How to look effortless

[TheOGCCL]

I’m having a mid life fashion crisis and spending far too much time thinking about my wardrobe yet am constantly underwhelmed by my appearance. When I go out (London) I see lots of well put together women who don’t appear to be obsessing the way I am. They seem to just throw on an outfit and look great, trainers, mom jeans and trench coats being a popular look at the moment. I’d look like a bag lady. What’s the secret? Is it secretly a lot of effort like natural make up?

I know what you mean. Ive just gone through my own mid life fashion crisis 🤣🤣 Ive started following Lydia tomlinson and Emma hill on you tube. Oh and a lady whose page is called ‘thanks to fashion’. They do effortless classic style very well. Especially Lydia. What I've taken from all my research is buy good quality basic pieces in a neutral palette so everything ties in with each other. So say for eg a good heavy weight white cotton tee shirt paired with say beige cotton well tailored trousers, white trainers, or tan leather sandals. Level up the look with jewellery eg a chunky gold necklace. I really like Cos and Arket for good quality basics. H and M premium too. I like Levi 501’s for straight jeans because they do such good sizing and the denim is usually 100% cotton.

i favour good skincare over good make up too. Make up looks a lot better if you look after your skin. I recently had a Mac make up application training session and the girl told me it was obvious i looked after my skin because the foundation went on so well. I was so chuffed!

All this has taken a good 6 months post traumatic break up but im finally getting there with being my authentic fashion self! Still a work in progress but what fun it’s been 😊

Do your clothes fit well? Or are they tight/loose/long etc?
Do you iron them?
Are you happy with your body? Or are you trying to hide imperfections?

I think if your clothes are well fitting and not crumpled, the "looking like a bag lady" is mostly in your head.

@CoconutAmericano Brilliant advice, thanks! I do tend to buy clothes rather randomly and then spend ages trying to put it altogether. I have been trying to focus on basics. I’m glad you are back on track 😊

@Frogium I do iron my clothes yes! I think it’s more to do with how I put things together and choose what to buy in the first place. Constantly making mistakes. I don’t like my figure much (too long torso, too short legs, too big a chest and too broad shoulders) but objectively its fine.

theconceptwardrobe.com/build-a-wardrobe/pear-body-shape

This really helped me. I'm a pear shape but you should be able to find you shape on there if not a pear. Turns out everything I was wearing was wrong as I would try and cover my thighs by wearing long stuff where in fact I should of been wearing shorter stuff to show off my small waist

Well you've picked quite a hard look to emulate tbh. Mom jeans look good on very few people compared to other cuts, trench coats are tricky to get the proportions right, especially if you're shorter in the leg; and trainers, as much as we love them, are not the most aesthetically pleasing footwear most of us could choose and emphasise any lack of leg length. No specific advice, other than to try to ignore the uniform and figure out the cuts styles and proportions that are right for you. If clothes look bad on you, it's the clothes that are wrong for you, not the other way round.

@bananas9 Thanks, never seen this so comprehensively explained online. I’m an inverted triangle and always known this as its very extreme. I think the problem is partly some of the clothes suggested for this shape don’t feel especially modern, eg v/low neck tops but I will think on about this.

@5128gap I’m not even attempting mom jeans, it’s just a look I see and think looks quite thrown on but stylish. You’re right I do need to be true to myself and shape. I suit skinny jeans as they elongate my short legs but they currently feel a bit skimpy and mean with all the billowy shapes around. As you say trainers are not especially flattering on short legs but I look around and everyone is wearing them, for everything and with everything.