How to look elegant and well-groomed like them there French women?

[IBlameThatcher]

I've decided that I should stop wearing jeans and baggy tops everyday. I need to lose a couple of stone, so I've started on that. Had my hair trimmed and am trying to keep it in good condition. What I really need is advice on what exactly to wear. I was thinking plain, straight knee-length dresses, lots of black and simple jewellery. Can anyone else advise me as to what I should be wearing? Links to pics of tres stylish French women would be good

Fraktal - totally agree on the nail front but that is why people need Seche Vite combined with a good nude polish OR to buff their nails. I buy my buffers from poundland - you get 4 in a pack and they do the job brilliantly. Also - if people have peely horrible nails -I used to too but nail envy changed that for me - it is great. :)

Well... Well groomed and elegant sounds good. But I reckon at my age and with my body I'm better aiming at clean and neat, with perhaps a mild diversion to quirky! I think elegant needs a certain kind of strong features and a long neck, or it can just look frumpy tbh.

Groomed is clean and neat,as it's base.
Elegant is deportment and 'lines'.
Not sure if neck length is a requirement!

harbinger :o

Having your colours done may help but is not a guarantee for success. There is some awful stuff in the shops (thinking per Una speziale, etc). Even if it is on your colours, it will still look .... was too well brought up to write this down ;)

I don't get the Per una line. Who is their target customer? (Not some stylish frenchwoman wannabe probably)

I think the key to dressing up a bit is to figure out your best features and play them up. For example, I am tall and busty with a high waist, so I find a long floaty v-neck top with a bold pattern makes me look smart even if I wear it with jeans.

One thing which seems to suit everyone and looks instantly glam is just a pair of dainty earrings, no other jewelry. Whether you have a crop, a bob, or long hair in a nice updo, showing off your neck and dainty earrings will make you feel a bit like Audrey Hepburn!

Weigh 8 stone or less, wear Marni and have neat, natural hair.

I can only claim to manage one of those....

Read thiswww.travelbelles.com interesting, some very good tips

MrsMartin! The handbag2handbag bag is what I've needed all these years!!

Got so excited about this I told DH and he made this face

Really do you want to wear neat dresses and lots of black - sounds tres dull to me

Have fun with fashion. Ideally be a good weight, do routine grooming and then have some fun - I love fashion and always have good sunglasses/bags etc but I know what suits me generally but still make mistakes.

Colour is good - I'm loving pretty coloured skinnies for spring for example.

Mostly its just spending time on yourself - so exfoliating, moisturising etc. I know I always feel better with a bit of fake tan on and nails done [towie].

And don't buy into a capsule wardrobe - stuff dates - it really really does. Better to buy good stuff and wear it to death over a year or two in my opinion.

Also find shops/designers whose stuff suits you and is cut for your shape.

I don't think anyone has said anything about only wearing black...you just need to have pieces that work and are timeless - not clothes but key acessories. I have a tan leather bag that still looks like I could have bought it today - £225 10 years ago and I use it all the time. There is a big difference between 'stylish' and 'fashionable'. And no, I'm not ancient :)

planet - yeah, my DH made that face when I first discovered seche vite - after years of chipping my manicure after a day it was the holy grail. He din not care enough imo!!

Plastic surgery over a certain age to achieve a) the "stretched face" look if you are over 60 or b) the "pillow face and cats' eyes" look (a la Carla Bruni) if you are under 60.

Trout pout. (We were in a resto near us the other week and DH had to tell me to stop staring at a woman whose face was so stretched and whose lips were so plump that she could barely eat.)

Dyed hair, cut well. (ver' ver' important to look groomed)

White fluffy dog that looks like it went to the hairdresser with you and had le brushing itself.

Polished shoes.

Designer bag.

Being a halfway sensible weight helps a lot, and being well groomed is crucial.

I think having your version of a capsule wardrobe helps, although it almost never fits into the one white shirt/one suit/one LBD type formula. For instance, my equivalent of having the wardrobe 'essential' of a suit jacket that goes from day to night is a leather jacket, which goes with everything, but suits my more relaxed style.

Also, fewer, but more expensive clothes. Very important. I only have a couple of dozen items of clothing in total (excluding underwear), and I have more choice than when I had a cupboard full of crap, and it all looks much better.

mrsS - why does looking elegant and groomed = looking like a Jackie Collins super bitch? Or old for that matter? To me it is more Pippa Middleton - clearly made an effort without looking like a trashy slut idiot.

or, perhaps worse, looking like shit crap and not giving a shit crap

Ha MrsM in a Shellac addict love, love, love always having perfect nails but still being able to actually use my hands!

The lady I go to is fab and it costs me....£8

MrsM - the Op mentioned wearing a lot of black hence my comments.

Agree hopefully fewer items of clothing very well cut/expensive will dress you very well, mix and match them and accessories with stylish, but not loud jewellery and you are set.
I don't think that classic/stylish should be associated with old that certainly isn't the case, I am not ancient, but at the same time I don't want to wear staff I wore in my twenties, simply because I can't get away with it anymore, there is nothing old in well cut jeans, crisp shirt, biker jacket and patent pumps and IMO lot more preferable to uniform of skinny jeans and baggy top seen everywhere and on everyone regardless of their age.

Ah..sorry, missed that one.

Shellac seems good to me - haven't had it done simply because I like to change my colour on the spur of the moment and because I find seche vite so good. Also - I'm not sure if nail envy would penetrate through it - and I would not give up my nail envy!!!

God - I love skinny jeans - in fact prefer super skinny but wouldn't be caught dead in a baggy top or flat shoes either But i am small which makes a big difference to how i dress, if I were 5ft 10 am sure I'd wear flats a lot more.

for Mrs C-B by way of apology.

Why thank you MrsM

I am weaning myself of black as I know it really doesn't do me any favours. And there may be some truth in this colours malarkey