I was told this top was "ageing", is it true?

[WatercolourFlower]

I was shopping with my friend today and was having a look at the new stuff in Joules, as they ususally do lovely patterns.
I saw this top and immediately loved it (what a gorgeous and delicate pattern!). I said this to my friend...and she immediately said how ageing it would be. Here's the link to the top, in the cream botanicals print www.joules.com/Women/Tops/Harbour-Print/Jersey-Top/Cream-Botanicals?id=Y_HARBOURPRINT%7CCREMBOT

Is my friend right? I'm not ususally affected by stuff like this and wear what I want, but a man recently said I looked much older than I was and now I'm overthinking things. For the record, I'm 20 years old.

Any advice much appreciated 😊

[LadyinCement]

I have bought various Joules items over the years - and FatFace and WhiteStuff and Boden. Every single time I see myself in a photo I look like a complete frump. I think the clothes can look stylish, but on someone who is - indeed, like the OP - 20 years old. And gamine and at least 5'10" with swishy hair. If one is 5'3" and standing outside the school instead of striding round a country estate... nope.

Joules nightwear is really good. But that's fine because I don't tend to go out in a pair of pyjamas with dogs on.

[Notagainmun]

I have a very similar top from New look but it has ties at the cuff. I were it with skinny jeans and ankle books and have been told I look good in it (late forties). Maybe people were just being kind :(

[TheVanguardSix]

Put that print on a cool Billibong or Roxy tunic top and you've got a whole different, younger look. Joules, while great quality, has a conservative cut. You're too young for the cut/silhouette.

You're 20. As another poster wrote, ASOS is brilliant, as is H&M. Another site that I really love is Surfdome.

At 45, I have to be careful not to try and dress like my niece. That's the damn problem with middle age! I still think I'm 24, then I look in the mirror and see a Joules flowery print top staring back at me!

[tryingtobethebestican]

I know I'm going against the grain but if you are very slim I think it would look nice with jeans, sorry but if you are slightly larger then it would look frumpy and 'older.' Please don't slate me for mentioning people's size - I'm not skinny myself, just giving my opinion.

[echt]

Worn with seriously casual jeans, very boho, it would work. Haven't RTFT but you need to be thin with no tits for this.

[ReelingLush18]

remember the last time that I let my mother tell me either My mother doesn't inform my style at all BUT she's always got an opinion on whether something looks good (or not). My style has always been totally different to hers though.

Of all my friends and relatives over the years, I can only think of one who would have ever worn that design of top. By her own admission she's never enjoyed clothes or worried about how she looks.

And yes, whilst I agree that one can sometimes find the odd 'pearl' in unexpected stores, it is a very rare occasion.

I still think that the top in question is a very draining colour and a very frumpy flower design. It would not look any better as a birthday card or wrapping paper TBQH!

[Frankiewears]

I think this ‘anything can be stylish depending on what you wear it’ with rhetoric is bollocks.

Hands up who shops in Damart/Bon Marche/Eastex etc?

Exactly.

[MadameBronte]

No worries Lying

I think we sort of agree in broad terms? Maybe a better word to use about Joules, Fatface, White Stuff et al would be 'unstylish'?

That type of clothing certainly has its niche and I wore some of it back when I was a new Mum because I didn't want to have to think about what I was wearing. But when my children got older I started to get my mojo back and started to think about looking stylish again.

I'm just like you in that Joules styles never flattered me anyway, I'm much better in minimalist scandi style outfits. So I like Cos, Toast with a bit of All Saints and H&M mixed in.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

But nobody is the actual designated arbiter of good taste or what is 'in' or what is fashionable or sexy, are they? They just have opinions. I can't remember the last time that I let my mother tell me either.

[ReelingLush18]

Op, remember that the people who say it looks awful are probably older and bigger than you. That's true BUT I wouldn't have worn it when I was 20 either (and I was a leggy, super slim size 8-10 then). It's draining and looks very much like the type of tops a certain type of woman would have bought in BHS before its demise.

And I agree some clothes can be 'upstyled' successfully but this isn't one of them.

True, flowers on a top can inject some va-va voom into an outfit but this top is an 'epic fail' - what my mother would call 'wishy washy' and decidedly lacklustre. There's no getting away from it.

[NoqontroI]

Looks ok on the model actually. Not my style, but yeah it's nice enough.

[NoqontroI]

I think it looks frumpy but then it would look terrible on me. Might be ok on a young thin person (which I'm not).

[RockinHippy]

Yes, sorry, I wouldn't wear it & I'm in my 50s. It's rather frumpy

[Worieddd]

I’m 35 and would not wear that top sorry!

[Flomy]

I shop in Topshop at 45. Hopefully I dont look stupid or like Im trying to hard.

[Jellyheadbang]

namechangedtoday15

Why are you shopping at Joules if you're 20? I know it's a sweeping generalisation but it's one of the brands I lump together - Joules / Boden / Fat Face / White Stuff that are firmly in the "middle aged mumsy" bracket to be avoided if there's any prospect of looking young(er).

I'm 45!

This is what I was going to write, even down to my age!

[Frankiewears]

Joules, Fat Face, White Stuff and Seasalt are practical clothing choices for a lot of mothers who’s main aim is to look tidy and modest albeit often with a cheerful ‘jaunty’ slant.Perfect uniform for primary school teachers too. Clothes that can suffer numerous washes and stretch for comfort.

Most of the stuff though isn’t stylish or attractive but that isn’t what everyone wants when they get dressed. It depends on your criteria.

If your leisure time is spent scraping off hummus from smearing toddlers whilst traipsing around National Trust properties then it is probably a good fit.

If you want your partner to have lustful feelings about you.... not so much. Which could be a blessing... 😁

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

No, Madame, I'm not saying that people don't make judgements based on appearances but it's not possible to do that on this board, is it? It's not Skype, we can't see each other (thank goodness as my hair is a frizzy mop tonight). I'm possibly a little oversensitive about this as my mother (and aunt) and any random woman co-opted by my mum had an opinion on how I looked from a very young age...

I'll concede the Joules, FatFace and White Stuff are similar in style BUT I can't agree with you that it's frumpy. I however would look frumpy in clothes from those shops as they wouldn't suit my shape or my personality/lifestyle. I think that if you're large-boobed (as I am), I can't and don't suit casual stuff. Women with smaller boobs look great in it.

I like tailored stuff myself and it suits me better. Today though, I would have any designer pulling their hair out.

Completely with you thinking about it, because those three shops are similar, if you don't suit one you probably won't suit any of the three.

Your last post is gracious and I'm glad you didn't take mine as a deadly insult as it really wasn't intended to be.

[franktheskank]

MadamBronte is spot on

[MadameBronte]

Are we meant to pretend then that people don't make judgements based on appearances? Because if that's the case then it makes this board rather pointless doesn't it

And considering that Joules, Fatface and White Stuff all stock very similar styles of clothing, then obviously you are going to look frumpy similar in clothes from all three shops.

If you somehow manage to look frumpy in clothes from Joules, Fatface, White Stuff, All Saints, Whistles, Karen Millen, Top Shop, French Connection, Warehouse, Newlook, H&M and nauseum, then I agree it's you who is frumpy, not the clothes.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

MadameBronte, not much of a revision, was it? It just sounds so snide and I cringe at the thought that any woman, any time she steps out of the house, will be judged on what she's wearing by you and your ilk.

I notice lots of different styles and even though some of them are not my thing, I wouldn't suggest that any woman is frumpy to wear them or any other style.

But since you did go there, I'll suggest that if you think you look frumpy in all THREE then perhaps it is you that is frumpy?

I'm going to focus on the nicer aspects of this board now. I'm know there are some, albeit I've spent a fortune in mascara this year already.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Sexy or sophisticated? Neither are anything I particularly aspire to looking on a day to day basis, tbh.

I don't necessarily love the top in the OP, but I'd defend the OP or anybody else's right to wear it and to hell with it. I actually think that it could look -pretty cute with jeans and a biker jacket, or a little denim mini and boots, for example.

[RavenLG]

I think they design clothes for women who are scared of looking even slightly sexy or sophisticated.
Ah yes, because no woman should dare dress anything but sexy.

[Lashalicious]

Op, remember that the people who say it looks awful are probably older and bigger than you. It may look awful on them but on a slender 20 year old, it would look very nice.

Wear what you want and what you like. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should wear and shouldn’t wear. Trust yourself. Keep in mind the possible motives of friends who are criticizing your choices; often it comes from a place of jealousy or envy.

[Beetlejizz]

I think at 20 you'd probably look pretty cute wearing it.