What do you think it is that makes a person stylish?

[LesFlamandes]

DD16 (who is enviably stylish herself) and I were musing on this last night.

How come some people are seemingly naturally stylish, and others, often in almost the same clothes, just aren’t?

We were talking about people we see as stylish (granny, one of our vicars, one of my daughter’s teachers, her tattooed and androgynous physics tutor) and they all wear completely different styles and have different budgets, but just carry their clothes off really beautifully.

If it is not just about age, budget, particular styles of clothes etc. What do you think it is that just makes some people stylish? We had a few of our own thoughts but would love to hear what other people who think about style think.

It's knowing what you look good in, and ensuring not everything you're wearing is high street ( and I don't mean designer by that, I mean vintage, handmade, second hand etc)

I think some people (not a lot!) just have it and it’s nothing to do with shape, size, height, the clothes or any of the things we assume!

No idea!!
I can tell you it definitely isn't me, sat on the sofa in my skinny jeans from Primark and my top from Shein eating ice-cream whilst watching TV😂
One thing I have noticed about stylish people is that they are always dressed appropriately for the occasion, nothing is ever grabbed in a hurry. They have various coats for winter for example rather than one trusty waterproof parka.

Dressing to your figure, but also just being yourself. Not trying to follow a trend and wearing clothes that everyone else is wearing because it's the 'in thing'.

Some people will wear a dress in the correct size and jazz it up with a big brooch or some green platform shoes thinking it makes them look like SJP but they just…don’t. It’s hard to explain why.

I agree with the school uniform thing. So I think it’s innate.

It’s not to do with looks because lots of stylish people are conventionally ordinary looking.

I think you can just have the ‘it’ people are talking about here from a young age though - that hard to pinpoint quality where someone just always looks good. I think my 15 yo DD is like this, she doesn’t wear anything overly quirky or unusual but she just always looks good in what she wears and at ease with herself. I think there’s something in getting the proportions of what you’re wearing right - things like innately knowing where your sleeve should finish, trousers should sit etc in relation to your body.

I do think you can have it at 18/19 though, I just think you need more awareness of clothes, your body, style in general , a confidence which most 16 yr olds don’t tend to have. I used to do modelling and we all really changed style wise between 16/17 to 20. I then worked in fashion (magazines & buying) & it was young adults as opposed to teenagers who we stopped for street style etc. I now work in schools and by the 2nd yr of sixth form you really see the stylish ones start to stand out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 15/16 yr old who has it in style terms but maybe that’s just me & my opinion of what style is. Personally I think style has a certain elegance to it but others think differently. I think Zendaya is very stylish but only from about 19/20 onwards & that’s with the Hollywood machine behind her.

Oh & I think you can look good but not necessarily be stylish if that makes sense. Lots of celebs look good but I don’t think they are stylish.

Style is also very mobile. Stylish people think a lot about what they will wear tomorrow, and how it won't be quite the same as what they wore today.It is the tiny tiny tweaks that make others think "why didn't that occur to me?" They wear old clothes in new ways as long as they can. Style is not a shopping fiesta.

And shoes... Shoes are crucial. I wear boring cheap Uniqlo clothes 90% of the time, but no one notices, because I wear avant garde Italian trainers/boots with them. I'd never buy Clarks or Hotter shoes; unless you held a gun to my head.

I think whoever invented the phrase ‘effortlessly stylish’ did us all a disservice. I’m not even sure if having ‘an eye’ is a thing. If you have an interest or training in art/design then you might find it a bit easier to get to grips with, but I still think style is a learned skill that anyone can have if they’re interested enough to put the time in.

People who look effortless look that way because the effort is an ongoing project rather than a sprint. It’s much easier to look put together and relaxed at eg. a big event if you haven’t been tearing round the shops randomly trying on Rara skirts and milkmaid dresses in a flap because you have nothing to wear that makes you feel good and don’t know what you need to look for. If you’ve nailed the styles, colours, proportions that you like, you’ll probably already have something that’ll fit the bill, or will be able to find something relatively easily.

I’m going on holiday on Friday and am currently sat in my bedroom putting together my clothes for the trip. I won’t magically turn up looking put together, I’m thinking about it and planning what to take and some outfits I might make from the things I choose. Not that the good people of the Midi-Pyrenees will give a fuck what I’m wearing, but I don’t do it for them. My style is a hobby and is generally for me.

I love clothes & if I want to buy something I think about the look in my head and think about what I have in my wardrobe that goes with the item etc. I go away tmw for a few days but I won’t plan/pull out outfits. I just pack as I go, then add a few extra bits and tailoring it to my destination. When I’m then I will have a play with the outfits.

A previous poster said shoes are important, 100%. I also think jackets and coats are very overlooked, so many nice outfits are ruined by a coat that doesn’t work or a jacket that’s too long, short, etc. Obviously they are expensive but we spend so much time in them!

I am a size 14 short woman of almost 60 and people say I have style!
I love clothes.
I make an effort to nurture it. I definitely wasn’t brought up with it!
In my 20’s ( pre internet) I would buy magazines.. but look at style rather than the clothes …which where completely unaffordable!
Now I like people -watching… nothing better than sitting with glass wine in a European city and watching the world go by.
I look at Pinterest and the websites designers I like for inspiration.
Look at 2nd hand sites.
The French have a saying “ a little bit imperfectly whichI think is true… style is carrying something different off. I wear docs with dresses, have lots quirky socks. Have a vintage red velvet coat and wear with jeans.
I have good quality shoes and trainers and a good handbag ( not designer)
Logos are definitely not stylish.
You can definitely cultivate style!

Interesting observations for someone who has always wanted and tried to be stylish and can't be. I don't have an 'eye' at all.

Recent discussions with my dh when putting up a shed revealed that he could see images I n his head of where the next bit should go and I just can't. I cannot translate images to reality and that definitely extends to how I present myself. My top always doesn't quite fit right or that shade of tan is a bit too plasticky or that lipstick is a touch too bright and makes me look clownish.

My mum is similar to me. She tries but it just falls that bit short. Her mum on the other hand had a natural flair and whilst not conventionally pretty held the eye even up to when she died at 90, fully accessorised.

And whilst I agree teens aren't yet fully formed style wise, the 'eye' seems to be an inbuilt thing. My 14 year old will pick clothes for me to try with a 70% success rate vs my 30% and I get more compliments in the outfits she suggests than I ever do myself. She has a real eye for proportion (won't catch her in anything which isn't v short or v long as it just doesn't work on her).

Plus she has that teen sense of body positivity and so whilst it is a world of difference to dress her tall skinny body vs my short fat one, she doesn't see why I shouldn't try the more fitted outfit or brighter colour as she's not trying to hide my 'bad bits'

How come some people are seemingly naturally stylish, and others, often in almost the same clothes, just aren’t?

Presumably the clothes suit the people who look stylish in them but not those who don’t.

I think if you know what suits you and you look good in that’s all you need really.

Bonus points if it isn’t even in fashion and people think you’re some sort of style guru lol

I don’t think I have any particular idea of what suits me as I’m always trying out new colours, cuts, proportions, fabric constructions, depending on what sort of innovations arrive in the shops (actually on my screen).

I’d be mightily bored if I just wore one shape of dress or trousers because I’d decided twenty years ago that that was what suited me.

I think "less is more" re stylishness. No clutter. Usually plain fabric.

I think cheekbones, posture and proportions make a huge difference. Sleekness also helps, and looking definite, like you meant it- so pudgy faced frizzy haired is always going to be more difficult, but turn it into a wild mass of curls and discreet use of make up to build in a more defined face shape with attention drawn to a good feature ( small waist? Delicate hands? ) and you've got a more stylish person.
But good posture can look like confidence, even if you don't feel it.
Tall young and skinny can probably rock whatever they threw on, but for most of the rest of us, it's about framing what you've got more carefully.
And someone made the point earlier about having a wardrobe that has clothes in it that work for a variety of functions so you're not forced into last-minute panic buying . And know what shoes you're going to wear with it! There is a big element of planning ahead so that you can be fuss-free on the day.

I’m often called stylish. I’m not sure that I am. But I wouldn’t wear leggings out of the house, always dress up I suppose. Heels if I’m wearing jeans. Often flats with skirts. I like irregular choice shoes which I know is hated here but also have some fly London heels and some mustang boots too.
I don’t think in stylish because I’m not fashionable, but I know what I like and what suits me and I wear it with confidence