I wish I were either more stylish than I actually am, or could make peace with my CBeebies presenter aesthetic.

[LucyGru]

How I think I would like to dress: Black, complicated, arty dresses, simple statement jewelry, severe glasses, very short hair, expensive boots.

Me in real life: Oooh look, YELLOW shoes!! And these ones have DAISIES on them! And a cardigan with novelty buttons! And ANOTHER denim skirt because this one has RAINBOW stitching! Shall I get the cat glasses or the blue and green flowery ones? Ha! This bag looks like a hotdog!

I'm the same with house stuff. I logged on to look at cut glass crystal wine glasses (because I want to be a grown-up with grown-up things) but found myself adding the KMart 2-tone pink and yellow wine glasses to my basket...

I could have written similar!
I like a fashionable but classic look, so black, linen trousers, a good stripe top, tan leather, black leather jacket, silky skirts. Blazers.

I go to the shops and I'm drawn to cartoon prints, big chunky stripes, rainbow colours, quirky prints.

But then I get them home and don't actually wear them, as they're still not me! I end up wearing jeans and a printed t-shirt, or a midi dress. I have an obscene amount of polka dot in my wardrobe, which I forget about until I open the summer clothes suitcase every year 😂 and 3 navy stripe midi dresses.

It's like there are 3 different versions of me fighting to get out. And the boring, comfy one is the winner most of the time.

Retrain as a primary school teacher! Embrace the joy

Me too. There’s nothing ‘pretentious’ about it, though, any more than wearing ‘wacky’ shoes and Su Pollard glasses is pretentious. Neutral aesthetic choice.

You'll never guess what I do for a living... 😆

I get the best of both worlds by wearing mainly monochrome or rich dark colours in winter, and going berserk with tie dye and re dyed sari silks in summer.
I am in bright rainbow coloured excessively baggy dungarees today with a turquoise top underneath.
Mind you, I’m not going out anywhere today.

Oh, OP, you are actually a primary school teacher? Then your clothes will be entirely appropriate and fun for the kids! You should definitely not wear black. Or grey. Or navy.

Oh wow go full on then.

If I taught primary I'd be wearing that dress with the books I see all over the place. And the dinasaur print one

OP that's the best. I have two uniforms. My school uniform is crazy and involves a lot of frugi and even a dinosaur print dress

Ha! I wish my style was dark academia but I actually look like the result of an inappropriate relationship between a lefty geography teacher and Pugsley Adams. And definitely more than a hint of CBeebies. Decided just to embrace it as can’t be arsed not to!

Oh OP are you me!
I am too plump and menopausal to be a CBeebies presenter

What’s the point of this thread if you like the clothes, and you like wearing the clothes, and they’re entirely appropriate for your work?

Seems like there’s no issue here!

I have blue hair and dinosaur dungarees. I have lost the ability to give a shit anymore.

And i used to be a primary school teacher too!

"Effortlessly stylish Parisian architect" is a challenge I could not resist! Found so many breath-taking things I could browse them all night (but Spar's going to close soon and I'll have to shuffle quickly). Enjoy my first five 🤗

Ah see I don't like any of those! I'd much rather talk to someone in regular clothes. Or in a dinasaur print!

We can't all like the same things, thank goodness!
My final imaginary shopping trip for today:

I think Essential Antwerp is a good brand for those lovers of colour clashing
https://www.essentiel-antwerp.com/uk/women/fall-collection

I am not loving much on there at the moment tbh but I always see a combination that I can recreate from my own wardrobe.

I like the neon yellow necklace with that toned back dress… I’ve done that before with a cheapy neon pink necklace I found in the “festival” section of some high street brand.

I like the colour toned down with the cream trousers

I like the column of colour with the lilac. I’ve got a lilac t shirt dress from Cos and a lilac blazer from Hobbs I got second hand and I’m now thinking of clashing the shoes.

I like the tonal blues with the small clash of red on that street scene. ( especially with a matching friend 😀)

I don’t think any of those looks are children’s TV presenter

@LucyGru The last female architect I saw speaking on screen was wearing a La Fetiche jumper. They combine Glaswegian and Parisian sensibilities and manage to be both gloriously colourful and wondrously sophisticated. (Not cheap, though.)

After suffering severe depression and being hospitalised I am now fully recovered and embracing my love of colour and fashion. Wear what makes you feel good, colour makes me happy. My husband refers to my style as jumble sale style.
Same with household items I love colour and those glasses are amazing. I think you should continue to wear your lovely mish mash of colourful items x

Ooh love the first 3 on your second one .

Not that it's about what I like!

Op just have to say I LOVE those wine glasses - that’s exactly the style I would go for. I love colour and print and fun quirky things. With clothes, I don’t think you should suppress it, but you can do colour in a more fashiony/cool way ( though if you want to go full CBeebies there’s nothing wrong with that!).

My tips would be look for secondary colours or complex bright colours eg greens, pinks, mustards (like your wine glasses) rather than always primary colours like bright red and blue - especially primary colours together because that’s what brings the kids TV vibe. Combine bright colour and quirk with plainer colours eg a very simple black dress with bright necklace, toenails and funky shades. Dark wash jeans with a bright coat and novelty bag. Jeans or denim skirt with bonkers daisy jumper or bright t-shirt etc. or full-on bright/print dress with simple Birkenstocks. Then they play off each other and it’s more statement-y - you don’t have to do Cos architect to be stylish. Look at Anna Dello Russo. https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/anna-dello-russo-style/slide6

Have a look at babipur......

Popsy dress and Heavenly Feet boots? I've got the flowery boots and the bright pink ones with stars and I'm not far off 70

Please do not change. U sound absolutely wonderful!! Life is and should b colourful. Wear those daisy shoes with your rainbow stitched denim skirt whilst drinking wine from a beautiful pink glass!

You absolutely don’t want to wear black and have severe hair or you would. Be yourself, only pretentious idiots will judge you for coloured wine glasses and Daisy shoes.

Do you wear Popsy?