Is it wrong to want to look glamorous?

[Appalonia]

I've always loved dressing up, love wearing make up, beautiful colours and luxurious fabrics. I loathe the current fashion for lounge wear and sports wear. I was on the bus recently and it stopped at a university, and all the young pp were wearing dark coloured leggings or jeans with dark coloured puffa jackets. God, it makes me feel so depressed! It's like a drab uniform with no individuality. When I was a student, we didn't have much money, but we went to charity shops and found amazing things to wear and pp really made an effort. That's never left me and I love expressing myself through clothes and jewellery. Why do so many pp, especially young women just want to look so drab...?

I agree with you about the drab clothes. Frankly, a lot of them look quite weird, especially some of the dresses. I really love to see people elegantly glammed up, a person who stands out. In my dreams, I am this person. But in reality, I'm mostly very casual and not at all glam 99% of the time. I've always been this way and don't think I'll change now.

It’s fine to want to be glamorous, @Appalonia, but not fine to judge other people who make different choices - ”dark coloured leggings or jeans with dark coloured puffa jackets. God, it makes me feel so depressed! It's like a drab uniform with no individuality.”

Ever since I started following Trinny Woodall I’ve fallen in love with clothes. (I don’t follow anyone else). It coincided with losing a few stone and now I wear a LOT of bright clothes and lots of white and sequins.

You’re not wrong to wear whatever you like.

I don’t care for style so have been wearing my uniform of leggings and hoodies for a very long time- pleased to see it now appears to be in fashion with the youth too. For once I get to look vaguely ‘current’. 😂

They do all seem to dress very casually day to day but some of them glam up for socialising. My nieces wear tiny tight dresses and do full hair and make up when they’re going out (restaurant, pub or club).

I've been idly wondering this about the young women I work with; whilst being mindful that I'm middle aged and youngsters should rightly be rolling their eyes at Grandma figures telling them how much better it was in my day....

I mainly feel a bit saddened because they're young, don't have kids yet, and are working in central London. It just seems the ideal time to let rip a bit, especially since officewear is much more relaxed post-lockdown. The default seems to be plain dark trousers/plain light top/trainers. One day two colleagues arrived in what looked like a uniform: black trousers, white top and the same black & white trainers. Now I'm not saying I'm some kind of style goddess, but I sure as shit have never turned up at work looking like a mirror image of a colleague.

I do have one young colleague with unique and striking style, who is clued up on fast fashion ethics. If she compliments me on my outfit I feel absurdly flattered.

I'm middle aged and I actually enjoy the fashions that the young people wear these days. It looks more comfortable. But I also see young people wearing dressier clothing, but not heels and suits - I would hate to see that every day but then I prefer more casual and comfortable clothing.

There does seem to be a general lack of joy and expression in the way young women have dressed for the past few years (did 'dopamine dressing' ever get any further than a few streets in the big cities?).

Whether that's a cause or a symptom of depressing times, or nothing to do with them, who knows. But I do find it adds to the general dreariness of life.

There again I've always found screaming colours and prints kind of aggressive, so perhaps there's no pleasing me.

Maybe these teenagers and young women, feel dressed up and glamorous! I wear mostly black , but i bet I look and feel just as glamorous as you do .

If you want to be glamorous, then do it. But time and fashion has moved on and youth is wasted on the young!
I think there’s a lovely mix of fashion out there, including fewer girls who feel the need for heels and dressing for the male gaze. I see goths, emos, ballet core, preppy, slummy. And more acceptance of different body sizes.
Mine seem to spend more time on elaborate skincare for the ‘clean girl’ look, rather than on ‘look at me’ clothes.

When I was a student it was all short skirts and those pirate boots (the suede ones with the straps and buckles), big belts.

When I was a teenager it was all Grunge.

Obviously people made an effort when going out but generally nothing has changed. Students aren't known for glamorous dressing.

I think its natural to become more individual as you get older, either because you work out what works/what you like/who you are, or because you no longer care and end up wearing whatever is nearest.

Especially getting the bus! Wear what you want OP, and don't waste your disappointment on what others are wearing.