‘Ugly’ fashion only works if you’re attractive

[WizardinTraining]

I know it’s subjective and there’s no right or wrong and we should all be comfy with ourselves etc but am I the only one that thinks the current ugly/wacky/comfy type fashions that all the Instagrammers are wearing only work because most of them are slim and attractive.

I love all the bright jumpers, clashing patterns, baggy jeans and especially the bold trainers but being short, not very slim and booby I’d look like a Playschool presenter at best and an oversized child at worst <sigh>

I wear colour combinations which you'd probably categorise as "chaotic and messy" I pick them because they aren't dull and boring. There's no confusion or "faux confusion" involved

I've not said anything about only liking dull things or boring things though and have already said up thread that a range of colours can look lovely on different people including brights, pastels, jewel tones and that a range of tailoring, styles, personal style and colour can look great on a range of different people, including stuff that isn't my style.The colour wheel approaches cover a huge range of interesting colour combinations across a range of hues, depths, saturations. There's many ways to wear colours and prints that don't look messy and chaotic.

If someone wants to dress in a way that's a mismatch of prints, styles, clashing colours, poorly fitted garments and in a way that looks chaotic and that style makes them happy, great. It's just not surprising that many people will see that look and think it looks a mess.

What people think looks good changes over time and varies by location

Therefore there isn't a true "looks good" , just a one that depend on the context of when and where you were born

Ultra wide hips of the wide petticoat era? Birds nest hair dos? Face patches ? They thought these were stylish and flattering - you'd laugh now if someone wore that to tescos

You're still applying your own subjectivity as if "messy and chaotic" can be objectively measured.

I don't think I've ever seen a "colour wheel" let alone acted upon it (or chosen to act as if I knew about it but pretended it doesn't exist just so I can be "faux confused")

Cards on the table - I think "your colours" is, as another poster on another thread described it "astrology for clothes".

For me it wasn't just impressing my peers in general, it specifically impressed (some) boys. When I was a teen I collected 'nice guy' followers and they would always tell me how amazing it was that I was so sexy but didn't wear tarty clothes like the other girls. Which I obviously now see for the total misogynistic bullshit it was but at the time I lapped right up.

Mamette · Today 11:5
This is still the best style tip on here.

love my long puffer. I really embrace the daelek silhouette it gives when zipped up.

'Flattering' is also regularly used as a code for 'makes you look younger'. I got so tired of that whole fandango - the endless angst about whether something was either 'too young' or 'ageing'.

Sadly, me too :(

Wow I didn’t expect so many responses but this has turned into a really interesting discussion.

To me flattering almost always means ‘makes you look younger’ or ‘makes you look thinner’ or sometimes ‘draws attention to the acceptable bits of you’ depending on what those might be at a particular time. It rarely refers to colours that enhance the features or anything more subtle.

My original point was that the people I’ve seen wearing this type of look - mostly online but some in real life - generally don’t need to think about whether it’s flattering to them or not.

Can you post an example of what you're thinking of just so I'm clear we're not at cross purposes? I'm assuming you mean the sort of clothes in the links I posted but I don't use Instagram and don't look at influencers.

I didn’t really want to single someone out because she seems lovely but there’s an Instagrammer called Goodmannersstyle who epitomises this look to me - and I don’t get the ‘I know I’m pretty so I’d look good in anything’ vibe from her. There are others I do though.

I can only see a few posts before Instagram insists I join. But from what I did see I can't see how anything she's wearing can be called ugly.

I liked the oversized dresses, the colours, her knitwear and the short boxy jackets but there's far too much denim and trainers.

Tbh I was expecting something far more outré. Her clothes are colourful, cheerful and not difficult to wear. Ditching the denim would improve the look.

I agree that high waisted jeans are not flattering to those with big bellies. They really only look good on the very slim (not that I'm saying only the very slim should wear them).

There is a middle ground between high waisted and hipsters - it's mid waist, and I find them far more flattering than either of the other two.

I really don't understand women who dress to please others - I'm 64 and the only person I have ever dressed to please is myself.

Most things only work if you're attractive!

I really don’t understand your comments because she’s very plain. Yes she’s slim but she’s not beautiful.

I don't think her clothes look particularly out of the ordinary - I would wear a lot of them myself.

Very plain? Wow, that's harsh.

I've looked up Goodmannersstyle and she looks great. I aim for similar cuts and silhouettes, but a slightly toned down colour palette because I'm a bit more of a wallflower. I was in my 30s before I decided that not everything has to be fitted and 'flattering' - I feel so much freer and happier with how I dress now.

As for all the humble bragging comments (I'm not singling any out but there are several) I'm a short, jowly, 67 year-old woman. I'm not particularly into wacky clashy colours but I do like what many of you regard as baggy, shapeless clothing.

I got into it not to show off but because I think Western fashion has a) run out of ideas and b) is obsessed by youth. I was tired of trying to be part of something that doesn't want me.

Off topic but now I'm in my 70s I feel the need to look more 'put together' style-wise. In my 50s I still felt at ease with a loose bun and tendrils, with slouchy trousers and mismatched tops but now I can't carry it off....I always take a second look in the hall mirror and make sure I don't just look like an old scruff bag (and, yes, it matters to me!).

I've thought this since I first set eyes on Mel B from the spice girls. I used to think she was so pretty she could pull off anything but if I wore green combat pants with a leopard print top I'd look like shit!

I've pondered for ages why the latest fashions don't suit me (an overweight, permanently tired middle aged woman with shit hair 🤷🏻‍♀️) and I think it's because the clothes take a back seat to everything else. So for your leggings and neutral coloured jumper to look good, your nails, brown, skin, teeth and hair all have to be on point and mine sadly are not.

From what I can see clothes are only designed for very young boyish shaped women at the moment!

My son is only 10, but tall and thin and when he shops he buys stuff from any department if he likes it- and ‘womens’ jeans, T-shirts, and knits especially look like they are designed for his body shape, definitely not mine (and I’m under 40 and have a proportional sized hourglass figure!).

You use flattering the way I do. And I want to dress in a way thats flattering, but I do think there’s a lot of women, particularly younger ones, who don’t. I think you are wrong though, it’s not a humble brag, it’s deliberate not prioritising looking younger/slim/healthy. Which seems odd when I’ve spent my adult life being effectively told this is an important part of picking clothes.

(I had a look at that instagrammer you mentioned, I now want all her trainers.)

Her clothes are colourful, cheerful and easy to wear... and very ordinary. I really don't understand what is being complained of here.

I've had a look too and I'm now perplexed as to what we're actually talking about. I'd say goodmannersstyle's clothes are a bit more colourful than average (which I like) but otherwise they look pretty normal to me and definitely not ugly. Apart from the animal prints - which I've never liked - I'd wear a lot of them and wouldn't feel in the least 'out there'.

The other side of the "humble bragging" coin is the "oh it's great, but I'd look like -

a dumpy little whale
I needed support in the community
a Banardos case
like a toddler playing dress up
a sack of potatoes
a Playschool presenter

Really? Aside from the fact I bet you wouldn't , is that what you think anyone who isn't the perfect, tall willowy model looks like if they don't wear clothes which are "flattering" (using that very narrow definition of what is "flattering" in clothes)

I'm 64, about 5'4 /5 and a size 14/16. By all the definitions of flattering, suits your colouring, etc, etc, on here I'd fail. In reality maybe I do look like all of the above, except there's not a week goes by without at least one compliment on what I'm wearing.

If you’re tall and thin, anything can look good. But I see young women in voluminous jeans and I think they look bloody awful regardless.