I'm RUBBISH at casual dressing!!!!!

[sweetheart]

Can anyone help me? I'm rubbish with casual dressing and have noticed a lot recently that when shopping I tend to buy stuff which is too posh for weekends etc

I work full time (although not in a business suit environment) and the only times I really go shopping is to buy something to wear on an evening out. The general shopping I do tends to draw me towards dresses I can wear to work as depressingly this is probably where I spend most of my time.

I'd really like to get a decent casual style. My problem is that I am pear shaped and I think I have short legs so I look terribly dumpy in flats! Wearing jeans at the weekend I feel like a weeble or a rolly polly lady!

It's fine wearing jeans out in teh evening with heels but with 2 kids I feel like a right twat prancing around in heels on a weekend.

In winter I quite like the skinny jean and knee high boot look but in the warmer weather I feel stuck. Dresses and flats again seem to highlight the whole pearshap / crap legs thing!

Anyone got any ideas to help?

Lurking, wow we are really similar hey! There MUST be an answer! Maybe we should start our own blog on this very subject.

Dressipi hasn't been overly helpful in the past to be honest. It keeps telling me to wear skinny trousers which I think make my arse look huge!

I am interested in that other website though and am off or a good read. Maybe if those of us with the same problem have n outfit we think is good perhaps we can post it here to help each other.

I've even had a style analysis before but se seemed to think I could basically wear anything which just isn't true.

Hmmmm do I want to spend £30 to try hat measurement thing? I think I probably do

I'm just hmmm-ing the same thing!!! I wonder is it rubbish?

I do try skinnies, this top is what I wear with them atm, with a long necklace. I think it's not bad on me because there is some shoulder structure and that balances me out a bit. It's v fluid, also helps. And the necklace distracts. I'm still stuck for shoes tho, I have wedge sandals, not too bad. Would ideally like wedge boots I think.

It's all ok on me, at least I feel reasonably casual and fashionable.

The Cos top looks horrendous on the website. It's not at all. Quite different irl actually. Looks quite scary on the website.

Pear shape here - long body, short legs, cankles, the works! It is hard - so much out there seems to be cut for people with skinny long legs or skinny everything...

Suggestions for a casual wardrobe:

Long black skirt - get one with a highish waist and jersey fabric, like this:

www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=4937988&langId=-1&categoryId=&searchTerm=maxi%20skirt&pageSize=20

Pair the skirt with a white, black or grey vest top and a cardi or jacket. Flats or trainers look fine because cankles are hidden. You can tuck in the top and add a belt if you want to emphasise your waist - draws eye to smallest part of body.

Dark blue or black high waisted flared or bootcut jeans with a top that hits mid-thigh (covers thigh and bum area). Big earrings or necklace - focuses eye upward.

Biker boots cover the ankle area and make your legs looks slimmer if they are chunky - shouldn't be tight at the ankle.

Not for everyone but I like heavy-duty leggings (no jiggling) with a "boyfriend" t-shirt to mid-thigh and a jacket.

Am a fan of hush.co.uk for casual stuff - more for tops than trousers.

Anything with slightly padded shoulders is great for pears - doesn't have to be a big Dynasty style number, a very casual jersey jacket can be good over jeans (as a bum coverer),

These loose jogging type things (I bought a size up) with a t-shirt loosely tucked in, Converse and denim jacket, looks great:

www.toast.co.uk/product/trousers/CJLP8/LOOPBACK+JERSEY+PANT.htm?categoryref=%2fcategory.aspx%3fcategoryid%3dtrousers%26seoterm%3dtrousers%2520shorts%26&pcat=trousers&adimage=&clr=CJLP8_anthracite

Hope I've given some food for thought :)

lurking I do wonder if it will be total rubbish. Maybe we could take all the measurements and then compare and if we have very similar ones we could share the price and the info?

I do wear skinnies - I actually feel very comfortable in them in the winter with knee high boots or a pair of heals but not so much with flats! Unless I'm wearing a long cardigan to cover my bottom up.

I do quite like that top although all the style guides I've read in the last couple of days say that tops should be fitted to emphasize our small waists and not make us look even bigger.

I am contemplating buying some of those trainer boots that have wedges as an additional to my casual wardrobe. Something like this??? I can't decide if they are super ugly or not! I'm just thinking casual trainer shoe but with the benefit of a bit of height on the heel!!!! Also are they going to be a one year wonder?

I thought I would share the couple of things I have in my wardrobe that I do feel comfortable wearing with flats, the things I can think of are:-

I have a dark brown skirt like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start=83&num=10&hl=en&biw=1264&bih=900&tbm=isch&tbnid=unBIOXYgrSUoTM:&imgrefurl=www.avenue.com/womens/plus-size/815487081-tiered-maxi-skirt-plus-size.html&imgurl=media.redcatsecom.com/avenue/mc/0326_81155_mc_3046.jpg%253Fwid%253D50%2526hei%253D50%2526qlt%253D95%2526op_sharpen%253D1%2526wid%253D88%2526hei%253D127%2526qlt%253D95%2526op_sharpen%253D1&w=924&h=1356&ei=42ZIUJvFCqSv0QW23oHoCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=292&vpy=207&dur=69&hovh=272&hovw=185&tx=102&ty=126&sig=111163078968993573668&page=4&tbnh=167&tbnw=106&ndsp=37&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:83,i:56" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this It is really long, floor sweeping. I wear it with a vest top tucked in and a belt over to emphaise a small waist. I wear with a long necklace and I usually stick a cropped cardigan over the top too or a cropped denim jacket. I wear it with a pair of leopard print ballet pumps.

For slouching around the house in (and sometimes pilates) I like wearing these I also wore them on the plane when we went on holiday this year with a pair of flip flops.

I also have a maxi dress a bit like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start=133&num=10&hl=en&biw=1264&bih=900&tbm=isch&tbnid=FVFMAC92kuvlzM:&imgrefurl=www.belle-fashions.co.uk/ladies-dresses/maxi-dresses/&imgurl=images.productserve.com/preview/3100/173774421.jpg&w=200&h=200&ei=bmtIUPjJGuqG0AW2pYGACg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=519&vpy=305&dur=1522&hovh=160&hovw=160&tx=85&ty=86&sig=111163078968993573668&page=5&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:133,i:123" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this it's empire line so the skirt is really really long which makes my legs look longer. Only trouble is it's quite a long dress and I trip over the bottom in flats - should get it taken up a bit really!!!

i read something last night that said tops should either finish at our hip bones or quite far down our thighs (never at the widest point) lower - where your thighs start to slim into your knee (if yuo know what I mean!!!)

DALD - thanks for sharing. I do have a long black maxi skirt but it's a bit on the snug side at the moment which I'm hoping to rectify soon. I have to say I hardly wear it as I just don't seem to be able to style it with anything else in my wardrobe!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I'm rubbish at casual dressing too and think it's down to being pear shaped.

I am on a bit of a mission to get the world to accept that some women (many women) do not look good in jeans. They were invented as menswear for a reason. They suit an up and down figure - not a curvy figure. Even if you get ones "built to fit" they just emphasise unfortunate bits and always gape at the waist

So I end up in skirts which usually look slightly smarter than jeans hence the feeling that I can't do casual dressing. And it's hard to find shoes that go with skirts - you end up with a heel and then feel a plonker at the park. Basically everything that you just said!

My solution in the summer is nice wedges which add height and a bit of glamour but easy to wear. Flats are banned. Ballerina shoes ought to be outlawed. They make everyone walk in a weird flat-footed way (like flip-flops do) and if you are prone to looking dumpy they add to that problem.

Also I say embrace the smart dressing. I tried for years to look casual and where others (the straight up and down people) manage to look chic and French and nicely put together in jeans and a top, I look like I'm just back from mucking out the horses. So I am actively wearing nicer/smarter clothes at the weekend because I look better that way.

I had a bit of a revelation this summer about nice below the knee trousers in linen mix. I was always put off by 3/4 length trousers because trinny and susannah said they made you look dumpy (!) but I've found that if you find a nice 3/4 length with a slight flare in an expensive fabric, they look good. That way you can do "trousers" on a summer weekend without doing jeans and being dumpy. They also look good with a nice, colourful wedge.