I'm 42 & don't kmow where the hell to shop or what to wear! Tell me what you do pleeeease!

[Honey1975]

I despair, surely it shouldn't be so hard to dress myself. I don't have many clothes that I particularly like or that do anything for me. I am fed up feeling & looking rubbish so I thought I'd treat myself to a few new clothes but I just don't know what to get!

This morning i have browsed white stuff & fat face and found both depressing and just not me. Their sizes weren't right on me and I looked like a sack of spuds in the clothes that just hung off me.

Oasis was next. Most of it I thought was too young for me although the casual stuff was nice but so expensive for what it was. I don't think I can spend £30+ on a casual
top.

Last night I trawled through Gap, Next & La Redoute websites and found not one thing I wanted to buy.

My vital statistics are: age 42.5, 5'3", 9 stone ish with a tummy, size 12. I suit Autumn colours of which I can find very few. I look tired so need some colour near my face I think. Most things seem to be grey or black including my current wardrobe.

I don't want loads of clothes, I just want a few things that will make me look nice & feel good. I don't have much spare time for clothes shopping & not lots of money but I can spare some to get a few new things.

Please can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

I agree that Pinterest is a really good way of getting inspiration for clothes, and also bloggers. I follow Midlifechic. I don't find the high street shops very inspiring at all. Not sure if it's my age or style, but I seldom see anything I like. I recently bought a lovely dress from zoevine.com. It wasn't cheap, but the quality is very good and I always get compliments when I wear it. I do like Boden as well for basics and everyday stuff.

You probably need to experiment with loads of different looks to get a sense of what shapes and styles you feel good in. Order loads online, so that you can try it on in the comfort of your own home and then return what doesn't work for you.

Can I jump on? I have exactly the same problem and am trying to sort it out by just buying loads of stuff online. Trouble is, it’s all rubbish in real life, eg £95 dress from oasis that when it arrived was totally see-through and incredibly flimsy and cheap-looking. £35 midi skirt from mango that was made out of some really cheap shiny plasticky material. The stuff I buy never looks anything like it does online and I’m sick of sending everything back!

I’m going to an indie gig next fri and have nothing to wear - was thinking of wearing a pencil skirt + top (My ideal style falls between all-out skinny jeans rock chick and twee vintagey indie kid) but where can I get a decent trendy but not mainstream-trendy top and skirt??? I’m thinking Lauren laverne/Caitlin Moran/sharon off catastrophe but where do they get their clothes?

Munki I agree, when I have ordered online it's often no good and I just don't have the time to be constantly sending things back. I also don't have the cash flow to order lots at once and have no credit card.
I wish I could find one or two shops that work for me and just buy everything from them!

I've had a look at Boden - is it just me or is it incredibly pricey? Why is it so expensive for standard basic items?

I have to say on looking at this thread (and others on here) I do think somebody somewhere is missing a MASSIVE trick in not opening a shop dedicated to the 35-55 (ish) age bracket...

I wonder if traditionally this age group had more to spend as kids were leaving home but nowadays of course many women are only becoming mums at 35 plus. Therefore having no ability or even desire to up their spending and go to the top end of the high street, the way that maybe happened 20-30 years ago.

I know that at 41 and with a young child, I certainly can't afford an entire wardrobe of Jigsaw. Whistles etc. tbh I can't even afford to get the majority of my things at eg Hush or Baukjen, which are the kind of 'stylish for 40s' kind of clothers that (broadly speaking) work for our age group.

It's why I'm always in Uniqlo, which I love, but I would like other options!! I do feel a bit rum when constantly going out looking like an advert for Uniqlo, head to toe in the stuff.

But it's the only brand I can think of that I can afford that doesn't make me feel either frump-central or like I'm dressing far too young/girly for my age.

I'm racking my brains but I can't honestly think of another brand that is properly affordable (say £30ish for trousers, £25ish for a sweater, up to £10 for a plain tee) that is decent quality and stylishly cut.

And I know Uniqlo comes to a bit of a dead end when it comes to a big range of smarter or party stuff, for example. I live in their stuff as I'm a freelance SAHM but I'm not sure if I'd have that much choice from there if I needed to be smarter every day.

SOMEBODY SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!

Honey, your taste sounds very similar to mine, have you tried All Saints?

Sorry, that should have been Munki

Ooh thanks running, I wouldn’t have thought of there - I’ll have a look

Boden and Zoe Vine for me.

Uniqlo!

Uniqlo and cos.

Mint Velvet
Jigsaw
Some Joules
Very selectively Boden
Some Hobbs