Tips For Creating Signature Style After 40

When a woman hits the wrong side of 40 she may feel lost and forgotten, in a kind of fashion limbo, finding it difficult to find something suitable to wear. It seems that the majority of fashion trends are geared towards those the right side of thirty and consequently, it is easy for her to lose her former style confidence. Shopping for clothes becomes daunting.

However, with maturity can come a new-found sense of chicness. This means experimenting with new looks, relying on classic trends, and wearing outfits that bring back self-esteem.

Seek Inspiration from Others

Seek inspiration from a fellow 40, 50 or 60-something. This could be a celebrity or a friend. Use women’s magazines to provide motivation. Find stylish ladies to admire and make a note of what they are wearing. Sixty-something Helen Mirren has earned a reputation for being a poster girl for grown ups and has inspired many mature women with her new-found signature style.

Enlist the help of a friend or a style advisor or buy a style guide which is especially geared towards older women to give an insight on dressing for a particular age and body shape.

Find a Fashion Personality

Every woman is different. Take into account the fashion personality that is to be reflected. Is the goal to look smarter, more stylish, more colorful or more feminine? This will be determined by a woman’s lifestyle and will lead in the direction of the genre of pieces, i.e. chic, smart, casual or sporty.

Make Peace with an Aging Body

Make peace with an aging body and learn to accept its flaws. Dressing to suit her body shape is one of the most important lessons a woman should learn. It can magic away the years and take pounds off, without having to diet.

A woman’s hair and skin coloring changes as she gets older. Get to know particular color families which best suit hair and skin tone. Mature women can wear darker jewel-like colors which give a youthful glow and make a silhouette look leaner. Hues that belong to the color family of purple, blue and red can be particularly flattering for older women.

The Opposite Rule

Break with tradition and try the “opposite” rule. A woman who has spent the last 20 years hiding her legs under trousers should try out dresses and skirts for a revolutionary new look. If the last 10 years was spent wearing flats, then don on a pair of high heels and see the difference it makes to the look of an outfit.

Go for tailored pieces in textured and good quality fabrics than more lower quality outfits, which look cheap. Consider cost per wear when going shopping, an outfit which seems pricey may be worth every penny if it is worn often and lasts a long time.

At 50 and beyond there is nothing to be gained by trying to keep up with all the latest fashion trends. A wardrobe ration of approximately 70% investment pieces and 30% on-trend outfits would be a good ratio. Swap some out-of-date pieces for a more tailored, signature look. Wardrobe staples should include endurance items such as tailored pants, a classic white shirt, a go-anywhere trenchcoat and a good quality pair of well-fitting jeans.

Create a Signature Style with Accessories

Don’t underestimate the power of accessories. If the budget is tight it is possible to build a signature look with some favorite scarves, statement necklaces or a quality handbag. These can also be used to reflect some of the latest fashion trends (colors of the season etc). No matter how a woman’s body shape fluctuates as she grows older, she is never too fat or too thin for her accessories.

After 40 is time to think less about fashion trends and more about creating a signature style, something like being active on the online betting Philippines platform. As Coco Chanel observed ” At 40, women used to exchange youth for elegance and poise and mysterious allure, an evolution that left then undamaged. Now they measure themselves against the very young with defenses that can only be described as ridiculous”

How to Update Closet

There are two kinds of women when it comes to fashion at 40-plus. Those who have lost their way and those who have found it!

Throw away any misconceptions you have that reaching 40 means twins sets and pearls, and granny knickers. Forty-plus is the time for a new fashion revolution – to feel confident in your own skin and to learn what works for your body.

Learn What Doesn’t Suit You

The first step is to learn what styles flatter your 40s figure. In her style guide, A Guide to Looking and Feeling Fabulous over 40 (published by Michael Joseph, September 25, 2008), Twiggy claims that turning 40 and beyond is a time for learning what doesn’t suit you, and building a wardrobe of those cuts and colors that do.” It’s also about learning the way that cleverly selected outfits can create the illusion of a slimmer figure and accentuate your assets. According to the model, successful dressing is mostly about attitude, having the confidence in what you wear, knowing that it’s working for your body.

How to Overhaul Your Wardrobe

Anyone can overhaul their wardrobe. Firstly take a long-hard look at what is hanging in your closet. Analyzing your existing wardrobe is a good starting point, especially if you can enlist the help of a good friend, to give you honest advice. You will discover certain outfits will lift your complexion and suit your skin tone, and ones what make you look slimmer (and younger) by their color or cut. Something as simple as a hemline-length can make you look older, or give an outfit that “mutton” look.

• Try on your existing outfits and note how they work for your body. Does a particular outfit look great on you? Why? Is it the color, the type of neckline, the cut or fabric? Contrast this by looking at outfits that you feel uncomfortable or unattractive in, why? Soon you will have worked out some rules of your own for your own body shape. Think color, think neckline, think patterns and prints. Think cut of the garment, sleeve length and hem length. Just adding a pair of high heeled shoes can completely change the look of an outfit, from frumpy to feminine and flirty.
• Style guides can be enormously useful in this regard, helping you to categorize you body shape and giving advice on styles that flatter you figure.
• When it comes to color, a tip from designer Betty Jackson is to hold a garment right beside your face and compare it against your overall skin tone and eye color. By doing this it is possible to tell whether a color clashes with your coloring or enhances it.
• You might like to hang on to pieces such as black pants, white shirts, jackets that make you feel good but their frill or embellishment, shoulder pads or cut makes them seem outdated. The chances are that these fashion staples will come around again. This coming season; sees the reemergence of power dressing and shoulder pads and last summer’s fashions included the reintroduction of frills and bows, including the now-popular-again pussy-bow blouse.

Shop Smarter in Your 40s

When you have culled your wardrobe you now have space for new outfits.. This doesn’t mean rushing out to refill the space, but to take you time, do some research on what styles, cuts and colors suit your own particular body shape and only invest in pieces that make you look and feel good.

If you follow sensible style advice to invest in what flatters your body shape, coordinating items and go for quality rather than quantity, you’ll find buy less but wear more. It is a question of buying not what you like, but what likes you body and investing in key pieces which, when matched together, will provide you with a wider choice of outfits. This also involves shopping smarter, for example, waiting for sale time to buy a few better quality pieces, or resisting the temptation to buy something just because you like it, if it doesn’t like you!

The Capsule Wardrobe

Opening up a culled and carefully selected closet actually gives you far more wardrobe choices. You may have less but you’ll wear more. Your 40s and 50s is the best time to apply that much touted concept of the capsule wardrobe — investing in more classic pieces which complement each other, and making more use of fashion accessories to give a new twist to outfits — it works.