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?

Indie was a style in 80s/90s generated by bands on Independent Labels, also known as Alrernative. I think later versions morphed into something else.

@Darklane "Indie sleaze
The indie sleaze style popular in the 2000s and characterised by a low-maintenance, vintage-inspired look rooted in indie rock and electronic music is set to make a return in 2026. Leather boots and jackets, and studded accessories are likely to be seen, as this dramatic look replaces the currently popular clean-girl style."

I love the idea of a trench coat. Unfortunately the reality of a trench coat is Colombo..

Trench coats aren't boho.

I've recently discovered that I can just about get away with a classic coloured, long trench if I wear red lipstick with it. Otherwise, I look dead.

Several years ago I bought a gorgeous crochet long cardigan in a fawny creamy colour, and wore it with cord pants in a similar hue. I thought I looked rather lovely - until a colleague (male, very stylish) told me I looked like a custard cream. 😁I never felt quite the same about the outfit after that!

relaxed and boho looks set to replace this once-popular style. Second-hand and vintage pieces are predicted to take centre stage in the new year, with 90s grunge, indie sleaze, and the boho chicaesthetic making a comeback.

Trend expert, Hannah Miller, from the online vintage retailer Messina Hembry, says: "From what we've seen in 2025, it seems as though the clean aesthetic which has dominated the past few years is coming to an end. In its place, there's a clear shift towards baggier, more relaxed fits - whether in a softer boho style or the grungy '90s revival. People are definitely moving away from a polished, put-together look."

After reading this, I feel very fashion-forward, ahead of my time, prescient… Indie, boho, and pirate AND second-hand shopping have been very much my style since about 1996 😆

Brilliant description. This is me. I aim for textured layers. I look like I am off to muck out the pigs.

I see your Columbo trenchcoat and raise you Miss Trunchbull

No trench coats aren't boho in the least but nor are the loose jeans/jog things mentioned earlier. Boho would generally be bootcut or straight leg jeans. I'm not even sure harem pants are boho chic, they're more hippy/new age traveller than boho chic.

Slightly too long mid-blue bootcut with a loose cotton blouse with billowing sleeves.

I feel your pain. Didn't break my toes but tripped inside my wide leg trousers a few times, and fell really painfully.

I bought a beautiful boho flowing lace and fine white cotton shirt and wore it to meet friends, feeling great. My friend took one look as I arrived and asked, 'Are you auditioning to be an extra in Downton Abbey?'

No, the jogg jeans are not boho, I was pointing out that I mixed the odd boho piece with more plainer pieces, as it's the only way it works for me. I really don't like the term Indie Sleaze, I was definitely an Indie Kid in 80s and 90s long before that term.

To be truthful, I don't even know what Indie is, style wise...

I have just opened a thread on stylish cross-body bags which reminds me that however nice they look on the website, when I’m wearing it the strap ends up atwixt my bosom like a pudding bulging out of a string bag. Oh well.

I think it’s low-slung narrow jeans (including Levi’s white tab cords), flat trainers (classic adidas, puma, gola etc rather than running shoes), band t shirt, and over the top, a big shirt from an army surplus shop or a checked brushed cotton one. Think Sonia from Echobelly or Justine from Elastica.

Ah, that's my younger cousins, Britpop era I guess, thanks.

I've been Not Quite Hitting The Mark since the 90's.

My first 'edgy' short haircut, when it was done, the woman in the next chair commented that I looked 'just like that nice Stephen Hendry' 😬 yes that was exactly the look 16 yr old indie girl me was going for, thank you.

Don't worry @DollopOfFun , you're not alone. I've been not quite hitting the mark since primary school in the 1970s, some things never change.

I bought a gorgeous velvet burnout lace long cardigan/ duster thing imagining myself as Stevie Nicks. I just looked ridiculous in it.

There was a followup to the Suzie Quattro thread where someone bought a white belted coat and ended up looking like a judo instructor!

So many of us in that thread envisioned clothes that would mean we ”waft” about. Where did the wafting idea come from that so many of us visualise? Is it magazines/films, do they encourage us to waft?

Wafting is definitely a S&B verb. It's so deeply entrenched that there was a thread about coming down to hotel breakfast in pyjamas and a poster said she could smell "fanny wafts".

My hat makes me look like a burglar (apparently).

Slightly too long mid-blue bootcut with a loose cotton blouse with billowing sleeves.
My art college 'uniform'! More 'far too long and worn with skyscraper platforms' though.
I wish l could find those blouses now. White muslin with white embroidery, very full sleeves, and a 'thread' tie at the neck. We used to call them 'gipsy blouses'.

I loved gypsy blouses! The modern versions are all made of too stiff cotton and the sleeves are too big. Marks and Spencer used to do lovely silk/cotton mix ones in gorgeous, fine lawn with about 10% silk. I miss them.

*RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie *
Mine was from one of the hippie shops near the art college back in the day, if l could find one now l'd buy it in a heartbeat!