over 40 fashion

Style Event SS19

Going by the amazing feedback I’ve had, the Club Forty Style Event SS19 was a great success!!! Everyone who came appeared to enjoy themselves; the atmosphere was friendly and buzzy and everything went to plan on the night… The venue – Cafe Saison – was a fantastic space, the canapés were delicious and the staff were brilliant. Kitty-Rose installed a pop-up shop selling clothes and accessories for the Spring/Summer season. And there was a Clothes Swap, allowing attendees to add a little something new to their wardrobes in a sustainable way. Style Event SS19

Once everyone has arrived, had a glass of fizz (or 2) and had a little shop… I did a little presentation on the trends for SS19. I styled three different outfits (all nods to the current trends) on three different models. The models were every-day Mums over 40, with very normal body shapes. That’s to say, none of them are a sample-size 8 or 10 – they all have glorious feminine shapes with lumps and bumps like the majority of us! So in this post, I thought I’d flex my styling muscles and talk you through the outfits I put my models in and why.

Utility

I wanted to showcase the current utility trend and I know that some women find it quite tomboy-ish and even a bit of a trend geared towards yo. But I actually find it can be as smart and sophisticated as it is cool and casual. Style Event SS18

Andrea was keen to try out a boiler suit as she hadn’t until this point. The navy colour block does the job of ‘fixing the figure’. Many women wear all-black for this very reason, but navy is less severe and more chic. The snug, fairly structured fit of the boiler suit combined with the block colour confines the body and leaves the eye no particular place to rest upon. In fact the eyes are drawn up to statement earrings – a great styling trick! I rolled up the trousers legs and added height by way of a flat-form slide, which elongates the leg and shows-off Andrea’s slim ankles. Andrea loved this Next boiler suit so much – she purchased it right away! Andrea’s slides are from H&M.

Amy is tall with legs to die for – so they had to come out! I chose this dyed denim utility-style dress from River Island for her, which she loved. Amy has a rectangular body with wide shoulders, waist and hips. For this reason, it’s good idea to wear a belt to create some shape around the waistline. This shorter-length dress showcases Amy’s gorgeous legs but without looking trashy. I like to pair short skirts with flat shoes – it’s so much more chic. Plus the rule about either exposing the bottom half or top half is always good to stick to if you don’t want to look like mutton dressed as lamb.

Sam has a petite frame, so I chose a utility-style skirt in a pencil shape from V by Very. The high waistline of the skirt adds length to the body which is elongated further with heels (wedges in this case). A cropped utility-style jacket is much better for a petite body, or a belted version would work too. Sam’s outfit is versatile as both the jacket, by New Look, and skirt can be worn in many ways with other items. The skirt would look great for example with a crisp white shirt or a smart black t-shirt for work.

Colour

With this theme I really wanted to show how to combine bold colours and encourage my audience to be a bit bolder with their colour choices. Embracing colour – the right colour for your skin tone – can massively improve your impact. Plus it makes you feel energised and vibrant.

Orange looks fabulous on Andrea and I chose a boho-style dress from Marks & Spencer and paired it with citrus yellow to really give the outfit some zest. The style of dress worked well on Andrea’s body shape with the gathered waist and full skirt accenting her womanly curves. I lent Andrea my gorgeous Kanna shoes for this outfit and the fabulous bag is from Raindrops & Roses.

For Amy, I chose a tailored suit in a sage green colour from ASOS and paired it with a coral coloured T-shirt. Coloured suits are a huge trend this season and a fun alternative to a classic grey or black suit but is still smart enough to wear to the office. On this occasion I chose trainers just to show that trainers don’t necessarily need to be scruffy and are acceptable now even in a professional environment. Amy’s tall frame can carry-off a double-breasted blazer, but it may swamp smaller frames. The cigarette-style trousers balance out the oversized blazer. Amy’s trainers are from Marks & Spencer.

Sam can wear sharp tones so I chose a multi-coloured outfit mixing crayola colours which provide real impact. Combining emerald green and tomato red is a bold choice but it is broken up by the multi-coloured cami-top. The duster jacket (now sold out) and trousers are from the petite range at River Island and the cami-top is sold at Kitty-Rose. Wearing a longer line jacket that doesn’t quite match the length of the under garment confuses the eye and therefore provides height to the overall frame.

Summer dress

Everyone needs a good summer dress, whether it be for a special occasion or just weekend wear. Another key purpose for me is demonstrating that women of all sizes can shop on the High Street. River Island, Top Shop, Miss Selfridge (another retailer with a great petite range) have something for everyone – you’ll just need to look online! ASOS is another great source which literally has something for everyone.

For Andrea, I chose an amazing empire-line dress from Top Shop (no longer available online). The capped, fluted sleeves do a great job of providing balance across the chest area and the empire line provides a slimming effect. This dress has fairly high splits and an open back, so a bright-coloured slip does a great job! Andrea’s shoes are from Marks & Spencer.

A one-shoulder dress from Top Shop is so stylish and I knew this would look fabulous on Amy! This style is not for everyone, particularly if you have slopping shoulders. But if you have a larger bust you’d prefer to disguise, then the oversized frill does a great job and the belted waist and vertical stripes stop if from looking too pudding-y. In fact the stripes and dropped hem together do a great job of elongating the frame. Amy’s shoes are from Marks and Spencer.

Sam was quite shocked when I suggested she wear a figure-hugging dress in a stretchy material, but it looked amazing on her! I added a statement belt which breaks up the overall fit and draws attention to Sam’s tiny waist. Plus the split flares out the bottom half and provides lovely movement also drawing the eye downward. The ditsy print of this River Island dress also makes this style less body-con. Sam’s shoes are from Marks & Spencer.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I styled my 3 gorgeous models in 3 trends for SS19. I will be back with another Style Evening to mark the start of the AW season towards to the end of October. In the meantime, please come and join me for the Club Forty Workshop on 8 June – check out Eventbrite for more info and tickets.

Also please don’t hesitate to contact me to enquire about my Personal Styling services. I offer Wardrobe Audits, Personal Shopping and ongoing Personal Style Coaching.

Lastly I’d like to thank and shout-out all the brands who donated items for the goody bags and the prize draw: Style Event SS19