To ask how some people making looking so normal so good?

[Upsetbetty]

I’m genuinely baffled, yesterday at work one of the women came in and I was blown away as I am most days. It was Friday so she was dressed a bit more casual. She only had on a pair of mom jeans, and a plain crewneck jumper, but it was to put togetherness that I couldn’t get over. Underneath her jumper, she had a long white sleeve top and the neck of the top could JUST be seen popping up from her jumper, she rolled up her jumper sleeves so you could see the white sleeves underneath, she had a pair of Adidas sambas on. It just looked so perfectly put together and thought out yet so simple at the same time. If I tried to emulate that I would look scruffy!! Just how does she do it? Anyone have any insight? I asked her and she told me where she got said items but I supppse it’s the fit that worked so well.

I love the tips from this fashion influencer. Now it's just a case of putting it into practice 😅

I think the secret is in ironing stuff. Obviously shirts, but also T-shirts, jersey dresses. Even some jumpers need it. I’m stating the obvious here but it’s taken me a long while to accept it and make the time for it.

Not true, if by petite you mean short. It might be to do with the proportions, but personally I have a normal sized body with short legs and that does NOT look good in clothes. It's actually much more difficult to make an outfit work because everything falls on the wrong part of the body.

Nah. I iron everything, but I always look a bit...wrong.

I think it’s instinct and it’s something that comes naturally. My sister has it in spades I think I hve it to a certain extent. I wouldn’t dress like my sister but she just has a knack of putting things together and always looks amazing. She’s not tall and she doesn’t spend a lot of money, I’m not sure she doesn’t much ironing but somehow whatever she wears works. I’ve another friend who is similar. She’s tiny and we went out the other night. She came straight from work and was wearing jeans and a blazer but somehow she looked like she had walked out of a magazine. Again, it was mainly Zara but you couldn’t help but notice and admire her

I'm 5"3 with a long torso and short legs - high waist everything!

Many many years ago a designer said to me, "Some people can walk down the street wearing a loose unstructured linen jacket and look fantastic. Yellow, you are not one of those people." Well I took from that that I needed more tailored stuff. I am about average height and a size 8-10. I have got to say I look like a bundle of laundry in wide legged trousers and shirt dresses are awful. Just try on lots of shapes to find what suits you and iron things - wash things on gentle cycle and/or hand-wash them.

⁹⁸Then iron them - no cotton shirt is going to look fantastic unironed no matter what people may say to the contrary. It's also doing all the boring nail clipping, eyebrow trimming/dyeing, pumicing your heels, putting a protein pack on your hair etc boring stuff before you are venturing out with greying bushy eyebrows and hair sprouting out of your toes.with a dreadful whiff of dry shampoo.

I think people with a longer torso and long neck always look more elegant. I'm busty with a short neck and wide feet. I swear I don't suit anything and I never look elegant no matter what I wear. The more I try the more I feel like a pantomime dame!

Posture always helps

I think weight/body shape plays a big part too (sadly) I love the mom jeans and crew sweater look and other casual looks like that, I’m quite big chested and just generally not the weight I want to be at the moment and I just don’t think it looks very good on me as a result. I really wish I didn’t feel this way but think slimmer people can carry off casual looks in particular without looking scruffy.

Which influencer?

And is it just me, but whenever I start of with a lovely crisp white shirt - which to me is so classic and elegant - within a couple of hours the collar and cuffs seem to look a bit grey and marked?

And don’t you think also, the women that seem to carry off the stylish aura are generally those that don’t follow fashion too closely, but find a look that flatters and plays up their best points? I would love an impartial stylist who could tell me what bits of me I should be highlighting and which parts I should be playing down - and how to do it!

its probably nothing to do with what shes wearing, and more about that shes got a nice face and is clean and slim

Apparently the white t-shirt neck “crescent” is a thing.

I think good clothes. No fast fashion / supermarket stuff.

Not squeezing into smaller sizes that we think we still are.

No temporary “fat clothes” when you’ve been at the pies…

Carefully chosen accessories. You are not a Christmas tree!

High waists make me sick - literally. I suppose I've got IBS and I just can't tolerate high waists even if I size up.

My other problem is that I feel the cold so loads of the tips like - roll up your sleeves to expose your wrists just don't work for me because they make me cold. Wearing socks with summer shoes, etc.

Over the winter I've been wearing so many layers I look like Michelin man. Yesterday for the first time it wasn't cold when I went to work at lunchtime so I could wear a turtle neck top and trousers I couldn't fit into a month ago. I was excited, but I just looked...dumpy. Losing a few pounds hasn't changed my basic body shape so I think that must be a huge part of it - it's easier if you're hourglass rather than pear shaped or straight up and down.

@TheCountofMountingCrispBags I agree-it looks good on tall rangy slim people - at 5ft 3 and overweight- I just don’t carry that look off

Clean?
Apart from rough sleepers, everyone I see is clean.

There is actually a business in Glasgow called Boxfresh who clean & repair trainers. The guy started off in his house but now has a shop. I would think other areas have similar! I chuck mine in the washing machine!

That was in response to a pp about trainers looking scruffy! Quote fail!

"Not squeezing into smaller sizes that we think we still are."

Yes, but I don't think the oversized look looks good on most people either - unless you're very skinny, it just adds imaginary bulk.

Expensive clothes in natural fabrics help. I've started buying expensive things second hand rather than cheap things new, and I look much better for it.

That one word Blazer says it all. All women who dress with style own a blazer.
Fit is the other essential.
Unfortunately for the younger members on this site you havnt been taught any sewing skills. I’m 5’ but have to alter the whole crutch/ bum seam on every pair of trousers I buy.
Btw. If your garment has a shoulder seam, that should be on your shoulder, not half way down your arm.

@healthybychristmas cocobeautea

I know exactly what you mean, OP!

I complimented a colleague on her outfit recently because she basically took a pair of black trousers and a black long-sleeved t-shirt and elevated it massively with accessories. She had a black belt with gold hardware, two gold bracelets, and a chunky gold necklace layered with a fine gold chain. It was all just so understated and elegant.

I can never do that. I think I need to invest in some good statement jewellery. A lot of the expensive stuff I have is quite quirky so doesn’t give off that understated vibe.

Agree re. oversized things, like blazers / macs for example.
I just look like the Honey Monster in those. Fitted is better.

I have to buy a head-to-toe outfit that’s been put together by the stylists online. I can’t mix and match with any degree of confidence. At 5’7” tall and an in-proportion size 12 with glossy hair, I should be able to carry stuff off. But I can’t. I always look “okay”. Never “great”. I don’t know what to pair with what unless it’s spelled out to me.

A good example for me is Nicola Walker as a lawyer in The Split. She looks effortlessly brilliant and many of her character’s clothes sold out online. At around the same time (my point being that Nicola’s appearance/weight hadn't altered) she filmed a tv drama called Marriage where her character wore the kind of ordinary, slightly ill-fitting clothes that absolutely nobody was asking about on TwitterX because she looked so very ordinary.