Janeofwaves glad ou delurked hope we can help x

My name is Arya, and I live in Seattle. I just joined the forum, though I've been following the You Look Fab blog for about six months or so. I have always been interested in individual expression through style, but not particularly concerned with "fashion" insofar as trends go. Most trends aren't flattering on my body (can we say "skinny jeans"?), so I don't pay much attention. Instead, I focus on refining my understanding of what *does* work for me, in terms of personal style, quality of clothing, flattering cuts, etc.

I sew, which helps counter the fact that I don't enjoy shopping for RTW clothes due to fit issues. I am a petite hourglass with the short waist to prove it! Most pants fit poorly, so I switched to wearing primarily skirts and dresses a few years ago. These I can easily make myself in fabrics and colors that I like while tailoring them to fit me just right.

I am excited to be part of this forum because I have gotten so many great insights just from reading the blog. I know that there are occasional meet-ups, and I would be very interested in attending the next Seattle YLF meet-up and meeting other women who are exploring and expanding their style.

I have three blogs, one of which is dedicated to style (it will go active on 11/15/10): http://www.styletrumpsfashion.com

Hi, I'm Meg, 54, mother of 3 (21,18, 14), professional, divorced, live in Seattle and have the fabulous opportunity to experience Angie's fashion consulting "live". I've done her Fall & Spring wardrobe consultation packages and it has made a big difference! 5 2 hour glass body type; classic style....Angie helped me update my style...elongate my look, use pop color, get lengths right and even find great WW shoes (bunions...argh!)

The forums help me keep the updated look going...amazing we're connecting with woman around the world. And San...think I'm now the oldest!

My name is Polly - I am a longtime reader of the blog, and joined the forum 8 mos ago, but have never posted.
I'm almost 45 and a stay at home mother of five children. I live on a small farm but am in town almost daily and like to look nice. My figure is 5'4" - mostly hourglass and shortwaisted with a tummy. Stylewise, I am pretty classic/preppy and have decided that after 40, sexy shoes are a must. I'm sort of a bag/shoe snob in that I must have leather with leather linings, but am a champion discount shopper. For example, I have several Coach bags from late 70s in great condition with beautiful leather --that sort of thing.
Looking forward to being involved in the forum.

Hello Arya and Polly, welcome.

I guess it's about time I post here. I am probably one of the oldest members which just goes to show that fashion can be fun at any age. I'm a goblet based on the Trinny and Susannah body shapes, so I like to emphasize my legs and minimize my top. I am a pretty causal dresser and mostly wear jeans cut pants. I'd say I was outdoorsy western casual in personal style but like to dress up for special occasions now and then.

I've started a blog on fashion for baby boomers because it seems like so many women in that age group have given up on fashion.
http://fashionablylateboomer.blogspot.com/

@ Late Bloomer - I really like the name of your blog! It's very catchy. Best of luck with it!

I'm a new found member of YLF (discovered the website earlier today) and I'm loving it already. It's so great to know there is a community of women ready to help you pick an outfit for an event or get advise on certain things. It's like a room full of best friends.

I'm looking forward to scrolling through all the pages to discover more advice.

x

Hi ! I'm Krshnidoux and I recently joined this blog. I've been reading it with great delight for many months, checking it in the morning for new style ideas, or just thoughts. I love and admire Angie's incredible talent, grace and pedagogy. This blog is always full of surprising and engaging ideas.

I have always loved to dress with style, it cheers me up. I love colors and textures the most.

I am 42, 5'3" inverted triangle with athletic legs. English is not my first language and I currently live abroad, in a third world country (DH's job).

It took me a while to learn to dress for my "different" shape and size. When I was young, I had such a hard time accepting my body I drove myself to sickness from not eating. Thankfully, I recovered. I am an entrepreneur and an instructor and always show my bright cheerful side. Inside I am still learning to love myself, it is difficult. Dressing well is an important tool to my recovery.

With YLF something new has started happening: it has happened that I have seen on some fuller sized member outfits that I loved so much, I have actually started to wish I was a little fuller too to pull out the same look. And tried to purposely dress to appear curvier than I am (with positive feedback from DH when I do this!). Not that I wish a different body in general, but just that for the first time in my life, I have started to fathom that I could be a different shape or larger size and it would be OK. This is very significant for me, because I am from a generation which was raised on Jane Fonda and Brooke Shield and if you didn't look like a stick on which any given cheap clothes hung effortlessly then something had to be wrong with you. Which hampered your style quite a bit, since anything that could make you appear anything else than super long and super lean was automatically banned. Well I'm glad to say not anymore!

Cheers everyone I am happy to be here!

Hi everyone,

Like clairela I'm a new Australian member of YLF although I've been browsing through the archives and forum posts for the last couple of weeks. I absolutely love the site and it has inspired me to get out of a major style rut.

I am a new SAHM to a gorgeous 9 month old and have been lamenting over the fact that I "have nothing to wear...". Recently I've just hated going somewhere and feeling frumpy and dull and feeling like the rest of the world is effortlessly stylish. I think my problem has been exascerbated by the fact that my size/shape has changed fairly dramatically over my pregnancy and I am now suddenly at my lightest in years - but still trying to wear what I wore during my pregnancy.

Since discovering YLF I've been rethinking some of the older items in my wardrobe, purchased a couple of new ones that I never would have considered before (denim shirt and dark skinnies) and am considering setting myself a wardrobe challenge in the near future.

Looking forward to being part of such a vibrant and supportive community!

What a wonderful site!! I have to confess...I've been lurking for a while and I'm so impressed by the honesty and it's graceful delivery. Because YLF has been so inpirational to me, I've started to revamp my present wardrobe and look forward to your advice/comments.

A little about me....I'm 60, 5'9", casual lifestyle, newly retired, afraid of dressing inappropriately but at the same time don't want to look matronly. I would love to start by posting my body shape photos but not sure how to do that. I have photos in photobucket. Will they post OK or do I need to use a different on-line source?

Carol

Welcome to all of you! As a fairly new member here I can't say enough good things about the ladies on this site and how it has boosted my self confidence! I hope you will all feel welcome here.

Hi there! I'm not exactly new, i've been around the site for awhile but the schedule of my life makes me unable to always be as active as i'd like. Hopefully I can make a point to start coming here daily. I do love clothes!

I'll be 27 in a little more than a month (Jan. 4th in case you were interested), just shy of 5'6" and a pear shape. My style leans toward the girly. I love wearing dresses and skirts year round. I also love shoes, especially anything with a heel on it.

I'm married and am a mom to a 4 year old boy, Teegan. I work part time assisting some financial advisors and when i'm not doing that i'm knitting and selling my creations on Etsy. I've been living in a VERY small town in Minnesota for 5 years now, having previously been a city girl all my life, it's an adjustment. My fashion sense is consistantly shocking the locals.

I guess that's it...I'll add a photo too, of one of my favorite outfits (worn to work) so you can get a sense of me...

Hi Everyone!
I joined YLF a little over a year ago and love reading Angie's blog. Loved it so much I follow her on twitter and facebook.
I have just recently checked out the forum and I don't know why it took me so long. The forum is such a great way to ask for fashion advice from a group of women with great fashion sense! Though you all already know that

Here's alittle about me...I am married and a mother of 2 little boys (1 and 3). I have an office job and I'm a dance teacher in the evening. I try my best to be stylish though I tend to wear blue jeans all the time. Last year, YLF inspired me to go for the skinny jeans and boots look and I haven't looked back since. I'm now trying to mix things up more and wear skirts and dresses more and maybe get out of my casual all the time rut.

My favorite go to outfit is skinny jeans, boots, a cute top and scarf.

So thanks for the inspiration and future support, I'm looking forward to being an active member!

Hi Everyone!

I'm Jen and I just joined this blog today! I stumbled across YLF when I was looking around for boots that fit small ankles - and ended up spending the past few days browsing through it.

I'm a 20 year old college student from NJ, still trying to figure out what my style is. I just began student teaching - so I'm hoping I can learn how to pull together a few cute teaching outfits!

Looking forward to being a part of this blog!

Welcome on board nicoleb, dancinheart and Jen looking forward to getting to know you all. Jen I work with kids too we must be mad LOL !!

Hi Ladies,
My name is Kate and I don't participate in many online forums but I joined YLF after browsing it several times and finding some really quality advice and tips. I am impressed that YLF is applicable to the real-world: lifestyles, budgets, body types. I look forward to participating in a community of kindred spirits. Also, I hope that contributing to the forum and blog will save me money by using up the time I would have otherwise spent shopping online!

As for myself, I am a mid-thirties professional and mom. I am lucky to have a classic figure that is easy to fit. Also, sewing is one of my hobbies (although my time allotted to it is admittedly paltry), and one of my favorite fashion activities is to modify clothes from "pretty good" to "fab."

My favorite places to shop are second-hand and consignment shops, of which there are plenty in the Bay Area (California). I like to find treasure from something that didn't work for someone else.

My style is quite conservative, although I love color. When I was in 9th grade, I remember my classmate making fun of me and saying I looked like a clown, because I was wearing a rainbow-plaid skirt with a red-and-pink striped shirt. My color choices have matured since then, though maybe only slightly in the eyes of my former classmate!

Welcome to the forum kate x

I've been lurking for a little while, so it's time to introduce myself!

I'm 44 years old and live with my husband and two adorable cats (Devon Rexes, hence my forum name) in San Diego, CA. I work from home as a freelance/contract web designer, writer and editor.

I LOVE clothes and shopping and have for as long as I can remember. However, I was VERY much a WNTW before I started watching that show ("What Not to Wear") about 5 or 6 years ago. I went for the fun and quirky look because I didn't know how to properly dress my body and because I suffered from a lot of body image issues (a result of years of eating disorder struggles). I would often go for cute instead of sophisticated, but as I approached 40, I wanted to change my look.

As I discovered more of what works for my body and as I cultivated my personal style, I started to buy FAR too many clothes. I had multiple closets packed with stuff and was VERY overwhelmed. In the past 6 months or so, I've gone through a major wardrobe purge and my closet (just one now and some of my husband's stuff is in there, too) is becoming more manageable.

I am coming into my own in terms of fashion and style more and more all the time, but can still use some help and advice. I participate in another fashion forum, but there's room for two and this one is great! I look forward to getting to know the people here and to chiming in with my questions and outfits as time goes on.

Hi, I'm Lisa, and it's great to meet you all. I was so excited to find this community a few months ago. I'm a grad student in clinical psychology, so I used to swing wildly between being very dressed up on days when I met with clients and totally sloppy on the other days. I didn't like how it made me feel like I didn't have a sense of style at all, just a professional uniform (anything that I thought made me look serious enough to be someone's therapist!) plus anything casual.

In the last year, I've been trying to learn more about fashion (something I never really followed before) and develop a sense of style that I can make work on a grad student budget. Luckily, LA does have great thrift stores. My favorites are the ones that costume designers sell their leftovers to - it's great to find a cute little jacket, but it's even better to be able to say, "oh, yeah, this was on Heroes!" What I seem to be drawn to most is modern classic kinds of pieces, but YLF is inspiring me to branch out!

Hi devon7 and synchronia welcome the the forum x

Hi! I just joined YLF, and thought it was a good time to introduce myself. (:

I'm Jyoti-- I'm 22 years old and currently in medical school. I've been reading tons of fashion blogs lately as a change of pace from school and recently decided to be a little bit more involved, so I've started a blog and I also started searching for some fashion forums to be a part of (which was actually a lot more difficult than I thought it would be!) I've been reading YLF for a while and it's really great and the community seems fabulous!

Welcome on board Jyoti x

Thank you for the information, let me know so much about your information

Hi-have been looking through ylf and receiving daily updates for a month or so and decided to check out the forum- great stuff!!

I am a sahm to one homeschooled 6 year old daughter. Try to dress in something more than work out clothes-especially when going out in public and have been inspired by ylf and other blogs as well. Early 40's, 5'3"- rectangle/hourglass combo- when working out regularly.

Hi everyone! My name is Josie, I'm 33 years old, and I'm from Georgetown, SC. My husband and I have been married for 11 years, and we have two children--his 21-year old son from his first marriage, and our 9 year old daughter. We own our own insurance agency, but my first love is performing on stage. I'm a singer at heart, and can often be found at our office practicing for shows between customers! My husband is very understanding and supportive!

I love the YLF blog and have been receiving it in my inbox daily for about 2 years now. I love fashion and shopping, and before I went into business with my husband, was often giving my coworkers style advice, mostly in the form of "do you know what else this would look great with?" and was often asked to go shopping with my female coworkers. I'm really looking forward to participating in the forum and getting to know all of you!

Oh...I forgot to say that I am a classic hourglass, on the plus side. Think Joan from Mad Men.

Hello I am CocoLion, that is the name of my chocolate lab. I just discovered this blog/forum yesterday and joined after perusing it for several hours. This is the site I have been looking for! I love the useful info in the blogs from Angie, plus the vibe from other members makes me feel 'at home'.

I live on a ranch in the mountains (elev. 2700, pop. 250) of California. I am about 3 hours away from San Francisco. I love style, fashion, and shopping. I love being single and also in a committed relationship w/ the love of my life! My mother, brother and I operate our ranch and a restaurant/hotel next to the ranch that has been in our family since the 1850s. Before this I was employed in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles (marketing). I am now 52, no children.

For 2011 I would like to learn how to better edit my closet and how to better style the items I own.

I would define my style as edgy classic. However I experiment with many, many looks! I have soooo many pictures from the past where I laugh and say, what was I thinking? I am willing to make fashion mistakes. The one look I stay away from is the glitz and bling look.

My style icons are Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, and Carine Roitfeld. I also like Kate Spade's style.

My shape is hourglass, at least I think so, maybe I will post a picture and ask? When I gain weight I gain it evenly, but somewhat more so in the bust and waist so I think that makes me an hourglass with apple tendencies.

Welcome to the forum so glad you feel at home x

I'm Pam. I'm 33 and live in Australia. I'm so happy to have stumbled across YLF. I started looking through the archive of Angie's outfits and saw so much that I loved and *gasp* would actually wear!
I have two children under five and am a school teacher. I have been happily married for 12 years.
I wear lots of black but have recently begun to enjoy bringing more colours and prints into my wardrobe. I like structured pieces and interesting details. I am mad about shoes and boots.
This year I am trying to save up and invest in some quality, classic pieces. We'll see how that goes... I'm such a sucker for chunky costume jewellery.
My shape is 'skittle' according to Trinny and Susannah (widest point is at thigh level). I have a short waist and a long rise. I'm 5'6 and 60kg. I'm getting comfortable with my body and really enjoying dressing in clothes that I love, and that make me happy.
I have only recently found YLF but I'm bowled over to have found such a warm and generous online community. I love this place!

Hi all--what a great site!!!
Patty here, 48, 5'11" grey haired stay at home mom-2 boys and a girl. Canadian eh.
I guess clothing and dressing is something that has slowly been bubbling to the top of my interests--it's never been a huge thing before and I look it!! I have an 8 yr old daughter I want to be more informed for as she's fashion keen and very observant of what people wear and what they project. I need to feel like I can help foster my kids' identities and self confidence, with all things in their lives of course but also in clothing--an area that could have done me some good as a kid and to great degrees can use now!! I am only now understanding how good one can feel in an outfit--only had it happen a couple times in my life but hope I can figure more things out here so I can be more deliberate about things (daughter is always watching and she is always included--she is the funnest thing in a store change room !!! =+) )
I have been browsing and now to get the gusts up to dive in--nose pinched!!