Wardrobe Building -Part 5 & 6 – Trends & Inspiration

May 16, 2019

Continuing my How to Build a Wardrobe blog series, this month we’re going to discuss what to do about trends and where to find inspiration?

(If you haven’t been following along, you might want to catch up with parts 1-4, available on the drop down menu above, but it’s not necessary for the enjoyment of this post!)

Here I’m wearing animal print, both a classic and also huge trend right now!

Trends

Trends Over 40

Many mature women aren’t quite sure what to do about trends. Are these even relevant to us anymore? I say yes! But like everything else, we need to make them our own. My advice is usually to create a wardrobe of basics and then pick and choose statement and trendy pieces to mix in here and there.

Trends can be fun and can stretch us out of our comfort zone to try new things. Or even encourage us to revisit styles we swore we’d never wear again! LOL! But I think the main point about trends is that you need to pick and choose what works for you, what you vibe with, and leave the rest alone.

Examples from my Wardrobe

I’ll give a personal example or two. Currently biker shorts are in vogue. Did you know that? Personally, I think they look horrible on almost everybody, but they’re most especially horrible on me! Trendy or not, you will NOT seeing me wearing them!

Coated denim jeans are another trend I just skipped. They were really big there for awhile and still look great … on all ages. But they’re particularly hard to wear with a pear-shaped figure and I will just continue to pass on this trend in favor of something more flattering to me, like flares and cropped flares, and black trousers.

I’m happy and excited to embrace trends that I like and that flatter me. I think the bell sleeve trend is fabulous! True I might have dragged a sleeve through a plate of food once or twice, but to me it’s well worth it!

Tommy Hilfiger Floral Bell Sleeve Blouse

Shop Bell Sleeves

By the way, I’ve been trying to us my style mojo to manifest the return of big shoulder pads! I’ve seen them here and there, but mostly still waiting for that one!

Prints & Colors

Prints and colors are usually fun trends to try to incorporate into your current look. Maybe the 20-somethings are wearing the neon trend with mini skirts and crop tops, but I bet you could pull off a pop of neon, maybe in a bag, top, or shoes? Unless you hate it, then just skip it altogether!

And of course I’m all over the animal print trend. Personally I prefer to wear it mostly as an accent, but some women are rocking the print head to toe! As always, trust your own taste and instincts and wear what makes you happy!

Shop Neon

Inspiration

Social Media & Blogs

Where do we get inspiration for outfits and looks? It used to be fashion magazines were the go-to place for inspiration, but with blogs and social media, there’s a plethora of people sharing their personal style and you can pick and choose your favorites to follow. I love all the variety we get with blogs, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. There are so many fashionistas out there that we can find many style muses that we can relate to by body type, age, budget, geographical location … anything!

And of course just like trends, take what works for you and leave the rest.h

Like to Know It App

I’d also like to put in a plug here for the LiketoKnow.It app. It’s great when you want to browse outfits and don’t feel like also scrolling through cat photos, sunsets, or someone’s dinner! It’s a great resource. Plus bloggers who post to it show you where you can buy the same (and/or similar) items, so it’s a time saver for the busy women … and hey, aren’t we all? If you are on the app or decide to download it, please follow me!

Other Ideas

Where else can we find inspiration? People watching is always fun and I get lots of ideas from just watching women go through their day. Of course you can watch runway shows online and that’s totally inspirational … often hard to relate to, but fun for ideas. And of course just going to the store or browsing on a website can give you lots of idea for outfits.

So, where do YOU get inspiration for putting together outfits? I’d love to hear you ideas in the comments below. And feel free to share what trends you’re loving right now and what we definitely WON’T be seeing you in!

Up next on the How to Build a Wardrobe series, how to work with a budget, no matter what it is!

Also, if you haven’t yet, be sure to take my 2019 Readers’ Survey! It’s only ten questions and I’d love to get your feedback. As a thank you for participating, I’m giving away a $100 gift card to Nordstrom as well!

Fun & Fashion,

Dawn Lucy

Link Ups: Visible Monday! Shoe and Tell!  #iwillwearwhatilike link up! Turning Heads Tuesday! Confident Tuesday!   Style Perspectives! Trendy Wednesday! Style on the Daily!  Thursday Fashion Files! Chic and Stylish! Labour of Fashion! Thursday Moda! Top of the World Style!   Fabulous Friday!   Weekend Wear Link Up!  Edge of the Week! Nancy’s Fashion Style! Sharing a Journey!

About the blog: Fashion Should Be Fun is me talking to you, other middle aged women like me who are over 40, but not over fashion.  We still want to look beautiful and stylish.  We still want to have fun with trends.  And we don’t need anyone giving us rules, because we’re all different. We all have own shapes and bodies, parts we’d like to cover and parts we still don’t mind showing off a bit.  This is a place for me to share my love of fashion with you, style ideas, tips, trends, and inspiration. I know how liking the way we look can translate into confidence and energy. I know we have so much life left to live and so much adventure ahead of us. Let’s show the world you’re never too old to have fun and be fierce!  

2 Comments

  • Reply Grace May 17, 2019 at 6:42 am

    I enjoyed reading your post and you are so right about trends!
    Please stop by at http://www.colorandgrace.com every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for linkup parties! Hope to see you there!

    Grace Liang

    http://www.colorandgrace.com 

  • Reply Eileen May 17, 2019 at 10:16 am

    More on shoulder pads in clothes please. More on coats and jackets for pear shapes, that aren’t boxy or straight. More dresses. Less jeans, everyone is doing it, so it’s too repeatitive. Great flat shoes.

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