As the very last post of 2015, here are some thoughts to wrap up the year of style, fashion and retail. My musings are completely subjective, so feel free to agree, disagree, or add to the list. There are no right or wrong answers and it’s all in good fun. 

My Highlight of the Year: Sam!

My Fashion Highlight of the Year: Two weeks in Hong Kong because it’s a very stylish city and part of my soul.

Best Red Carpet Outfit: Emma Stone in a strapless jumpsuit at the Golden Globes.

Buzzwords for 2015 Fashion & Style: Asymmetry, comfort, juxtaposition, personal.

Favourite Fashion Trend: Modern Retro.

Worst Fashion Trends: The ones that don’t make you happy.

The Trend I Unexpectedly Fell in Love With: Cropped Pants! YES. I know that the sky is falling down. I have learned to love this trend as long as the silhouette is paired with footwear that closes the gap, like high-shaft booties, high-vamped oxfords, and footwear with high ankle straps.

Most Impressive Quality Item of the Year: Collection Italian Stretch Turtleneck Sweater. I am wowed by its fit, fabric, cut and workmanship each time I wear it.

Retailers with the Best Customer Service: Amazon and Zappos. It’s hard to beat their (often free) next day shipping and swift processing of returns. And Amazon will credit your return BEFORE they’ve received it.

Retailer Shout-Outs: Zara’s online service is fast, free and impeccable. Gap sales assistants in the downtown Seattle store are extra friendly and helpful. A big thank you to the sales assistants I regularly work with at the Nordstrom flagship, Becky, Stephanie and Jess, for giving me and my clients the best service year round. And a big thank you to J.Crew for providing assortments that ooze with colour when the rest of the industry is drowning in a sea of neutrals. 

Most Saturated Items at Retail: Distressed and torn denim, oversized tops, overly tight skinnies, cheap cashmere and basic ankle boots. 

Biggest Missed Opportunities at Retail: Trendy items that are tailored but not overly tight, and fashion-forward silhouettes in plus sizes. 

Best New Unexpected Colours: Rust and Sea foam.

Favourite Photographer: Greg, because he creates the most beautiful images with impeccable attention to detail and a lot of heart.

Best Online Community: YLF!

Worst Reason Not to Wear a Trend: “I can’t wear that because I’m neither slim nor tall.” We can all wear ALL the trends. It’s a question of finding the version that is best suited to YOU. 

Best Blog Comment: From Caro of Oz about my navy jumpsuit: 

There was a fab blogger named Angie
Whose photos were always eye candy
What she had on this day
Really blew me away
Whoa! Somebody pass me the brandy!!!! 

The Best Part of 2015 Fashion: Its diverse assortment and commitment to comfort (especially in footwear). 

Worst Parts About Designer Wear: It seldom includes plus sizes and is obsessed with neutrals like black and grey. 

Special Designer Shout-Out: To Tadashi Shoji who ALWAYS includes plus sizes in his seasonal collections. 

Best Runway Shows: Prada, Bally and J.Crew Ready-to-Wear Fall 2015 collections.

Best Pin of the Year: Gregory Peck with his Yorkie. Old-dschool handsome with an adorable doggie cannot be beat. 

Favourite Style Tips: Assess how you FEEL in an outfit. Keep poison eye to a minimum. Be patient with your style.

Only Style Rule: Have fun with fashion at ANY age. 

We at YLF wish you a happy, fun and peaceful New Year.

I evolved my style more in 2015 than I have in a while, and it feels really good. Spending two weeks back in my favourite city Hong Kong earlier this year was the catalyst for the evolution. I came back from that trip in February wanting to change my hair, tone down the tomboy integrity of my style, and amp up the ladylike and pretty in my outfits. And so the next leg of my style journey began. 

Growing out my hair from punky spike to softer layers and sweeping fringe was a frustrating but worthwhile process. SOFT is a keyword to my style these days, and the new ‘do effectively softened my look even before I changed my outfits. My bright green specs are in their second year, and the best eyewear of my life. The colour makes me so very, very happy when I put them on every day. I’m still looking for the right white pair of specs, and hope to find them in 2016. 

I’ve changed my style moniker to Urban Pretty because it’s become increasingly important for my outfits to feel structured, refined, polished and pretty. So the five adjectives that I’ve chosen to describe my current style are Modern, Crisp, Simple, Dressy and Soft.

Fall 2015’s Ready-to-Wear collections from Prada, Bally and J.Crew also had a big effect on my style. They made me want to experiment even more with colour, think beyond blue jeans, and add a Modern Retro element back into my outfits. In some ways this feels like coming full circle because there was a retro streak to my look back when I was in my thirties. I recently wore one of my pearl necklaces, which I haven’t touched in years, and loved it. In fact, I might even change the adjective Simple to Retro. I’m thinking about it.

It’s been an absolutely brilliant shopping year and I’ve bought many, many wild cards. Now more than ever, I’m enjoying creating outfits with a subtle or deliberate ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s vibe to them. I’ll be continuing this leg of my style journey into 2016 for as long as it feels right in my head and heart.

I’m 45 years old and have never felt better about my style, my body, and creating a wardrobe that fulfills my needs. I’m relaxed about the process and enjoy every element of it. I have more fun shopping and putting together outfits with each passing year and hope that does not change. I’m going to continue to listen to my feelings and have fun with fashion till I’m a hundred and then some. Join me!

Here are my favourite outfits of the year.

Another year with hundreds more blog posts under our belt. That’s a lot of writing, thinking, photography, and brilliant engagement from our readership in the comments section. The number of blog comments are not a reliable indicator of the value of a post — not by a long shot — but it’s interesting to see which posts generate the most discussion. 

Here are ones that received between 90 and 165 comments: 

• Earrings Style
• Peak Premium Denim
• Ensemble: Casual Light Grey and White
• Sea Foam and Wild Cards for Spring
• New Feature: Random Outfit Generator
• Happy Ninth Birthday YouLookFab!
• Tomato & Turquoise for Spring
• A New Combination of Old Items
• The Two Bag Complement for Minimalists
• Team Orange or Team Purple
• Travel Capsule for a Four Week Trip
• Watermelon Birthday Lace (most commented, with 165 comments)
• A Glam ‘70s Jumpsuit
• Sam’s Holiday Capsule

There are also some posts that didn’t generate quite as much discussion, but that I really enjoyed writing. I am most proud of the posts where I feel that I was able to break down a topic and provide helpful, tangible advice that you can easily put into practice.

• For the first time ever, Pantone chose two colours as the Pantone colour of the year for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity.
• For its next collaboration Uniqlo is teaming up with Liberty London.
• In other Uniqlo news: the Japanese brand’s is teaming up again with Carine Roitfeld for a second collection that will be in stores in February 2016.
• French company Veja is producing a sneaker made of recycled plastic bottles.
• Banana Republic fans will be able to buy limited-edition items straight off the runway immediately after its Fall 2016 show at New York Fashion Week on February 13.
• Earlier this month, Everlane launched “Mini“, an 11-piece collection for kids.
• According to Yahoo! Style, the Hermès Apple Watch was this year’s most talked about fashion and tech collaboration.
• London-based brand Jonathan Saunders is closing shop after the Scottish designer announced he is stepping down as creative director at his namesake label.
• Vogue published a report on how fashion fared in diversity in 2015.
• Raf Simons was the most Googled fashion designer of the year. Check out the rest of the top 10 here.
• Singer Beth Ditto is launching her own plus-size fashion line, which will be inspired by her love of prints, silks, embroidery, and vintage.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that the cup system for bras was developed in 1929 by the Maidenform Brassiere Company. (NSFW) “This new form of measurement offered more comfortable and accurate fitting, and coincided with the development of a new type of elastic thread by Dunlop chemists (Lastex), which had the flexibility and strength to offer support instead of heavy boning and lacing.”