Summer is here! I want to waft! I'm not a wafty person! Help me waft. Or help me no longer want to waft.

[HepburnKNotA]

I'm tall (5 foot 8) athletic build, long torso, tiny boobs and embarrasingly scrawny legs.

I'm also pale. Not etherally-beautifully-pale, but grey-ish pale with lots of freckles. Like, the kind of pale where you wonder if I might really be part-vampire.

I look FABULOUS (oh yes I do) in winter, all done up in a nice structured coat, amazing boots etc.

When summery weather comes, I instantly want to become some kind of lightly-golden, curvy Latina. I want to wear wafty things. I WANT TO WAFT, dammit.

I have bought a stunning kimono, after getting sucked in by the kimono thread on here. I adore it. I have just tried to wear it (over vest top and boyfriend khakis) and I look ridiculous. Mostly, I FEEL ridiculous. It just doesn't work, with my height, my build. It's too boxy and makes me look wider than I am (I'm only a size 10 but looking wider doesn't work on me as I'm so broad-shouldered too that I start to look like a rugby player). The stunning cherry blossom pattern makes me look drained and drab, even though it's in colours that usually work for me.

Yesterday I tried looking on the jaunty side of wafty. I tried flower-patterned chinos from H&M that I fell in love with. I looked and felt ridiculous. Nothing I own quite works with them. Anything that MIGHT work with them are the things I usually don't wear because - are you spotting a theme here - they're the things from the back of my wardrobe that make me feel ridiculous.

BUT I DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE ENTIRE SUMMER IN AN ADMITTEDLY VERY NICE VARIETY OF GREY AND NAVY TUNIC SHIRT-DRESSES AND TRAINERS, WHICH ARE THE ONLY SUMMER CLOTHES I EVER SEEM TO LOOK AND FEEL MYSELF IN.

I want to be able to throw this bloody kimono on over a vest and these trousers, or jeans, and look sultry and Parisian.

Is it the lack of tan? I do fake-tan my legs in summer (otherwise small children would flee from me) but I HATE fake tan on my upper body/face as I can never ever get it right and it just looks, well, fake.

Is it my build? Not much I can do about that. I'm slim and tall, isn't that meant to be what everyone wants??!!! Ah, I guess the barrel chest, no boobs and massive shoulders don't help :(

Basically, what should I do? I want to waft. I'm not a wafty person. Can I waft, or should I give up?

One thing about kimonos is that it looks like you have gone out in your dressing gown, just saying.

Thanks so much everyone!

Chocs, I only wish I looked like a supermodel! A lot of my height is in my body - I'm badly proportioned and actually my legs are oddly short :(

Thanks to the poster who suggested weighting kimono, I may try that as I can sort of see how that would help.

Jacqattaq, I'm sure you looked fabulous in your wafty clothes. I WISH I was hourglass!! TBH (and the experts on here will correct me, I hope, if I'm wrong) I'm not actually sure athletic/tall DOES look good with floaty clothes. Apart from aforementioned supermodel types who are only 'athletic' in that they're like racehorses - no rugby shoulders and barrel chests on them!

Real-life 'athletic' - in my case the look of an inverted triangle - probably needs to know its place and stick to sharp shapes, I regretfully think.

I think some of it is personality, too.

Plus as one poster asked, what you do with your shoes and hair. My hair is scruffy, no matter what I do with it (I wear it up, always, in a messy bun) so it kind of works as an off-set to the minimalist look. Put me in wafty clothes and I just look like I've just got out of bed, and NOT in a good way.

Aaaaanyway, huge thanks to everyone. I MAY get up the guts to post pic of me in kimono, but frankly I'm currently considering giving it to one of my friends. Anyone who can pull it off!

But it's hanging on my wardrobe door... and I still LOVE it...

First world problem if ever there was one.

I would also love to waft but as a stocky 5'4" I don't think it's likely! However, as a tall slim lady it must be possible for you,or there is no hope for the rest of us!

Have you tried long tube skirts? No need for fake tan and as they are fitted they work well to make legs look long and slim. Also, what kind of tops work for you? If strappy vests are no good can you wear shell or tänk tops? Halterneck? Can you get to a big shop and try on masses of combos you don't have in your wardrobe and see if anything surprises you?

Oh, just for reference, my kimono is one of the One HUndred Stars ones, with cherry blossom pattern. Pic below. The short/boxy type, which I thought would make me look less like I'd gone out in a dressing gown, but in fact just makes me look short and boxy.

onehundredstars.co.uk/products/one-hundred-stars-cherry-blossom-kimono

Oh I'm sorry I missed your last post! Sad to give it away if you love it! Could you belt it? Change the length? Hang it on the wall?!

Cross post again! Send it back and swap for the scarf in thr same print?!

Tanaqui, bless you, I think it;'s just that there's no hope for ME! I'm sure there's hope for everyone else :)

I probably should try that skirt style, I just hate long skirts SOOOOOOOOO much, but that said I've never actually tried a tube style one.

I'm always very very careful with tops as the wrong style just makes my top half look huge and hefty. Halterneck is a no-no, cos SHOULDERS... Tank tops cling too much to my large ribcage (gosh, I sound a right stunner, don't I?) Shell tops often are the best, plus I love the right style of T-shirt, slightly loose and long. Anything boxy is always dreadful on me which is probably one of the main problems with my lovely unsuitable kimono!

I have one of the oddest bodies on the planet OP and have struggled all my life to get stuff to fit. Big shoulders and wide back which makes it seem like I have a massive bust but I’m actually quite medium busted imo. Wearing big things on top make me look like an apple with two lolly sticks shoved in - despite my massive arse . So I feel your pain. I have decided to try to not let my body get in the way of my dreams to wear jumpers or waft or whatever. Flattering is overrated!

Op if you’re a size 10 and 5’8” I’m struggling to understand the size issue. You are not big and you are not actually too tall if there is such a thing. You are v slim and a bit over average height. From your post I would have imagined you as a stocky size 14 6 footer!

I'm 5'7 and a size 10, also a rectangle

• straight up and down and a long torso so maybe quite similar to you? I have a kimono that length that (I think) looks great! I wear mine with a cami top tucked in to some Gap girlfriend jeans or black cropped trousers which are slightly tapered. I'm sure you look a lot better than how you describe yourself.

Agree with poster who suggested sewing in some weighting beads to make it hang better - that's a great idea.

Btw - that really is one of the prettiest kimonos I’ve ever seen. I second the plan of trying to waft with a solid colour underneath. That seems to be how the Pinterest goddesses do it. Also, they appear to be striding and not tripping over their feet a-la moi.

Op, I too am 5’8 with rugby shoulders.

Every dress I wear is Bardot or halter. These are kind to your shoulders. Very slimming and flattering.

I eased myself into printed florals as I felt I looked ridiculous in them- therefore, I did. So start with plain colours or ‘shapes’ instead of florals- I’ll try and find some examples!

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075F5622C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Ud72CbYWH558J?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
OP I am 5ft 7 and an inverted triangle, so lordy I FEEL YOU on the rugby player shoulders and long torso and oddly short legs, but I too was seduced by the waft of a kimono after reading that thread (tho mine was cheaper and from Amazon, see link above). I've only worn it so far with slim fit black trousers and a black vest underneath to work and I think it looks pretty good! My shoulders are always going to be problematic and there's probably clothes which will make them look smaller than the kimono but it was just so pretty, I had to have it! The problem with kimonos is that they hang from the shoulders iykwim? I will try the weighted bead idea too though. Please wear your kimono if you love it, life is too short and no-one actually really cares about what other people look like.

Ahh, now I think I see the issue. Your kimono is too short and boxy (for you)....
You can do wafty, you just need the right wafty for you.....so mid legnth kimono's and maxi shirt dresses www.aspiga.com/products/kendal-maxi-shirt-dress-navy
Or a maxi with a better neckline for your torso shape www.aspiga.com/collections/dresses-3/products/lenu-maxi-dress-leopard-blue

grincheux Waftrobe is my new favourite word.

I too would like to waft so am following with interest.

As usual Floisme is spot on. While lovely that kimono would be a terrible length on me and I am also thickest at my shoulders. You need a good 30-60 cm more length on it to be able to successfully waft, but I sometimes think that having a strong 'frame' from your shoulders can help avoid the bag lady look with floaty fabrics. I have this dress from H&M which I think works on me because my shoulders provide the structure (I am about 2" taller than you though): dress

Also, for me, and it's just personal, I can't really see the point of a kimono. I love the pics someone posted from Pinterest (all long kimonos btw) but to the person who wears one with dungarees, I am full of admiration but how exactly do you negotiate bathroom situations? I'm always catching my loose clothes on door handles and shutting them in car doors as it is, I just think a kimono would be a recipe for disaster on me. If it's wafty it has to be an essential item for me!

I'm tall and a (very) stretchy 16 and I got a kimono from 100 Stars too on the back of that thread.

I got the longer length one and love wafting round in it - I do think the longer one is easier to wear and more slimming on me.

I also love it because it covers my horrible arms without the warmth of a cardigan but this probably isn't an issue for you.

Could you exchange it for the longer length?

The White Company is doing a nice line in wafty this season but in neutrals so that might be a better fit for you?

Kimono sounds a pain in the arse--- ditch it.

From what you’ve said it sounds as if you’re uncomfortable with unfamiliar looks and judging yourself very harshly.

I’d put money on the kimono and the trousers looking amazing but, because they’re so different to your usual look, you think you look odd in them. I’d wear them, put them on and go out, by the time you go home your eye will have adapted.

Thanks again everyone. This is the wafty thread that keeps on giving!

I do judge myself harshly, I think, even though (as I said upthread) I'm the most confident I've ever been. I think it's because I'm trying to break out of what feels like a bit of a style rut even though tbf it's not really a 'rut' if I love the clothes I usually wear and (by my reckoning) look pretty good in them! No idea why I want to try out looks that are so alien to my usual style. I think the spring sunshine has caused some kind of madness in me.

That said, I saw a woman out today dressed in EXACTLY the kind of thing I usually wear in summer, a loose shirt dress, above the knee, minimalist black sandals, and I thought she looked AMAZING and exactly how I want to look... so maybe I should just stick with what I normally wear as it's obviously the style I'm most drawn to!

The kimono, I think, is just too boxy for me. I will try it over black skinny trousers and a black top, TooOld, as those are things I have in my wardrobe already so I'll give it a go. If it just doesn't work, my plan now is to save it for when we go on holiday and use it as a poolside cover-up.

I could try a longer length kimono for sure, but I'm a bit nervous about trying new stuff now! Will try to squeeze in a mooch around the shops one day soon and see what I can see.

I definitely do need to try out new style and dare to go out and about, I think you're right Alsohuman that your eye needs to adapt.

For now, I'm going to go out and about in my trusty charcoal linen Jigsaw shirt dress and my new white trainers, and maybe some random woman will spot me and thinks, 'oooh, I'd like an outfit just like that!'

Thanks everyone!

Oh and thanks for the links hettie and Swiminguphill - stunning dresses x

I think kimonos work better full or midi length ..I sure a few and for wafting I prefer long ..

I bought this one last year and wear it like the pic .. I always get compliments.

I have several wafty long kimonas. They have to be mid calf or maxi. I know this length works and so like to also wear very long cardicoats.

And nice canvas laceups brings everything up to date.
I'm 70 next month..