So what sort of things do you think 40 somethings should wear without looking like mutton dressed as lamb but still stylish and trendy and cool????

[inanidealworld]

Title says it all really.

I am considering this but am not 100% convicned about the use of the word 'trendy'.

At 40 I think better to dress in a (cool stylihs) way that suits you with a nod to current fashion, rather than aspiring to be 'trendy.

Agree with MrsBadger. You want stylish rather than fashionable

oh, and what baseline are you starting from?

Are you, for example, the jeans-and-fleece type and worried you're not stylish enough, or are you perhaps wearing your 16yo daughter's stuff and worried you're muttony?

I was in a restaurant last night and noted that every single woman over forty but under 60 was wearing black. Slim, stylish and all the bloody same.

Currently as age dating as new bifocals ....

All right then maybe not trendy but still with a nod to the fashions of the moment iyswim.

I aspire in my just over 40 way, to be stylish but with a signature touch to my clothes.. for me it is jewellry I am defined by my necklaces and other accessories.. I have started to buy more to fit my body shape and more classic styles ie good quality linen flared trousers, good shoes/boots, and then I add in more quirky jewellry and scarves...

not trendy but distinctive and often commented on

Fleece -no
Trainers - no
Bare midriff - no no no
Those ghastly little jackets that finish mid rib - NO non non
Leggings - dodgy

I'd like the answer to this too.

No I'm definitely not a fleecy type. Lots of black (so forgiving but safe). Suits for work, jeans but also love the swingy tops that are in at the moment. Lots of people say I look much younger than my years but I do worry that I'm getting to be a bit on the mutton side.
What do you all wear?

I think anything Elle Macpherson or Kristin Scott-Thomas would wear actually. So jeans, jackets, cashmere, white shirts and t-shirts, ballet pumps, good trainers, boots.

you see. aol I'm wearing black leggings with a long top and black ballet shoes.

Trenchcoat, summer dresses, more simple things.

Legging can be ok. It depends what you wear them with. Swingy top sounds good.

I'm wearing two white t-shirts, black angora style longish wrap cardigan (shawl collar, jacket-style) dark jeans, red or black ballet pumps depending on which are to hand and beige short trenchcoat to go out.

I don't think I'm at all trendy by the way!

Also don't want to have to shop in the pricier stores.
Aloha I hear what you are saying but it's still 'safe'. I like all those things but don't want to look like I've stepped off an M&S advert (I do buy some stuff there though)
Maybe ZZmum is right. Accessorizing(sp?) is important.
My kids are v.young so I want to be young too.

That sounds good Aloha.

Have a look at Zara's classics. Try stuff on that you would not normally wear.

I'm 48 and would like to think I look fairly cool and not frumpy- today I'm wearing a denim skirt,boots and a pink cardigan over a little white t shirt. Usually I'm in a similar combo - White Stuff trousers,simple t shirts, nice fitted cardigans,wrap over cardis etc, bit of lipstick...

I wore a top shop green and black print summer dress with opaque tights and boots and a tweed coat yesterday. This summer will wear print cotton dresses and flipflops - like I always do! I have recently shed a stone and feel much more interested in clothes suddenly.

I like the comparison with Kristen Scott-Thomas et al.
Agree you do need a bit of your individual style though - absolutely no need to look like an M&S window.

You can wear the swingy tops of the moment so long as you pick the right shape - gathered on the bustline, gathered under the bust, straight cut, lownecked etc - whichever flatters you more.
I think you might have to spend more time shopping, trying things on and discarding styles that don't suit you rather than more actual money.

Good places to look at might include Zara, H&M, French Connection etc - Topshop, New Look, Miss Selfridge etc need a careful eye as much of their stuff is so catwalk-led that it's not wearable by the general populace (who are over 20, and neither 5'11' nor coltishly slim)

Ooh Zara's a good one. I've got a couple of sweaters from there. Maybe I'm doing ok. I just didn't want to look like I'm trying too hard to look young. Like when you sometimes see someone from behind and by the clothes they look really young and they turn around, are about 60 and all of sudden it all seems all wrong. Am I making sense?
Maybe I should be worrying about greater things

Thanks everyone. You are all along the same lines as I was thinking. Maybe because I work in a 'serious' office and other 40 somethings here seem to me quite staid in their dress sense, I worried that I am making a bit of a fool of myself. I like jewellery, a bit of make up, colour etc.

I think anything too short and too tight is really ageing, unless you have Elle Macpherson's body (and even then...)
Also things that date from your heyday. I think it is less ageing to try to stay reasonably current. Difficult though!

Linen cotton cashmere ballet pumps decent jeans lovely bags interesting jewellery navy white stone flashes of colour