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Dressing

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

do you wear or not wear certain things because

always trying

Veteran

do you dress similar to women in your peer group like co workers, the mothers of your kids friends, women in your book club, etc. or do you feel you are a bit different? Are you comfortable wearing things that are trendy on YLF and other fashion boards you follow that are maybe not seen on others in your geographical area?

Dressing

38 replies

Latest reply was from Runs With Scissors

Anonymous

Hmm, I always dress differently to my friends. There's a small group of 6 of us. I would say with the exception of one other, I may be the only one who really pays attention to trends and is more clued up on fashion. One lady who always wears flared pants/jeans..had no clue that in the last ten years they've gone out of fashion and are now back in

Anonymous

This is an excellent question. I follow the trends on YLF religiously. Some of those trends do not translate well to my area of the world. I dress to fit in so in those cases I am a late adapter (or I pass on it all together).

rabbit

Veteran

I don't really have much of a peer group in terms of a group of people I see regularly since I work alone and have no kids (and live in a progressive city with a lot of stylistic diversity), so I mostly dress for myself and feel free to try trends that appeal.

The exception would be when I'm specifically meeting with other makers in my field in the arts, then I tend to dress a lot more casually and more RATE - especially meeting students, since I'm more interested in rapport in that situation then anything else.

catgirl

Veteran

I basically dress for myself, and not like anyone around me, although I wouldn't mind if that were the case.

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

I do not care about fitting in - I dress for myself (while of course still respecting the work and social dress codes). I only follow the trends that I like, but I'm usually the only one who is wearing white jeans in the winter, colored tights, dresses and skirts more often than pants, whimsical things like my cat print shirt, wolf sweater, or panda dress, fedoras, multiple colors at once instead of all neutrals with "a pop of color" (although I do that too on occasion), mixed prints, and more recently cropped flares. I'm usually more dressed up than most people in my area, too.

El Cee

Veteran

Like Una, I mostly dress for myself and wear what I enjoy. My friends just see this as part of who I am… a little quirky.

deb

Veteran

Another here who dresses for herself.

rachylou

Veteran

I dress completely differently from my peers. I dress a lot like my work cohorts, only in colour. Hehe.

Anonymous

I also dress for myself and differently from my peers. They are used to it.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

I dress in what I like and what looks good on me. I don't go to an office, so no one to compare myself to work wise. I think I am in sync with the people around me, with occasionally more color or one item that is a little more on trend.

I initially wore those special items with a little trepidation

as I knew they would draw some attention. In the course of writing this post I realized those items are my favorites. I just went and pulled one of them to pack for the weekend and now I know to look for more "special" items. I love it when the act of responding to a post helps me clarify what I am looking for. Thank you Angie and YLF.

MsMary

Veteran

I dress quite differently from most of the people with whom I work, and, for various reasons, from most of my non-work friends. I'm definitely usually more dressed up than most people outside of work, and perhaps at work I'm a little less formal than some but I'd say I definitely pay more attention to my clothing than almost everyone at my level.

I wear all kinds of trends from YLF and elsewhere and it never really occurs to me to look for those trends in real life. LOL

Staysfit

Veteran

I don't have a cohort of coworkers, or peers in the community to create group dress standards. I've carved out a unique niche for my work that has given me a wonderful opportunity to develop an individualized personal style. I don't change my style at all between work and my social life. There is no need. However I don't see that any of my peers dress alike. Maybe that is unique to my particular group of friends/peers. They are very diverse.

Caisee J

(website)

I follow trends but sometimes I take them to the extreme! For instance, when skinny jeans came back in a few years ago I didn't just get blue denim ones, but also bright colored pink, red, purple, orange, etc. ones! For pants I now wear almost nothing but leggings - both solid black (occasionally with an additional silver color!) and many with patterns such as flowers and swirls.

rachylou

Veteran

I'm back to say I like trends and don't mind looking like others. Fads are a big game to me. I'm also a bit of an eccentric, so it's a personal challenge for me to get the homogeneous look right. I prefer unfancy/nice homogeneity to pretty homogeneity tho. Pretty homogeneity seems a contradiction in terms to me almost. Somewhat self-defeating. What does it mean to be picked for the kickball team and then ignored?

Anonymous

I follow dress codes, but don't worry if my clothing choices are what everyone else wears, and I certainly don't mind dressing better. With my foot problems and chronic pain, I have to be somewhat creative with my outfits anyway.

rachylou

Veteran

I like dress codes. They make life interesting and safe around heavy machinery.

Anonymous

lol, Rachylou! I do like dress codes, and kind of envy workplaces that have them. It would be nice to be forced to dress up a bit, you know?

I'm fairly average, possibly a little under average, when I compare myself to my peers. The women in my town are all quite smart and put together, even at Costco and Swiss Chalet (Swiss Chalet is a family restaurant).

I find YLF has helped me to be more confident when trying out trends that haven't caught on yet, yes. It's like I have a virtual cheerleading crew with me.

Dee

Veteran

My city is dressy and often more conservative/traditional in its wardrobe choices. I'm definitely more casual than the average person on the street, but a little more open to trends than some of my friends and immediate coworkers. I also incorporate pops of color more pretty frequently, but I do try to limit the trendy/edgy/colorful pieces to one per outfit.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

My circles run the gamut from hair covering modest dressers (in a religious sense) to leggings as pants. I dress for myself but am delighted to see what everyone wears.

chirico (Chiara)

(website)

Veteran

I dress a bit more formal compared to my coworkers, excluding one of them. Let me digress a bit to say it has been fun to watch her style evolve, from skinny jeans and Timberland boots to a classic style very similar to mine (I am about 10 years older than her).
We don't shop at the same stores because we don't live close, but I could see myself wearing most of her clothes. It's pretty funny.
Going back to the subject: I have learned with age that standing out is not always a bad thing, so I dress as I like, at work and out (as long as it is appropriate, at work and out).
I really observe how other women dress, mainly because sometimes I get inspired by some combinations others are wearing.

DonnaF

Veteran

I dress for myself. No coworkers. I guess most of the people I see are from my super casual church and my neighbors. I am a little more dressed up than the norm and I usually wear a third piece particularly because I run cold. Post-YLF, I get frequent comments about my outfits and/or footwear, so I definitely stand out. And now I feel like I have to dress to a certain standard and can't slack off and show up really schlubby.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

I dress for myself too. I live in a fairly modern, fashionable city so one could possibly wear anything and everything and still not feel out of place. I work alone from home, so don't have colleagues. But I have other friends with a similar situation and I dress up more than them.

My city has a HUGE corporate culture. It's absolutely normal to walk into a mall or restaurant and find a lot of women in business suits and professional dresses, and a lot others in hot pants and tight tees. And then a big chunk wearing traditional salwar kameez too. I enjoy seeing the variety in fashion. For myself - my moniker is 'comfortably dressy' so you'll mostly find me in easy dresses, stretchy skirts paired with pretty tops, or jeans with romantic/peplum blouses.

These days, unless I'm going to a party or meeting my husband's colleagues after work, I don't wear pencil dresses or skirts anymore.

A lot of my friends like indo-western outfits. That's where they pair long ethnic skirts with pretty tops or short smart kurtis (strappy or sleeveless or even backless) with fluid wide leg pants. I love looking at them but that look doesn't fit into my style aesthetics. I hardly, if ever, wear anything traditional.

Zoe

I've always dressed for me, but with awareness of the degree of formality in the environment in which I'm working. When I was a bookstore marketing person, I dressed differently than the loose super-casual jeans and t's floor staff, but not usually in suits or dressed.

Now I work from home, but when I go out in the world, I'm still a little more tailored and classic than the sport/outdoors/flannelwear of most of those around me -- but by Angie standards, I'm still casual!

Aziraphale

Veteran

I wear literally whatever I want, but I'm an art student, so pretty much anything goes. By art school standards I'm quite conservative -- or at least, I attract no notice. In my community, on the other hand, I probably stand out a bit, but most people know I'm an art student and expect me to look a little "out of step" with the rest.

When I say I wear "literally whatever I want", I mean style-wise I can wear anything -- but that doesn't mean I don't have constraints. My constraints come more from the weather, what I'm working on (sometimes it's messy) and how much I need to carry around. So it's not like I wear 4" spike heels to school.

shedev

Veteran

I don't dress to fit in at all. My peers at work are doing sporty luxe and I'm mostly over it. I wear the stuff I have but I'm not looking for more. I'm also very picky about any trends I might adopt.

Gigi

Veteran

Interesting question. I work at home, so co-worker fashion isn't an issue for me. I have two stable groups of people that I see outside of home, one being a church group and the other a dance studio. The church group members are generally dressed pretty casually, so I do dress down when I go to our meetings—usually jeans and a simple top. At the dance studio, however, most people are dressed up, so I feel free to wear what I want. I have worn my cropped flares to the dance studio a couple of times, and no one batted an eyelash. I will admit, though, I do get a little apprehensive wearing something that is a new style for me, even at the dance studio. But I do it anyway, because everyone there is generally quite accepting of different styles of clothing.

Runs With Scissors

Veteran

I have some stuff (mainly 1940s - 1960s retro-style dresses I made from vintage sewing patterns) that honestly I don't know where I would feel comfortable wearing. I really only have two regular contexts for dressing --- work, where they don't feel professional, and even skew costume-y, and home: I am not ironing a big foofy dress just to wear around the house. And I don't want to invent a social life just to wear particular clothes. I am an introvert and already don't get enough down time!

A few years ago, I pondered whether I should stop making vintage-style dresses, given their impracticality. But I love the look, in an abstract sense, and sewing them is a kind of therapy.

Anonymous

That's a fun past time RWS. I would try to find vintage patterns that are just professional enough that you could wear them to work.

Anonymous

I agree it's a great pastime.

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