Don’t Make These Common Style Mistakes
Having a sense of style is one of the best ways to express your personality and boost your confidence. And let’s face it, appearance matters and first impressions count. While we’re not suggesting you spend a fortune trying to keep up with the latest designer looks there are a few fashion and beauty rules you need to follow to ensure you don’t look outdated. Or god forbid, past your age.
1. Boring Black
Black is timeless and slimming but wearing it head-to-toe can create a harsh look that will give off an aged appearance. It’s best to break up an all-black look with accessories, go for a pop of color with your shoe or bag, or wear a print scarf to inject some fun and personality into your look.
2. Shape Up
Wearing baggy, oversized, shapeless clothing, can make you look bigger than you are. Not to mention old and frumpy. Fit matters, so wear clothes that streamline your shape and pay attention to proportions. Baggy jeans call for a more fitted top or if you have a slouchy blazer or sweater pair them with well-cut trousers or jeans.
3. Get Tailored
Women come in different shapes and sizes but sadly not all fashion brands step up to the mark. If you buy off the rack, be sure your clothing fits properly, and if not have them professionally tailored. Ill-fitting clothes can make you look out of style, unkept, and older. When your clothes fit perfectly, you’ll look more polished and they’ll enhance your natural body shape.
4. Trend Alert
Fashion trends come and go, so don’t cling to clothes or wear the same trends you did decades ago as this is a surefire way to look out of style. Invest in timeless modern classics like a well-cut blazer, a chic button-up, and tailored pants fashion consultant Sarah Miekle tells Forbes. Ignoring trends completely will also make you look out of date so stay across the latest looks and dip into age-appropriate new season trends — accessories are always a good idea here.
5. Jewelry Overload
Just because you have a collection of jewelry doesn’t mean you have to wear it all at once. Layering on too much can overwhelm your look and if your jewelry is dated it’s making you look long in the tooth too. Opt for a few statement pieces, a gold necklace, a cute bangle, a couple of rings, and simple earrings.
6. Beware Your Bra
80 percent of us are wearing the wrong bra and if you don’t have the right shape and support, you will look bigger and older than you are. Get a proper fitting to discover your true bra size—the numbers don’t matter. When you wear the right bra, your clothes will hang better, you’ll feel more comfortable and your confidence will soar.
7. Makeup Mistakes
Just as you need to pivot your fashion sense as you age, you need to adapt your makeup routine to your changing face. Most importantly beware of your base as applying thick, cakey foundation can settle into fine lines and wrinkles creating an aged appearance. Heavy-setting powders, matte blush, and dark matte lipstick shades also create a harsher, older appearance.
8. Shoe Style
When it comes to fashion, the finishing touches matter so if you’re wearing worn-out, dirty, scuffed shoes you will look dated and disheveled. Flat, frumpy overly sensible shoes that don’t have any fashion flex will also age you. It’s important as you age to wear comfortable shoes with cushioning and good arch support as our feet thin with age. A stacked heel or a chic loafer with a thick sole are timeless and classic, especially in black and neutral shades according to Vogue. Anything too colorful or sparkly might also make you look past your prime.
9. Embrace Prints
Boring style makes you look like you haven’t tried. Fashion should be fun, so don’t fall into a pattern of only wearing shapeless basics and safe solid colors. Embrace modern prints and patterns in subtle shades—steer clear of loud outdated prints—to create a fresh stylish look. A floral print midi or maxi dress, a textured sweater, or a maxi skirt (beware the mini) are elegant and chic.
10. Eyewear Upgrade
Wearing outdated, oversized, or ill-fitting glasses will age your face. Visit an optometrist to find out the best frames that flatter your face shape as eyewear is an accessory and a great way to show off some personal style and embrace the latest colors and trends. Get it wrong and you’ll add years to your age.
11. Layer Lightly
Layering is an art form and if you overdo it on the layers, you will add bulk, date your outfits, and age yourself. Aim for streamlined, coordinated colors, and well-proportioned layers, a lovely trench coat or long jacket with a tee shirt and jeans and a simple scarf is cute.
12. Master Proportion
It’s important to dress for your size, shape, and height, and balance proportions. Wearing clothes that are disproportionate to your body size can ruin your outfit and make you look older. If you’re top-heavy wear slim-fitting pants and the opposite is true if you’re petite up top. If you’re short, elongate your legs with longer jeans and trousers and a kitten heel, and don’t overload up top or wear long coats or high boots that will cut you off.
13. Outdated Accessories
The wrong accessories will not only date your look, but they will date you. Carrying around an outdated worn-out handbag is just as bad as those scuffed shoes that have seen better days. A chic handbag instantly elevates your look, go for modern classic styles in timeless shades like black, tan, or grey. Also pay attention to your belt, wallet, scarf, and any other accessories, if they aren’t on trend or are past their used-by date, it’s time to upgrade.
14. Denim Alert
Denim is a fashion classic that pulls off-duty as easily as it can dressed up. That said, denim trends come and go and it’s important to stay on top of the latest looks and wear age-appropriate jeans that suit your body shape. Common offenders that will instantly age you are baggy, shapeless styles, anything overly distressed or bejeweled, or jeans that don’t fit properly or aren’t tailored to the right length. A classic boot cut style in a mid-rise and mid-wash will suit most body shapes.
15. Bad Hair Day
Your hair becomes drier and more brittle as you age and loses volume. Add to that an outdated hairstyle (or no style at all) and you will look much older than you are. Keep up with the latest hairstyles and get one that suits your face shape and age. It’s OK to age with grace and silver grey hair is chic but if you dye your hair in a shade that is too dark or too light for your skin, it will emphasize imperfections, fine lines, and wrinkles.