Mum’s life: staying stylish from 20 to 40 and beyond…
Looking good doesn’t just belong to the young! With a few useful tips you can adapt your own style and look great no matter how many candles on your birthday cake…
Remember the days when a £10 pound note and a whole heap of chutzpah was all you needed for a dazzling new look? When you were in your ’20s wearing any outfit seemed possible – even your biggest fashion faux pas still won you style points for having the confidence and ambition to give it a go.
How your style grows up
With the advance of the years your interest in looking good might not have changed but chances are the way you dress undoubtedly will have. The good news is that dressing yourself now can be just as much fun and even more rewarding than it was when you were in the first flush of youth. There’s never been a better time for women in their thirties and forties to access fashion with a brace of hip designers and high street shops creating fabulous styles designed to appeal to savvy 30- to 40-somethings and even those beyond.
As a confident, sexy woman in the prime of her life, you’ll probably have a much more defined sense of what does and doesn’t suit you than when you were younger. And you’ll hopefully have the foresight to restrain yourself around the mountains of cheap and glittery tat to invest in the classic pieces that will last year on year.
Dress for what you do and how you feel
Contrary to expectations, it’s not just body size that alters what clothes you buy as you get older – it’s practicality. In your early twenties sartorial choices tend to be based around what to rock on the dance floor. As you gather years and wisdom, questions like, ‘is it warm?’ and ‘can I chuck it in the washing machine?’ suddenly seem more pressing than ‘will this outfit get me into the VIP area?’
However, that’s no reason to hold back from trying out new looks. Rather than slavishly adopting a whole new style, think about buying into the details of a trend for a look that will co-ordinate with the rest of your wardrobe. For example this spring you’ll probably want to give the top to toe underwear-as-outwear look a miss but referencing it with a lacy blouse or a pair of seamed stockings will look great and show you’ve got a well-placed finger on the fashion pulse.
Similarly, don’t be afraid of colour – too many women fall back on an all black wardrobe because it’s safe and easy to co-ordinate but colour blocking (wearing two or three contrasting bold colours at once) is a great way to give your wardrobe a lift and update a look.
Keeping your finger on the pulse
Keep on top of what’s new by treating yourself to a glossy magazine once in a while or alternatively, window shop at some of the top end fashion and shopping sites. Sites like www.asos.com and www.net-a-porter.com produce canny synopses of latest trends.
But just bear in mind: there are some things that only the very young can get away with. Even those lucky enough still to be in possession of a perfect figure should think twice before donning a micro mini and a crop top!