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?

Great thread!

Mine are:

Aim for waist definition to give the illusion of a waist
No cropped tops or tops which don't comfortably skim and flatter
No muted beiges near face, and only black if with chunky necklace
No heels over 3"
Always get the length of trousers right. At 5 ft 7 with long legs very few high street shops have trousers long enough.
When you find a pair of classic but quirky wide leg black trousers which flatter, buy at least two pairs...
No navy and black, or brown and black
Very few patterns but a sucker for a stripe or polka dot
Jewel colours lift my colouring and soul
Coco Chanel was wrong - you can be too thin
Review every year and try on things that good friends suggest

No black opaque tights with anything more than a couple of shades lighter.

No jeans or trousers that cause a builders bum or 'love handles' and no big baggy white trousers that look as if they contain two little boys fighting in a flour sack. Absolutely no tight white jeans that show cellulite and thongs, no jeans that cut into the arse crack/camel toe.

No underwear that shows, anywhere.

My rules for myself: no jeans. Dress pants and a collared shirt - button down open over a t shirt, buttoned up, or a polo shirt, but never just a tee. Always a collar.

My rules for other people: mind my own business. No one gets to tell me what to wear, so I don't get to tell anyone else what to wear.

...of course, my mother is the obvious exception to that - she cannot abide scruffy, and has some very definite ideas about what I ought to be wearing (to formal events, mostly), so I let her dress me then because it keeps her from stressing, haha!

Agree that people should wear what they want, but at the same time, I feel that when people on S&B start threads saying "Can I wear x?", what they actually mean is "will I look good in x?". If you're 5' with chunky calves then Dennis the Menace striped tights and a 1950's "puffy" skirt probably arent your best look. On that basis, my style rules

• Buy the best bras you can afford- a 40 quid bra under a 10 quid t-shirt looks better than a 10 quid bra under a 40 quid tshirt
• No high waists. I was wearing low rise before low rise was invented by wearing mens' jeans.That said, not too low. No-one wants to check out your bikini topiary.
• Pendant or long necklaces only- short necklaces look weird as I have a big head
• painted toes, plain finger nails
• Sleeveless or long sleeves but no capped/ short sleeves.
• Skirts and dresses need to be just above knee or long.

This is a great thread and some of my rules are repeated!

Must be comfortable and easy to wear clothing. No animal print. Ever .No purple at all anywhere.Legs or boobs, but never both or just neither.Expensive underwear, hand washed and always ,always matching ..Nothing hippy/boho.No glittery make up or nail polish .Toenails painted and matching fingernails or plain fingernails ,never two colors of polish No ridiculously high heels .Sports wear for sport only. Matching or complimenting bag and shoes. No costume jewellery ever . Studs or drop earrings only, no hoops or dangly earrings. Good haircut and color, eyebrows done properly. No slogans on clothes.

Yes, this is a very interesting thread!

I think my key rule is: Know thine self! Spent years not understanding that my bust is large, and most clothes are cut for a B cup, so was wearing clothes that were really too big for me, especially on the bottom half. I have also moved away from black (had a wardrobe of it as a teen, and 20 something).

Rules I grew up with (from my very stylish grandmother, who is now 94 and still quite stylish):
No green with blue (although this can be broken in a self-conscious, edgy kind of way)
No Red with pink (again, if you have a great eye for colour, can be done...but as a rule....nope.)
No Navy and Black. (Still believe in this one.)
No black and tan/brown leather (On the whole, I think this one still works, with the occasional exception.)

My personal rules now are:

I think black opaque tights and often blue jeans are starting to look dated and not fashionable anymore, trying to move away from them.
Bustline has to be scooped or v-neck.
Shawl collars and waterfall cardigans look dreadful on me (my shoulders are narrow.)
White trousers or jeans look terrible on me (love how they look on other tall, thin people, though)
Black makes me look haggard (used to be an edgy Indie/alternative rock chick in my youth, but since having babies and being sleep deprived, I look like death warmed up in black.)
Gold rather than silver
No boxy tops (again, I love these, but just can't wear them.)
If you find something perfect: buy two.
Definitely no branding visible.

Sewing my own clothes has given me so much knowledge about fit and what suits me.

I have a kind of uniform, which is suitable for my work (college lecturer) of dark jeans, a plain top, dark jacket and boots. This is what I wear 95% of my life. I don't think I ever go to events so formal that some variation on this would not be suitable. It suits me, and has actually made my life a lot simpler.

ilove that's an increasing trend- people who basically wear the same thing all the time to save headspace for something else. Mark Zuckerberg is one.

Cropped and slim on bottom half
Dark colours only, except white. Mainly black, charcoal and grey.
Gold jewellery.
I wear a uniform of black slim fit trousers or jeans and a plain top.
Only natural fibres.
Black ankle boots
Good haircut but messy undone hair with highlights.
V light make up but trawl on the eyeliner.
Basically I like anything that doesn't look like a newsreader.

That if I'm old enough to remember a trend the first time around, I'm probably too old for it when it comes around again!

If I followed that rule, I'd never leave the house. There's nothing in the shops I haven't worn before. Nothing.

great thread.

I have always loved Helen Gurley Brown's mantra:

"never buy anything, not even a pocket handkerchief, unless you absolutely love it and can't live without it".

This has saved me from so much buyer's remorse. I think if you're ambivalent about something while it's shiny and new on the hanger, then you're never going to love it when it's cluttering up your wardrobe at home six months later.

The are trends and shapes that I'd wear now that I wasn't confident enough to wear the first time around - or able to afford come to that.

I think about buying about ten times more stuff than I actually do buy. I often put things on my Pinterest board as a substitute for buying them it's too easy to get sucked into the 'I love it and can't live without it' thing in the moment - that's capitalism for you. The cooling off period works wonders for getting that feeling in proportion.

I have been thinking about mine and I don't really have any! I try not to wear black on the top half and usually go for a v neck but that's about it.

I am genuinely not stylish but really wish I was. I'm not happy with my personal style at all. I prioritise comfort above all but then do not have the knack of making that looking pulled together.

Has anyone else discovered that something they do/wear over a period of time really doesn't suit them

Yes, not having my eyebrows threaded. It was a revelation to have tidy brows!

I've just realised I have an uniform too:

V neck T Shirt in white or grey. Semi fitted.
Dark skinny jeans in black or dark grey.
Very large, masculine watch.
Good haircut, messyish with highlights.
Oversized coat.
Messenger bag (nice one, for books).
Earrings.
Brogues or biker boots.
Full slap at all times.
Scarf for colour.

I've just realised, after years of angst, that heels do not make me look slimmer. They throw my posture off and make my walk awkward and clumpy. I'm somehow more "elegant" in supportive, flat shoes.

I'm aiming for a nose stud this year. . Even though I'm 57.

there were some things that I never wore, because of 'the rules', but I have discovered that they suit me very nicely. I have big boobs, so never wore any floaty blouses. Because they will make you look bigger, right? They don't, if you have slim hips and wear the blouses tucked into trusers/skirts. Revelation!

I really like the sound of your look absolutely. I love the idea of a 'signature style' but I'm far too fickle to have one myself.
Can I ask you where you get your messenger bags? It's the only style of bag I actively like but I can never find one that's big enough for all my crap but not so big it does my back in.

Yes, I too have a signature style it makes life so much simpler.

Flattering, textured cropped hair and very good blonde hi-lites (think Meg Ryan in 'French Kiss')

Always professionally pedicured feet, always.

Always professionally waxed (bikini & full leg), always.

Dark, slim fit jeans.

For the summer, I have a wardrobe full of well cut, plain jersey tops (v-neck or boat neck) in black, charcoal, marl grey, navy - The White Company & Jigsaw do the best ones. For the Winter, I like a loose fitting merino sweater in black/grey - again, I love The White Company & Jigsaw for these, they're just timeless.

Freya balcony bras...I am a 34G, and need quality but still pretty scaffolding.

Always Chanel foundation, tidy eyebrows, soft charcoal eye liner, lashings of mascara,sheer Chanel lippy in 'Boy' (takes me less than 5 mins to do my face every morning).

Silver ballet flats in the Summer. Biker ankle boots in Winter.

Angel perfume (it's the only perfume I have worn in nearly 20 years).

HumptyDumpty

'Put on jewellery, then remove one piece. I think it's Coco Chanel's rule, but I definitely follow it so as to avoid the sociology lecturer look!'

There's also the Creative Writing Lecturer look which being one, I try to avoid. Droopy 'vegetarian national costume' look (no disrespect to vegetarians) but it's usually lots of mismatched scarves, floaty skirts and clumpy shoes, topped off with badly hennaed hair and 'fun' accessories.

Ugh.

Decisions to buy things are based on absolutely love it and I must be able to wear it dressed down for every day- or it never gets worn more than once or twice and therefore should never be bought.

I love this thread!

I have my hair professionally blown dry every 3.5 days. This means it always looks pretty good (if I do say so myself) - it's a bit gross on day 3 but weirdly, it looks better as it gets dirtier.

I always have a manicure and pedicure

Skinny jeans, cashmere jumper and flats for daytime

Leather trousers, patent kitten heel and cashmere jumper or cute little top for evening along with chandelier earrings

Hair coloured every 4 weeks & balayage highlights 3x yearly.

Glaucoma eyedrops for the eyelashes religiously.

I still wear short skirts in my 40s but only with Spanx super-opaque tights.

No purple at all anywhere

Did you say this to provoke me :) :) :)

Purple is a lovely colour and really suits me :)

Purple is a lovely colour and really suits me

It is a nice colour but I don't think it's flattering AT ALL.

flo I get men's messenger bags. Either Marksies, Next or ebay. I find men's bigger. I'm a lecturer so lots of books to carry. I dislike bags in general though. They're a pain. You can sling on a messenger and forget about it!