My boots-with-little-summer-skirt inspo. - YouLookFab Forum

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About: Wearing Boots in Summer

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My boots-with-little-summer-skirt inspo.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I’ve had this pic saved for months. It’s a look I’m going for. To my mind, what makes it work are her legs. I’ve mentioned that I’m trying to build my quads; this is what I want. I used to have big, strong legs & took them for granted. Not anymore! I’m working for them, and will work to keep them. I’ve got quite a ways to go, might be there by next spring if I’m consistent. In the meantime, it’s finally summer weather here, so I’m enjoying sandals + birdie legs, telling myself I look like a formidable bird of prey. https://blog.therainforestsite.....inny-legs/

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14 replies

Latest reply was from Stagiaire Fash

BlueJay

Veteran

HAAAAAAAHAHAAAAA!

I think you have great legs! I, too, miss my quads...I want them back as well. Re: the boots with the blazer, I see what you mean, but I think if you wore boots with a skirt you would look great regardless!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Thanks BlueJay. I was afraid I’d poked the bear again & was in for another round of people telling me not to dare change anything about how I look. I appreciate hearing from someone else who wants her quads back too.

There are all sorts of ideas about what “good-looking” legs are. I remember the first time I met with a fitness trainer, when I was maybe 15–my parents drove me to the appointment. I did a bunch of strength & cardio tests, she took measurements and then we sat down for her to show me the workout program she had come up with. It included taking 2” off my thighs, down to 19”. I explained that I needed those quads—strong push-offs from the wall were a big advantage in swimming, and I needed them for soccer too. She insisted that for my height and bone structure, 19” was optimal. I thought she was an idiot. These days I have many more words for adults “fitness experts” who tell strong teenage girls their legs are too big, and most of them aren’t as nice as “idiot”. I liked my strong legs then, and I’d like them again now!

I lost muscle when I was fat, haven’t built it back up, and through a couple of incidents have actually lost more of it over the past couple of years. I’ve learned that I must build my lower back/core strength along with my legs; I wasn’t doing that and pulled my back 6 weeks ago. Now that it’s better, I’m doing separate back and leg exercises for a while. I’ll eventually get back in squat rack, but for now I’m having fun with leg press—my legs gain strength quickly, so I can do about half the weight stack.

If I run into that “fitness trainer” and her ilk again, they might like my “slim” thighs. That’s fine, but I have my own ideas about my body, and that’s fine too.

Bijou

Veteran

SF, you must wear and enjoy your short skirts and boots and bravo on putting in the hard work to strengthen your body. Looking after your back is particularly important too.

I am appalled at that so called 'fitness expert' and her advice to you. I am glad that you had the self confidence to not listen to her, unfortunately many teens are not so self assured and would have tried to stave their healthy body into thinness.

Anonymous

Awesome inspiration pic! You have motivated me to add another muscle building exercise for my legs in my regimen

Your new white boots would look awesome with one of your summer outfits. Give it a whirl

rachylou

Veteran

You can definitely do this look!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Nikki, you get it! There is just something about her look in this pic that I find really cool, and I don’t think it comes purely from the clothes.

Bijou and Rach, I do wear my short skirts, but I know they don’t look like this, not right now anyway. Btw, it wasn’t exactly confidence that let me ignore that bad advice—it was, in my mind, a question of goals. These days, I think most trainers start by asking clients what their goals are. She was simply proposing a thing that didn’t address my needs, offering salad dressing when I wanted cake. If I had followed her program, I don’t think it would’ve made my legs any skinnier anyway, as long as I was still swimming and playing soccer.

Out for a bike ride today, we saw quite a few (young) women in either floaty summer dresses or swingy short skirts wearing trompy boots and socks, mostly black. If I go for it, I’m not sure which boots I’d wear. My Sorels probably have the best look for it, but the reason I let myself go so high above my usual budget on them is that they are legit winter boots, made to keep feet warm. I’m not sure if the newsie boots have enough stomp.

by Stagiaire Fash

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by Stagiaire Fash

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Sal

Veteran

Body talk is fraught - but I support your efforts to be strong and healthy. And as we age maintaining strong muscles (which strengthens the bones through weight bearing exercise) is beneficial from an accident as well as a metabolism perspective.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Sal, all of that is true, and I have aesthetic goals that have little to do with it. I respectfully disagree that “body talk is fraught” at least not in a way that’ makes it off-limits. People talk about changing their appearance around here all the time. The difference is how it’s done: chemicals are A-OK; using exercise towards this end is what some on the forum object to. Yes, I’m a little grouchy about that.

BlueJay

Veteran

Yes, fitness goals! Other than strength, my goals are coordination, agility, balance, stamina, higher bone density and better posture. Losing muscle mass as we get older, "sarcopenia", can lead to frailty and higher risk of falling. I am in my 40s, but it's never too early!
https://health.clevelandclinic.....s-you-age/

Yes, the Sorels have "the look", but I would imagine your feet would be hot and sweaty! I would love to wear my winter boots too, but too hot! I think your newsie boots could still work!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

While I’m ranting (but not directed at anyone in particular): besides not being interested in fake nails, nail polish, foundation, “filler”, hair dye, spanx, or many other ways to change my appearance that I scroll past, I also accept that there are ways that might be nice to look different that just aren’t going to happen, so I don’t sweat it. It must be nice to be small enough that wearing all one color looks like a cute little dot instead of a huge lot of color, like the Grimace. Having boobs would be a decent look to sport as well. Lovely olive-colored skin wouldn’t burn after half an hour in the N German sun as I did this February. I wish I had a natural tendency towards a pack in the back. But I don’t. We can’t all be all things. I don’t begrudge the people on the forum who have those attributes, and I make positive, supportive comments on their posts. I wish all body differences and thoughts about our own bodies were as positively embraced.

Blue Jay, I have fitness goals as well, but on ylf (other than off-topic) I stick with appearance-based ones, like bigger quads.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I think that any time a member here posts repeatedly in a negative way about their body- whether it's framed in a negative way or not, it pushes buttons. The fashion industry has such a negative influence on body image for many people, and this board seeks to counter act that. As members here, I think we need to be cautious of our innate biases about bodies (our own, and others), and check ourselves before posting.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Chewy, hmm, I’d certainly agree with you about people posting negatively about their own (or anyone else’s) body. But I have a strange feeling that you are somehow trying to point your finger at me, instead of recognizing the pleasure in using one’s own body as one wishes.

Planning to add muscle is no more negative about my own body than, idk, planning to wear xyz to a far-off wedding or some other long term goal. They both require a plan to be made and carried out consistently. Both are a lot of work, and getting the desired results of both is a happy thing.

The idea that hair dye is a natural thing, and growing it out is a big brave step, otoh, reveals some serious issues with bodies and nature (as do all those interventions I mentioned above).

I saw Angie’s post about this kind of outfit, was reminded of the one I had stashed, so I posted about it and my plans, all happy anticipation and excitement about what’s to come. Then came the guilt squad to dump on me and remind me that enjoying our bodies and their capabilities like that is not appropriate; they are machines to be joylessly maintained to prolong our lives, only. I’m trying to do the same as I did with that trainer who also found my ideas about my body inappropriate, but guess I’ve shrunk some since then, because your wet blankets really do hurt. Hers was puzzling, and she had no intention to kill my joy. Knowing that intent now makes it much worse.

Sal

Veteran

StagF- I intended my comment to be positive and apologise if it came across otherwise.

When I say body talk is fraught I mean that people interpret it in all sorts of ways. There have been some heated threads in the past leading to some real hurt.

I have not seen people on the forum be critical of exercise to build muscle or lose fat or live healthily. You seem to be someone who likes fitness and health and that's fantastic and to be admired.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Sal, yup, exercise for health goals is a-ok by folks around here, just not for aesthetics. That’s very weird to me, as a person’s body is very clearly part of how they look—the outfit I pointed to above gets a lot of energy from the model’s legs. But saying that is taboo. Of course I’m aware that exercise *can* be used destructively, but that certainly isn’t always the case, and I expected people would be able to tell the difference.

Again, I don’t mean to pick on you. You are always supportive and positive. It’s just this whole “body positivity” thing that gets me down because in reality, it’s anything but.