S&B “cliches/classics/staples” that work and don’t for for you…

[NotOneMore]

For me:

Don’t work: oversize white shirt, bold lip, giant sunglasses.

Do work: trench (black) and wrap coat, good watch.

Cos. Horrible boxy cut stuff fabrics that have nothing in sympathy with the natural female form.

Ballet pumps are just soggy, plantar-fasciitis-inducing, cankle amplifiers. Evil.

Why do people keep saying crisp. It’s just a white shirt, 😂

Boob or bust (? Something like that...) bra measuring method. It hurt a lot and led to me giving up on bras entirely, as I'd thrown away my old ones and now had unwearable ones. I wear crop tops instead now.

Highly rated on S and B though.

It's the fabric. My favourite white shirt is soft and floppy. It hangs really nicely and is not crisp at all. If I wear a crisp white shirt I look like I'm a police office/prison guard .

I thought I was the only person that looked hideous in a white blouse given that they are always the first staple of the “ capsule wardrobe” beloved of influencers. I don’t suit white at all so the ubiquitous white t- shirt is out too.
Ballet flats are only for tall long of limb people - I’m the opposite of that.
The boxy stuff- when you’re short you don’t want your top half looking even wider

Another one here that's not worn shirts since school, hate collars!
I make my own clothes and in my mid-60s have settled on variations of my own dress and pinafore design in different fabrics with footless tights or leggings and boots in winter.
Living in Scotland that is most of the year, but I also make linen mix culottes and shorts for warmer weather and holidays.
I don't buy many clothes other than good quality t-shirts.

Boob or bust is awful, people wear bras that hurt them due to it. It’s utterly bizzare. I saw a post from someone who actually wrote if it doesn’t give you a big red welt where the band is, it doesn’t fit. How did anyone get to adult woman and think that.

Red lipstick, crisp shirts, anything boxy, most florals. I love the 'capsule wardrobe that suits neat women who love ironing' look, but it doesn't love me! I like neutrals and minimalist, clean lines. Neutrals I can do, but I'm not really a good shape for those cuts unfortunately.

Wrap dresses. Just awful unless you have pure hourglass figure. In my humble, they do not help with a thick waist

See, I love all of your don’ts, especially my giant sunnies, but I cannot wear a wrap or trench coat. I look like a badly wrapped parcel.

I don’t get the appeal of Breton tops, so very dull!

Any sort of belted coat looks like a dressing gown on me.

Baggy dresses with puffy sleeves usually from and other stories or me &em , look awful on anyone over a size 8

Oversized anything.
Skinny people look even more skinny and everyone else looks fat in them because they add bulk.
Wear clothes that fit!

High waists literally make me sick. It's a pain because they're still everywhere.

@unsevered67
Re ballet flats, I'm tall with long legs but that also comes with large rectangular feet, so ballet flats just won't fit on my clodhopping high arched feet. Cinderella's certainly not going to that ball!
And as someone said above, they are a recipe for plantar fasciitis.
As for trainer ballerinas, just an abomination - neither use nor ornament

Not sure about that. I think it can make some pear shaped people look more hourglass. Not me because I already have broad shoulders and I think they make me look like a man, but they can help some women.

@PuppyMonkey the French tuck reminds me of that episode of the Thick of It where politician Roger Allam is being dressed by his spin doctor who suggests untucking his shirt on one side, to Allam's indignant retort that he'll look "surprised by a hotel fire alarm" and maybe he should go one step further and leave his flies undone 😀

I agree about Cos. Lots of oversized, shapeless stuff.

Dressing gowns look good on some people though. They don't on me, I suppose because my waist is too big.
Trench coats look terrible on me as well, maybe because I'm short.

Same. So sick of high waisted trousers and jeans!
I am short with a body that's in proportion, which means I have short everything. Therefore, and I am mostly looking at you M&S, your short lenghth trousers are utterly useless if you don't adjust the waist to crotch ratio!
Oh and also, I think that those who believe that high waisted trousers/jeans elongate your legs are kidding themselves. They just make your arse/hip area look bigger.

I look like im off for a mid level public service job. Even with jeans and a "it was crisp five minutes ago" white shirt. My mate lives in them and looks great. I look like Doreen from Auditing. (Sorry auditors)

" I am mostly looking at you M&S, your short lenghth trousers are utterly useless if you don't adjust the waist to crotch ratio!"

To be fair, a lot of short women just have short legs, not necessarily a short everything.

I do think they can make high waists can make legs look longer, but not an option for me sadly.

Crisp white shirts aren’t crisp by the time you leave the house. On the hanger? Glorious. But alas, a giant lie.

I can’t wear white shirts or camel and neutral colours. I can do red lipstick but prefer it when matched with red clothing. I prefer florals, colours, boho. I’ve tried but not keen on Cos.

I agree, I love me and em but sometimes their puffy sleeves are just too exaggerated and I am a size 8,

I bought a dress from vinted of theirs, brand new with tags, the puffy sleeves were huge, with two layers of material and a sort of fan of stiff material in between to make the puff stand up, it was completely unwearable on my frame. I looked like little bo peep.

so I turned if inside out, took the second inner layer of material out, cut the fan thing out, and then cut the elbow length sleeves and hemmed into a short cap sleeve, if I’d bought it new from them I’d have returned it,

now the dress looks fab, I strongly suspect the seller sold it due to the massive sleeves,

I have noticed sometimes they go a bit too exaggerated in either trouser width or sleeves , and as much as they are by far my favourite brand, I wear a lot of their clothes, they do need to watch this as they can sometimes trend to fhe ridiculous, and I have returned quite a few items to them where it is so exaggerated it’s unwearable.