MN style gurus - Please help me break out of my sad, dreary style-prision! Please!

[Shitemum]

Ok, I am sick of my 'look'.
Said look consists of shrunken long-sleeved, but too short in the body, cotton tops in various plain colours, old jeans or needlecord trousers, baggy shapeless cardigans and assorted boots of various heights but no heels. Very occasionally a shortish skirt and boots but am a cold person and like to be comfortable. I have two snotty pre-schoolers. Am SAHM at the moment.

I don't do loud prints on the top half.
I don't do high heels, no never.
I don't do shirts with collars.
I like dark muted rich colours (rich browns, purples, olive green, burnt orange etc), enlivened by the odd bit of lilac, lime green or red.
I never wear white, it makes my skin look dirty.
I like chunky ethnic-y jewellery or silver, no gold.
I am about 5 foot 8, slim/skinny, size 12, small of nork.
My collar length, brown hair hates the dry climate I live in and will not do as it is told, ever.
I don't live in the UK so need general tips rather than specific shops. (Tho links or names will provide ideas)
Any suggestions please?

bump

iwill brbr
need to makce lunch

Oh thank G/Cod, was hoping you'd see this
I will be here when you brbr

does it take long to brbr?
I shall wait cos want to know answer - at least you have colours Shitemum - all my long sleeve shrunken tops are (off) white..

Ok, pepper, you wait here. I have to get off MN before DP comes back from shopping with the DDs and then we're actually (as in, I can hardly believe it, we're actually going out somewhere) going to have lunch at a friend's house.

a good starting point

beause there are lots of diff tops around that are still long sleeved teeshirts, if that is what you like, but with a bit of ruching here and a puff sleeve there they look a little different.

Get some dark dark indigo jeans. Some chunky necklaces.

It sounds like you have a lovely figure so don't hide it, show it off!

I like those, especially the wrap one at the bottom.

Try Great Plains website for ideas too. And I got a lovely Dorothy Perkins catalogue through this morning, with short sleeved cardis for layering over a long sleeved top.

you are skinny

thre is nOREASON to be frumpy

1. hair - get a good conditioner and also BLOW dry it properly, not half done, if needs be get up earlier to do this. get a hair smoother serum hting to put on after drying or even remnanst of handcrema on your hadns to stop friz.

1. you say you " dont do " things is this oyu WONT or dont atm?

i think the jewllwery thign sounds good also scarves - they will keep you warm, in fahsion atm are big knit type of ones - i had a fab purple and silevr fone form StinkyNExt at xmas i loved and i saw some in the dreaded peruna today too.

get some t hsirts that are the right lenght and look careuflly at colorus that tone - looks kind of edgier than matchy match. so if you liek teal team it with a birght jade - kew do lots of this

staart readign amgazines too like grazia htat give oyu ideas . think of shirts under tanktops maybe not just " i haev put one top on"
get a few long sleeved cotton v nckes you can payer iwht a vesta dn a scarf or necklace nailey talks abotu colorued macs - a relaly good idea when it gets warmer.

they key is a godo pair of jeans imoa nd a belt. you cna have one pair for higher boots and one for some converse or flat ballet shoes. enid and i wear em wiht fish net popsocks sometimes when it is milder too

Thanks, forgot to say that in no time it will be too hot for jeans where i live never mind tank tops and macs. Then I can get out my collection of faded linen wide leg trousers and culottes.
No belts atm as DD2 gets scraped on the buckles when i pick her up. Stopped wearing belts after DD1 was born for this reason but still have a couple in the cupboard.
I did actually buy a spray on after washing conditioner the other day- 'Gliss' or something. My 'trick' is to blow dry roughly then brush lots (bought proper new bristle hair brush too the other day) and then put it in a tiny pony tail till later. It gives it a spent-a-while-with-a-fancy-brush-to-get-these-flicky-ends look without the effort. Problem is the mad, wiry grey hairs at the front, which obey no hairdressing rules, standing up waving and going 'she's still frumpy and old you know!' Hair is starting to look marginally better nonetheless.
When I say I don't 'do' certain things:
I don't do loud prints on the top half because my face disappears. Also I look grumpy so jolly prints seem inappropriate somehow {lame emoticon}
I don't do high heels, no never. Because they put my back out and i live in a place with very bad pavements and walk everywhere, no car.
I don't do shirts with collars because they make my head and neck look funny and are too smart for the messy hair and no-make up bad-skin look.
Fish-net popsocks? Erm.....

Anyone else care to add any advice?

ohhhkaaay, i will look out for tank tops then..

Shitemum where do you live?

How about dresses? Simple ones, in colours you like, they can be casual or a bit elegant and will change your look. They'll be very nice in the heat, as well. It's brutal hot where I live, too. I have untold pairs of faded linen trousers.

For the no-make up thing, I use a tinted moisturiser, SPF 15 or 20 (again, it's hot and sunny). Maybe try Bobbi Brown - she has lots of neutral vaguely natural looking colours.

Maidamess - South of Spain but inland and high so it's still cold now and boiling in summer. Practically no Spring or Autumn so it's layers of clothes or the bare minimum. In winter I need at least two layers under a jumper or im freezing in our un-heated flat. In summer even a short or cap sleeve is unbearable and just gets sweaty. It's the two extremes here.

Cocobear - am still bfeeding so dresses are no good im afraid. As are tops that can't be lifted up easily. Plan to stop soon tho, DD2 is nearly 17mo.
Feel a bit jaded of leg (am 39) so not very confident in short skirts and dresses and no tights in the summer, tho i look fine with woolly ones.
I need to go and get made up in a department store or somthing where they'll help me choose stuff. Thing is, the women here are all so immaculately turned out and made-up that it's a bit demoralising and they don't do 'natural'.
Sigh...
Am coming round to the tank top idea, tho that look will last about two minutes before it's too hot....

I hate this feckin' climate.

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Sorry lenny I have no interest in the slebs whatsoever and no tv so I manage to avoid even catching a glimpse of them by mistake!

I would like to have shiny hair and look grown-up and elegant, but not formal, that's 'all'...

It actually takes me a long time to get used to each new look or fashion and by time I decide to try out an aspect of it everyone is moving on to something new. I also hate the 'revivals' of 80's fashion we've had lately. I did it the first time round for gawds sake!
Also my clothes seem to age very fast, I mean they look old and worn after only a couple of weeks. I don't know if this is just because everything is so badly made these days or if it's something to do with how I wear them.
I don't buy new things often and right now I'm broker than I've ever been in my life...

you ahev no interst in changing then?

at Cod's insight. It's true, I am good at making excuses not to change.

Well, actually after watching 4 episodes Desperate Houswives last night on DVD I have resolved to:

1. Start wearing lip-gloss.
2. Get my hair professionally coloured and do my best to make it 'flippy' looking.
3. Try wearing a shirt with a collar and some sort of tanktop or vesty thing.

Watch this space...

You live in Spain Zara surely??? They are always v on trend. The quick fixes I use are tinted moisturiser (Laura Mercier) bit of bronzer and blow dry hair night b/f as mornings are chaos in our house. Oh and vaseline on lips.Wish I was better at going to bed early and drinking lots of water during day as this makes a huge difference to skin.

If you can't do jeans because it's too hot how about cropped trousers? Agree breast feeding can be PITA when it comes to being stylish. My v gorgeous SIL wears lots of camis with cropped jackets/pretty tops over the top. She is about the same size and height and is breast feeding.
Oh and wide legged trousers are very in but need to be tailored with a proper waist (think Katherine Hepburn) and linen is rubbish as it crushes. try cotton with lycra
www.topshop.com have some great 'matelot' wide legs. Florals but in a small print with a dark background rather than cwazy loud prints? Tops (what used to be called 'blouses') rather than shirts with collars. again top shop have some.

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LadyG - Well, I ventured into Zara yesterday for the first time in ages. The changing rooms were absolutely horrendous - black walls and white neon strip lighting up the sides of the mirrors which added 10 years and stretchmarks to me! How do they sell anything? The trousers in my size were all too long or too tight but I did buy a little leaf-green cotton bolero cardy.
I also got a tanktop {nods to Cod} in a sort of muted purple which will go with most of my cotton tops.
Of course I ended up getting lots of nice stuff in the sale for the DDs.
My linen trousers are of the Katherine Hepburn type but sadly all about to fall apart...

lennygrrl - [ grin]...I just, you know, noticed that they all had lip-gloss and flippy hair in common so figured that was the way to go. I already airkiss as that's what we do here in Spain dontcha know?

massimo dutti, lots cheaper in spain same company as zara but better quality.