Please help my clothes are stuck in 2015

[Witchinthewardrobe]

Last time I paid any attention to my clothes was when I was 28, in 2015.

I then spent 4 years in the fog of a degree and near mental beakdown, and then just as I was coming out the other side, covid came along and I’ve spent the year in PJs!

I have thrown away clothes in the past 5 years, but barely bought anything new. I am now 34, running out of clothes, and what I have left of what I wore in my late 20s is no longer fashionable or flattering.

I used to be have a general sense of what was “in” when it came to jeans cut, heel height, boot style, accessories and jewellery, etc. But now I have Literally. No. Idea.
Remember when chunky belts were a thing? When we wore shoe boots? When everyone was in colourful tights? Long chunky cardis?

What are people wearing right now?! I feel like a slobbish cave woman in my battered blue skinny jeans with baggy knees, my Tesco t-shirt and and zippy fleece. Please Help?

What size and shape are you? Do you like patterns or block colours? Trousers or dresses? Which sorts of people do you think are stylish? Fashion changes so much that you do need some sort of core sense of your own style and what suits you to guide you through and allow you to pick up on trends which you like and will flatter you and which to discard.

Also what sort of job do you do and what socializing? (Basically how smart/casual do your clothes need to be?)

I can't help as I live in jeans and t-shirts but I did use both Stitch Fix and another of those postal curated outfit things. They were really good! Their suggestions were spot on.

I didn't end up keeping all of the items because they either cost too much or were things which weren't quite the right size. But they came with little outfit suggestion card which I did keep.

I am contemplating using them again.

Thanks @Wobblybobblyboo
I’m tall and a size 12. I honestly don’t know who I tink is stylish 😬 I suppose I am quite classic in taste, I will look at women like gillian anderson and bbc newsreaders and like what they wear, but I am not a very glamorous person and would look overdressed in lovely dresses every day. I am a jeans-and-a-top or skirt-boots-and-cardi sort of person, very mainstream, I’m just left wondering which jeans or which cardi, especially now that shopping has gone online, I am just totally spoilt for choice and don’t know what to look for!

Id suggest getting on Instagram and finding people to follow who's style you admire. You'll get lots of ideas that way.

Or Pinterest, go on and search for what you're after eg. "Smart casual jeans outfits" for instance.

Thanks @FakeTanandProsecco is stitchfix expensive? Do you have enough turn around time? Somebody has suggested this to me in real life, though I am worried I might not send stuff back in time as I work long hours and struggle to get to the post office!

I'm the same age and size as you (but I'm not that tall). I get lots of my clothes in & other stories, occasional bit from h and m, I like arket and cos.

Jeans - there seems to be a different thread every day about this! Skinnies are not really fashionable but they are still really popular. The kids (I'm a teacher) are wearing horrible baggy ones and sort of ill-fitting short flares. This is all too noughties for me (shudders at my teenage clothes). I have high waisted straight jeans - whistles barrell and & other stories but I appreciate these don't work for some people.

Trainers - I have vejas and supregra. Basically I think anything goes with trainers though really - some will have a moment (e.g. Stan Smith's 4 years ago) but if you still like them the styles tend to stick around for a long time.

Boots - flat boots for the last couple of years were just very clumpy and often lace up. All sorts of heeled boots still seem to be in fashion (I have some from allsaints).

Have you checked out Gillian Anderson's clothes in sex education? Love that woman.

In terms of shopping for this summer - there seem to be a lot of pattern tea dresses, smocked things and layered dresses which look like sacks (to me anyway).

Which bits of you do you like and want to emphasise?

Is it worth getting some nice very casual things? For example, I hate wearing joggers or sports leggings unless I'm actually exercising but it sure looks better if you have good ones from e.g. sweaty betty who make loads of stuff which is not strictly for exercising.

I think something like stitchfix could be a good idea if you don't know where to start. I had one box from them and sent it all back, before basically concluding that I'm too fussy to allow someone else to pick my clothes, but I don't think it's a bad idea at all. Another thing you might look at is clothes rental subscription - e.g. the devout - which could let you try out new styles before committing to buying.

I envy you your size and height! I think you sound quite a classic dresser, as am I. I’ve been buying simple silk blouses, Boden and M&S are good, slim jeans, merino fine knits, pointed flats and ballerinas. You might find getting things like this will help you get into clothes again without feeling too much out of your comfort zone.

John Lewis is doing their free stylist service online at the moment. I’ve had some success with them in the past:

www.johnlewis.com/our-services/personal-styling

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, it sounds like a very tough few years.

If it helps, I'm still wearing loads of things from at least 5 or 6 years ago. I would say the main change is that fashion has got a lot more casual: pretty much everything is a looser fit, shoes are flat, and skinnies are slowly giving way to a more relaxed shape (although not everyone agrees ).

The pandemic has undoubtedly speeded things up but the change was already happening and I very much doubt that all your clothes are suddenly out of date. I can imagine them reminding you of a period in your life that you're keen to put behind you but I bet they look fine.

If you wear mostly jeans then I'd start with them and, if you're ready for a change of shape, there was a good thread a few weeks ago about alternatives to skinnies, also a current one that's a bit more fighty but has some good links and also some suggestions about what to wear with them. Enjoy!

I just looked up Stitch Fix as hadn’t heard of it but it gets terrible reviews on Trustpilot so I may try the instagram idea for inspiration instead. I am grateful for this thread as hate thinking about clothes and my wardrobe is dire plus I’ve worn it to pieces for the last year !

Try whowhatwear.co.uk- like the fashion pages in a magazine but more of them and updated more frequently. Wish I'd found it before I got a Grazia subscription after feeling pretty much like you do!

What shape are you? Pear? Hourglass etc? If we know your shape, it’s easier to advise what to buy.

Regarding dresses, I never really wore them before last year. However, bought a few as I wanted to get away from trousers and love them now. There’s a lot of ‘day’ dresses around which you can wear everyday.

Instead of cardigans, try blazers or kimonos.