Newbie post - can I wear skinnies and best boots

Katiepea

Hello everyone!

I am so super excited to have finally taken the plunge to join your lovely community. My name is Kirstie, I'm a mum of 3 boys (7,5,3) and I'm from Queensland, Australia (*waves hello* to the other Aussie ladies on the forum!).

I have been devouring your forum and Angie's posts for a couple of weeks now and have loved reading how supportive you have been to new members, so much so that I thought maybe you'd be able to advise "little ol' me" about how to make the "skinny jeans and boots" MOTG look work for me.

I'm 5'4" (just) and am a curvy, size 10-12 Australian. (ie, I have hips and I'm not afraid to use them!)

I think I would most likely describe my figure as having hourglass tendancies, although maybe (since baby 3, curses!) I may have slightly become pearish with a slightly protuding tummy (drat!). As you can see from my Avatar, I have brown hair, funny blue/grey/green eyes and fair skin.

I hope that is enough background information, because here come my three questions! (Yes, in advance, I realise that I am probably over processing and over thinking this, but your advice would help me get my head straight as I commence my style journey. I do hope it gets easier, I have never thought so much about an outfit before in my life!)

As we are heading into Autumn down here, I thought the most practical MOTG persona for me this year would be the "skinny jean and boot look". Here is the catch - I'm petrified of wearing skinnies! I've only ever worn boot-cuts before, to (in my mind anyway) balance out my curves. I love the concept of skinnies, but am really scared that to wear skinnies, all that will be seen by others is my voluptuous backside (putting it nicely).

Then as soon as I get over this paranoia (and I'm hoping you can help me with this)by telling myself "the boots will even out the curves", I hit a road-block with my next dilemma - the type of boot. Do I go flat boot (ie recommended in the forumula) or heeled (the only type of boot I've ever owned and to give me precious height!)? If I go flat, will it make me look *ahem* short and stout? Would I be better going for a slight heel, to lengthen my legline? What are your thoughts?

This then leads to my final question and it is to do with practicality - would you recommend I buy dark wash blue or black skinnies, and black or brown boots? I love the idea of a chocolate or darker brown (rather than black) boot in order to "bookend" my outfit and go with my hair, but then think that maybe black boots and a black jeans would be best for streamlining my appearance? What have you found in your experience?

For the time being, my budget is limited and I'd love to get one "take" of this look down pat first, before I start getting all experimental.

I'm sorry this has turned into such an epic post, if you have made it this far, I'm very impressed! All advice (including "Stay away from this look Kirstie, repeat, stay away from this look!") is gratefully received.

Kirstie

16 years ago

Dressing

11 replies

Latest reply was from Katiepea

Active Member

Hello and welcome to the forum Kirstie. Another Aussie - yeah!! I probably can't be much help in relation to your questions because I haven't done the skinnies and boots thing myself. But I don't think you need to go black boots and black jeans to streamline your appearance - I think any dark colors would have the same effect so I say go with the brown if that's your preference.

16 years ago

Louise

Veteran

Hi and welcome Kirstie.
Firstly it might be helpful to post a picture of yourself in form fitting clothes the gals here are great at bodytypes and can give you a definite body shape.
Secondly you can totally wear skinnies it's just a case of wearing the right top with them. I'm a pear with a big difference between waist and hips, i wear skinnies with either tunic length tops or banded (voluminous tops) to give more proportion re boots if heels work for you go with heels. I'd go for dark wash blue or black skinnes to start with x

16 years ago

Katiepea

(website)

Veteran

Oh how exciting, thanks for writing, I have been scared no-one would reply!

Now, I'm going to be very brave and post a few "secret" photos I have been taking of myself the past week or so.

(The photos include my "closet" attempt at the "skinny" look (I hate the blue sash idea by the way and have not worn this out of the house).

Oh, (and off topic) my favourite outfit is the denim skirt with boots and vest (I wore it to work).

Do these photos help at all in defining my figure-type? Do you agree, hourglass with pearish tendencies? Now to attempt to link my photos *Kirstie crosses her fingers this works!****************

http://s995.photobucket.com/al.....ea_photos/

Thanks once again for your help!

Kirstie

16 years ago

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

Hi Kirstie - fellow Queenslander here - I'm in Central Qld!! Isn't it fabulous to be finally thinking about Autumn after this summer!

Reading your post made me giggle because I think you and I have a LOT of similarities - I overthink things and I'm quite sure the gals here feel a little bit sick of me on the days I'm posting a million and one questions - I'm very new here too. I'm also just 5'4", a pear and a mum - but I have 2 girls. I think you will love it here - everyone if just fabulous!

Now, for your questions, well, I have also loved the skinnies in boots look, and last week I actually made a pair of old bootcuts into skinnies, tried them on with boots and really really liked the look! So I say YES you absolutely can wear them!

The boot question is one I've been working through at the moment too. I have heeled boots but have decided I want flat ones for this winter for practical reasons (running around after kidlets) - I was thinking that as much as I'd love a pair of luxurious dark brown leather ones, black is probably more versatile for my current wardrobe. I was in Big W today and they had a black leather riding boot for $80 - I'm going back tomorrow to take pics of my leg in it so I can see what I think. (they have the worlds tiniest mirrors and I can't see well enough LOL). The brown ones can wait til I can afford the beautiful ones.

I dyed my bootleg-skinnies black (they were super pale) and I like them, but I'm going to keep an eye out for a pair of dark wash ones as well - or a cheap pair of bootlegs etc to alter again... For me, I feel like the look of the dark wash is more me, whereas the black isn't quite so "me".

No idea if any of this makes sense or is helpful though!

16 years ago

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Welcome to the forum Kirstie, I really enjoyed reading your first post.

I agree with Louise, if you are happy to post a photo the body shape experts are really good at nailing your shape which helps immensely with shopping.

In terms of skinnies, the majority of us on the forum, regardless of shape are happier teaming skinnies with a tunic top. Its pretty much flop proof and may be a comfortable place for your to start.

Brown boots seem like a fantastic idea to bookend your look. If you are more comfortable in a heel go with a heel. Angie's formulas are very flexible.

As for black or blue jeans, are you happy mixing your neutrals (i.e. black and brown)? What colour tops are predominantly in your wardrobe? The answers to thee questions may help you to decide.

16 years ago

anne

Veteran

Hi Kirstie. Just wanted to say hi. I am another Aussie mother of 3 and an hourglass with pearish tendencies (I think you are probably right in guessing that is your body type, though hopefully Angie will chime in so you know for sure) I am the same height as you too. I wore skinnies and flat brown riding boots heaps last winter because I don't find heels practical with kids. (they probably had a 1 inch heel)

I second what Julie said; I only wear my skinnies with tunics

16 years ago

Louise

Veteran

*waving* great to 'see' you. I'm not the best on bodyshapes but i'll have a bash i think you're pear shaped?

16 years ago

yublocka

(website)

Veteran

Welcome Kirstie, always great to see another Aussie here!!!

Maybe a good way to ease yourself into wearing skinnies is to pair them with longer tunic tops only to start with. Would that make you feel more comfortable? Do you have any of those?

As for flat vs heeled boots, I'm probably biased since I only have flat ones. I love them though, and find they totally work for a casual lifestyle. I guess the size of the heel, and how "on the go" you plan to be in them will all come into play.

As for colour, I wear a lot of black clothing, and own both black and brown boots. Surprisingly I find the brown ones get a lot more wear, maybe to contrast with the black! What colour clothes do you wear a lot of? Get something that will look good with that. The "bookending" brown effect sounds like it will work well for you too.

tam

16 years ago

cciele

Veteran

Welcome Kirstie! Thanks for posting the photos. I really like your outfit with the skirt -- cute!

I also think you have pear tendencies, so you might want to look around YLF for Angie's tips on dressing pears (http://youlookfab.com/2006/04/21/the-pretty-pear/, for starters). Also look to our resident pretty pears (waving to Louise) for great outfits.

For heel height: For a MOTG, I'd go with flat boots. Not necessarily totally flat, but with a slight heel (around 1-1.5"). You can go the classic riding boot route, the engineer boot route, or the western boot route, depending on your style. I'm 5'3" and mom to 2 girls, and I wear mostly flat boots. You will not look short and stout if you buy properly fitted boots (there's a blog post about that somewhere ...). But I also have heeled boots because a girl can't have too many boots!

For color, it depends on your clothes, as others have mentioned. Either black or brown would work for bookending. Watch out for really dark brown though, because there is not much contrast between it and black, and it might look like you "goofed" when matching with black. In that case, a more medium or chestnut brown would be better. As long as you keep the bottoms within the same value (e.g., dark), you should be fine creating a lean line; they don't have to match in hue. So black jeans and black boots would work, as well as dark blue jeans and black boots.

16 years ago

Boof

Active Member

Welcome, Kirstie! Took a peek at your pictures, and I can definitely say that you CAN wear skinny jeans! You have a lovely figure, and I would agree that you tend towards a pretty pear. The picture with the jeans tucked into the boots looks great! Love the skirt outfit too!

16 years ago

Katiepea

(website)

Veteran

Wow, I feel so special having all these lovely welcomes. Thank you everyone for your wonderful advice and kind words.

It is so funny to think of myself as pear-shaped, having always thought of myself as being an hourglass! I do agree though, after looking at the photos. Funny how your body changes over time (thanks kids, thanks ravages of time!). Still, at least I now have the opportunity to make sure I dress my body (and booty) in a figure flattering way.

What I'm thinking at this point (particularly after reading Theresa's recent skinnies post) is that I'm going to try a dark navy skinny jean with a mid brown flat boot (avoiding the lack of contrast issue), with a longer type like Tam and Cciele suggested. I do already own a lovely banded top, which sounds just like what Louise mentioned as being flattering that I might try first. I'm desperate to go shopping now!

It is a bit sad to say that this whole look is what I would consider adventurous for me.

I think I need to stretch my mind a bit about what is cute, what is flattering and appropriate for me (ie, not too young and not too old) and work on identifying my own personal style. Funny, I think that I should have somehow morphed into dressing so conservatively (ok, I admit it, bor-ing!) when I am a musician (well used to be, now I'm a music teacher and SAHM). How did that happen? I think YLF will be perfect in that regard!

16 years ago

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