Dress and white trainers

[MJFEB2026]

Dated? Or still acceptable to wear?!

@RampantIvy No such thing as style without fashion coming first. Fashion is the driver of style. Style could be individual cos play of course but most people get their style from those who are fashionable and interpret designs from the fashion Houses. Some develop their own style but most people take inspiration from fashion. They always have!

I don't disagree, but the most stylish people I know don't wear the latest fashions. They wear the shapes and colours that suit them, which is what I tend to do.

I usually buy something that is current to update what I already have rather than completely revamp my wardrobe. I can't afford it, I like the clothes I have and I have horrible feet, and once I find footwear that fits and is comfortabe I wear it until it wears out - which is why I don't buy brightly coloured trainers or any footwear that is very "now".

And your point is?

(Apart from your imagination...)

So, what are people doing with their deeply unfashionable white trainers now?

Dying them? Keeping them for when they come back into fashion? Donating them to clothing banks?

I hope they aren't going into landfill.

What's yours?

I'm still wearing them but not with a floral midi dress. They're ok but get grubby quickly.

That's why I never bought any. Country living and white trainers aren't a good mix.

Ok if we're back to arguing about style vs fashion, I'm out. It's been done to death and nothing changes. Have a nice evening.

I put my white trainers in the washing machine - they come up like new.

I got them in a charity shop and live in a town. I have some fairly light-coloured trainers too (Vinted bargain) and they're still spotless despite being worn regularly not for country walks.

Neither pair are 'current'

Edited because the trainers are a very pale green not the colour of fairy lights.

@Parker231 , me too but only the ones I wouldn't mind too much if they were ruined. I killed a pair of proper running shoes once by washing them in the machine - they came out clean but they felt like they'd given up.

These all look awful.

I think I’m very much on the higher end of middle aged! I will continue to wear my white runners with dresses and denim jackets. Especially when lots of walking is required.

But I might purchase a nice colourful pair of runners, I thought I’d look too old for them with jeans, but I think they would look nice with summer dresses 😊

Not in fashion but I still wear this especially to work. Not allowed open toe so can’t wear sandals. Cant wear ballet pumps as they kill my feet and I don’t know what to wear with dresses otherwise.

Please kill the floral dress, denim jacket and white trainer trend. Kill it. Stone dead. It’s been limping on for at least two years past it’s sell by date.

Fashion items can be very persistent

everyone shouted “dated” at this outfit yet the majority still wears it

personally I do not like flowery midi dresses as I look awful in a midi dress. I look nice in mini, knee length or ankle length. Anything midi and I look like a vicar’s wife hosting a tea party. I have a kind of “Good Christian Woman look” if I am not careful, which I have been fighting all my life

i cannot wait for midi dresses to go and die and be unfashionable but it’s been a DECADE of midi dresses and they will not go away

puff sleeves, same problem, I look Amish

Balloon pants and barrel leg trousers hurrah! Love them

anyway, I think it is personal and we all pick and mix bits of trends that suit us. The midi dress with denim jacket and white trainers was definitely big amongst women my age still last summer, I think they looked nice , am curious to see if it’s still such a big thing this year…

It's ever going to die - it's here to stay. Embrace it!

Ahhh the fashion circle of life has come full circle again

@Teakettletrio It’s dead if you scroll back and look at the pictures I posted! Not a floral dress there! Nor a white trainer. Posters didn’t like the ideas from Vogue though. Personally I thought Vogue published real women with some good ideas. However this thread is very conservative and doesn’t move on much!

I have had bootcut jeans for a couple of winters now. They are not just reinvented in 2026!

All of these dresses are hideous with or without trainers.

I saw and I like those dress and trainer combos. Much more cutting edge. But the majority of comments seem to say that they hated them so I don’t think things will move on. I guess it’s the ease of the floral dress/denim jacket/white trainer combo that makes it the go to choice for those who wear it. You don’t need to think about it. I guess that’s why it bothers me 🤣

Why kill something we enjoy wearing?

Dated. It reminds me of the time when everyone would be wearing floral tea dresses (often from Joules), with white trainers and a little denim jacket. It’s a very dated look.

Agree, many middle aged women like it so that's probably enough of a reason for it to be viewed as dated. The trainers are comfy and easy to move around in. The dresses are colours and patterns that the owner likes, and don't show off bits of you you're less happy with. The jacket deals with the fact that it's rarely summer in the UK so you need one.
Fashion isn't about what women feel comfortable in or what's flattering and enjoyable to wear. More's the pity.

@DespairMode Who says so? You? Of course runway fashion is high end and trend-making using exquisite fabrics and shown on very thin women - but you would not have style without high end fashion. It drives the high street chains to produce what you think is comfortable by amending the high end designs so we can wear them. Where do you think the influence for near tweed style jackets came from? Obviously Chanel. And quilted bags? Chanel.

Even going back to post war Europe, the Dior New Look was extravagantly using yards of fabric after rationing. We embraced the change and full skirts became the norm for most of the 50s. Mary Quant and others produced pared down mini dresses. Women bought them too. 2 yards of fabric and you could make one! There are numerous examples of fashion influencing what we wear on a daily basis. This is undeniable.