Advice to my younger self

Rambling Ann

1) Buy the best YSL tuxedo knock-off you can afford. You will wear it to dozens of occasions that you will otherwise waste money on outfits you will never wear again and not feel nearly as fab in.

2) Don't outgrow YSL tux.

What would you tell your younger self about style if you could go back in time?

7 years ago

Inspiration

27 replies

Latest reply was from Bijou

JAileen

Veteran

Don't outgrow your clothes is very good advice. My advice is not style related: use lots of sunscreen and always floss.

7 years ago

Joy

Veteran

I agree with JAileen. Also, do not wear stretchy waisted bottoms. Your waist will expand without you realizing it,
Take care of your feet. Do not suffer for cute shoes.
Get a good bra fitting and buy the best bras you can afford. They will make you look better.
Posture. Smile.

7 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Listen to Mum when she tells you that I look awful with long hair and in black from head to toe (my '90s self).

7 years ago

Anonymous

I have often imagined a conversation with my younger self. My advice to her is not fashion related. I doubt she would listen to me though ....

7 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Clothing- and appearance related?
Look at the whole wardrobe, not only individual outfits in it.
Don't go to Tampa! If you do, realize that the "natural" shape you are will change if you adapt a car-centered lifestyle that makes you feel crummy.

7 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Be well-groomed, but don’t be afraid to get dirty. Cultivate your mind and be open to new ideas—in fashion as well as life. Smile and remember kindness makes you beautiful to others. Accept that your body will change as you grow older. Stand up straight, wear shoes which let you walk, and ignore people who try to tell you beauty comes in just one variety, size or shape.

7 years ago

Anonymous

Pay more attention to what your mother and father told you - they actually were right.

7 years ago

MsMary

Veteran

I'm with Sterling -- so much to tell her, so little of it fashion-related!

7 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Learn to do your hair!

7 years ago

Kate

Veteran

What rachylou said!!

7 years ago

Jazzy Dance

Active Member

Wear sunscreen. Tans fade, but wrinkles are forever.

Life is way too short for uncomfortable underpants.

Someday you are going to truly believe that high heeled shoes are tools of the patriarchy and a sinister mechanism of female hegemony. Try to keep this opinion to yourself.

It's okay to be a little bit vain. Enough that you make an effort to look your best.

Don't stress so much about your body size and shape. You have better things to do.

7 years ago

Style Fan

Veteran

Wear sunscreen! The rest of my advice would not be fashion or beauty related. I would not listen.

7 years ago

harmonica

Veteran

Stand up straight.

7 years ago

cindysmith

Veteran

Don't let Becky talk you into getting rid of all your skinny jeans and boots, you will miss them and you will have to replace them in a few years when skinny jeans come back around and your lifestyle changes so that you need boots

Seriously, I let my friend Will's sister Becky talk me into purging all my skinny jeans, an amazing pair of combat boots, a top notch pair of ariat competition worthy roper boots, and the cowboy boots I had resoled with a half rubber sole for motorcycle driving. I'm still pissed at myself for giving up those boots, and that happened in 2004. The jeans would have had to go anyway because weight gain, but those boots would have been perfect for my life as it is now

7 years ago

BrieN

Veteran

Do your hair daily and have a make up routine that is quick and polished.

Casual clothes matter, too. Have a few weekend outfits that you feel fabulous in.

Please spend money on maternity clothes, rather than wearing discount and hand me downs.

Don't let go of your tri-toned tan spectator flats when your pregnancy feet grow.. Your feet will shrink after the kids get older and they will fit again.

Don't shop with your sister.

Learn to shop with a plan...although I don't know my younger self would have understood this concept. Stay out of filene's basement.

7 years ago

Rambling Ann

(website)

Veteran

You all are so wise. If only there were a way to impart this collective wisdom to anyone who might listen. I guess everyone gets the privilege of making her own mistakes.

7 years ago

Sal

Veteran

To a teenager - Have fun with fashion - teenage years are the time to try new and wacky things. There is no rush to wear a LBD when there are green rompers and velvet flares available...

7 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Buy the good stuff You are worthy.

7 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

I'm pretty young to have regrets, but...

To my childhood self: Learn to knit and sew! These are hard skills to find time to develop as an adult, and as a result, my abilities now are mediocre at best.

To my teen self: Stop walking around on the hems of your jeans! Shorten them, or shop for a shorter inseam. Those muddy, chewed-up hems are not a good look, ever.

7 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Runcarla, yes! I have only realized in the past few years that when I thought something was really, really nice, I bought it as a gift for my parents or my sister, because I thought I was somehow “not worthy”.

Rambling Ann, it’s all so personal. For example, several people would tell their younger selves to pass on the high heels. Other than a pair of Candy’s in high school, i didn’t wear them. Right now I probably have more “high” heels (2-3”) than I did in my teens, twenties, and thirties combined. Several other comments work that way for me, as mine probably do to some others here.

7 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Look up!

7 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Don't listen to those who say being interested in clothes is "shallow" and "materialistic" . It's a huge part of all human cultures. You can still be sensible with your money without losing your joy.
Luckily I have learned this!

7 years ago

anne

Veteran

Having chubby cheeks means you are young not fat! (Not that anyone told me I was fat - but I thought so)

7 years ago

Sisi

Veteran

Have even more fun with fashion because this golden era will end one day (when I was young I was thin and fit and looked good in anything and the fashion was fabulous - it was the Eighties - I really had a ton of fun with fashion and felt fab all the time!).

7 years ago

approprio

(website)

Veteran

You're a winter. Black is your neutral and you should absolutely wear it, just not all at once. Don't wait until your mid-thirties to start wearing optic white and don't give up on the brights just because the '90's are over. You should really try that shade of yellow, but all those shades of grey you love so much don't love you back. Don't buy anything brown, it rarely ends well.

Don't listen to your mother when she gives you that withering stare and wonders out loud how you'll be dressing when you're forty. You know best what suits you and most of your hunches are right, so don't try to wear all those feminine classics just because you think it's what you're supposed to do at your age.

Red is better than blonde. Don't let your hair grow past your chin.

7 years ago

krishnidoux

Veteran

What a great question! My fashion-related advice to younger self: wear the heck out of your best clothes!
Then I also have lots of other advice.

7 years ago

Bijou

Veteran

Wear what you love and makes you feel good in. Never settle for anything (footwear included) that is uncomfortable. If you are uncomfortable you are NOT looking you best. Never wear anything that has the potential for a wardrobe malfunction. Then, forget what you are wearing and have fun...

7 years ago

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