You are on Team Solo Shop if you prefer to shop alone. You are on Team Group Shop if you prefer to shop with someone else or in a group of people. 

I am sitting this one out because I can’t pick a team. I love to shop alone because I’m extra focused and fast. I soak up more detail about the items and stores and usually have a productive session. But I also love to shop with my clients, with friends, with YLF’ers at a gathering, with my sister-in-law Keri and with Greg. I used to love shopping with my late Mum. I love the laughter and chit chat that unfolds when you shop with someone else. I love sharing my finds with others along the way. I love helping others find fab stuff. I love to shop, period. 

Over to you. Are you Team Solo Shop or Team Group Shop? Tell us why and no batting for both teams, but you are welcome to join me on the bench.

After many top designers showed space-agey looks in their recent runway collections, I chose “sci-fi metallics” as one of my 12 trends for Fall. Well ladies, the sci-fi trend is here. It’s fringe, but I have a hunch that it will be stronger next year. 

The sci-fi trend isn’t about gold and silver catsuits with protruding angular design details, lightening bolt hair, glittery make-up and moon boots. But it might still look and feel space-agey, futuristic, over the top, and unwearable at first glance. At the end of the day, though, the vibe is really just MODERN. 

The streamlined lines, simplicity, severity, crispness, and rigid integrity of the designs are what make them look modern. Pop them into an icy shade like metallic and the modern attributes are heightened. This trend is polar opposite to the warmth of an earthy bohemian style, and the softness of a romantic style. 

Sci-fi metallic clothing, footwear and accessories become wearable when they are mixed with soft items and regular mainstream clothing. As seen here, silver trousers are worn with a basic crew neck sweater and timeless cream blazer. Silver boots are worn with jeans, a blouse and parka. The gold top is paired with skinnies and a patterned clutch. The silver mini skirt is matched with a t-shirt and basic cardigan. See! This stuff is wearable, and you won’t look like you’re climbing into a spaceship on your way to a rendezvous with aliens. That’s why I believe that the trend will grow in popularity overtime.

It isn’t shown in these examples, but some designers have already taken the liberty of mixing sci-fi metallic detailing with softness in the same item. Think flowing chiffon dresses and cozy knitwear with metallic trims and panels. Or suede booties with broad silver ankle straps and big buckles. The juxtaposition makes sense. 

I love this trend. It isn’t only that the crisp modern wardrobe items with simple straight lines appeal to me. It is also the sci-fi association. 

Until a few years ago I was not a fan of science fiction at all. Greg just had to mention the genre and my eyes clouded over. And then one evening I was sitting with him while he was watching the last episode in the 3rd season of the 2004 remake of Battlestar Galactica (BSG). I was intrigued. The show was clever, captivating and women played very powerful roles. We ended up watching all five seasons together and BSG still rates as my favourite TV series of all time. It completely changed my perception of all things sci-fi and now I’m a huge fan.

As yet, I haven’t acted on my interest. I have metallic items in my wardrobe, but they aren’t representative of this trend because they don’t look futuristic. I don’t exactly know how I’m going to incorporate sci-fi into my style, but as a nod to my recent conversion to science fiction shows I’m determined to do so. My toenails have been bright silver all Summer and that feels like a start. I would love a pair of silver booties because they would complement my capsules and lifestyle really well. I also fancy the idea of space-agey silver pants and a gold top. Decisions, decisions.

Over to you. Do you like the sci-fi metallics trend? Would you wear these items? Or are they too over the top, or just plain silly. 

Partner

Knitted blazers are extra comfortable because of their soft and stretchy integrity, but they can also stretch out and look sloppy. The Ponte Academy Blazer from the Gap feels and looks better than most knitted blazers because it’s very structured AND fully lined. At the price, I was blown away with the quality of this topper.  

It comes in a variety of colours with contrast piping, more than what’s online, so check out brick and mortar stores too. It’s available up to size 20, in petite, regular and tall. I found it to run large, so you might need to size down. 

It’s a shrunken blazer to start off with, so regular sizes tend to fit petites. The sleeves are very long though, and shortening them is not an easy alteration because of the lining and binding. But you can roll them up “boyfriend style”, scrunch them, or both, which is what all the models are doing below.

Thanks to Diana on the YLF forum for alerting us to this fab find.

A list of items and outfit combinations that you should not wear past a certain age is a dated concept. It doesn’t make sense that you’ll look fab wearing a particular item at age 39, but that the very next day you’re too old to wear it at age 40. Things aren’t that cut and dried. 

That said, age appropriateness is still relevant. Age is like any other factor that influences your overall style. If we all looked equally fab wearing everything, regardless of the factors that impacted our personal style, then the concept of style itself wouldn’t exist. It is how people wear what, when, and where that gives them their stylish individuality. 

So as unpopular as it may be, I believe that certain looks are best suited to those with youth on their side. But I do not believe in attaching a universal, set-in-stone age limit to items and looks, beyond which wearing them becomes taboo. That way of thinking needs to be modernized. Whether an item, the fit of an item, or an outfit combination is age appropriate is best evaluated on a case by case basis. Some women, for a myriad of reasons, will just pull off a look better than others. Furthermore, context is key. Some so-called age inappropriate looks are appropriate within a particular setting.

I actually find myself encouraging women to wear looks that they feel are age inappropriate much more frequently than the other way round. That’s because it’s HOW you wear an item or trend that makes the difference. When my 75 year old client excitedly pointed to a pair of eggplant, straight-leg waxed jeans a few weeks ago, I was all for it. By adding a sophisticated element to the item, we could make it look fabulous despite it being an ultra trendy and “young” look. The jeans were sleek but not at all skin tight. We matched them up with dressy flats, an elegant and roomy silk untucked long sleeved blouse, arty jewelry, and a very chic handbag. My client ended up not purchasing the waxed jeans because we found a normal pair of straight leg eggplant jeans that were even more comfortable. But the fact is that she could have pulled off a pair of waxed jeans with style. 

This very same client also purchased the mixed media leather and ponte knit black skirt that Phoebe modeled for us last month. She rocks hers with a tailored brocade teal jacket, sheer black hose and dressy flats. And looks just as fab as younger Phoebe. 

How do you decide whether something is age appropriate or not? I wish I had a neat set of bullet points to break it down, but I don’t. It is so subjective and situational that I don’t think I will ever come up with a universal set of guidelines. But there is one question that always pops into my head when someone asks the question. A forum member recently wondered whether a particular look was age appropriate at age 42. In my response I said that at age 42 (and I’m 42) I believe you need to look like a grown-up. And that’s the simple principle that most helps me to evaluate whether my own look, or my clients looks, are age appropriate. 

At this point you might be thinking that I’ve just switched the question from “is this age appropriate?” to “do I look like a grown-up in this?”. That’s true of course, but the second question is just less theoretical, at least it is for me. And yes, it is subjective. What’s important is your answer to the question, and the answer of people whose opinion you care about. That will determine whether you will feel confident in the item or look, and therefore, whether you can pull it off effortlessly. 

I’m not saying that anything goes. I have strong opinions and I don’t hesitate to share them with my clients. What I am saying is that my opinion is just that — an opinion — not a fundamental truth. Also, my opinion varies a lot depending on the specifics of the situation. The bottom line is that a universal formula for age-appropriateness isn’t practical.