I have money to spend on myself.

[user1474792594]

I am in a fortunate position of having what is to me a lot of money to spend on myself.

I have 3k set aside.

I need make up and clothes. I am 48 and size 16 and 5ft3. My belly is huge - I am very definitely an apple. My feet are broad and a bit flat.

Can you help?

So far I know I want a down arse covering coat for the winter and a pair of Chelsea boots / ankle boots and a pair of long boots.

Other than that, I have no clue.

Help me!

Is your boyfriend planning to wear the make up Auser? Because if not he has no business buying it, for you, based on random (if well intentioned) recommendations from people who have never met you. I'm afraid you need to put in some effort and take your own face to a decent make up emporium.

Once you've chosen some things you like a boyfriend is useful for the purchasing of specified Tom Ford make up brushes to be discovered under the tree on a date in December.

Erm ... maybe forget "statement" anything. The only statement you need is your own self, clean, vaguely groomed and dressed to live your life. Anything else is tat. (But I hope you'll find one truly wonderful piece of jewellery or another accessory that flatters you and makes you happy.)

I would hire a personal stylist to go shopping with you. Get your hair done first and sign up for regular facials. I think good teeth and hair and skin are the most important things.

I think you need a capsule wardrobe of good quality items in a limited (but not boring) colour palette that works with your own colouring. Make yourself a Pinterest board and research capsule wardrobes so you have a plan of what you might need based on the activities you do outside of work.

I would want both a warm (down filled) coat and also a waterproof one for the touchline.
And a smarter one for going out. So three coats!

Some matching underwear sets from Bravissimo, Falke socks and Wolford tights.
Some knee length boots from Duo if you have large calves.

Place a big order at Boden and have a try on!

Watch the Lisa Eldridge YouTube make up videos but don't buy make up until you have sorted out the condition of your skin.

Mainly, get some professional help with your image revamp and enjoy! Aiming to spend maybe £2k straight off and the other £1k more gradually.

Op what colour are your eyes? For eyeshadow it's best to go for colours that are the opposite of yours on the colour wheel. I have blue eyes so go for coppers, oranges and Browns and even rusty sort of red colours to make them pop.

I've not read the whole thread so don't know if anyone has suggested it
already, but...you mention wanting to look 'put together'. I had my colours done by a House of Colours rep in March & I've seriously not looked back since.

She gave advice one what clothing to wear (colours in my session but they can do shape/style too if you want it), and also make up & hair colour.

I've honestly never felt so confident in what I'm wearing, even though I'm out of shape & overweight.

I can't recommend it highly enough, it's well worth the consultation fee (£130 is what I paid) and it's made shopping & building a capsule wardrobe so much easier for me.

And I promise I don't work for House of Colour!

Wow ... Some advice on here is so complicated I'm getting stressed for you auser ... Some very very good advice too.

I agree about the glasses ... Safe glasses won't make you feel special, but don't go too over the top either. Try lots on ... Take photos .. Then go away, think about it, go back another day ...

I am loving this thread - OP, you sound amazing and you deserve to feel amazing.

YYY to personal shopper, but try one from a shop you'd never normally go to, as well. I got hauled off to Topshop for my 40th and it was fab - lovely clothes I'd never have thought to look at but have really rebooted my style.

I'm waiting for the style / colour lady to reply.

I have ot done my wardrobe. I am afeart.

Colour lady tomorrow. Eek. This is real. She'll do my style in a few days after the colour.

Let us know how you get on, what it's like. I've wanted to do that for ages!

Another vote for getting your colours done, and then if you're concerned about your belly join a gym and get the services of a personal trainer, somewhere lovely with a beauty spa. You'll be investing in your health which can't be a bad thing.

The colour is 130. I'm so nervous.

If your bf is going to duty free def get some perfume. My current fave is Guerlain La Petite Robe Noir. These 2 mascaras are v good too. Clunique Lash Power or Benefit RollerLash. Doesn't matter what colours you wear as these will work!

OP the colours thing, as long as you have an experienced consultant, will be fab. I was nervous/anxious but honestly it was a revelation & completely life changing. Which I know sounds ridiculous but it was!

Enjoy it & try to pay attention to what's being said.

I had to do my session without make up, 5)3 she draped me in a white sheet & scraped my hair back.

All I could focus on was how awful I looked, but once we'd found my 'season' and put a bit of slap on me I felt so different.

I'm waffling, what I'm trying to say is enjoy it, it will pay off, and you deserve this

I'm really nervous.

I have stuff in my basket in all kinds of shops (house of Fraser Debenhams joe browns phase eight H&M) and I'm scared to buy them before I get my colours done in case I have it all wrong.

Up to you of course. I'll be honest and say that none of those shops would see a penny of my money if I were wanting making over.

(Possibly because I aim for boldness in dressing to compensate for relative timidity in other areas of life!)

For about the last 10 years, I have spent very little on clothes. I reached a position where I literally had 2 outfits that I was washing and washing and washing. I am not good at shopping!

I am in a similar position of having a little bit of money to spend (not 3k!) on clothes now. What I am finding is that it's a good idea to take it slowly. I know roughly what I need, but my ideas about what I actually want are changing and evolving as I put the jigsaw together, piece by piece. (One of the issues for me was that I hadn't really found any kind of style - so was just fudging things together. Another was that, as a young girl, I was very encourage to dress for the male gaze, which is no longer something I want to do - so there is a learning to be 'me' and to inhabit clothes in a different way). It's taking a lot of trying different things for me to figure out what it is that I want. Almost like building up a knowledge that I imagine other women have acquired over the years in a more natural way.

Good luck!

That's brilliant. Yep, definitely get the hair done and nails. I'd advise to get a style that you can easily manage at home to do. If your skin is dry, foundation can be a pain, go for dewy types, oil based. And get a good skin primer for foundation. Skin care as well for dry skin can be hit and miss, i love the facial oils. I think maybe try those dresses that have ruching over the tummy area if you know what I mean, with the heavy material in them. Bags and boots are easy. I have a bag organizer, so if I'm changing bags over everything is already in that. Just match them with your outfit. Scarves are brilliant as well. I was just thinking if you like jeans, there are great ones with tummy control and bum lift they are called salsa. They are about £100. You tube is great, I love looking at the French women, I mean you won't like some of it, but you would get outfit ideas. Be careful not to get sucked into the trend of the moment. And I advise you to buy a whole outfit from head to toe first rather than a load of tops you like, that don't then go with anything you have if you get me. I've done that before, bought a dress I liked, then a cardigan, tights, cute boots and handbag to match, a neutral scarf. And try not to get into the trap of buying big flowing tops, because of your tummy, get stuff that flatters your boobs, and skims the tummy. You lucky girl. Enjoy.

You'll have a great time. Definitely don't buy anything until you have all your colour info and style info...after my session I went home and bagged up half of my wardrobe for charity. The colour palette they proposed should be "obviously" flattering and you should be very easily convinced. If you're not, then keep asking questions and make them work for the money. You should end the season happy and convinced. Good luck!

Hope you're enjoying the experience!

Everyone talks of these tips that flatter boobs and slim tums , but I can never find them. Can anyone link to this sort of top please?

I am excited for you OP and looking forward to your update. Fingers crossed you're a spring, then I can bombard you with tempting shopping links.

Don't be downhearted if you come home and find 99% of your wardrobe doesn't actually suit you. It's fun building it back up again and doesn't take long.

I found the colour analysis led me back to lots of old shops I'd given up shopping in as I thought I was too old and fat/frumpy (Oasis, Zara, H&M, French Connection, Gap) and helped me discover some new ones (Banana Republic, Whistles). It also meant I could make cheap clothes look better, rather than relying on expensive clothes to help me feel I looked good.

I'm a summer. Cotton ball summer.

It was actually really really good.

I'm going to gut the wardrobe this weekend and probably cry at all I have left lol

Great stuff. If you advance search for 'HOC Summer' in style & beauty you'll bring up lots of old threads where other summers give clothes and make-up advice (names of lippy in high street brands, which colours of mascara to wear etc). You could give your OH a shopping list for the airport.

Ooh glad you enjoyed it! I hated mine, was told I was an Autumn which I dreaded I might be. My wardrobe was almost all black before! However I could begrudgingly see what she meant. I did get rid of much of my black stuff and over time built up a wardrobe of clothes in colours that both flattered me and matched each other. At first I had to go shopping with my swatch but I soon got the hang of it. That was 15 years ago and I'm so glad I did it now!