'thickened' round the waist, for want of a better word. I was and still am a size 14, except that anything with a fitted waist doesn't fit at all now.
I have a couple of Whistles tunics and wear them with leggings, but my wardrobe is sadly lacking.....hoping to benefit from your thread :)

I feel very much the same - I went clothes shopping the other day, came home with nothing but a migraine. All I want is some t-shirts I can wear over a nursing vest. Everything's either too thin/clingy so shows all the bumps of the vest clips/breast pads, or it's floaty & looks ridiculous or swamps me.

The best top I've got for wearing over the vests is one from when I helped at a kids club many years ago. It's just a unisex one from a t shirt printing company. If it didn't have enormous pictures of cartoon animals on the front & the name of the team on the back I'd wear it all the time. I'm seriously considering designing some t-shirts to get printed so I could get some similar tops... I'm not much of a slogan person & can't really draw well though so can't think what I'd put on them! Plus, they're not exactly stylish & I do like to at least appear to conform to society's expectations while in public. Blah.

Thanks for all the suggestions... had a quick look through some websites and I really like the look of Hush

Cos, &other stories, hush, H&M (bit hit and miss at times)

Definately Cos. You need to try it on as things look better on.

I still adore Jigsaw.

White Company clothes are lovely and very good quality.

BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo m and s jeggibgs are just skinny jeans in my experience.

I am the same OP. I work from home so don't need to be smart but am sick of living in harem trousers or leggings or jeggings.

Tops are either vest tops or long vest tops or I have a couple of plain t shirts from H and M from last year.

I went shopping last week with my mum for a mother of bride outfit. She is mid 60s. All the dresses made her look like an escaped fortune teller. We ended up with a lilac trouser suit.

Sézane?

Same here
Fair bit of cash to spend for first time for years.
And there is nothing
Don't like the faded Cornwall look as someone described
A lot of Hobbs Whistles etc looks too officey
I end up buying nice bags and scarves.
So depressing ......

Not cheap but eShakti is varied and you can customise size and style (that's why it's not cheap but my God you can make the stuff got and change the stuff that doesn't suit you).