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 😊

Topshop Oxford Street have a personal shopping service with a stylist. Could be worth looking at and give you confidence to try new things?

I am 32 and spent my 20s blending away in skinny jeans and hoodies. Definitely make more of an effort now because I have worked to believe I am worth spending some time and money on. I didn't feel like that ten years ago.

I'm 47 and when I saw the top I immediately thought "that's an old ladies top" no I wouldn't wear it. Sorry.

45 here and I'd run a mile from it.... as should you. You're 20, stay out of Joules!

That's the sort of thing I like (have always liked) and I'm 36 I prob had something similar aged 20!!

If you like it, wear it

Some things look great on teens and v young women, like you, but look frumpy on older women, like me. Frilly sleeves, pleated skirts etc.

Depends how you wear it and how it looks.

It’s lovely. A top like that would look good on any age.

I love it and have several like it ... but I'm in my 50s

I asked my Mum whos 85 and she thought it was too old for someone who is 20.

Please stop trying to fob off your shit clothes on older women.

Why should we have to put up them any more than you do?

If what you mean is shapeless / badly fitting / badly cut / or just plain ugly then just say so. Thank you.

The model wearing it doesn't look frumpy. The pattern is pretty. I think it might depend on what you wear with it.

I really like it and think you could style it like the model on the Jules website. Flower patterns seem to be quite on-trend at the moment.

I think this is just the sort of thing a 20 year old could wear and have it look young and lovely depending how it was styled, but if I wore it at 35 I'd look 60😂

I'm 32 and I would wear it. I have several Joules tops and love them. But then I am past caring what other people think about my clothes and just wear what I like now!

I was a size 6/8 20 year old who spent most of her time wearing long, stringy, badly dyed hair and baggy black clothes to hide my body. I am now a size twelve forty two year old who lives in skinnies and rocking a buzz cut. If I had the confidence I have now, with the body I had then, nothing would stop me.

What I am saying is, when you look back at yourself in twenty years time, you will probably wonder why on earth you were wearing what you are. Live in the moment. And that top is about one hundred times better than anything I wore when I was your age.

BTW my iPad is refusing to let me use numbers, so having to type everything long hand.

53 here and I find all of Joules a bit frumpy. As PP mentioned, I too find Joules, Boden, Seasalt, Fatface, etc are in the mums middle age group of shops. However, there are plenty of women who do want to dress and feel comfortable in that style.
The top could look nice with a pair of skinny jeans and stilettos/wedges and a plain blazer or leather jacket.
It also depends on you lifestyle in general and the people around you.
I'm a bit of city person so like to dress in a simple more 'urban' style, even at my age. If i was living in deepest Somerset (and i do have to go there quite often) I would possibly dress differently.
If you suspect that your style is a bit ageing and you want to change it and look a bit more on trend, have a look at pinterest for style ideas. It will give you some ideas on how to update your wardrobe and still hopefully incorporate some of the clothes you already have in your wardrobe. I suspect that at your age you might not have the funds to do a complete rejig off your wardrobe.
I also find shop websites are not very helpful and can put you off going in to these shops. Zara for example uses tall stick thin models on whom the clothes often look bloody awful. However, I suspect that Zara, Topshop, Asos, also have some lovely floral tops like the one at Joules but in a more fashionable on trend design.

Woah that top is bad! And I say that as someone who has a stripy joules harbour top. It looks like something you'd get in Bon Marche - not stylish at all I'm afraid, for anyone whether in their 20's or 70's!

I’m on the wrong side of my 40s and think joules is naff for all ages.

I'm in my 50s and my first thought was it looked like something my elderly mother would wear. Sorry.

If you are 20 get out if joules !!... you have years ahead of wearing sensible boring clothes . Get yourself in Topshop or h and m .. I quite like the stripy harbour tops but that is frumpsville
If you must buy it then wear with boyfriend jeans and pumps for spring .

I am 71 - the top is frumpy and I would never wear anything like that - and joules is way too expensive for me (skint OAP on £12k a year )
I wear skinny jeans and fitted tops/t-shirts - do not get 'old' before your time.

Oh fgs. You like it, right? Then wear it. Who gives a toss what a load of random people in your computer say.

The word 'frumpy' is meaningless anyway, and it will take a lot more than one top to make you look bad/good.

Floisme, I agree with you and I hate all the ageist stuff we see on here regularly. But I’m not sure that anyone is saying that the top is ugly etc. It’s a perfectly nice top in my view. But it’s quite conservative and not really fashionable and the kind of thing that I would often see a lady in her 50’s or 60’s wearing. That doesn’t make it bad to me, and of course we also see some older ladies rocking a funkier look but less often. To me there are clothes which say younger women and clothes which say older women but this is not to say that the young women have to stick to that category nor that the older women have to.

I think it is the combination of the type of fabric, the shape and the pattern together that makes it look frumpy.

The pattern on a chiffon type fabric with ruffles would look more current.

The fabric and shape is more suited to a striped Breton top / active wear.

But yes in your 20s - you do not belong in Joules

But yes in your 20s - you do not belong in Joules

No wonder people end up looking the same, wearing the same styles. If a 20 year old likes clothes in Joules then they belong there. This is why I like charity shopping as I find clothes I like without initially knowing where it’s from. I have found loads of nice clothes from shops it wouldn’t occur to me to shop in.

20 year olds can shop in Joules, 70 year olds can shop in Topshop.

I have curls, and always look a bit " milkmaid " in anything pretty, so have come on to give you my edgy tips.

Leather is king
I have been very happy since biker jackets made a resurgence, they make everything more edgy. Leather trousers and skirts, ditto.

Footwear , never pretty or girly. Clumpy if it suits you, other wise pared down, or industrial.

Metallics can work, as can denim, but look at the cut, and avoid Next etc.

Pared down in general, so not much in the way of frill/ embellishments/ detail.

Statement jewellery, again plain.

And of course sometimes when I'm in the mood, I float around in a frilly white cotton dress looking completely milk maid, and loving it.