Do your friends share your style? - YouLookFab Forum

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Do your friends share your style?

catgirl

Veteran

I was thinking about this yesterday at DS's basketball game where I was sitting with my good friend, who could be the poster child for Kate Spade or Tory Burch. My six closest friends have the following styles:

1) Talbot's/classic
2) athletic gear
3) 70s boho
4) Kate Spade/Tory Burch/j. crew
5) "I don't care about clothes"
6) Sundance urban cowgirl

I find it fascinating that it's such an eclectic group and that not one of them shares my taste - for example, I can't think of anyone in the group who would consider BF jeans, or a moto jacket. This plays a bit into Elizabeth's post about whether what people wear at a party is memorable or makes a difference in whether you approach them because I would never have been friends with these lovely women (or they with me) if I had assumed we had nothing in common based on our styles!

What do you think?

General

39 replies

Latest reply was from RoseandJoan

Kari

Veteran

Most of my friends are jeans and tee shirt gals. I'm definitely an anomaly!

cobaltblue

Veteran

My friends all dress like a cross between flower children and traditional-minded Catholics, which they are. My close cousin wears baggy jeans and tight tees. My sisters and sister-in-law have trendy but girly style. I'm the only one out of the bunch with short hair, and my fashion choices are pretty different, too.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

My friends definitely don't dress like me. Been like that most of my life.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Not a one shares my style. My closest friends wear:

(1) Trendy polished to eclectic, magpie-fashion
(2) Indian-European academic chic (an amalgam which is possibly on the border of eclectic most of the time, except on dressy occasions, where it does very ethnic)
(3) Polished classic sophisticate, with a touch of ladylike whimsy
(4) Urban eclectic grunge

MNsara

Veteran

None of my friends share my style, nor my interest in style!

My closest batch of friends would be a mix of:

a Ralph Lauren preppy
a JJill casual, arty
some don't care much
a QVC basics
a Chico's

But these are all friends that predate my current style interest! I love our distinct styles, as long as I don't feel any sideways glances when we get together

ironkurtin

Veteran

What AG said. In NYC I had more of a tribe but always my own style. When I clear out my closet I always find takers, though!

MsMary

Veteran

Let's see...

1. Boho/rocker chick
2. Tory Burch/Kate Spade lady who lunches
3. Brooks Brothers/Dress for Success careerist
4. Sensible suburban matron
5. Quirky dressy individualist a la Kasmira

I've known all these women for years and honestly our friendships predate my fixation on style! I met all of them at work or in school where we were pretty much thrown together, so "not approaching" was never really an option.

Three of these ladies have actually been to clothes swaps at my house, so they are at least somewhat interested in fashion. But again, our friendships predate my fashion fixation!

I'd like to say that I wouldn't let anybody's style determine whether I approached them at a party or elsewhere, and I think that's mostly true. Give or take a certain type of aging-Bohemian-hippie-with-things-dangling-off-every-body-part look that I will admit sends me running the other way! LOL (A la Barbra Streisand in "Meet the Fockers!")

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Diana

Veteran

No, not at all. Most of my friends are either classic or sporty. I don't know anyone IRL who dresses like me. That's why I like the Internet.

Anonymous

Not one of my friends cares about fashion. I don't go ga-ga over it, but I do have an interest, so sometimes I feel a bit shallow. I think what saves me in my friends' eyes is my sparkling personality (ha!) and the fact my style is fairly restrained.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Mary - you would become a social isolate in my town. Fully half the women over 50 look exactly like BS in the photos you posted.

Actually, BS looks a lot better than they do. The colours are flattering to her, they are well coordinated, and the fabrics luxe.

Only one of my real-life friends gives a hoot about fashion. Her style is unique, but probably falls somewhere in the category of rocker -- very different from me.

Of the others: one is sporty-natural and wears a lot of gear; one wears a uniform of knit tops and ponte pants; one aims primarily for eco-friendly clothing and is less interested in its style -- but when she does buy for style, likes a much more feminine look than I do; one wears jeans and sweaters of no distinct style, with the occasional colourful shawl.

Oh - and one other friend *would* care about style in another world, another life -- she is an artist and writer but lives on a farm, so rarely gets to express her own style preferences. The few times I've seen her dress up, she has always shown some distinctive touch, yet I wouldn't call her Artistic Eclectic, exactly. Classic with an Eclectic wing, perhaps.

Amy

(website)

Veteran

I like Barbara's outfit there, lol.

None of my friends (other than Anna & Jenava) share my interest in fashion. A large number of my friends/relatives wear only black, ill-fitting clothes because (a) they always match; (2) they were on sale. The rest are strictly jeans and "witty t-shirts" and get really upset when asked to wear nicer clothes for certain occasions.

Gaylene

Veteran

Most of my friends would see Margaret Atwood as their style guru.

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Scarlet

Veteran

*laughs*
No.
Regarding Elisabeth's thread I think in that kind of a social situation I would be noticing more general impressions than what people are wearing just because my brain would be in overdrive.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Gaylene - We must have friends in common.
Other friends are mostly casual jeans & shirts types - well fitting, nice quality but not fashionable as such.

Sona

Veteran

most of my friends are big on bags as in designer bags. else its jeans/trousers + boots. and a lot of david yurman jewelry.

ultrafab dresses from nordstrom on dressy occassions but none would dream of a ballgown skirt with a whitebuttown down , leather jacket and long diamante drops which is my current waiting for the occasion hiding in my closet outfit!

catgirl

Veteran

Sona, we need to create an occasion for you!

Mochi

Veteran

Damn straight! Some sort of YLF Cotillion.

For me, no no no no no no no. There have always been sort of interesting dressers in my orbit, but not among my friends. Well, I did have a close friend a few years back (no longer friends), and she was my mentor and a huge influence simply in getting me to be observant and care about style. I learned about handbags from her. But her style was also quite different. Very classic, designer-y. And where I live now it's hipster, grunge, or otherwise maybe low-key arty. Good thing I'm happy shopping by myself.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Me too Mochi - but it would be fun to shop with you.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

One of my friends dresses well, but the others are like black on black all the time. I didn't think there were so many black clothes out there in the universe (there are).

My friends bitch and complain about looking ugly/gross all the time but they never do anything to change it. I'm kinda sick of it.

christieanne

Veteran

Well it's funny because most of my friends have worked in some form of apparel biz for most of their careers but they are not too into fashion per se. It's variations on uber casual.
Maybe it's a Bay Area thing? Denim is everywhere (and half my friends have worked for the two leading denim providers in the country...Levi and Gap forever) so that's what you see.
One friend leans rocker style, one leans chico's, one leans more urban warrior. I think I am the sporty one.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Most of mine work in the service industry and are in jeans 90% of the time. It's the mountains - jeans are practical.

Anonymous

I guess so. My look is pretty standard for a "NYC corporate chick" and that's my clan.

Anonymous

Nope! I can't say that anyone of my friends dresses like me.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

No one I know dresses like me, and really the styles I hang out with run the gamut. Can't say I know a single Tory Burch type, but perhaps their functional equivalent.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Nope. My friends mostly fall into a sportier, more classic style category, or they're more artsy, boho, or eclectic. I can't think of anyone I know who dresses like me. It's kind of weird to realize that.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Apart from my YLF friends? No, I don't think my friends have ever really shared my style. The one friend I used to have who came close was much, much more punk verging on techno-goth, while I was more into glam rock at the time.

female bff is sort of Cali-luxe-bohemienne-bombshell
male bff is neo-beatnik-academic
DH is... grunge-skater* with a Beck-ish lilt
my long-distance bff is also kind of a tomboy, but less interested in fashion. sort of 90s-meets-rockabilly boy.
my sister is an island girl with sk8er/surfer/snowboard influence.

*Note there is a big difference between a current-generation sk8er and the skateboarders when my DH grew up in the 70s/80s.

qfbrenda

Veteran

A couple of my friends have started dressing better because of how they saw my style change, but they still dress like them... not like me. They each have their own definite style.

rute

Veteran

How fun! My friends dress more casual than me on the weekends: Jeans and sweaters and more formal for work.

Jules

Veteran

What strikes me about your group is that everyone (except the one) seem to have different and fairly defined styles, which is fairly impressive actually, especially given your environmental factors (except maybe #2 athletic gear). Most of my close friends, the MOTGs I see a lot of and even a lot of coworkers do not have a defined style. It's a range from some degree of not caring to trying to be presentable with some trendy and/or classic elements. The stylish are the exception and stand out. So maybe what you have in common with these women is that you DO care?

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