So I've realised that I don't know what "frumpy" looks like...

[Blackden]

and therefore there's a very good chance that I am extremely frumpy.
I read the Boden thread with interest.

Can you please describe frumpy? Does it mean baggy and shapeless clothes? At my age I can't be wearing those 'BodyCon' type dresses (not got the figure for them either )
Or can you link me to some frumpy stuff because I just can't visualise it.

And, what's a 'wrong side of 45' woman to do? How can I avoid looking like mutton but not look frumpy?

OBFace I still shop in Topshop. There are other mums out there that don't go pear shaped at 30 just because they have a baby like HmmThinkingAboutIt implied. I don't see how the trousers and jeans will suddenly be too young just because you are over 30.

And good on you for making it back to size 10 a year on.

Oh I do agree with dressing my age, but I really disagree topshop is too young for 30. Kate Moss is 38, according to wikipedia. Wasn't she collaboration with Topshop until not long ago?

I have been thinking about this a lot since I last posted on the thread, and I think what really sums it up (for me) 'is not quite getting it right'

This may mean the wrong length skirt, or wrong cut of jeans, or wearing colours that don't quite go. I think a lot of it is attitude too - if you wear a flowery print dress, wear it with conviction, enjoy what you wear.

I know I feel frumpy in clothes that I don't love. I may have loved them a year ago, but they may have not washed very well, or I may have changed shape.

I went shopping yesterday. I am 27, a size 10 on the bottom, 14 on top (apple shaped) I bought a pair of raspberry slightly cropped skinny jeans in New Look, then I went into M&Co and bought two blouse type things and a pair of high waisted, wide leg jeans. They make me feel good, and I don't look frumpy, despite getting them from an 'old lady shop'

Buy what you like and what makes you feel good about yourself :)

marking this thread to come back to!

I think a lot of this "frump" talk is a state of mind TBH.

Vezzie - do you have a reasonable budget? Get thee to helmut lang and joseph. Wear those spanx and some spicy LK benetts. Good haircut. Ta da.

Thanks, sundaegirl. I'm a bit scroogey at the moment as I need to drop a couple of sizes and I think I will. But maybe one or two "proper" purchases are necessary. Maybe a slightly too small jacket that I can wear unbuttoned and keep long term at my "real" size...

Hair that isn't styled, cut, coloured to suit the face and type of hair is frumpy. When it is so obvious the person doesn't know what to do that they just leave it in its frazzled, frizzy natural state.
Big, baggy, shapeless t shirts/fleeces/jumpers.
Minging feet.
Most supermarket clothing.
Wedge heeled boots.
Shiny tops with cheap, unmatching accessories.
Mis-matched clothing or very safe clothing.

What an informative thread!

If you want a masterclass in frumpery, visit any National Trust property. I saw several prime examples at Hanbury Hall last weekend; knee-length, a-line skirts in practical fabrics teamed with teacher-style shoes (ballet style leather things with a wide strap/fun embroidery), comfortable t-shirt and bucket hats. Bucket hats ffs. On grown women. Women dressed like 6 year old girls. :(

Bupcakes I think you saw my MIL. She wears those shoes and hats.

This type?!

Oh no, on Sunday I was wearing a bucket hat... So what do you wear if you don't want to get sunstroke then?

In my defence I wasn't wearing a knee length skirt... But I'm wearing a knee length dress today How did it go so wrong? I have completely lost touch with what I'm supposed to be wearing.

I don't agree bootcut jeans are necessarily 'frumpy'. It depends. I have some from Gap (the 'Long and Lean' ones - don't worry, you don't have to be long and lean to wear them, it's how they're supposed to make you look!) which I think look great.

However I have some from M&S Per Una (yes I know!) which I'm reluctant to stop wearing because they actually fit my waist/hips properly...but they truly are frumpy and unflattering.

Fleeces have their place IMO. Great for dog walking, hiking etc, and needn't look bad if it's a good fit and not all baggy and shapeless. I wouldn't wear one to work, in town etc though.

I never wear high heels, don't really care if that's considered frumpy, being able to walk comfortably is more important to me! You can get lots of nice-looking flat shoes/boots these days anyway.

Yes Bups, she has some blue ones with strap AND embroidery. She arrived like a whirlwind on the doorstep one day, ever so excited. I'd barely got the door open before she said "d'you like my shoes? My neighbour gave them to me!" She was literally giddy with excitement. I mumbled something non-comittal and changed the subject.

FaintingGoat, I am getting the CATALOGUE for those shoes! It comes with a letter saying that they have my name and adress because SOMEONE RECOMMENDED ME! Oh my goodness, I hope they really just bought a mailing list because I just cannot bear the thought of my mother someone sitting down and writing my name and address thinking, "Vezzie would love a pair of these nice comfortable colourful shoes."
dd1 and I cut them out and make sadistic collages where we dress the characters in CBeebies magazine atrociously, and then laugh at them.

I don't know what headgear is stylish and can prevent sunstroke :(

These shoes are for women like me who feel mumsy in flat shoes but cannot deal with heels. They feel like walking in flats but they give you height! And make you look a bit more glam! And they go with everything! What's not to like?!

I don't like them Bupcakes They're not frumpy but they're a bit... comical. I couldn't take myself seriously in them.

But I do struggle with shoes - I love the look of heels but they make my face ugly (due to being scrunched up in pain). If I could find heels that didn't make my face look so ugly I'd wear them a lot. But as it is I'm always in flat ballet pumps, plimsolls or sandals... Frumpy McFrump, that's me.

ohgorgeousthings! Here, let me help you with that

Yes, even I'm not frumpy enough to wear those.

I honestly don't think those are frumpy! They're classic Chelsea boots! On a woman-of-a-certain-age they could look very nice with some crisp straight jeans, white shirt and a Barbour, for instance. Or even a woman of any age going for a timeless Sloaney/County look. V different from hideous clompy shoes with straps and embroidery and knee length skirts.

They're also being worn in London at the moment by loads of studenty/arty types with tights and little vintage dresses.

The ones being worn by students in Hoxton aren't those frumpy numbers from Clarks! They wear these ones

Those first ones are the type better known as 'mum boots', surely? :)

Chelsea boots need to be flat. Any boot will look a bit dull if it's paired with flappy boot cuts.

Bupcakes, most of them I see are wearing vintage ones, not the modern styled ones you linked to. They're wearing exactly the same ones that 'frumpy' mothers probably wore ten years ago and gave to charity shops. In other words virtually indistinguishable from what you could buy today in Russell&Bromley and probably get called frumpy for wearing with bootleg jeans!

Yours are closer to pixie boots than a classic chelsea boot.