Do you have any 'Style Rules'?

[WilburIsSomePig]

These days I generally believe that you should wear what the hell you like but I can clearly remember thinks from my youth that were an absolute no no.

My mum was horrified when I went out in a coat with my skirt hanging down a couple of inches from the bottom. (This was the 80's).

I would never have worn red and green together, whereas now I have a pair of bottle green trousers that I like with a dark red jumper and hope that I don't look too much like an extra from Elf.

Do you have any particular 'rules' that you stick to?

Oh and like a PP, no linen! I hate ironing.

My top tip for everyone is wear what looks good but....

• things look good when 3 things come together, an item suits your body shape, colour tone and lifestyle.
• spending 5 minutes laying out an outfit the night before usually means you pull a good outfit together
• accessories (including shoes) make or break an outfit.
• your coat is important. in the U.K., for at least 6 months of the year it's the first thing people see!
• anything bobbly, faded, mishappen or unironed, usually doesn't look good (there are exceptions!)
• a good fitting bra is absolutely the key to how good a dress or top looks.
• anything that's too tight or too loose will look awful on you
• follow care instructions! And look after the Primarni as well as you would look after Armani
• if you haven't worn it in the last 12 months and there isn't a good reason or sentimental one, ditch it
• for most people, every 3 years your life will subtly change which means your style needs will change so no need to be wedded to exactly the same clothes or style.

I'm finding some of these 'rules' really really useful! I've lost my way a bit with my look so I feel a good wardrobe clearout is called for so I'll be bearing a lot of these ideas in mind.

I'm curious about the long boot/short skirt rule. Does that apply only to very short skirts, or just above the knee ones too?

I don't have conscious style rules but I very much have a strong personal style which means that I can have items in my wardrobe that stay unworn for several seasons but that are just right when I pull them out again and update with something subtly of the season. So for me, unworn for a while is not of itself a reason to throw something away. I hate tired clothes, though, so signs of wear are a real reason to recycle.

Fitted dresses to the knee, of the sort the Duchess of Cambridge is overly fond, with nude tights and shoes, are a complete no in my style book - the BA stewardess look. It makes women look really mindless.

A small selection of mine are;
No ripped jeans
No bright colours or pastels
No flower prints
Get rid of stuff that no longer looks good
I try to only buy things that I love and will wear to death.
I love neutral type colours- Khaki, navy, camel, white, grey, silver and black.

For me the most important thing is a well-fitting bra.

Making sure tops aren't too tight or shirts gaping at the seams.

No fleeces or overly naff 'countryside' wear.

I'm a short (ever increasing in size) apple shape, I look terrible in most things these days

some great tips on this thread, thanks all.

I never wear navy and black together -EVER! Don't know why, I just won't do it

No printed shoes with printed tops e.g leopard print shoes or boots only with plain coloured tops. That's my main one.

if you haven't worn it in the last 12 months and there isn't a good reason or sentimental one, ditch it
Ouff I couldn't do that,Blingy - I love resurrecting stuff. On Christmas Day I wore some velvet widelegs, from Next of all places, that I hadn't worn for 20 years.
I will concede you need a lot of storage space! And it helps that we've lived in the same house for years.

I like your other rules though, especially the one about reviewing your style every few years. Your life and your body change.

Absolutely NO to items that require dry cleaning. Too expensive and too impatient to wait to wear again! The only thing that would be the exception is a coat.

I never wear red. Except maybe a lipstick with a black evening dress. It just makes me feel wrong even though most shades objectively look fine on me. My colours are pink or coral.

Flo I agree with you I don't ditch my clothes every year! I also have stuff that are 20 years old in the wardrobe because they are classics that go in and out of fashion. I also have a couple of coats my mum has given me which are 50 years old.

Stuff I tend to ditch, tends to be because they don't fit, they were a one season fashion wonder, the changing room mirrors deluded me, they don't suit my lifestyle anymore or they're faded, worn, damaged. With those categories it's easy to be ruthless and ditch quite a bit each year.

I should caveat to prevent the question by saying ditch means I offer to friends (who usually look far better in it than me!), charity or if damaged the recycling clothes bin at our train station.

I don't have style rules as such but I try to wear a decent bra and well fitting jeans, I don't wear floaty things as they make me look fat and I don't wear skirts or dresses past my knee as I feel like frump! I love florals and patterns but not slogans, names or labels as I feel chavvy in them. Boots and dresses are my go to as are skinny jeans. I love polo necks under dresses but not as a jumper alone as I am big busted. I'm quite girly and love fake fur coats wore with short dresses and knee high boots.

No shoes that are or look like runners/trainers, unless one is running/training, or going to from such an activity.

Echo yes and I don't wear sporting clothes either unless I'm doing a sporting activity and even then it's leggings, t shirt and trainers. 😁

Echt sorry!

I wear 'fashion' trainers, but not the running ones.

I don't wear black and brown together.
I always have my nails done and nicely painted, I also always paint my toes.

This has made me think!

Post 40, my hair is better washed more often and - oh the horror - regularly brushed.

My look used to be about wearing fairly prim clothes in a not very prim way, but size and age have put paid to that, I realise.

I wear nothing now that is not actively flattering, no matter how much I like a thing.

Now choose things based on how a garment looks on the body, rather than the preconceptions about the brand and fabric I might have had before.

More navy - love navy trainers - and less black. And I love navy and black together.

Lipstick and jewellery still make me look worse than I would without them.

Posture and bras!

Sorry, that wasn't really style rules.

My only rule would be being utterly ruthless about whether things work for me, and being open minded about what those things might be.

Nothing with a noticeable logo or mark that identifies the brand - I am not paying a lot of money to advertise a product. I can manage that for everything but casual footwear. But I do love my Uggs, Vans and Skechers.

Yy to no dry cleaning - feck that!

You can wear casual trainers with jeans but not actual running shoes. I'm trying to e plain this to dp. He can wear the retro shade pumas with jeans but not the Nike airs - he thinks I'm a bit picky

I am just about to collect from the dry cleaners the silk couture coat my grandmother wore to my mother's wedding in 1965 . I found it while sorting my deceased parents' house this summer and it fits me like a dream'- my maternal grandmother, my mother and I were all of similar build. And when Franca Sozzani died just before Christmas I spent quite a long time looking at pictures of her (she is definitely one of my very favourite style icons) and thought I could resurrect my grandmother's coat along Franca Sozzani style lines. There is something very Milanese bourgeois glamour about it...

No double breasted coats or blazers, tend to buy scoop neck tops and v neck cardigans. Try my hardest only to buy cotton tops wherever possible. I tend to buy plain colours, and clear shades not muted against my face.