I'm bored of my lack of style

[confusedpixie]

Help me find a new style please? I live in jeans and tee shirts, or plain jane 'nice' tops along with short sleeved jumpers combined with long sleeved shirts. Don't have accessories and don't really do them and I need a style that's simple enough for crawling around the floor and general kids bits (I am a nanny). I also need some nicer bits for casual going out and dressed up going out should I ever get a social life!

Where do I start? I'm too comfortable with my current 'style'.

Me too - watching with interest!

Me three! Marking my place and hoping some quick (er, and cheap? May I have the moon on a stick, too, please?) tips come along.

Me four!! Seriously considering dumping the jeans for tunics/dresses with leggings. I have tree trunk legs but am getting past the point of caring just so I don't get depressed by the muffin top

Ordered 4 dresses/tunics from the Next sale today, took a gamble which is not like me, but desperation has struck!!!!

YY cheap please! I have been considering leggings for so long, but I dislike the look on most people and feel I'd look even more frumpy than I do in leggings!

No.more.leggings.please! May I suggest primark's amazing skinny jeans(£9) instead worn with tunics and ballarinas? Or is this last year's fashion?

wear nice jeans and spent money on nicer tops, get loose shirts and baggy t shirts.

get a really nice jacket that's light cotton and drapey

Marking my place; I am in dire need of help, so am watching with interest.

Admittedly I'd prefer to look less Mumsy, considering I'm quite young and not a Mum yet but still get mistaken for one all of the time, with my charges or not!

Maraki: I have a couple of pairs of primark skinnies, can't fit into their super skinnies but do in their bog standard ones which are slightly too long but a quick stitch up will make the fine when I can be bothered :) I haven't yet made the jump to coloured skinnies yet though, not really sure what to wear on top or for shoes? I don't have many pairs of shoes, cannot wear heals at all due to bad knees and hips and find ballet pumps uncomfortable, I could wear them when used to them but I've never made the effort being honest! I am trying to find a good pair or two of boots at the moment but struggle to think that anything non-plain will look good, in fact I'm like that with all of my clothes!

Though a quick browse of the blogs has at least made me think :) Cocomamastyle is particularly good, I'm drawn to it quite a bit, the owner is obviously used to blogging!

South: I have a couple of pairs of nice jeans which fit me well surprisingly (it's a problem I always have with jeans, can never get a good fit, but after advice on here last year I did manage to find a couple of pairs in Primark which have lasted a while!) and they do go well with the tops I have but I do need more.

By loose shirts do you mean chequered type or blousey types? Or something else entirely? I like the idea of blouses, I am not good at working out what suits though which is why I avoid them.
Love chequered shirts though, DP and I will match on more than one occasion likely this summer with chequered shirts

Agree with maraki about skinny jeans rather than leggings.leggings/footless tights can look nice with knee length dresses but can be incredibly unforgiving with shorter tops/tunics.skinnies give the same silhouette without clinging to every lump and bump.
In the spring/summer I live in dresses and tunics,skinny jeans and ballerinas/flat sandals.
Tunics worn with a little fitted cardi (h and m) can look good too.

For ideas I look at blogs
wit.blog.spot
styleguile.blog.spot
schoolgatestyle.blog.spot
And shopstyle.co.uk also puts great outfits together.

Thanks dingdong3 for the recommendation. And confusedpixie thank you for your kind words!
I'm not sure if you read my bio but I'm mum to an 11 month old and got fed up with feeling rubbish about myself so sorted myself out and wanted to inspire other mums with ideas but soon realised it wasnt just mums that want advice. I'm still rather new to blogging but I welcome challenges and suggestions for posts... more breastfeeding wear... 'what can I wear to disguise my baby weight'... but anything and everything you are having problems with.
I have a lot of general posts for ideas on day to day dressing in the pipeline so keep an eye out and just being around little ones and having to think about flashing your pants, obvious stains and too much cleavage when you bend over are the last things you need to be worrying about.

It can be really easy. And everyone's right there's definitely lots on the high street. I also love primarks skinny bargain jeans! And experiment with colours this spring summer. Just team with a loose neutral top and ballet flats or canvas pumps and you'll have yourself a new 'uniform'.

Also an instant way to feel a bit more 'together' is a blazer instead of a cardi. You dont have to go down the super smart office type look but primark and new look etc have great jersey versions. Something like a grey marl looks and feels casual enough for running around with little ones but adds a touch more style than basic knitwear.

And anymore q's head to the Q's page on my site: cocomamastyle.com/you-mama/style-solutions/

and thanks again ladies. I'm vv new to Mumsnet so was thrilled to see this :-)
xx

(sorry this was quite long!)

I just don't think I've got the figure for skinny jeans. I have thunder thighs, baggy belly and my legs aren't particularly long.

I'm dreading summer and the thought of not knowing what to wear and longing to hide under my safety blanket of black black and more black!!!

I agree with what's been said about leggings but I don't see any other option

cocomama your blog is lovely. I've only started looking at blogs recently. I think this us a tricky time weather-wise. It's sunny, but cold so you can look fab inside but still need a coat. I still end up wearing jeans all the time though! Am too fat for colored ones but might try some black ones.

Lozislovely - skinny jeans are a lot more forgiving than leggings and would hold you in more. I think leggings accentuate bellies more as the elasticated waist comes in over the top and the fabric is too thin to suck in any spare flesh. A pair of high waisted skinny jeans might be worth trying?

i hate the "mama this" shit on that blog htough ffs

LozisLovely, I am actually posting a piece this morning about trousers, because us mums always end up in jeans!! And there are so many styles on the high street for spring. From loose printed (which are actually really wearable) to chinos in every colour you can imagine (including classic stone, navy and khaki) and slim styles. A looser chino actually can be really flattering if you're curvier. Team with a straight or lightly flared cut top (perhaps chiffon or silky for more dressed up daywear) (skims your tum)and a casual blazer, box cardi, or even a fine knit waterfall cardi or looser long shrug style and it's an instant change to jeans but comfy and stylish.

If black is your 'go to' colour why not try a true navy instead (not just a darkish blue which can look faded)? Its so underrated and is really flattering. And definitely ups the chic factor! ;-) AND you can get away with it even in high summer which sometimes you can't with black.

As for other jeans you could try a straight leg. I do love a bootcut (as long as the length is long enough and worn with a heel) But straight legs are a great inbetween option.

One more thing (!!) you could try layering a long line vest, (ie long enough to almost cover your bottom) under shorter straight or flared tops if you wante to try skinny jeans. This breaks up the space if you're conscious of your hips/thighs. If you're shorter do be careful though as it can shorten your legs further. In which case a shorter top with a trouser would be perfect.

hope this helps a bit :-)

cocomamastyle.com

You do realize the blog owner is posting above you?

Yup. Blog owner. Lose the "mama" crap. I'm a woman who has kids. Not your mum.

Sorry to read you don't like that phrase, MsNorbury. Personally I prefer it to the 'yummy mummy' references everyone tries to push onto mums. But if it's offensive to mothers I apologise.

you sound as though you might benefit from HoC colour and style days. it's not about getting massively on-trend but will help you dress for your colouring, lifestyle and personality: www.houseofcolour.co.uk/

i used to dress too classic (bretons, blazers etc) which turned out to be too 'straight lines' and plain for me. i'm now a 'natural ingenue' which couldn't have shocked me more (me - a girly ingenue, ffs?) but now i find lace, ruffles, fiddly jewels and shit totally essential and I don;t feel over-done as i dress it all down to also suit the 'natural' side of me so textured knits, riding boots, leggings, jeans etc.

coco gorgeous blog but i do agree with msnorbury that the mama chat is a bit off-putting but hey, we're all different.

and yy, it is roughly a 10053% better than 'yummy mummy' so kudos for that

Second the HoC colour and style days. They will make getting dressed about a million times easier, instead of trying to shoehorn yourself into a new 'style' that doesn't suit you. For instance, I look like a complete fool in all the dainty details that season loves ad needs, but look great in large scale prints, asymmetric tops and jeans with zipped legs etc - I'm a dramatic natural.

just looked at your pics hope - can really see why you're a dram nat, what a cool combo .

would love to see some pics of you in your every day stuff (although the wedding dress is sublime!) as a friend has just self-diagnosed as a dram nat so would good to see if your style is similar.

you've got gorge colouring too - are you a winter?

Thank for the feedback SeasonsoftheWitch :-)

I've been flicking through your blog cocomama and I think it's fantastic!! Thank you for taking the time to do it xx

(p.s, if the only thing people can gripe about is the term "mama" you must be doing a pretty good job )