A thread for those who want boho chic but end up looking like pigeon lady in Home Alone.

[spottybaghottyhag]

I'm very aware everyone on Mumsnet is beautiful, stylish and model like. This thread is for the outliers

I love a certain look online, but unfortunately boho chic on a model translates on the real me as homeless pigeon feeder lady in Home Alone. I've tried Aladdin trouser things (can't remember the name, I'm that far off the mark!), cashmere wraps (my teen DC said I looked like an old sofa) and a colourful, chunky knit that made me look like a wannabe circus performer. I'm not aiming to look fashionable or stylish, but something a bit more put together rather than eco warrior jumble sale shopper would be nice.

Can anyone else relate?

Inspired thread! It's a look which I'd imagined I'd be able to effortlessly carry through my life, having embodied it to a T in all the right spaces in my youth. But periodically, I catch sight of a frizzier, less sylph-like me in the mid-life places I now inhabit, and chuckle.

I find mixing it up with 'gym-mum' gives a kind of purposeful, earth-mothery vibe that -hopefully- counters pigeon lady. But that could be all in my mind.

I get closest to it in summer when it's been hot enough for long enough for everyone to really start to not give a fuck what they or anyone else is wearing.

I have a couple of pairs of silk wide leg trousers (DH calls them my pirate trousers) - one peach/pink, one bright goldy yellow, and they look great with a vest top and noisy jewellery.

I jumped the shark few summers ago tho. Very hot so went out on public in my 'house only' denim cut off shorts and a cropped 'hippy' crochet cardi.

Caught myself in a shop window and i looked bloody ridiculous !!! 😩

Oh so there are Pigeon Lady gifs

Love the sound of the pirate trousers, do you have a link? Just for oogling, not going to waste my money, obviously!

God she actually looks more put together than I do.

I can't do a gym mum look either sadly. My best efforts have me looking like an older Vicki Pollard.

Thank you for all the merriment on this thread, I used to be able to pull off any look, now I just look tragic, especially if I try anything boho. I bought a cardigan and DH said it looked "homely" never has anything been returned so fast. 😂

@CedarCreek saw your comment about Aladdin trousers.
I love these but would be mistaken for a pantomime escapee.
Buddha Stones Color Contrast Corduroy Cotton Women's Thermal Fleece-Li – uk.buddhastoneshop https://share.google/yOZl8rRq3QUm7CcQe

A fat wizard. I read that description on the Classics Suzi Quattro fat nan thread & thought it summed me up perfectly. Sadly not the Stevie Nicks vibe I was going for. 😏

There's another thread talking about capes. I've always fancied a black velvet cape with a hood channelling Stevie Nicks or the Scottish Widows insurance advert. The reality would be more...

Me
Trench coat =Columbo
Padded cotton jacket = Nans bed jacket.
I am too short and blessed of nork to ever look chic

yes - give me a min ...

hooted at this...and realised I look like this without trying

https://amzn.eu/d/0cItRfl

these are v v similar on amazon, but i got mine on a different site with more jewel colours. Have a google. Silk palazzo trousers.

I am full of woe that the styish young 'un I was wearing my Great Uncle Walter's silk pyjamas cinched in the waist with an Edwardian nurses belt , topped with a 1950's shantung silk lined cashmere evening coat has been replaced by gravy splattered tops. I'm in my early 60's and more keen on an iced bun that I am looking chic. Alas my figure has gone west due to aforementioned buns so 21 inch waist no more . I asked Mr Gate if I had changed much since those days and there was an awfully long pause whilst he moved out of range...

Aaah, I know exactly what you mean!

I had a phase of making skirts when I was younger, anything from knee length to maxi. The patterns were bold and always a bit off centre, the hemlines were often a bit wonky. But they looked unique and fun! Cool and different. People used to ask me where I'd got them (in a good way).

But suddenly out of the blue there came a day when I no longer looked quirky and original. I just looked unhinged 😭

I persevered with my colour pallet even though I’m not drawn to the colours I look better in them. I’m moving on all my magpie buys and I look a bit more stylish. I think m if the colour is right we can all wear most things

Love this thread. Thank you all for the chuckles and encouragement!

Obviously I rock every look I try (boho, dark academia, yoga teacher, arty…)- and then someone shows me a photo they took of me and reality crashes in. So I try to avoid cameras (and reflective shop windows) and just clutch onto my own mental image of myself as hard as I can, with no evidence to contradict it.

I recently found Manners London clothes which are quite startling at making tight-fitting seem appealing, and certainly more comfortable than a bra (I too am generously endowed in the boob department, and as an aside, I’m sure it’s a major factor in people either looking elegant or mumsy in the same outfit), but they’ve become a staple layer over Christmas and I want to continue, so I don’t want any evidence that said boobs look better in underwiring! I tend to make them more ‘me’ with wafty layers over the top to disguise my blocky shape- I have the kimono tops, the block-print blouses, the shapeless shirts, and the huge hand knits, and I’ve decided I just need to be comfortable (my second theory about people looking great is if they’re relaxed, I think- effortless has to be genuine). So I am deliberately allowing the field where I grow my fucks to become barren, and hopefully, the end result will be the same as looking awesome in every ensemble I put together!

Online style icons currently include on Instagram, Mother Maple and Big Dress Cult woman- they are how I hope to look (only with short hair)…

See I love that, but I'd look like Molly Weasley....🙈

I have howled at this thread ...🤣. I wore my green combat trousers yesterday with my fake comfy docs, a flying jacket, black beany hat and sunglasses (,I cant see in winter sun).
DH said I looked like a terrorist...🙁

My niece and daughter in law do Boho really well. They are both lovers of a chunky jumper, droopy skirt, big clogs, etc
The difference is they are both really slim, really young and ...actually that's the difference.

On them, it looks cool and arty, on me it looks deranged.

I think I just have to accept thst it's not for me anymore 😭

Someone just mentioned molly weasley- yes! With a bit of sybill trelawney thrown in for good measure!

To be honest the clothing items you've mentioned scream more aging hippy than 'boho' so I'm not surprised that's how they look!
I don't believe anyone finds their style by consciously seeking it out. You'll always miss the mark or look like you've tried too hard.
Just buy things you like and with trial and error your style will find you. Or, alternatively learn not to give a shit (whch in most cases amounts to the same thing)!

I wore my brushed cashmere Jaeger cardigan in cream the other day & DH asked me umm...... after looking at me up & down whether I was trying to look like a Snow Bunny. I'm no snow bunny at 61!

You know who else used to accessorise and make their own outfits

As others have said, it's a very hard style to pull off and can look busy or bulky. I certainly do what pps upthread have said, mix it in with rock chick/understated art teacher/more masculine style stuff.

The terrorist outfit sounds great 😆