What does mumsy look like?

[appletarts]

What do you think of when you think mumsy? I'm interested in opinions and pics if anyone finds something quintessentially mumsy. It's my fear, looking all mummy.

"Boot cut jeans a fraction too short, worn with low heeled black ankle boots and a fleece.

Or in the summer, shapeless wide legged linen trousers from M+S with an equally shapeless white shirt/blouse thing and a 'statement' (read plastic) necklace.

Short, practical haircut or - alternatively - long, unstyled hair that could do with being cut into a proper style, pulled back into a pony tail. Dingy looking skin. Little to no make-up."

OK. Please can SOMEONE explain to me what is wrong with a 'short practical haircut', or 'little make-up'. Please?.

And while we're at it, what (in fashionista terms) is the alternative to comfortable, low-heeled black ankle boots that you can actually walk 2 miles uphill in, whilst pushing a buggy loaded with toddler and shopping in the rain? Or are we all expected to be rich enough to have a car and never walk anywhere?

There is nothing wrong with short haircuts or little/no make up. There is also nothing wrong with low heeled black ankle boots.

Wish I looked this good with no make up!!

This morning I bought myself some lovely Fat Face skinny crops in bright coral. I tried them on and considered if they were 'Mumsy' in honour of this thread.

Then I thought, fuck it, they're 'my' colour, fit perfectly and will go with my white linen tops, so I don't care.

£5 Oxfam, if anyone's interested.

Asked my daughter (22) what male equivalent of looking 'mumsy' (when used as an insult) is and she said; 'looking like Jeremy Clarkson'.

Isn't Italian sizing tiddly though? I'm a UK 8-10 and have a skirt which is IT42...

I have watched Goks shows and I don't think much of his "styling" at all. To me he makes the women look cheap and nasty and trying too hard rather than stylish.

Lapsed I think it's more about when you put all those things together!

A short hair cut is fine as long as it's a good haircut- not a version of a boy's crop which looks like it's been attacked with the kitchen scissors.

Add a fleece, too short jeans and plain black boots with a small heel and it just screams 'frump'. Flat boots are fine IMO and so are black ones, but anyone who's taken any notice of trends will have noticed that a biker style is more in favour now than a plain black pair. So like short hair, there are black boots- and black boots.

My Mum and her fashionable friends ( 70s and 80s) wear all sorts, but one question I ask myself is ' Would Ethel wear this?' as she is 80, and if the answer is 'yes' then I put it back !

It's the details that count. One person can look frumpy in jeans and boots whereas someone else can look better because the jeans fit, they aren't the 'wrong' cut, the boots have some buckles or straps, etc etc.

After due consideration I've realised I will probably always have a touch of the mumsy about me, what with being 40+ and not a supermodel/hollywood film star/beyonce/fashion blogger.

Fuck it then. Just have to hope I come back as Miranda Kerr.

Flat boots are fine IMO and so are black ones, but anyone who's taken any notice of trends will have noticed that a biker style is more in favour now than a plain black pair

Hmm. I've seen biker boots slated as mumsy on S&B before...

I agree Rulesgirl I preferred Trinny and Susannas styling.

O I totally agree with you kerstina. They were brilliant and made women look stylish. Looking on the net I would say that Elle McPhearson is a good example of "stylish" and not mumsy but she wears a lot of styles that have been frowned upon on this thread. It really does depend on how you wear something and if it suits you. And actually bootcuts have made their way back onto the catwalks this year.
[[http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=elle+macpherson+style&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ASUT_en-GBGB463GB458&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=S7Z_UeDuBsi_0QWXkIHQCg&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=632] and she is not a young girl either but she wears it well.

I'd love to see some of the MN style gurus in RL and see what they look like. I suspect there is a gap between their perceived stylishness and the reality of their attire.

just realised I called ballet flats "shoes" by mistake!

But what do you mean "they are so last season" - I thought they were non-mumsy?

As for the link to Kate Moss in bootcuts - they look a bit on the long side to me but what do I know?

www.google.co.uk/search?q=elle+macpherson+style&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ASUT_en-GBGB463GB458&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=S7Z_UeDuBsi_0QWXkIHQCg&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=632
sorry...hope it works nowl

I have mousy hair. It's my natural hair colour.

By this thread if it's short or long than it's mumsy. Well fuck that.

I like my hair. It changes in the seasons, gets blonder in the sun. Why should I have to spend money on hair dye for it?

People say this thread isn't mean, that it's all about choices people could or do make - but I have to change my hair or I'm 'mumsy' (and it's always used in a negative way)???

If many women had red hair rather than mousy would you be really saying 'oh ginger is so mumsy' - no, I don't think you would. Would you slag off afro hair for being mumsy? No.

Criticise badly styled hair if you want, fine, but to go on about the hair colour. Well, it is mean, imo, and it has happened a few times on this thread. If I was feeling low today, this thread would make me feel worse. Yes, maybe I should be more thick-skinned, but maybe people should think about what they're writing.

I'm a bit overweight (14 when I should be a 10 or 12) so that makes me look a bit frumpy sometimes. But I wouldn't say mumsy because I hate the connotations of that. There's nothing wrong with looking like a mum - loads of women are mums!

Comfort does play a part in my choices. I don't drive everywhere so it's essential for me to wear clothes I can walk in. That doesn't automatically make me 'mumsy'. If I choose bad clothes it might make me frumpy, though.

Ugh. This thread smells like boys changing rooms.

point taken, bella65, but I think shapes do change with the years and with pregnancies. You may weigh the same as when you were 20, but nobody but a plastic surgeon will put my twin-skin or my breasts back to where they were pre-pregnancy.

It's much harder work for a 45 year old to not look mumsy than a 25 year old, I would argue.

I am a stylist and I have found that it is the older women over 45 who look the most "stylish" and put together. There is something about the children getting older that frees a woman up to invest in herself again and re ignite her passion for style. Older women seem to make more of an effort as they have more time to think about themselves again and are the least likely age group to look mumsy.

I just live the wrong combo, rules: small children and approaching 45!

Hard to look stylish when you're in your 50's, born with huge hips and thighs totally out of proportion to the rest of my body, 5'2" with short legs and arms. Yes I do carry a lot of excess weight now, that I can't seem to shift, but even when I was 20 the flaws I was born with made me look horrid.
I am not fixable and about as far removed from Elle McPherson that we may as well be a separate species.

For you instant its hard I agree. Having small children at any age is damn hard work and In my opinion women lose themselves for awhile but you do find yourself again once their older. Out of interest, are you happy with your style the way it is instant.

instant I think your post should say that some shapes change with pregnancy. I was lucky and only put on a tiny bit of weight when PG so had no stretch marks, or any excess weight afterwards. My body looks hardly any different , and neither do most of my friends who have children. But I grant that some women have a harder time.

And yes, it is harder to look good when you are older- and I'm well past 45! But it's all about making the effort if it bothers you, and reelly working at things. I don't mean this is so for everyone but I care about my figure and eat & exercise to try to keep things as good as I can.

One thing's for sure, I don't want to see anyone In those horrid see through leggings/jeggings. It's always the ones who think they're skinny so it must look ok. I don't want to see your bottom thank you. Too much on show......

Elle Macpherson always looks good, I agree Rules.

*in, not In. Damn i-pad!

You don't have to be tall like Elle to copy some of her ideas. Some of her style works for everyone. Most of the time she is all about "style" not "fashion". Doesn't matter what your size or whether you have short legs etc....its dressing to suit your own shape that's important and not hiding under tents and shapeless things. You would be surprised the amount of ladies who come in and head for the shapeless floaty section. Then when you help them to try on something more fitted, they instantly look a stone or two lighter and feel so much better about their shape.