Where do you get your style inspiration from?

[Eesha]

So every day I check out river island, topshop, whistles, warehouse and oasis websites and I never find anything to wear. I'm looking for new style inspiration. How do you shop?

Every day? Bloody hell. They do say that no good comes out of doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

What age are you?

I like Joy atm, I can always find nice things in there.

Well I'm 40, and I check out their sites like I'm 20 again! I think I'm just in a rut and looking for inspiration!

Pintrest, freinds, the school run, sitting in a cafe people watching, a few little independent shops that I go to, Instagram.

I make quite a lot of my own clothes so I don't feel bound by any shops, I follow people who sew and also independent pattern producers.

My style inspiration is Gillian Anderson in The Fall crossed with Kate Moss.

And I totes succeed in looking like that, honest...

Usually shop very selectively on eBay or in the cheaper end of TKMaxx's gold label.

Blogs and Instagram can be good for inspiration. Even if the blogger is a different shape, has a different style or budget, it can give you ideas as to the types of look and you can adapt to suit yourself.

I really like the style blog Midlifechic which I think I discovered through here I'm early 40s and really didn't know what to wear or how to put my clothes together but find lots of inspiration on there!

Alexa Chung.

There’s a woman that runs a bookshop near me that always looks amazing. Whenever I go in the I check out what she’s wearing and make a bad attempt at replicating it.

That makes me sound much more like a stalker than I actually am.

I have some very stylish friends who I take inspiration from and also Jennifer Anniston! I always find asking myself internally 'would Jen wear this?' when looking for clothes keeps me from making too many style mis steps!

Real life people.

I’m pregnant with my first and really paranoid about becoming a frumpy Mum. I was in the park cafe the other day having a coffee and noticed how bedraggled a lot of the mums looked (I feel bad saying something negative about other women, but in my opinion they didn’t look great, sorry).

Anyway then this one Mum came in who looked really good so I made a mental note of exactly what she was wearing and why she looked good, if that made sense. She was only in shorts and flat shoes and a plain t-shirt so not as though she was dressed up but she just looked effortlessly good.

Again I saw another Mum at the weekend who looked fantastic so I made a note of her outfit etc

Stopbeingnosey

I run a bookshop, and for ten seconds I allowed myself to get all excited when I read your post.

'Maybe it's meeeeee!' I thought.

Then I looked down and realised that I usually resemble a sofa in a student house.

And I caught myself on

Givemethebiggestslice that could well come down to sleep as well as style! Get yourself a cleaner, Ocado and do Marie Kondo before the birth so that you really can sleep when the baby sleeps!

Also stock up on spanx pants and touche eclat.

Were the well-dressed mums thin and small of boob, by any chance?

Tooextra the well dressed mums were on the slim side but no I wouldn’t say they were “thin”. Just healthy looking I guess.

I prefer real life to looking at Pinterest (too American) or Insta (too young) these days.

If I go to a 'naice' or 'well off' area, I'm always struck by how good the women look and I think it's all down to top level grooming and outfit co-ordination and accessorising well.

I popped into my local Waitrose on Sunday and saw a woman of mid-thirties, with a light tan and shoulder length blonde hair and she was only wearing a breton striped dress with tan bag and sandals but she looked great. I googled that dress later on but couldn't find it. Wish I'd asked her now!

I also like looking at what minor celebrities are wearing especially if they resemble me, that way I can get a feel for what the outfit would look like on me and I know there's a reasonable chance that I can afford it too (unlike Jen Ann who swans around with £10K handbags).

I know what you mean about the shops though, I'm the same. At this time of year I spend hours every day online looking but rarely see anything I like. It's all about the frills and sludge colours at the moment and I can't do either.

I follow lots of blogs/insta accounts, and I take note of people I see in the street (for both good and bad ideas!).

It's generally a "look" that inspires me, so I don't need to know exactly where someone bought their dress etc. Having said that, I have on a couple of occasions tapped someone on the shoulder and asked them.

I'm only asking about weight because there are a bunch of mums at my daughter's school who look lovely and they are all properly thin. I think it's so much easier to look chic in simple clothes if you don't have any lumpy bumpy bits!

I get a lot of inspiration from travel just got back from Japan and have bought culottes, platform slides and a Comme des garcons T-shirt. Bloggers don't really interest me they are mostly sponsored and wear things they wouldn't wear in their real lives.

A few over 40’s ladies on IG.

@styledwithsusie is very good.

I read magazines like Look, Cosmopolitan & Grazia just to keep up to date with what's in fashion.

I also look at retailers websites, and shop windows for ideas!

I look at expensive items then buy cheaper copies.

I also have styles I know I like & suit.

I'm 41, obviously I'm wary of dressing too young BUT I'm more wary of dressing too old & frumpy which I used to do.
I've lost a lot of weight so I feel comfortable wearing certain styles now.

I also avoid Instagram and bloggers as it’s sponsored and fake a lot of the time.

I think working in central London helps keep in touch with trends as I walk past shop windows each day and there’s a lot of very fashionable people where I work / on the streets / tube etc.

I also browse the websites of some brands I like (Baukjen, Whistles, Reiss) from time to time, although I buy 90% of my wardrobe from TK Maxx, ebay and charity shops.

My style inspiration are people like..Katherine Hepburn, Debbie Harry, Cagney off Cagney and Lacey and my Granny in the 1940s and 50s ( she was very chic and I have quite a few of her old clothes and hats).
I also get inspired by concepts, like..sometimes I want to dress like the well educated daughter of a Mafia boss.
Or a Norwegian lady lighthouse keeper.
It's all going on mainly in my head but it makes me happy!