Hello everybody!
A friend from Fragrantica (the perfume forum) lead me here and I look forward to being here

I'm from Denmark, 47, live in a great relationship during 3 yeras so far. I have 4 children (son 20, daughters 18, 14 and 11) - the 2 oldest moved out on their own already. I'm a factory worker and spend most of the day in work clothes and steel-capped shoes. No need for office outfits here..

I'm 5'7", weigh about 140 lbs, am a rectangular/inverted triangle body type with big calves and small bust.

I'm here because I'm desperate for a change of style. I always end up in jeans and the boring side of casual. I've asked my oldest daughter numerous times if I dress too young, but she claims I'm not (young daughters are merciless, as everyone knows). I'm very much aware to steer clear of 'young fashion', but nevertheless I believe it's time to dress more 'age appropriate'.

It's not that I don't know what I like: I like classic, elegant style with an edge. I do have such items - quite a few actually - but most of it is 'over the top' for everyday wear. And unpractical too, I ride a bicycle to work and eg. a pencil skirt and heels don't go well with that

A VERY big problem to me is the style culture here in Denmark. Born and raised here, it's not that I'm not used to it. But - it takes SO little before you overdress here, you won't believe it. If I , say, went to the mall in a pencil skirt, shirt, reasonable heels and a nice coat, people would stare. And not in a good way. I can sometimes leave home feeling rather fab, and ½ hour later I'm embarrassed. That even when I know I'm discreetly dressed. (I don't want to be overly discreet though. Not in the disappear-into-the-wallpaper way).

So... I really look forward to being rescued, lol!

Hi. I'm Britt from Everett (30 miles north of Seattle, WA).

I found YLF through the Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest magazine profile on Angie.

I've become obsessed with this site. It is everything I was missing from the usual fashion bloggers--helpful, realistic, inspiring fashion for real women!

I'm a 5'9", 130 lb inverted triangle. Voluptuous chest. I'm happy with my body and keep it humming along with ballet, pilates and yoga. Only recently have I come to accept this bodily happiness. It's not easy.

I love clothes and spend way too much on them. But I just adore that feeling when you're wearing something that makes you look fabulous. It gives me so much confidence. As I'm almost 40, I've been conscious about buying investment pieces, especially when buying accessories. I plan to leave all of my favorite things to my daughter.

I dress from the bottom up. I start with the shoes that I feel like wearing (or the emotion I need to feel) and build my outfits from there. Most often I wear pants (dark jeans) or loosely tailored trousers. Some pencil skirts. Dark on top because I sweat a lot and have found that dark colors hide the unfortunate pit stains. I love the look of crisp white shirts under dark jackets and cardigans. With a fun belt over it all for attitude.

I have jackets, coats and boots in multiples. Fall in Seattle is my favorite time of year.

I'd like to push myself to wear more skirts and figure out ways to incorporate more patterns and color into my style. I get stuck in my uniform: black turtleneck, dark jeans, boots and cuff bracelet.

I'm looking forward to sharing my outfits. Every so often I'll put an outfit together that makes me go, Damn girl, you need to share this with the world!

Away we go....

I'm Jenny. I'm a mom staying home with two boys (4 and 2 years) in Tampa, FL. I thought it was time to sign up since I've been reading Angie's blog for about two years and started checking out the forum a few weeks ago.

Having moved to Florida just a year ago, I'm struggling a bit to not wear shorts and a tee shirt every day. It's just so hot! It's cooling down a bit now and I'm happy to be wearing long pants again some days, but I'm hoping to get some ideas on how to liven up my dressing in the warm weather.

Hello, I'm Leecee. I'm a single full-time working mom of a 13 year-old son and a 16-month daughter. I'm stumbled upon this site by accident or maybe it was fate.

I just turned 40 last week and I realized that since I started putting on weight in my mid 30's my way of dress has gone down. I dress code at work is casual, so that doesn't help. I've king of gotten used to wearing jeans 24/7. It works when I'm running my son around to his activities, too.

I'm really confused about what's appropriate for my age now. I want to look hip, but mature. I like doing things that are different, but don't know how to do that and still not look childish. So I'm here learn and get great ideas and advice.

I'm Christelle. I was on here a year or so ago for a very short while but unregistered myself when I realized I was going to spend too much money by hanging out here LOL! But I'm back. I still feel like I'm stuck in a rut, trying to figure out my personal style AND dress my body in a flattering way (which never seems possible with the clothes I love and the body I have *eyeroll*). On top of that, I turned 30 this year and have been feeling like I need some sort of wardrobe upgrade, but I have no idea what 30 year olds are supposed to wear. I look at what my mom wore when SHE was 30, and there is just no way ; )

This year I have another special challenge because I'm pregnant with my 4th baby (gasp!), and most of my maternity clothes from other pregnancies feel and LOOK too young for me now, yet I don't have much of a budget for new maternity clothes (and yes, I WILL need them, DO need them because I get enormous when prego unlike some cute mommies who just get this cute little bump and wear their skinny jeans all the way to the end!).

I love a wide variety of styles and fashions, but my favorite catalogs to get in the mail are Garnet Hill, Boden, Sundance, and Athleta (the dresses and yoga pages).

As far as shoes go, I'm a barefoot girl, but when I have to wear shoes, I love flip-flops and boots.

I love fashion and keeping up with what's currently on-trend, but most of the time I'm afraid to jump in and wear the new fashions because sometimes (OK, alot of times!) they're so far from what I normally wear that I feel weird in them and am afraid people will ask, "What happened to HER?!" Truth be told, I have a pathetic shoe collection and an equally pathetic single rod of clothes in my massively-oversized closet. I live in knit pants and camis almost year-round with only two or three halfway presentable outfits to wear for running errands. I've definitely fallen into the frump-mom trap and need to find my way out But at least I can admit it, which is the first step to changing, right? : )

Looking forward to getting some ideas from you lovely ladies!

I found this site about 6-8 months ago and I'm a lurked, I don't usually write but read everything.

I was 41 last week, I dress ok but I wouldn't consider myself stylish, I love the blog and forum, gives me ideas. I am a hourglass, almost a pear, always trying to lose 10 lbs,

Glad to see there are average people like me trying to dress better

Hi, I am Jamie. 53 years young, homeschooling mom of 5 from Texas.
I love "corporate" clothing....funny, given my current job. I think I really am just drawn to how organized they seem to make my life with good basics and mix and match options.

Best assets: My hair!!! and slender limbs.

Biggest battles: Large Ta-Tas, tummy AND dressing in the summer heat.

I actually have a very nice wardrobe, but continue to work on updates and fit.

Hi, I'm Angie...my initials are ABC hence my username.

I am 35, just had my first baby in August 2011, and am experiencing some wardrobe introspection since stumbling across YLF.

I realize now I have always been what I call a schizophrenic shopper - I never go with a list or purpose, it was always just what I found and fit and I was willing to spend. Think TJMaxx over lunchtime...my closet is full yet I never have anything to wear. In the past I would willingly buy 10 so-so items costing $20 each instead of one $200 item that is a total 10. This is what I want to change!!!!!

I want to revamp my wardrobe and shopping approach. I love the capsule idea. I want to buy items made of good fabrics, I am tired of wearing crappy quality stuff, I deserve more!! I want quality over quantity. I want timeless and classic items but spruced up with trendy accessories, just an idea.

I work in a traditional financial services office, the twist is that it is in Mexico City. I am American but took a transfer a year ago to come here. So my shopping resources are not the ones I have been used to in the USA...I am still learning where to shop here, and frequently have envy of those based in the states because I know where to shop in the USA. I look online for inspiration all of the time but the shipping charges keep me from going through with the purchases.

Before my maternity phase I was dressing frumpy and feeling crappy about myself.

Before I go back to work I am determined to feel better so I have been using this site for inspiration. I love the post about the fashionable 70 year old, I could use some of her style! Another favorite post was called Granting Wishes in Playful Style.

I am currently a 16/18 but am trying to lose weight...but realize I need to dress the body I am in now.

I would love to rock the skinny or straight jeans and some riding style tall brown/cognac boots (THANK you YLF for the inspiration)...might try this look next time I go shopping.

Anyway enough rambling, thanks for listening and I look forward to the interaction on the forums!

abc

Hello, I'm new.

I have been reading posts on this forum for a while now and love that there are so many styles represented. I joined because I just had to comment on greenglove's midi with docs look. So cool.

About me, I'm 26, Australian and am an advanced beginner seamstress. I buy too many high-heeled shoes and I love florals and stripes. I'm a bit hippy but not in a boho way. I have more potential clothing (metres of fabric) than I have clothing and more ideas than skill!

I would like to look more put-together and have a wardrobe that better suits my clothing needs. I love retro influences but shy away from looking costume-y, even though I think people that wear it all the way are really cool. I day dream about fanciful brooches and colourful flat shoes. And I love admiring the hair and hair styles of other people while having no ability to do anything with my own hair!

Lauren

Hi! I'm Nancy, but am happy to be called that or else Mochi (my nickname) on these boards. I'm 47, married with a 23-year-old daughter and live in Boston, MA.

If I think about it, I was always in love with clothes from the time I was little...but I gained a lot of weight from middle school on, had a lot of body issues for other reasons, and felt like there were no nice clothes out there for me. Then about seven years ago I dropped about 50 lbs (about 23 kg?) without much effort. At least I didn't need elastic-band pants and baggy tees anymore, but my body type still makes it extremely difficult to find things I like, and it's frustrating! I'm so into clothes now, and want to be able to wear so many things that don't work for me!

However, my body's still evolving with another 30-40 lbs to go, so we'll see. I've never been thin as an adult, so I have no idea what I would look like at my low weight, or even close to it.

My main issues (in my mind) are my short height (5'3"--but I think I have the body of someone who's 5'1". My head is really big!). And my bust is huge and disproportionate to the rest of my rather small body. Legs are about average but arms are short, meaning everything I buy, even petite jackets, tend to have sleeves that make me look like I'm wearing hand-me-downs! I'm short-torsoed as well, but my legs aren't that long, meaning I have to sacrifice looking long in the leg if I try to elongate my waist. I'm apple-shaped. I envy women who have nice wide hips (though I like my slim hips actually, and am fine with my small butt too--but I do think hips that are shapely are SO feminine).

Fashion-wise, I think what I like for myself (which doesn't necessarily mean the looks are right for me) are what I see as three separate looks: 1) bohemian/antique/french lace/steampunk etc etc, hard to define, 2) mod, very crisp, clean, simple lines and bright colors (I have an inordinate love of zippers, too) and 3) for want of a better description, a kind of Eileen Fisher minimalism with natural, sort of loose, unstructured lines--but I am not sure that's really good for me.

I hate (on myself) pastels, blingy items, don't like shiny leather as much as distressed, cannot wear double-breasted anything (though I love the look), too many ruffles and overt details (though I really adore small details, buttons, zippers, etc).

I love heathered/blended colors on sweaters and on anything, basically. Colors I think work for me are olive/khaki, browns, black, possibly grey, plum, burgundy, maroon, navy, autumn colors in general, bronze. But I love most colors.

I would like my style to make me look lean/in shape but also feminine, casually chic, individual, romantic, artsy, pulled together, spirited, sexy and confident.

I'm sure that's enough for now!

Gosh what a lot of new members, welcome on board everyone x

Hello!

I'm Rachel. I'm a 28 year old grad student from Vancouver and Montreal, Canada, but I'm currently living in Chicago. I discovered this site last week and it's amazing! I've spent way too much of my life already hating and fighting against my body, and it's only in the last few years that I've begun working toward self-acceptance. A pretty common story, I think! I have no idea what my body type is--all I see are problem areas or things that gross me out--and for the most part I've always approached dressing as a way to cover myself up and try to hide. I own a lot of black.

Style-wise, I'm really drawn to slightly edgy, dark, urban looks. I walk a lot and tend to be found in dark jeans with converse sneakers or boots, rather than skirts or high heels. I also love strong colours and jewel tones--red, dark blue, turquoise greens etc. Yellows, creams, and most pastels are a no-no for my skin tone. With a teaching career on the horizon, I'm trying to be a bit more open-minded--and also to accept the things that my body has grown out of, style-wise. I love skirts and heels on other people, but I tend to hate the way things look on me. I'm curvy, but not in a good way. My body has changed a LOT over the past decade, and I need help figuring out even what my strong points are! I oscillate between feeling like an uber-masculine brick, and feeling uncomfortably feminine with too much boobs & butt action happening. I love androgynous looks, but I really don't have the body to pull them off. So I hope that the YLF community will teach me what will work for me, and how to better appreciate my body. Living in Montreal for several years really opened my eyes to how much fun and fabulousness can be found in people's clothing and hair choices, and how they can contribute toward body confidence and creativity instead of just reinforcing a body's inadequacies. I need more of that into my life if I want to stop hating on my body. Bring on the Fab!

And happy weekend, everyone!

Hi everyone! I've been a blog subscriber for some time, but just recently realized that there's a whole other world here than just the blog. My name is Victoria, I am 59 and live in Texas. I have three grown children, three grown bonus children and nine grandchildren -- so far!

I enjoy exploring the world of fashion and looking as well as I can at any stage in life. Lately I am finding that I am needing more help with clothing decisions. Happy to have found Angie's world here and hope to glean wisdom from all the fashion gurus here.

.

Hi I'm Babe. I'm 40+ and a plus size woman. Love feelin' good in what I wear. I'm a fashion stylist, model and blogger with Ulla Popken and the author of Pretty Plus: How to Look Sexy, Sensational and Successful No Matter What You Weigh.

I resonate to the energy and ownership of the members on this site. My mantra is "Be your personal best." and that is clearly the philosophy of this wonderful site!

On the personal side, I'm married, for 22 years and we have a son, 19, a student-athlete.

Looking forward to reading and participating more!

Hi, I'm Mag and I'm new here to posting. But, I've been reading for a while and starting to go through my wardrobe. I've gotten rid of a ton of stuff that I wasn't wearing and wasn't working, and I'm trying to be selective and thoughtful about the things I bring in. I'm a mom to 3 young kids (under 6) and stay at home. So, I dress very casually. Jeans are my everyday uniform from fall-spring. I'm working at trying to get the baby weight off (I have a 10 month old) and in the next few months as my schedule permits with naps I will be hitting the gym again.
I'm an hourglass with pear tendencies, and right now my tummy is much poochier than usual as it is not going down as easily/quickly as it did with my first 2 kids...must work on that. Anyhow I'm petite (5'3") with a very short waist, a huge nursing chest, and overall I'm pretty rubenesque.
I look forward to getting to know you all and looking better each day :).

Hi, my name is Karen. I am 41 (still can't believe that) and will post a picture as soon as I can find one... I am new here... so if I mess up or step out of protocol, call me out on it!

I've loved fashion for as long as I can remember... my style has changed a number of times in my life, from being a typical 80's teen to preppy/ classic, to a very short attempt at grunge in the 90's. I was into fairly basic clothing when I started working a professional job... then I moved to Maine where my style made me stand out a bit so I tried to fit in by wearing less flair... Today I am at a point where I don't worry about "fitting in" I wear what I like, which is a bit more funky than most people around me, but I like it... some of what I wear is trendy, but I often tone it down a bit so that I don't look like I am trying to be a twenty-something.... or even a thirty-something! I don't mind looking my age... I think that you can be fashion forward at any age, you can do trends at any age, ya just have to adjust it sometimes!

My body type would probably be considered "plus" as I wear a size 14/16... depending on the time of the month!!! I am excited to find a place where I won't be judged for taking pictures of all the clothing and outfits in my closet... most people sort of raise their eyebrow a bit when they see my collection of outfits... seems like I will fit in just fine here with regards to that!!! I look forward to getting to know you all!
Karen aka k2butter

I am Lantana, aka Penny, Nell or Anja. (When you get to be 62 you collect a few extra names.) I am an Aussie and I live in a little country town on the coast. Until very recently my daily uniform was jeans and a tee. YLF has changed all that. Now it's gotta be cute jeans and a snazzy tee! I love the vibe of this online community and, like all of us, find Angie an inspiration. I am tall, slender and positively ancient. I have white hair cut pixie style and sun damaged skin. I love hats. When I can get my head around the whole photo thing I will post some pix of me in my favourite hats, jeans and tee shirts.

Hello everyone, I'm Bronwen and I live in Brisbane Australia. I'm 41 and we recently had our 19th wedding anniversary. My two girls are 10 and 12 (going on 17) and the eldest loves shopping too! I work for an insurance broker (getting my Diploma currently) and I LOVE shoes - well, heels in particular. My feet look just horrible in flat shoes - although I do wear thongs (sorry, flip-flops!). At least working in the business world I get to wear my favourites. My facebook page is regularly adorned with the MOST drool-worthy shoes like the one pictured.
I love this site and spend far too much time here, although mostly I lurk, rather than posting. I love the optimism and lovely comments shared here, so congratulations Angie on fostering such a positive and inspiring website (especially since there are so many nasty ones out there) - and the desire to fit into some more flattering styles has led me to lose some kilos since I've been visiting the site.
As one of my other favourite things is reading, I love that there's a book section! I've already picked several that I've included on my Christmas list.
I so wish some of your excellent online stores that people provide links to would ship internationally - possibly one of the most frustrating things is finding lovely items and then discovering the store won't post to Australia. Prices here seem very expensive compared to what things can be bought for in the US. For example one of the books from Amazon was $32.95 - to buy the same book (even online) in Aus from a leading bookstore was $65.00!!!!
Anyway, apart from fashion (usually on other people), shoes and reading I also sew (both clothes and quilting). I too have a large collection of "potential clothing", Lauren, and I seem to be accumulating more! But I just love fabric and when it's speaking to me, I always listen (and buy)!
Dressing for the humidity here in summer is quite a trial, however when I work out how to post photos (might be a while!) I'll put up some photos for opinions on what's working for me and what's not.
There's more to tell, but for now I must go and get my girls for after school activities.....
Bronwen

Hi, I'm Janice. Right now, we live in the NE, close to the Canadian border, but will be moving to a major metro area soon. I am a former educator and counselor, university and high school levels, but I did not go back into my field after we moved to this area from the south part of the country. I plan to become more involved with volunteer work when we move, so I am looking for ideas, especially those for large metro areas. I am 57, a bit overweight (my middle has thickened, and I am about 10 pounds over my ideal), a bit under 5 ft. tall, and buy all of my clothes at thrift shops or on e-bay. My style is bohemian, which has really not changed in all these years, just been re-vamped to include trends as needed--but, of course at this point, I only go for age-appropriate ones. I find this website to be very positive and helpful, overall, in helping me to incorporate the latest with the oldies, but goodies, already in my wardrobe.

I'm Abi, I'm 23 and live in Australia. I've just finished university and now work in a kindy. I've always had quite an individual sense of style but never been brave enough to pull it off. I keep thinking 'I would look pretty good if I was actually brave enough to wear what I like'. So now I'm trying to live up to that and be a bit more adventurous. I'm fairly tall 5'8 and range from a size 0 (in gap) to a 6 (UK 10 in stores like Topshop) and people tell me I can carry off more adventurous stuff but like everyone I still have insecurities about my shape. Shopping between Australia, Dubai and the UK I tend to go for British brands like topshop and Spanish brands like zara and pull and bear for the majority of my clothes and Forever 21 for t-shirts (have to be cheap when you come home covered in paint most days). but I am now branching out to more premium brands including some of the Aussie designers and I'm on the hunt for my first pair of premium jeans. I've been lurking round here for a while trying to pick up tips to bring about my wardrobe makeover and I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

Hi everyone, Like Lantana, Bronnierose and Abi (who have posted above) I'm also from Australia. I live in Rockhampton (Queensland). I'm 42 and work in Education. Endeavouring to define my personal style and creating the perfect wardrobe for my lifestyle lead to YLF well over a year ago. I have been lurking here ever since. I'm the gal behind Inspired Capsule. I'm looking forward to many more insights, great conversation and getting to know others in the forum better.

Hi, I'm from Europe and after a long time lurking, I've made the jump and got an account !

I'm 32 and love clothes. I tend toward classic, elegant and minimalist and my shape is kind-of rectangle. The problem is that I think I've crossed the line from timeless to downright boring, and at my age it's a slippery slope. I'd love to keep the strong backbone of my wardrobe but include the little somethings that will make the outfit pops.

I am very trend-shy, very picky about fit and colors and prefer my wardrobe to be extra-minimal, plus I tend to fly under the radar by nature, so it's a difficult balance to find on my own ! But I'm sure I'll find the help I need here !

(BTW, English is not my native language, so if I make mistakes or if I sound rude or weird, please forgive me - it's completely unintentional !)

I'm a newbie! My name is Ruth. I just turned 50 this year, and am originally from Florida. After living in Central America for 8 years, in Texas for 5 years and in New Mexico for 5 years, my family and I now live in Georgia. I have a wonderful husband and 4 daughters ranging in age from 29 to 13 years. I work in an agricultural extension office, where the attire is rather casual, though no one wears jeans to work. I'm an hourglass petite, and my style is what I'd call classic chic. My mother was a professional seamstress (trained in Chicago) and used to make all of my clothing for me, so I'm rather spoiled. Now that she's gone, I have to shop retail like everyone else, and I find it difficult to find stylish clothing in the petite section. Most of it looks matronly. Because of this, I order all of my clothing online. I appreciate sites like this where I can get ideas to keep my wardrobe updated in an age-appropriate way. Nice to meet all of you, and hope to get to know you all better.

Hi all,

I just jumped into posting on the forum and realize I probably should have started here, to introduce myself!

My name is Nancy and I live in Northern California. I am in my early 40s and have, until recently, had a fairly timeless/conservative style due to limited time to shop and limited knowledge about what would look good on me. It just seemed safer to stick with timeless/conservative. However, I have always loved color, patterns, textures and creativity – art class was my favorite in grade school – and though my professional life has allowed a lot of intellectual creativity, I only indulged my visual creativity “on the side.” I am not what anyone would call a naturally talented artist, but I LOVE playing with paint, fabrics, ribbons, colored pencils, antique buttons, photos, etc. I recently realized that I wanted to incorporate more of this creativity into my daily life and clothes/personal style seemed like a fun place to start.

I am tall with a fairly significant pear shape. Though my overall weight is firmly in the “average” category for my height, it is not evenly distributed. My thighs and rear carry much of my weight, while my upper body is fairly small, and my wrists have been described as "bird-like."

As I have started to explore styles, I realize that I gravitate toward relatively clean-lined, contemporary silhouettes, with bold color, texture or other interesting details. However, these styles often seem more suited to a less curvy body. I also have been trying to figure out how I can meet my personal value of lessening my impact on the environment and on less-advantaged people, and on animals. However, many of the clothing lines that clearly meet my ethical aspirations (i.e. are certified by a third party organization to be non-sweatshop, organic, etc.) don't meet my style preferences, so this is an on-going struggle for me.

I have been reading the site/lurking the forums for a while and have loved the unique combination of detailed, concrete information about style, proportions, and trends mixed with the positive, upbeat support of the forum where posters explore, experiment and simply enjoy expressing their personal styles. I can’t think of another site where people consistently contribute both positive support AND honest opinions (demonstrating that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.) Angie and her team have created something special here and I feel like I have learned a LOT already.

Hi,

I'm a newbie, I found YLF through another blog and it's a great thing since my 2012 resolution is to 'Like how I look every day'.

I am looking forward to becoming part of this community.

Hullo to All, I've been lurking for a while and finally joined and started posting recently. I'm a Londoner, working in the non-profit sector, 5'7, and a slim rectangle. Enjoy the site very much, love tips about style and fashion. I guess my own style is undefined, a bit eclectic, I like to be comfortable but I also like to stand out in some way. [I thought I'd introduced myself before but I had a read through a few pages and NOPE - better late than never, I guess :0) ]

I thought I should take a minute and introduce myself since I have been giving my opinions, or should i say advice, for some weeks now. As my screen name says, I am Tina, a 40 year old SAHM (who also happens to manage the office for our business). I have been married for 23 years (yes we got married young!) and we have 4 children. Our son is 22, then a daughter who is 18, another son who is 11 and daughter 6 (the youngest 2 are adopted).. It is our version of a blended family and we love it! We live in northern Alberta, Canada (hello winter).
I am just over 5'3" tall which makes me borderline petite. I am a slim hourglass with a 33'" bust, 25.5" waist and 34"hips.
I linked to this site from a different forum about a year ago, maybe more. I have found it fascinating and insightful and spend too much time here some days! I love style and anything related to it. I love to shop for myself and for my family.

Hello all!

Why so scary to take a plunge and join this on-line community?...guess it looks like a family and no one wants to crash the party...but taking the leap anyway...

I'm Jayne, ex-pat from Ohio living in Norway for the last 17 years. Married for most of them which means you let yourself maybe go, in comfort ya know. Then a new life which meant for me learning to exercise, eat better, lose a bit of weight and see myself in a new light. So out with the old clothes, bags and bags of them. and then a year of trying to look like the locals. They are the standard tall blond rectangle.

But then I read the book by Trini and Susanne and learned about body shape, (a pear with broad shoulders), and saw why the bohemian, almost little house of the prairie style around me, just didn't work for me. It hid a body that, although not perfect, I am not wanting to bury under layers.

So after a fortune on magazines I started buying a style that was a little more me. But magazines only go so far, so onto blogs and not long until I found Angie. Being a nerd, I had to read the entire archive to just see what it was and is...and then reading forum posts and then, well Hello!

So now I hope to take the next step and start showing what I am trying to work with and get a little advice. I hope also to connect to some other people who maybe are in Europe and struggling with the shops and more limited selections we have here. At least, Norway has a very limited selected for the size 10/EUR 42.

Oh, not least, I have two beautiful daughters, one a budding teenager, who are more than happy to tell me what mom should NOT wear!

Thanks for reading!

Jayne

Welcome to the family Jayne - this forum is a wonderful place to learn about your own style and how to dress yourself in the best way possible. I say jump right in and start posting!

Hello everyone! I found this site last month via another blog and I've spent what is probably a ridiculous amount of time here - lurking at posts, lusting over clothing. Realistically, I feel just a little overwhelmed! I have always loved fashion and design, even as a very young girl, but clothing was never a priority in my home as a child. Skip forward to an adulthood spent as an obese woman and clothing meant two things: (1) a way to hide myself (2) something meant for others, not for me.
After decades of dieting/losing followed by binge-eating/gaining, I have finally taken control of the emotional issues that lead me down that pathway. Over the past 8 months, I've lost 56 pounds (no diets, just eating less, moving more, appreciating my body as it is each day) and for the first time in probably forever I am daring to explore fashion, style, clothing that makes me feel good about myself. I still have another 50ish pounds to lose but I am determined to look good as I go!
This will be a pretty momentus year for me, I think. My youngest son just left home less than two weeks ago *eyes tear up* and I'll be celebrating my 50th birthday in May. I worked in the mortgage industry for more than 20 years but haven't been employed since 2004. I'm exploring new possibilities and want to return to the work force if I find a suitable fit.
For now, my lifestyle doesn't demand much more than casual clothing and the occasional dressy outfit. As I try to determine what works for me fashion-wise, I'll eventually work up the courage to post a photo and ask for comments. In the meantime, I continue to be inspired by each of you beautiful women!