Jeans and a nice top???

[Ohjustboreoff]

Help! What the hell does this mean? When we were deciding what to wear for the Christmas lunch this was agreed upon by most of the other women present.
I work with a lot of women who are around 10 years younger than myself. I'm 45 and a size 12/14 and am more jeans and a Breton top than anything. They all started looking at websites like Boohoo and Prettylittlethings definitely not my style. I want to look a bit fashion forward and have a lovely pair of dark indigo skinny jeans and was going to get some shoe boots.

Can anyone help me with a top?

I did mention I have a black sequinned boat necked top and they all looked at me like I had shot Gok Wan!

Hi op. I think your outfit sounds lovely. Are you adding a Clutch bag? Accessories? Statement earrings? Maybe a lovely velvet blazer/jacket would go well.

If you're going for a fashion forward look, how about jeans in a different shape?

Grown women - actual grown adults - getting together to agree they’ll all wear the same thing? Haven’t seen that since my mid-70s Lower Fifth schooldays!

I agree a velvet jacket would mark a nice bid for freedom.

‘Jeans and a nice top’ is more a level of formality than an exact description of an outfit.

So a casual dress, or nice jumper and pencil skirt would also fit into that category. It just means ‘slightly nicer than normal but not really dressy’

Oasis is good for 'nice tops' to go with Jeans.

It just means jeans and like a sparkly or dressy top... boots are fine.

It's pretty much the new smart casual

People will be queuing up to tell you that skinny jeans aren’t fashion forward, but lots of people, including me, still wear them, including for nights out, and nobody will look at you funny if you do.
“Nice top” to me means there’s probably something about it that makes it “evening-y”. So made of silk, or lace, or sequinned, or something. Maybe sleeveless or halterneck or low cut but doesn’t have to be. Definitely not a breton, that is for daytime.

There's some nice evening tops on the Wallis website

I still wear skinnies too. There is nothing at all wrong with doing so. But the op specifically said fashion forward, which I wouldn't really say skinnies are.

Sainsburys TU range had some really nice sparkly tops, not overtly Christmassy but more festive and sparkly that would look great with jeans and heels

"Jeans + a nice top" as a going-out outfit was popularized by Kate Moss in the 90s. It's much less effort than a dress + heels, but you can have some fun with it. It was the absolute uniform for going out circa Y2K. I'm the same age as OP's colleagues and pretty much still wear it The going-out-ness of the outfit derives from
a) shoes
b) the top - silk/beaded/etc
c) hair/makeup/jewellery
d) coat

The pic of Mossy here shows her in full 90s cami-top-Ness, but I think a more covered up look would be more modern.

If I wear the sequins I'll only wear my diamond studs and necklace with a black boot and black clutch. If the top is a different colour I might have a rethink of my accessories. I'm not one for statement jewellery. I have quite a few bling bags though

Silkfred has some lovely tops! www.silkfred.com/boutiques/bella-and-blue/clothing/wine-kimono-knot-top I love the flattering shape of this kimono knot style one and it comes in loads of different colours.

I'm 30 OP and your sparkly top would absolutely fit into the jeans and nice top category for me!

Go with that ohjust. It sounds lovely.

Just the one black boot?

my mid-70s Lower Fifth schooldays!

Brilliant

I have to ask-did you go to boarding school? I’ve only ever heard of the lower fifth from Malory Towers, it was it St Clares?