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what kinds of jeans, pants, etc. look

always trying

Veteran

What kinds of pants, jeans, etc. look frumpy to you? The reason I am posting this is some of my observations have changed since last spring. I have a pair of white linen bottoms of some sort-I think when I got them a few years ago they were called capris. Have not worn them for a while as I though tthey were frumpy because the legs were too wide. then on Angie's post last week with the different types of lengths and widths, I am having other thoughts.

There were so many articles, etc. about capris being so awful, never wear anything that cut your leg at that calf part, it left me thinking everything but ankle and knee and short shorts were not to be worn if we wanted to look fashionable. But is ok if it is a skirt or culottes???

Now I am feeling that the only thing that looks frumpy totally depends on who is wearing it, and what it looks like on each individual and how it is styled.

Dressing

20 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

crutcher

Veteran

I think you have answered your question that frumpy totally depends on who is wearing it and what it looks like on each individual and how it is styled...How do you feel in the pants?...Do you want to run out of the store and run into someone from long ago who maybe did you wrong...and there you are looking so wonderful?..or do you want to keep looking in the mirror hoping to change what you see with a small alteration or whatever...I think it totally depends on you and your perception and style...Don't think I am being simplistic...you have solved your own problem..smile..

Anonymous

I still see wide legged capris as frumpy. I base this on the women I most frequently see wearing them in the office. The women I am thinking about wear their wide legged capris (white, black) with long, loudly patterned, knit tops. It is almost as though they have a defined summer uniform.

kkards

Veteran

i think the key is to pay attention to the supporting players ---make sure the footwear is current, make sure that whatever top you are wearing fits and is flattering. and make sure that all the pieces work together.

Daria

I would say mom's jeans (high-waist, shapeless variety). Also wide-leg dress pants are difficult to style without looking frumpy - I think even Angie mentioned it in one of her blog posts.

rabbit

Veteran

I really think you are right that it's not the item, so much as how it is styled (including who is wearing it --- things like an edgy haircut can make a big difference). With wider leg cropped pants I think the right footwear is really key and should read as contemporary if the goal is to have the pants read as stylish to the general public.

ETA: Angie makes a good point about JFE and I didn't word that well -- I didn't mean to refer to body type. I was thinking specifically about items that have been considered frumpy (like extreme mom jeans) and how they are reclaimed by fashion trends -- but how they seem to work best if the entire outfit/accessories/look supports the 'new' trend rather than the older tradition of wearing that kind of piece.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I don't think its a question of "who" is wearing the piece that defines the frump-factor. I think it's much more about HOW the pieces are worn that makes the difference. That's why I share my experiences on "how to" in blog posts very regularly - since I get lots of practice helping clients across all ages and body types put their looks together.

We are living in a fashion era where "Just Flattering Enough" is very fashionable. In a way - it's liberating and fun - but on the other hand, it makes being stylish harder when you prefer to follow hardcore style guidelines that create traditionally flattering outfits.

Gennifyr

I can't wear anything slouchy. I have a nice butt that doesn't like being hidden by baggy fabric.

For the capris I wonder if leg proportion has anything to do with. I'm specifically thinking about the difference between people who have long calves/short thighs vs shorts calves/long thighs.

Anonymous

I just bought some culottes (Macys Inc. line) (Macys calls them gauchos) and love them, I am wearing them for the first time today. I am wearing high heel sandals with them to try to balance out the wideness of them. I love that they are different - sort of pants, yet full like a skirt. Just flattering enough I hope.
Wide-legged capris - depends on how you style them as others say. I try not to blanket condemn a whole category of clothes, that is too limiting! Of course, there are always those things that you will never like and that is fine too.

Anonymous

I don't like to condemn an entire category of clothing, either, but I think it's safe to say that certain garments flatter so few women (or maybe so few women know how to style them in a flattering way) that they get the frumpy label. And some women don't seem to care whether they look frumpy or not. Then again, maybe they just don't know any better. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Daria

I still think some items are hopeless and cannot even satisfy the "Just Flattering Enough" criteria Angie described. See the item below for example - maybe I'm lacking imagination but I would've never been able to style it in even minimally flattering way.

Dockers Petite Petite The Khaki w/ Hello Smooth

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Top Pick

1

Anonymous

Those pants don't fit the model properly in the first place, and are too short. But I agree they are frumpy!

AnnaJP

Agreed with last post - those trousers could probably look ok on a less leggy model, worn with heels... but not great and not stylish. Personally i think any trouser which is obviously all polyester has no drape, looks cheap, and should not be allowed hanger space in your wardrobe!

Anonymous

I've always been of the opinion that the "typical" black or white cotton wide leg capris (that Sterling describes so perfectly above) were created and then marketed as some sort of saviour to women who were chosing not to wear shorts in the summer months. Here it is, something lightweight, a little breezy, cool (temperature wise, lol) and washable. For some reason, women jumped all over them, and popped on the ubiquitous loudly printed poly t and flat sandals - and off they went. The style was marketed as some sort of life-saver or solution, and was just bought over and over again, regardless of its inherent lack of flattery. So what do the Nygards and Jones New Yorks of the world do? Repeat them ad nauseum year after year after year. They are kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. My mother proudly sports hers in "denim" with a pastel printed tshirt. What are you going to do?

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I think it has a lot to do with the shape of the item as well. I saw a woman today who was wearing a pair of wide crops that hit at mid calf. The were fairly slim through the thigh and then flared a bit below the knee. They reminded me a bit of a tulip skirt. When I saw her my first thought was "fashion forward" and not "frumpy".

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

After I hurt my knee recently I quickly realized why those wide calf length capris are so popular with the older and less nimble crowd - full length pants can trip you up if you have mobility problems. I almost took a header just getting up from the toilet when I tripped on the bottom of my pajama pants! TMI maybe but I think people choose clothes for a lot of reasons other than trendiness, especially if they have other physical limitations to deal with. Those ubiquitous capris are cooler in the summer than full length pants, more modest than shorts and decent looking on a wide variety of body shapes, not to mention low maintenance and easy to find inexpensively.

Joy

Veteran

Laura (rhubarbgirl) makes an interesting observation about physical limitations choosing for us sometimes. As long as I can, I want to avoid black elastic waist wide polyester pants as frumpy. Recently we spent a day at a Denver Art museum and an evening at a Shakespeare play. Both times I was interested in what women my age and older were wearing. About 3/4 wore black pants, usually polyester, too short and wide and too often with sensible black flats, a black cardigan and floral blouse. I vowed to avoid this look as horribly frumpy. A grey-haired woman with a pixie cut in black skinny jeans, an assymetrical citron tunic and upscale sneakers at the museum looked much more stylish but still ready for walking and comfort.
However there may be good reasons for wearing black poly pants that are easy to manage in the restroom. I hope designers and stylists will help us Baby Boomers through the style/disability minefield.

Gaylene

Veteran

Could we please retire the "frumpy" label? Just because I don't like to wear something doesn't mean someone else couldn't look, or, more importantly FEEL, fabulous in it.

I might not like that pair of pants, but I'm sure that if Emmanuelle Alt decided to incorporate a pair of baggy Dockers into her wardrobe, I'd start seeing those pants in a different light--the current craze for Birkenstock sandals being a prime example. And, as Laura points out, sometimes clothing choices need to be governed by considerations other than what the fashion crowd is currently deeming as fashionable.

Anonymous

I have such a poison eye to this look that I can't offer a sound and reasoned opinion. I will read what others have to say and try to be more open minded.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

*highfives Gaylene* The older I get, the more I realize how ageist some parts of the fashion industry are, and obsessed about newness. I mean, what makes culottes trendy again now when they were hopelessly dated last year? Somebody who wants to sell us stuff and make us think that our current clothes aren't good enough. I get that fashion may be about challenging the eye but it seems to me that money drives this stuff, not aesthetic judgements.

If you look at the slideshow of Ines de la Fressange (spelling?) that someone posted for this week's weekly links, there are a lot of challenging cropped pant lengths there, including cropped pants worn with socks in the winter. I like Ines, the interviews with her show that she's a thoughtful person aware of the contradictions of the fashion industry, and I'm always glad to see older women still making waves, but come on. If those looks are trendy and not frumpy, it's only because of who she is, not what she's wearing.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Gaylene, can you find a synonym for frumpy? Everybody knows what the word describes - especially in the fashion world when styles these days are frumpy right up until they are fashionable.

Laura, culottes have been fashionable for about four years actually.

There is a lot wrong with the fashion industry - I don't deny that for a second. That's why focusing on style is a deeper and more meaningful experience. But there is no style without fashion. And the reason we are on this forum is because we take an interest in personal style. We need to take an interest in fashion to have a sense of style. Take from the fashion industry what works for you and leave the rest. We are all empowered to do that, thankfully.