Please! Help me with cardigans and trousers!

[PenelopeStrange]

Apologies for the most unstylish thread title on the Style and Beauty board!

I'm a mid-thirties, slightly pear-shaped tall Size 12 with a slim-ish waist, flat chest and curvier bottom and thighs.

I think I generally dress quite well, but I just do not GET how to wear trousers or cardigans and am getting stuck in a style rut.

I wear lots of dresses. I like genuine vintage and repro ones and ones from high street shops that have quite an old fashioned shape. 40s style are my favourite (shorter tea dress style and proper midi forties ones) but I also wear some fully skirted 50s jobs and 60s style shifts when I'm feeling braver. Pencil shapes or anything very fitted below freaks me out and I don't like to look too 'fancy dress' with it all.

I would love to wear trousers but I don't feel confident/don't know where to start. I love high waisted things in general as think these flatter my shape (long in the body and stumpier legs) so am wondering whether this would be good to check out or whether this would make my bottom look too big... should I be looking at wide leg?! I want to look stylish in a vintage-y way and want to be wearing the trousers with lovely things in my wardrobe like boxy 40s style shirts, 30s style blouses, short striped knits etc.

Cardigans are my second problem. I don't like having my arms out so quite often need one with my sleeveless dresses, but I just feel they send a dress straight into the frump zone. Is there a more tailored shape thing I should be considering? A leather jacket even?! Sometimes I feel I need to be a bit more modern/experimental...

As you can see - am in a bit of a muddle! Can anybody more stylish help me out?! Or point me in the direction of a blogger with a similar style?

Hmmmm. May be quite a tricky brief! Optimistic bump anyway!

I've just discovered shrug type cardis. They work well with sleeveless dresses IMHO.

Have you looked at cropped cardis? They might work. I'm busty so tend to avoid them but you sound perfect :)

Next have wide legged linen trousers called 'parallel' IIRC, try those and see if you like the silhouette.

Jave you looked at Woolovers for cardigans? They do a lovely cropped one in lots of colours which I suspect would look fab with retro dresses and not frumpy. I love a cardi.

Agree with the bolero idea, there are lots to choose from online, some longer bodied than others.

Your body shape would lend itself to a nice thick collared cardigan.

What do you think of fairisle cardigans? There are some modern takes on the vintage theme which would go well with your sleeveless dresses. With the boxier 50s outfits, I'd stay away from cardigans abd take the jacket option.

Another idea with sleeveless dresses is to wear a blouse underneath, which can work really well.

Thank you all! I'm going to check out woolovers cropped caddies and the wide legged trousers. I LOVE the idea of a fairisle cardie too. Has anybody seen any good ones? Blouse underneath also a good idea to try, thank you!

Boden has a lovely fair isle cardi in the sale, as does cath kidston (less my style though).

I like wide leg high waist trousers on pear shapes, with fitted tops they are really flattering I think. I have some from Laura Ashley (?!) but have seen them on the vintage style sites like Vivienne of holloway.