Help...need advice!

Robin

I am 53 years old and have been at home for 18 years wearing VERY casual clothes. I usually wear cotton based leggings, t-shirts(short or long sleeved) and some kind of cotton hoodie or flannel in winter. In summer I wear capris and t shirts. I am going back into the workforce and teaching is my profession. I REALLY need help ( as I don't have many women in my life) to advise me what to wear. The problem is that I have restrictions. I have trouble wearing synthetic based clothes and I am on a budget. I also am short 5'1" tall, 124 lbs, with short legs and larger around hips and lower stomach. It makes most pants hard to wear....either they come up to high above the waist, or they are way too long etc.
I am sure you are all so experienced with clothes! Could you please help?

7 years ago

Dressing

8 replies

Latest reply was from DonnaF

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Robin, welcome. You will find lots of good advice and shopping help here, and many women are in your age bracket and find themselves on the forum after a "fashion hiatus." Also, we have many stylish petites here and you'll soon find it's possible to look and feel fab at any height and shape and size.

Congratulations on your new job! That is fabulous. A couple of questions to start things off before offering more specifics:

What grade level will you be teaching?

What is your climate like?

What is the general dress of teachers in your area?

What is your budget for this shopping adventure?

Meanwhile, it might be good to read up in Angie's blog about "capsules." (The clothes in that example are casual but it will give you an idea -- then go on to look at a few more office oriented ones. As a teacher, you'll probably be dressing in-between casual and office -- something like "smart casual.") What you will be doing, first of all, is purchasing a small but efficient teaching capsule of items you can wear to work, that will mix and match.

7 years ago

Robin

Member

Thanks!!
Great! I took a brief look and I like the idea of capsules. I will read up on them on this site. Grade level will be primary school, climate is cold in Nov-March, medium in Sept, Oct, April, May, hot in June and September. I have no clue what other teachers wear.....and it has been 18 years since I have been in a class, so I am sure things have changed. My budget is as low as possible until I get more finances later.

7 years ago

Anonymous

I would start with doing some sneaky investigation at the school, and then try to match or exceed (I would exceed but only by a little) the dress "code" you see there.

I would start with 2 full outfits including tops, bottoms, shoes, booties and toppers (aka cardigans or jackets) and mix n match the rest of the days.

I would try to reuse your leggings, if the dress code at the school will allow it.

I have school age kids in Canada, and what would look acceptable would be:
- leggings with a long top that covers your butt and a long cardigan or blazer or jean jacket, some ballet flats or loafers.

- dark wash skinny jeans with a blouse and leather flat booties. Again with a cardigan or blazer. The skinny jeans could be the legging type of have good coverage.

You might need a tote bag to transport things in.
And some sort of goretex jacket for rainy recesses.

Definitely flat shoes!
Good luck! And congrats on your new position! It should be fun!

7 years ago

Liz

Veteran

Welcome!

You're going to want to do your shopping somewhere that carries Petites. I'd try shopping at JC Penny, Kohl's, Old Navy, Loft ... or look for another place that carries petite sizes.

You can "practice shop" right here on YLF. Go to the finds section, and use the filter over on the right side to pull up clothes from a store you're interested in. Choose these items (for an example) and you've built a capsule:

3 pairs pants
5 tops
2 toppers

Or go to the store site and do the same thing, adding your own finds. Practice building a few capsules this way to get a feel for what kinds of items are out there and what styles and colors you like.

Here's a capsule from Old Navy, to give you an example.

Old Navy

Relaxed Mid-Rise Harper Trousers for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Mid-Rise Pixie Ankle Pants for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Mid-Rise Pixie Ankle Pants for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Denim Jacket for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Textured Boyfriend Cardi for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Printed Lightweight Shirred Blouse for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Relaxed Lace-Up Tee for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Relaxed Textured Tunic Sweater for Women

View Info

Top Pick

Old Navy

Chambray Button-Down Shirt for Women

View Info

Top Pick

7 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Liz, how clever!

I would second Smittie's suggestions and descriptions. I used to teach secondary school at a rural school (also in Canada). I later had a semi-administrative role. The dress code was quite casual but I tried to ensure I looked different from the students. I could and did wear denim, though I didn't wear it every day, and I tried to ensure it was a dark wash. I also had corduroys and a pair of wool dress pants for cooler weather. With these, I typically wore a nicer top -- a blouse or higher quality shirt. I only wore tees as a layer under a vest or jacket. I also had a lovely skirt suit for meetings with parents and other administrators (vest and skirt with a silk blouse) and these pieces could be mixed and matched with other items.

One outfit I enjoyed wearing a lot, I recall, was a knee length ponte knit skirt (washable), tights, footwear, and a knit jacket with a peplum shape, along with a pretty scarf. It was dressier yet easy to move in.

7 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I was going to also say Old Navy (!)

7 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Hi Robin I can't help much on which brands to try as from NZ, but I feel there seems an amazing range of prices in the USA where I am guessing you may be from. Some of the brands look incredibly cheap to me, we generally pay a lot for clothes here as we are quite isolated with a small population. You have had good suggestions already, and some of the Fabbers do very well with thrifting also. You could try a basic capsule from a cheaper brand and then look to see if you could thrift the odd special piece for less as you build confidence.
I kept working part time while having my 3 children in the 1990s, and was pretty casual at the time, loving leggings which became more mainstream in the early 90s. I have been able to morph leggings into soft ponte pants with tunic-length or shorter tops that cover my middle and bottom. Suggest you look at that silhouette. Many of the current pants supposed ankle grazer or 3/4 or 7/8 are actually full length on 5 foot 2 me. My weight is a bit more than yours with apple shaped middle which I tend to cover. I also wear stylish flat shoes most of the time. Sterling had a recent post on pants length with lots of easy tips on turning up pants at home.
Here are a couple of recent pics on the kind of thing I mean. Both tunics I am wearing were on sale (cobalt one) or at outlet store ( pink fringed one). In cooler weather I wear a layering top under and in warmer a small sleeve or occasionally sleeveless. I'm a family doctor and wear similar clothing to teachers here. Hopefully since you are comfortable in leggings you could change them up a bit while still feeling like you?

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7 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

Yes, I would sleuth around to see what the other teachers are wearing, and then I would start with the footwear since teachers are on their feet a lot. Invest in at least two pairs so you can rotate them and get a bit of relief on pressure points that you didn't know were there.

Will your current leggings and capris work under straight shirtdresses and other straight/sack dresses?

How about your flannel with a ponte skirt or ponte pants?

Btw, I'm 5'1", and even Petite pants/jeans tend to be too long for me. I buy almost everything on sale (usually 40% off) and at Nordstrom using their card. It gives me a minimum $100/yr credit toward alterations. Pants/jeans are $20 unless you buy them at full price in which case the alteration is free. They will even hem jeans purchased at other places. Shortening sleeves is something like $20 as well.

7 years ago

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