Fashion: Understanding Age and Clutter

Fashion mistakes happen in abundance; everyday, women throughout the world embark on their day's journey in dress that can frankly be deemed embarrassing.  Many women are unaware of some of the simple rules of dress when it comes to women's clothing – you may even be one of them, I know I've fallen victim to various mistakes along the way.  I learned the hard way, but here, we look at two of the greatest fashion faux pas, so that you can learn from the experience of someone who has been there, and
failed, but risen again.

Dress your age!
There are certain age brackets that fall particular prey to the ‘dressing your age' virus.

Young teenage girls, in particular, tend to dress in a manner that is a lot older than their years suggest.  It is perfectly easy to dress fashionably in age appropriate attire when you are a teenager; you simply have to find the styles that are en vogue for your particular age.  Do this by purchasing fashion magazines for your age group, or mimic the dress of celebrities of the same age.

Turning 30 can be a particularly daunting time, and many people keep the same sense of fashion that they had in the 20s, in particular, the slouchy, casual dress of hoody and jeans.  However, at 30, you need to begin dressing a little more confidently, you are a woman now after all.

The age groups of 40 and 50 are notoriously renowned for their susceptibility to the ‘mutton dressed as lamb' disease.  You can still look sexy at 40 and 50, but you can do it differently now, do not show too much flesh, it didn't look good at 25, and it certainly doesn't at 50.  This does not mean that you have to be frumpy; there are loads of fashions that are suitable.  If in doubt, buy a fashion magazine, you will be certain to find an outfit that would look great on you.

Minimise
Many women go all out when putting together an outfit, layering accessory over accessory, and clothing after clothing, but when it comes to women's clothing, less is more!  Much like a room can look cluttered and encumbered when there are too many different styles and too much brick-a-brac, so too can people.

You need to keep to one or two focal points per outfit.  So, when it comes to jewellery, choose one item that stands out, and then a further one or two that are more subtle, e.g. if you wear colourful earrings, wear a simple ring and a simple bracelet – you do not want to create an effect where people's eyes are darting between  various points of your outfit.

The same is true of clothes, if you are wearing a bright and unusual top, then keep the rest of the outfit plain and simple, the same follows for any item that stands out – there should only be one such outfit.

With make-up, if you are using a lot of eye make-up, keep the lips very simple, with a lip-gloss for instance, and if you have focused on the lips (lip liner, lipstick, and lip-gloss) then keep your eye make-up minimal.