What screams frumpy?

[bradpittsbathwater]

What makes something/someone frumpy? It's hard to define. I know MN can get upset at this word.

Aye but men don't make threads on the internet to slag off the clothes that other men wear and make them feel bad for liking something as innocuous as "a coat from mountain warehouse" or "dark socks".

My DH wears walking boots everywhere because we have decided not to have a car and walk everywhere for our waistlines and to be greener. He cares not a jot about being stylish!

Edinburgh Woolen Mills is very good quality.

"Frumpy" needs to have a careless grandmother air to it.

The girl described above (sorry can't find it now) the one in coloured tights, Mary Janes, floral dress with a long Bob haircut and glasses- she actually sounds quirky not frumpy.

Also, there's nothing frumpy about a wrap dress! I love them in the summer.

Anything in pale turquoise or coral.

Mountain Warehouse is only frumpy if you're wearing it completely out of context, like at the theatre or during an expensive dinner date or something...

Ooh, that's two more birds I can kill with one stone. I have a love Fatface coral jumper so that's two off this thread in one item 😂

My mid length wrap dress is pale turquoise today. I'm doomed. It does go with my skin tone nicely though!

As much as I dislike the term ridiculous used about posts, I agree with this.

I went out to the shops in a frumpy outfit the other day. The clothes were fine, but they didn't look right together. The worst bit was that had I worn a different coat, not a boxy collarless one, i'd have probably looked OK.

Ballet flats and cardigans are in fashion again. Ignore those stuck in 2022 🤪

They have lots of dresses in MW that I have worn to dinner and to work and to a funeral and to a party.

Until turquoise and coral become the next big thing obviously!

Its mostly subjective though and personal tastes are wildly different.
For me its proportions being wrong that makes things look dated or frumpy. So skirts that end mid calf, capri trousers, three quarter sleeves and things that are obviously the wrong size for the person wearing them (and not in a Billie Eilish way!).

I think you misunderstand the ‘sack like midi dresses’

They are designed to be minimalist against the current fashion. I’d apply elegant or edgy rather than frumpy.

If everything from some shops is always frumpy, what is never frumpy? I wonder because I can guarantee I could make the most approved-of item look frumpy.

Male frumpy is a football shirt (when it’s not intended to be worn for a football match) or a well washed / worn fleece paired with really badly fitting pale wash jeans and any old shoes at the bottom.

Men can be just as frumpy as women.

Well, I've read the whole thread and basically it seems my entire wardrobe is frump central. It all seems very judgmental. Sorry if I've offended you all with my dark socks but I have bigger things to worry about. My wardrobe works for me and my busy life. I don't dress for anyone but me.

I think it’s about the fit of clothes and their relationship to your figure. It’s where a skirt or a top hits on you personally that makes the difference. Or the length of trousers. I see that on men just as much as women.

I think it’s also basically ‘boring’ so you haven’t put any thought in as to what trousers to wear with what top and assume everything goes with black. Often it’s seeking comfort although there are plenty of ways to be stylish and comfortable.

It’s also having no relationship to modern fashion so at the moment wearing fitted clothes all over (unless athleisure) or styles that were in 20 years ago. Fair enough, some people have no interest in style and fashion. I doubt they care about being called frumpy.

It can also be overly matched clothes, shoes and bag included, too one dimensional as an outfit.

@AncientBallerina I've been wearing ballet flats since the mid noughties. No plans on stopping any time soon!

I read this and was thinking that she sounds really cool in style terms actually, but possibly in a way that the posted doesn’t recognise or understand

Male frump: dark stonewash jeans and a Fair Isle jumper.

Love this combo!

I'm frumpy most days.

I have very fine hair that automatically arranges itself into a boring bob, even if I ask the hairdresser for something edgy, it's like overnight the bob returns. I wear glasses too, and am apple-shaped and busty, so I think those three things work against me in the anti-frump attempts before I even get dressed.
I avoid florals, cardigans, anything drapey, long dresses.

Anything that could be described as a 'blouse'.

Anything made of that viscose/crepey type of material.

Most patterns.

Colours that are slightly 'off': mauve, turquoise,mustard, petrol blue... I think of them as Fat Face/White Stuff colours.

Tunic dresses.

Dresses and leggings.

Ballet flats, however they're worn. Ditto Mary-Jane's.

Anoraks worn as everyday coats, as opposed to for hiking etc. Ditto walking boots.

Cap sleeved t shirts when you're rotund of arm.

Patterned handbags or tote bags or umbrellas.

Brightly colored tights. Low denier tights. Any tights that aren't opaque and basic colours!

The type of themed clothing that Seasalt/Joules et al sell e.g. seaside woman/country cottage woman. Toast is bad for this as well. All the pinafores and dungarees and Breton stripes. It's contrived and it's become a woman-of-a-certain-age stereotype.

Big handbags full of stuff.

Doc Martens, especially the coloured ones.

Wearing glasses, except sunglasses.

Brighter pink lipsticks and nail varnishes.

Sportswear as everyday wear unless it's that Varley-type athleisure look.

Round-neck buttoned cardigans. Waterfall cardigans.

Chunky beaded jewelry. Brooches.

Radley bags.

Chiffon scarves.

I've obviously given this way too much thought! I helped my mum (70s) sort her wardrobe when she downsized and these are the conclusions we reached.

To me, frumpy is about poor fit. But here it seems to be used as a catch all word for clothes that you don't personally like.

Glasses are a necessity though! I can’t wear contacts.

Yes I'd agree actually. You can still look good and in well fitted clothes without being high fashion.