Anyone else NOT a dress person, if so what do you wear?

[wimonnz]

I never feel right in a dress. I have some for weddings, celebrations and funerals and accessorise accordingly and I look OK, but never feel "right" in them. I often wonder why this is. Perhaps it's my own take on my body image or something.

I'm 5'5 size 12, some lumps and bumps, 38E bust, bit of a waist, narrow hips, legs not too bad but every time I put a dress on I feel awkward. I wish I knew why and could solve it, because I have been complimented on occasion when wearing a dress, much to my astonishment! (That could have been from those under the influence at weddings ha 😂).

Maybe it's because I hate fitted garments. I like loose tops and can't stand anything wrap style or cinched at the waist since I feel like a trussed up goose and sitting down is uncomfortable for me in anything like that, I feel the fatty bits are emphasised!

Shift style dresses are OK on me, but they can often be like sacks. I also am bad at footwear with dresses, pardon me but I don't like trainers with dresses and sandals are out due to foot problems.

Is there any hope for me do you think or should I just carry on and wear my trousers, which range from jeans to silky wide legs, one for every occasion and none!

I'm in my 60s BTW if that means I'm now a hopeless case...😂

I don't like dresses either. If you can still be a tomboy approaching your 60s, then that is what I am, though i have long hair and like make up and jewellery. I wear a dress occasionally for work- on those days where it's 30°... But i feel like a man in drag. I feel out of sorts, ill at ease....until I take it off and get back into trousers or jeans. I know what you mean about trainers or shoes... but luckily I can wear Birkies

I feel exactly the same! I’m fairly shapeless too, no waist and I have legs like tree trunks. I actively avoid occasions where a dress is expected so I’m not much help on the fashion front

I don't wear dresses. They either make me feel dowdy, older or overdone. My legs are slim but pale blue and veiny and I really do not like tights especially the way they garrott you at the middle. Nude tights are out of fashion. I also think showing my legs makes my top half look heavier in proportion and shoes are a big problem too.

I just don't think dresses are necessary. I went to a wedding and wore coral trousers and a patterned blouse and didn't feel at all out of place. I attended a funeral in dark trousers and a dark patterned top.

As well as colour analysis you can have your style personality analysed. We all have different preferences and suit different things. When I was younger I did used to try with dresses (and I'm sure they looked fine, although I think people always compliment you if you wear something unusual for you) but once I realised they just didn't make me feel comfortable and like me, I just gave up.

I too am in my 60s snd have always been a jeans and teashirt person, still am but after losing 5 stone I am making more of an effort. When I go out. I have two lovely dresses from uniqlo that fit well they are not sacks but skim over everything nicely so are not tight, one dress from Seasalt that also ski.s and has bluebells on it, very subtle pattern which I've. I am wearing a flowy leopard print skirt today that's really flattering with black top and beige sandals. I also have a cobalt blue skirt from Seasalt which is lovely. These are all easy to wear items that can be dressed up or down.

Generally I wear wide leg dark jeans or trousers with a linen shirt or a really good quality jumper. I veer towards a Margaret Howell lookhttps://www.margarethowell.co.uk/products/midi-waist-crop-trousers-cotton-linen-twill-khaki - she’s v expensive but has sale stuff at 50 - 60% off which brings them into my radar albeit still expensive . I also like the M&S smart wide legged jeans https://www.marksandspencer.com/en-fr/high-waisted-smart-wide-leg-jeans/p/P60585450.html?dwvarP60585450color=XU&pid=P60585450&quantity=1

Dresses make me look like a wrestler wearing a dress.
I just don’t suit any style or colour so glad it’s not jusy me. I envy women who look cool in one.

Skirts, rather than dresses.

Technically I live in leggings because I mainly work from home and have messy pets. But when I leave the house, I generally wear top + skirt.

I'm never comfortable in a dress or skirt, winter or summer; it doesn't help that I'm short and even so-called short dresses go down to my ankles.

Depending on the season and the occasion, I wear linen, corduroy and pure cotton trousers, and occasionally jeggings, and dress them up or down with a selection of dressy tops, jumpers, t-shirts or tunics - and I never wear wide leg styles.

I haven’t worn dresses or skirts for getting on 20 years. I just got fed up with wearing tights and once I’d moved to trousers all the time, I never went back.

At a recent wedding, I noticed that a lot of the older women were wearing trousers suits including the mothers of both bride and groom.

I don’t dislike dresses and I’ve worn them in the past. I just find them a bit limiting in that you can pretty much only wear it the same way every time and I’m easily bored.

I’m also quite clumsy and if I spill something down the front of a dress , that’s potentially a whole outfit ruined rather than just a shirt or whatever. Then you’ve got all the laundry because well, speaking strictly for me, I sweat.

I find separates (jeans, trousers or skirts) so much more versatile. You can get far more outfits out of them and, if you’re on a budget, that’s important.

Aw thanks for all your replies, and I'm quite relieved to read that I am not alone re dresses!

As for the skirt/top combo, I have a beautiful silky skirt that I got in Hobbs sale (I think) but I just can't get a top to suit and believe me I have tons of tops for every occasion (to go with the trousers!). I might dig them out again and try a cashmere jumper I have which I never thought of using. I don't like things tucked in at all I'm afraid, it must be loose and flowy or at least not dug into me. Which is what I feel when I do try tucked in stuff and I'm constantly pulling at it to make it loose at the waist IYSWIM. But I'll give it a go and maybe try a loosely closed belt or something. It's a pewter grey skirt and the jumper is pale pink. Might work!

I have just gone to the spare wardrobe (where the dresses are hidden lol) and I have, wait for it - 14 dresses, some fancy, some dressy but casual, some ultra casual for hols, and one black for funerals. I tried them all on again, and I thought well ONE of them has to work as I'm going to Italy (of all places for flippin style) in September. Not a happy bunny me.... but I'll bring one anyway.

Now footwear..... I'm on a losing streak there. I do have nice flats however I walk like a duck in them and I can't (won't) wear heels. Oh dear. Maybe a flat with a slight wedge or something like that. I don't want to spend hundreds on a pair of shoes either, although I could if I found the perfect pair. I'm a 6.5 sometimes 7.

I don't wear many dresses, though in summer I do swap denim skirts for jeans.with t-shirts, The dresses I do have are not particularly feminine or fussy - think shirt or t-shirt dresses. I'm quite tall and slim, but very straight up and down with quite broad shoulders. I'm not massively a tomboy, as I have long hair and wear (minimal) makeup and jewellery.

In hot weather, I often wear cotton or linen trousers with t-shirts or vest tops. Today I'm in cotton harem trousers and a vest top.

I never wear them ...I'm mid 60s a size 14 ,and 6 feet tall. I avoid formal occasions and luckily there are no more weddings onthe horizon.
I wear trousers and jeans. At a push, a jumpsuit.

I love dresses but don't tend to wear them much this time of year.
I think a nice pair of wide legged trousers looks both classy and casual though.

I love dresses but don't tend to wear them much this time of year.
I think a nice pair of wide legged trousers looks both classy and casual though.

I’ve noticed before that dresses attract strong feelings on this board and that some people talk about them as if they’re part of their identity. I’ve never felt the, ‘I’m a / I’m not a dress person’ thing.

I think dresses can look great. I tried a beautiful one on yesterday (linen, 1940s) and, if I wasn’t skint at the moment, I might have bought it. But generally I just don’t get enough wear out of them and it feels a bit wasteful. I can get far more outfits out of separates.

I think it is a self-perpetuating thing. You have decided you feel uncomfortable in a dress so you don't wear them often, and consequently it feels a bit unfamiliar when you do, which reinforces your feeling of awkwardness

Can't think of the last time I wore a dress or a skirt.
I do have a pair of coulottes that I wear in the summer if we are somewhere hot. Otherwise trousers all the way. It helps I work sonewhere a dress/skirt would be frowned upon - needs to be legs covered and closed shoes.

I only wear dresses in winter so they can go with very thick opaque tights.

In summer I do maxi skirts and a t shirt.

I look like a complete knob in a dress. I am an hourglass figure so they should work but they just don’t. I’ve even tried personal shoppers at John Lewis and walked away with nothing. Oh how I’d love some lovely summer dresses but I’ve given up.

Can I suggest that you get a proper bra fitting. If you are a size 12 I doubt that your under bust measurement is 38 inches. It sounds like the band is too big and the cup too small.

Don't go to M and S. The way they measure for bras is one of the reasons so many women wear the wrong sized bra.

Once you are wearing the correct size bra your tops will look so much better.

I hate wearing dresses. I just never feel "me" in them. I'm a jeans/shorts and t-shirt/sweatshirt person. For smart I wear more tailored or linen trousers and a linen shirt.

I quite like a dress occasionally but wear trousers much more. In the last few years though I've become a massive jumpsuit fan. Obviously it can be a bit of a pain going to the loo but I only have ones that don't have complicated fastenings. I think they have the advantages of a dress (no matching up top and bottom, no awkward middle section) but the comfort of trousers. I did actually wear a dress for the last wedding I went to but had a really nice jumpsuit for a dinner the night before that actually I think I preferred and suited me better.

I cannot wear dresses. I’m 5’9” and the stereotypical apple shape with great legs and arms, but no waist, large boobs and shoulders that are just a little too developed (swimmer).

Im now overweight and I look utterly dreadful in any dress. But even when I was a size 10 hardly any dresses suited me.

I used to wear skirts a lot but I don’t bother now. Luckily I don’t have a lot of weddings to attend!

I’m having a similar dilemma for an upcoming wedding. I live in shorts and trousers. I don’t really do dresses and shoes with dresses are an issue. I’m past wearing heels.

I find shirt dresses easier to wear but I’m really unsure about which shoes.