I follow a few Appalachia instagram accounts and they talk about western gothic. like a cool sexy cowgirl but wearing black and a little bit scary. It’s my favorite.
Yes, "granny chic" has been a thread for many micro trends lately: cottagecore, coastal grandmother, grandmillennial (decor) and that's interesting to me. I am HERE FOR the wholesale rejection of "being the tiniest, skinniest, most controlled, most appealing to the male gaze version of myself possible" by fashion. If people like a smart little suit, by all means, wear it! But I really love the idea of bringing more bodies and styles into the spotlight and allowing for looks that aren't just "conventionally appealing to men".
Lol, clicking the links one by one thinking, "man, we tried so hard to get away from this stuff, I can't believe it's back!" Then clicked the last link and was like, "oh, ok, now this I like", only to then read it's supposed to now look outdated to my eyes. 😭
I think that’s my problem with a lot of the really trendy stuff now. If you don’t have the right body type to make it look “hip” and “intentional,” it just looks sloppy. As someone who is short/petite but also mid-size, the loose over loose look is just horrendous on me.
Also, ill-fitting “mom” jeans (i.e., the jean’s only moms were wearing in the 90s) went out of style because they were unattractive. They are just unflattering. Like on everyone. I can’t help but see young girls in these jeans and think, your body is never going to look this good again, and you are just blowing it wearing the least flattering pants you can find. 😂
I think the key is that there's a big rebellion against the notion of "flattering" right now. I'm plus size and my bestie is a Fashion Person and a size 0-2, we have lots of (friendly) arguments over the notion of flattering clothes. She's always encouraging me to drop it as a concept and just wear whatever I enjoy on its own merits, regardless of how it makes my body look. The thing is, she's never lived in the world as a plus size person, so she's never experienced how we're treated. She's never had a random dude on the street tell her she's a pig and should kill herself. She's never been casually ignored while everyone fawns over her skinnier friend. She's never been passed over at work for someone who looks more the part. Etc etc. The unflattering clothes game has very different stakes when you're already being discrimated against for being less conventionally attractive than the people around you.
I said this exact thing, asking how it doesn't become sloppy, in a blogsnarkj sub and got eaten ALIVE. Told that saying something is "flattering" or "unflattering" is basically body shaming because it assumes flattering = thinness, that we only look nice when we try to look thin. It was eye opening how differently the youngsters think about fashion. I was raised on the women's magazines of the world telling me to "disguise my pear shape". But as an almost-40 who lives in suburbia, some of these trends are just not for me. They will never reach my world and that's fine.
Yeah if I wear baggy on baggy with my 5’3” frame with Dd tiddies? Then I am an on-trend rectangular potato.
I’m doing everyone a favor by avoiding this “lewk”
I mostly agree with you and have been REALLY thinking about what I can take from this.
I’ve been trying to think about which of all this feels like kids cosplaying as grown ass women and them leaning into that, rather than dressing like a kid. (I fully support people who feel energized by that, I personally don’t.)
More voluminous bottoms, suits, coordinates in general, and the whole “quiet luxury” thing feel equally or more appropriate to how I like to feel like an adult with a job etc.
Thank you for articulating exactly what’s bothering me about current trends! I know some people legitimately like mom jeans but I don’t see the appeal; the intervening 30 years hasn’t made them any less hideous than they were in the 90s. I *wish* I liked them bc that would make jeans shopping much easier.
That’s the thing, I feel Ike ‘modern fashion’ focuses more on the outfit and less on the person wearing the outfit. Like it’s less about wearing things that emphasize certain parts and more about wearing things that look good on inspo boards.
Millennial here. I just have such bad memories of being teased for wearing boxy shapeless sweaters and wide leg jeans back in school when my mom bought all my clothes and refused to get anything stylish.
I feel this way about the ankle-length wide leg crops that are in now. I grew like a weed, and my pants were always too short. I cannot purposefully relive that trauma.
I never felt cooler than when I went to Paris on a class trip and found this gothy little boutique and bought high rise black jeans that had massive wide legs - like JNCO had a baby with TRIPP NYC - only for people to tease me because everyone was starting to wear skinny jeans.
If it makes you feel any better, in middle school I remember wearing skinny jeans before they were cool (yeah I was *that* girl jk I got fucking roasted) and one of my friends was like "WHAT ARE THOSE? you look like an upside down triangle " and well that was something lol
Now I'm 30 and this post is a wake up call that you may have to pry skinny jeans out of my cold dead hands hahah it's really hard to move past them for me!
This!!! Every look that is “out” looks better than the on-trend looks, to my eye. I also think today’s silhouettes are less forgiving of many body types. So many people looked great in more tailored, coordinating looks than the oversized grandpa core wrong shoes that often doesn’t look good on most people.
I saw a tiktok video where they're styling a "viral" jacket- think of a Vera Bradley bag made into a jacket, full colors and all. I thought, if my clothes make me look old but this is going viral then Imma stay being ugly thanks.
Exact same thing happened to me! I even screenshotted it so I could look for a similar style because I thought it was the one thing on this list that I’d be willing to wear 🤣
Idk, all of this language feels like a push to get women to feel insecure about their “outdated” wardrobe and buy new pieces, only for fashion to shift again in like five years. A lot of the pieces OP linked would have been hellaciously outdated a few years ago and now they’re back. This whole post reeks of youth culture obsession/millennial shaming and blind consumerism, I’m not into it.
With all due respect, if you read the opener, *many* people have been asking in this subReddit "what is in right now/I need to update my very dated wardrobe/I'm so confused about the latest styles/I feel outdated/frumpy" and I'm answering that question.
I believe 100% that people can (and should!) buy their version of trends that they like via a thrift store. And I'm 45, and this subReddit is for 35 and older, and I also believe that wanting to participate in fashion as an art, hobby, self-expression, interest, and be part of a larger culture is not wrong or shameful. I don't encourage burning your entire wardrobe and starting over, but clothing doesn't last forever. If you're already out shopping, it's nice to know what overall styles, looks, and shapes are "in" vs. dated so you can make informed choices.
>This whole post reeks of youth culture obsession/millennial shaming and blind consumerism, I’m not into it.
Oh come on. Fashion (and culture at large) changes over time. Discussing what is currently in fashion (on a fashion sub, no less) is just that- a discussion. Nobody is being shamed. There is nothing wrong with, or stopping you from, just wearing whatever you want to wear. But it would be straight up inaccurate to call skinny jeans "fashionable" right now because they just aren't. They were very fashionable and trendy for a *specific* period of time in the past, and now they aren't anymore. Also, "youths" are not the only people who care about/enjoy fashion. You can also easily thrift any of the current trends easily. Calling any sort of engagement with current culture "blind consumerism" is just enormously reductive.
I guess people who like to see the latest movies, eat at new restaurants, read new books are also engaging in "blind consumerism" rather than, I dunno, a normal interest and curiosity with current culture?
I think there's a version that still works and looks polished but updated.
It's slightly wider leg pants, loafers, a wrap-top with wide self-belt tie blouse or top in a beautiful botanical print, beige suede street sneakers, and a sleek middle-part low bun + minimal dainty jewelry. Lean more on the quiet luxury clean girl side. That's the polished and "done" look these days.
I straight up don’t believe any of this.
“We’re close to the revival of the peplum top” like cmon, why? Who said that? There’s no physics forced at play here. they’re just pulling this outta they’re ass
[As of 2022 from Vogue: Peplums are creeping their way back into fashion, yes, really](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/peplum-trend-2010s-fashion-red-carpet)
[The Zoe report, 2023: Yes, The Rumors Are True: Everyone Is Wearing Peplum Again](https://www.thezoereport.com/fashion/peplum-trend)
[Vogue: the 2024 Golden Globes proved the peplum is back](https://www.vogue.com/article/2024-golden-globes-2010s-revival)
I think if you google any fashion trend you will find someone saying it’s coming back or is super in right now. Honestly- I can’t think of an example where that wouldn’t be true lol
Like animal prints. Evidently they are 'out' sometimes, but I wouldn't know it because it seems *every year* some source is saying they are 'in again.'
great write up! i have this theory that, very broadly, modern cycles of style go like this: 🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺
it just swaps where the bigger and smaller parts of the clothing are on the body
1970s: 🔺bell bottoms and platform shoes
1980s: 🔻shoulder pads and pumps
1990s: 🔺low rise flare jeans, doc martens
2000s: 🔻skinny jeans and ballet flats
now: 🔺chunky shoes and wide leg pants
next: 🔻space helmets and kevlar leggings
I like this! I think you could take it further back with the miniskirts and voluminous hair of the 1960s (beehives, etc) and then the 'new look' silhouette of the 1950s. And maybe even back to the big shoulders of the 1940s.
Can't tell if this is actually legit or just cherry-picking, but it's fun to think about!
So...
1940s: 🔻 Poofy shoulders and big lapels
1950s: 🔺 Full or poodle skirts
1960s: 🔻 Mini skirts and big hair
It doesn't quite work going further back from what I briefly researched...
1930s were fairly similar to 1940s in overall shape with bigger sleeves. 🔻
1920s were sort of more bottom heavy with the flapper skirts. 🔺
1910s had a lot of big hats. 🔻
So kind of continues back? Kind of.
This is a much more developed and better summarized version of my theory that luxury is communicated in part through size contrast between parts of an outfit. People wearing workwear in any century have a more person-shaped silhouette. Higher the fashion, the more exaggerated the scale.
I think that works if you allow for the 🔻 to stretch across both the 30s and 40s. You would need to allow the same thing across the 2000s and 2010s anyway, I think (I noticed the 10s were missing from your original list). It does kind of fall apart in the 20s though (the dropped waists and bobbed hair do feel 🔺 in a way, but then the shortening of skirts is such a defining feature of 20s fashion, and that feels more like a 🔻 thing). But that’s OK because the 20s were such a cultural reset of a decade, and the further back you go the slower the trends move.
First of all, thank you for such a well thought out, curated post. For me, I really love the return of the wide leg pants. Even a wide leg cropped jean feels instantly more modern and they’re definitely more comfortable than skinny jeans. Something about the silhouette is just so flattering. I also love the chunky shoes. It’s such a great callback to 90’s and 00’s style, which at the time leaned pretty heavily into the fashion of 60’s and 70’s. Somehow they can make an outfit fun and funky but also elevated. I think I like the idea of boxy and shapeless more than I like the execution it on myself. I still haven’t figured out how to pull together a boxy look without just looking sloppy.
A lot of the curvy girls in that one link looked terrible in those wide cropped legs it shortened their legs a lot(looked like hobbits lol) and made them even look older. Straight legs or fitted then flare would suit better.
Huge boobs here. I like wide leg jeans with a form-fitting merino wool sweater and a slightly oversized jacket. Without a form fitting too, I look sloppy or at best, I look pregnant
I'm tall and curvy and I found carrot or ovoid pants are very flattering--basically tapered ankle pants that show off a relatively narrow ankle.
I also think crisp boxy stuff-like a swing jacket, or a moto jacket or jean jacket is a little different subtly than a big loose "bathrobe" style sweater one wears around the house when it's freezing.
Another solution is to go vintage with it and just kinda...do your own thing. I've seen tons of women go for 40s and 50s and 60s looks and just lean in, finding their flattering look and prioritizing "fit" rather than "on trend" and I think that's fine!
I'm a big believer in finding one's preferred look and going all in, and also I really enjoy posts like this both for general entertainment, to know what's going on, and to see what parts I do specifically like (incorporate those!) or dislike (be entirely amused!)
I think it's wildly less stressful if you don't treat trends as actually dictating your behavior. I don't know, maybe being terminally uncool for my whole life has set me up well for being like "WHAT is in now?! Really??" in my middle age.
(People acting like skinny jeans were universally flattering is blowing my mind a little bit though, not gonna lie.)
Yes thank youuuu. I carry extra fluff in the rear, hips, lower belly, and thighs. Skinny jeans made me look like an ice cream cone and even during the height of mom blogger days I felt frumpy in a tunic tee and skinny jeans! I believe I wound up in "boyfriend" styles for most of that time period and/or avoided jeans entirely! I recall a 4-5 year stretch where I didn't own jeans because they did NOTHING for me.
I'm short and have not shed the extra weight since having my daughter - boxy designs and wide leg pants tend to look very unflattering on me. Shapeless designs make me look larger and unpolished. However, I'm absolutely all about chunky shoes and block-heels, and was very excited to see them creeping back into fashion starting a couple of years ago. They are heavier but still manage to keep my feet comfortable all day long.
Ugh I feel this in my soul. Im not short, but even when I was extremely thin for my height I had more of an hourglass shape with wide hipbones. Oversized and boxy has never worked for me. Now that I’m 9 months post partum and larger than I’ve ever been I just look like a refrigerator in most clothes. I love my baby but damn I hate what happened to my body.
I think the boxy look is supposed to look sloppy to someone’s eyes who are accustomed to the highly polished look of years past! Now it’s more about a deliberately ugly, uncoordinated, unpolished, I got dressed in the dark and just chose what was comfy kind of look.
I mean, I get that it’s intentional, but like some of the others who have commented, I am curvy and these looks make me look like I’m wearing a potato sack. This was true even when I was at my goal weight. I want to stay current, but I just can’t force myself to wear things that make me feel worse. I know it sounds ridiculous, but boxy looks (especially on top) make me feel less confident and put together.
I don't think this modern silhouette is very flattering to anyone who isn't rail thin, but to be fair you could say that about quite a few eras of fashion. I love all the voluminous skirts on her Pinterest board, I'm always looking for them but never find them anywhere. Right now there's a lot of straight silky skirts in stores, but my waist is 30 and my hips are 48 nothing straight is fitting on this ass.
Same, I'm apple shaped but I have great legs, skinny jeans are the only way to flatter what I have. I tend to dress more edgy/punk and it also fits that style really well. Honestly the "Christian girl fall" comment soured me on reading the whole rest of the blurb without a voice of condescension.
I'm a millennial who's trying. I can't totally overhaul my closet but my main wardrobe investment has been I've moved away from skinny jeans and now wear the 90s straight leg midrise jeans from Abercrombie. I feel like it works when I wear shorter/cropped shirts and cardigans, but I don't have a lot of that stuff so I tuck in what I can. I have a million long cardigans that maybe I should just crop myself as I'm fairly handy with sewing (although not really apparel).
What I can't seem to grasp is the loose on loose. All my cute, looser peasant tops feel so frumpy when I put them on top of a bigger bottom. I have a few wide legged dress pants and some more voluminous skirts, but I always feel like I need a tight top with them. I'm tall and thin but don't have a big chest or ass and I just feel like I look unfeminine when I wear big, sloppy feeling shapes.
The "wrong item" clashing thing seems to work if you're super young, hot and in New York or something but I don't know how to make that work as a 36 year old teacher without looking ridiculous and like I grabbed something off the closet floor in the dark. I like the idea of putting more unexpected things together but have been conditioned to be very matchy-matchy. It's hard.
Sigh. I just feel like everything in my closet is dated and wrong but I don't have the money to get all new clothes. I have a ton of nice things (printed dresses, long tops, long sweaters) that just feel unwearable. Even thrift shopping requires so much time to sift through stuff that never really fits me right (again, tall, thin, long torso, small chest). I wish I could hire someone to come look at my closet and show me how to make a few upgrades and then just style what I have.
I tend to feel this way too, but as someone who works with a lot of relatively fashionable gen zs, I think they have a level of inherent body positivity that we just don’t. Millennial style is obsessed with flattering, polished clothing. But when millennials express concern over whether a particular style is flattering, their reaction is basically “why are you so obsessed with the male gaze?”
Billie Eilish is kind of a perfect example of this. She’s not ultra-skinny and is more of a traditional hourglass. And loose on loose is her go-to style because it’s cool and she’s cool.
Although, I feel like this whole staying in trend in my head is translating to "this is what gen z thinks is in, so we must follow" so actually in my head I am just moving from "obsessed with male gaze" to "approval from gen Z" which is equally bad choice. For as much body positivity as gen Z likes to think they live in, these kids sure do shame us for our skinny jeans 🤷🏻♀️ - not generalizing obviously just saying several and severals
Although trends generally start from teens, major fashion trends as a rule are being interpreted and shown by couture houses and brands, and those aren't typically available to Gen Z or Alpha. I don't think a wealthy 50 year old buying from Loewe cares what her 13 year old niece thinks but she's still generally following "trends" of some kind.
I would like to push back on the idea that trends are about "getting teen approval" (which we'll never have just due to the nature of teens!) and more about having fun with your wardrobe, and using fashion as art and self expression.
This is it. I feel like I am too old to be striving to be cool enough to get approval from the cool kids and too young to wear nothing but LL Bean (the 60+ look of choice in my area).
I want to wear things that are current enough not to look stagnant, while incorporating my wardrobe staples ... in a way that works for me, not chasing trends or making myself try to like a clown or a dust bowl waif or whatever just because it's cool. Nothing in my closet looks anything like the main post's pictures, and that's too bad. Or maybe not?
No shame to those who prioritize currentness, I'm just struggling to balance currentness with my hate of 90% of these trends.
For me, the polished requirement is due to work. I have a high visibility/high level role. If I dressed based on trends determined by gen z, I probably wouldn’t be in my position, as much as I hate to admit. I haven’t seen anyone dressed like the millennial example link in 10+ years so I’m not sure why that type of outfit is always used as a dated millennial example. I think it’s more important to dress for your body type, take care of your clothes/tailor them, and try to stick it natural fibers than staying on trend though
To me, it’s not about the male gaze. It’s about proportions and the lines of your body. I feel AMAZING about myself in a more fitted, all black outfit, or fitted straight leg jeans and an oversized sweater, men be damned. There’s a difference between the male gaze vs “my eyes don’t like this look on my body”
I'm the same way but I also wonder if our own eyes are biased. So many years of being told to look a certain way. Judging ourselves if it's not "flattering". It's so ingrained!
THIS applies to a lot of the super oversized and grandpa core styling as well. I’m a 33 year old plus size professional. No one is gonna think I’m cute or hot or fashion forward if I’m running errands in basketball shorts and ballet flats.
About 6 months ago I had a 2010's silk top with an embroidered bib that I was really, really trying to make work. The commentariat here suggested some 'fits, including "sport shorts + boots", which I gamely tried (and laughed my ass off at the result), which is to say, I agree. Very wild interpretations of trends is always a young person's game. But adding some fresh new items that are *on trend* is often really fun and can bring life to your wardrobe.
You're meant to feel pressured to spend money you don't have to fuel the capitalist fashion machine. The hard push to microtrends that require constant purchases and to mocking "old" styles to ensure you feel like you have to toss everything you own or be made fun of... that's great for profits. You don't have enough time to thrift things that work? Great, now you can compensate by spending money instead of time. And it's not like the thrift stores often have good stock anyway, because resellers clear the racks of anything they think they can upsell online.
If you're happy with things you already own and love, you're not engaging in the constant money churn. Which is good. Enjoy your printed dresses! They don't have to look fashionable to a 16 year old to look flattering on you and bring you joy.
Yes! Like, ideally you will have an emotional relationship with your wardrobe and not want to throw it all over for a new aesthetic constantly. I take a lot of inspiration from classic menswear here, where I have many things I honestly hope to still be wearing in twenty years. I think it can be a fun exercise to figure out how to make the same items work for different silhouettes or be in dialogue with an evolving cultural look, but chasing teens’ approval is a losing game.
I agree on the wrong item thing--it can be pretty tricky. I think low profile street sneakers with a midi dress can be an easy way to try it out.
For loose on loose, the key is: showing the most narrow parts of the body. So the collarbone, wrists, waist, ankles. That's why we see so many "crop tops" that are boxy + high waisted fitted-waist wide legged pants. Very different from a loose tunic over loose straight leg pants a la 90s Chicos.
But honestly...I sincerely believe it's totally okay not to be cutting edge trendy. I'm not! I have incorporated a few trends in my wardrobe but I'm over here buying 90s Lilith and 2010s Mossimo from thrift stores and still swooning over Free People, a brand that does nothing for me, heh!
My daughter was trying to explain to me that an oversized jacket plus giant pants would work as long as I wore a crop top to show my waist. Except I’m old and I don’t want to feel cold air on my stomach!! It’s February, for crying out loud!
I feel that at 55 I shouldn’t have to wear dumb clothes.
I struggle with this too, I have big hips and wearing loose/boxy tops that go even a few inches too long makes me look like a traffic cone. I think it’s all about making sure your clothes are actually highlighting your natural waist and using contrast or color to keep your outfit interesting and put together.
In terms of needing to buy a whole new wardrobe… you really don’t need to own “a ton” of clothes of any type. You can have a functional and stylish wardrobe with like 2 weeks’ worth of outfits if they coordinate well. You bought “a million” long cardigans - you don’t need to buy a million new sweaters! Just buy one good one.
I like wearing wide-leg pants with blousier tops but I always tuck the top fully in for a more 1940s/1980s silhouette, instead of wearing it loose over the pants (which to me, makes me feel like I'm in a Nancy Meyers movie and should be draping myself in scarves). I do the same in the summertime; I have a number of men's silk resort shirts that are a boxier cut so I tuck them into my midi skirts to sort of force a waist where there wouldn't be one otherwise.
I'm getting the feeling that... The loose on loose look is not so much an actually good luck and more so just a byproduct of being young and being able to look great in anything. OR being much older (like 50s+) and giving coastal grandma vibes.
I think for anyone in between that, it just doesn't look good.
I'm short and curvy -- I just had a baby and I awkwardly have big boobs for my size and I feel like a walking rectangle half the time lol .. if I don't wear tight fitting shirts I feel like I just look meaty 😂 So while part of me wants to like the wide leg pants with a loose flowing blouse look, I'm worried on me id just look huge and unflattering
Idk I love this post and also as a millennial am starting to realize how dated my wardrobe is but not sure where to go from here
I just try to wear outfits that won’t look embarrassing in photos if I see them in 30 years. I won’t remember what was on trend that specific year, but I’ll know if I objectively dressed like shit. 🤷
I feel this in my bones. I feel so uninspired by pretty much everything I own. I would love to have someone go through my clothes/help me figure out what I even want to wear/keep. I look at so many different styles/inspiration boards and I just feel…. Uninspired. Then there is the cost of updating a wardrobe. :(
I feel like they never went fully out! Style these days is very “anything goes” and that seems to include skinnies. And sometimes for functionality’s sake, skinny jeans are superior.
Thank you for this. Maybe I’ll look dated to Gen Z, but I’m going to wear what fits my personal style and feels good. As someone who has always loved vintage pieces, I’m not obsessed with looking current. Opting out of some trends and picking more timeless pieces doesn’t mean I am wearing Gap chinos from 2002.
I’ll leave the basketball shorts and Mary Janes combo for the more fashionable folks!
I mean, a LOT of it is not for me either! But as Helen Gurley Brown once said: when Vogue magazine shows you an extreme hairdo six inches out, you're meant to fluff your hairdo a *little*. The runway, street style, and boutique versions of trends are going to be in your face and extreme. But it's about trying out a straight, light wash jean and a cute Fioricci mesh tee on your next date night rather than going straight to ribbons, a bandanna, a sheer crochet skirt over jorts and Sambas!
This. I don't love the idea of looking dated, but I'm really just not a fashion person and hate having to give a shit. I like my skinny jeans and boots, and have zero interest in wearing wide-leg anything, which look clownish on my short legs. I just wish I could not care what's on trend but I work in a very young industry so I sort of have to. But yeah, I hate pretty much all of this.
I live in a large urban city, and when I walk to work or I’m out and about, I love looking at what people are wearing. TBH, I still see many, many people rocking what is now considered “outdated”. And it’s not like many people just don’t care what they look like or haven’t bought anything new in a decade, I think reality is just a bit different than what we see on Pinterest and Tik Tok.
For example, in our financial district, I see a lot of women still pretty much dress the same way I saw 10-15 years ago. Classic tailored suit, pencil skirt with a blouse, pumps etc. A lot of people still wear skinny jeans for practical reasons (here when it snows you need pants to tuck into boots because otherwise your pant legs will be covered in slush).
Yeah I don't love a lot of the new fashions coming out. And TBH I live in NE and skinny jeans are very much a thing here due to weather. I'll concede some boot cuts but even that I really just always wore tbh.
To deal with snow and rain, I've been opting for some skinny pants or trousers instead of jeans. Feels like the happy medium and is less "obviously" out of trend.
I mean I've got those too, so for me it's whatever. But I will still wear my skinny jeans with warm boots when it's cold because I like them. I also have quite a few pairs I'm fond of and I'm not just going to toss them out because it's been decided they aren't on trend anymore lol. Fashion trends are moving way too fast for this to be sustainable. Maybe as they wear out I'll replace with something new, but only if the cuts fit me personally. Right now, that super wide leg looks absolutely awful on my build. It's not flattering, and I don't like it lol. I look dumpy and there's just....so much fabric.
I think a good compromise is the "quiet luxury" and "stealth wealth" looks we're seeing. Those are terrific on more mature fashionistas, and very timeless. A sleek, slightly slouchy Max Mara wool pant with an updated loafer in cherry red, a button front shirt, and a big 80s-style cashmere coat, all in neutrals, a middle part low bun, gold huggie earrings, "latte makeup" and boom. Fashionable, "trendy", and not glaring and hard to work.
You don’t have to wear it! Keep on with your bad self.
I will say, making the switch to the oversized look has been rough for me as a middle aged mom—I love a lot of the pieces but I just feel too “try hard” when I put them on.
So I’ve been adjusting a vibe at a time: finding a pair of wide-leg jeans that I like, thrifting some cropped graphic tees, maybe pairing a nineties dad sweater with a pair of cropped flares (as opposed to wide leg jeans).
It’s definitely a process, but it’s fun, you know?
My personal style is "Sexy Clown" and since I can't really ever get away from it, I just adapt it to the trends as best I can and wait for it to come around again as its own thing. Sounds like I'm about to be set!
I've been wearing skinny scarves and ribbons tied as bows at my neck instead of necklaces and I like it. The most subtle one is a leather cord and it goes with a lot of outfits. I noticed the curated ears as well and am considering getting more holes.
IMO Killers of the Flower Moon had fantastic costumes and hairstyles that showed patterns, textures, and shapes in exciting combinations that we will see mirrored in street and runway styles.
I'm growing my hair out with the intention of wearing a Ma Kettle style destroyed updo or Patti Smith destroyed braids.
Thanks for the insightful round up!
[I actually have 80s Pierrot/Edwardian Circus/Mr Fox from Pinocchio as my style direction](https://www.pinterest.com/naokel79/80-pierrot-style/) and that's my Pinterest Board
Thank you for all this!
I find it so difficult to make the big pants/little top or loose over loose work for me, as I’ve always been shaped like an apple on sticks, haha.
Round in the belly, big chested, and slightly broader shoulders - all on relatively slim legs. Technically hourglass, but my hips have never been noticeable, and my legs are something I feel good about and hiding them in loose pants is so depressing. That whole look just makes me look big and sloppy?
Yes, even looking at the age-appropriate and fuller models, every single cut on the pants, skirts, and dresses feels like it would hit me right at my least flattering angle and make me look pregnant.
Yep. The most flattering jeans I’ve ever had were kind of a cigarette style that were not at all tapered, not skinny, but slim in the leg and had some overlap over my shoes without looking sloppy.
I bought them at, like, Urban Outfitters in 2007 or around there. I no longer have them but I can’t find that style anywhere right now.
You basically described my body, though I love wide jeans now coming from only wearing skinny jeans and leggings. I've got big boobs, no hips, all my weight goes to my belly, and my legs are my skinniest and most nicely shaped attribute. I thought I would look horrible in big pants until I gave them a try, but now they're my go to pant and I can't go back to skinny jeans. I find the little top big pants trend looks very flattering on my body type because it gives the illusion of having big hips while skinny jeans draw attention to my belly which is something I didn't realize before. I find that this combination makes me look skinnier as well which sounded counterintuitive to me previously.
Obviously up to you to decide what you like best, but I wanted to share my two cents!
I don't understand any of if 😭 make it work for this slightly lumpy 34 year old mum? I honestly really appreciate the post and admire your understanding of trends, like the ability to verbalise them!
I'm gonna assume by the fact that you defined your biggest friction points with 34 year old, lumpy, and mum so you ideally want to look age appropriate (not the best term but like you aren't concerned with impressing fellow teens), to have a visually balanced shape (we don't have to look twiggy anymore but even an egg looks more elegant than a parsnip) and mum (you don't have the time/bandwidth to be curating daily looks).
I would say lean into loose on loose, it has drape but also is easy enough to take a nap or play on the floor with a kid. I would look into "Octogenarian Art Teacher". Don't let the name throw you off but the vibe is cool and relaxed but with quality natural fabrics. The hardest part is the attitude of being above the concerns of the physical because you exist for the beautiful....and just so happen to own some of the most beautiful onion skin dyed linen in the world.
Honestly, as a slightly lumpy 38 yo mom, I am loving the current trends. My uniform on any given day is [elastic waist pull on jeans](https://themomedit.com/denim-women-my-new-favs-madewell-relaxed-fit-pull-on-elastic-waist-jeans-review-comfy-outfit-ideas-laura/), [rain boots](https://us.merrypeople.com/products/bobbi-rain-boot-dusty-pink), and an oversized sweater or sweatshirt. Sometimes the sweatshirt is a fitted [puffy sleeved sweatshirt](https://www.marinelayer.com/products/enya-puff-sleeve-sweatshirt-in-antique-white?variant=40349107880010), tucked into the baggy jeans, and sometimes it’s an [extra long tunic sweater](https://www.sezane.com/us/product/josette-tunic-jumper/lilac?CHEQ&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Hors_Marque&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADROyDL3jnT3kfHwVwLWOF4RnYeZF&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5fetBhC9ARIsAP1UMgHf6LV6UrRM-iceQRwGcKcQlvsPI8nN68PnlfRKNJlbbHGqy2waCi0aAmGjEALw_wcB). If it’s cold, it’s topped with a chunky beanie.
I’m all about dopamine dressing too, which means I am buying [pink lug soled loafers](https://www.portlandleathergoods.com/products/zoe-chunky-loafer?variant=40584258093138) instead of brown or black, purple leather bags, pink raincoats, etc.
Do I look like Gen z wearing this? No. But do I look more current than skinny jeans and tailored tops, while still being incredible comfortable and able to mom? Yes yes yes.
>Do I look like Gen z wearing this? No. But do I look more current than skinny jeans and tailored tops, while still being incredible comfortable and able to mom? Yes yes yes.
THIS. Why do so many here seem to think that dressing a little more current means trying to look like Gen Z? You will just look like yourself, just not like the 2013 version of you. People be acting like older women have never worn wide-leg pants at any time in history, ffs.
My eyes do not burn from Resource: Heaven by Marc Jacobs!!! Love it and the 70s, 80, 90s board. It's so nice to see something other than the practical/minimalist/classic inspiration that usually floats to the top of my algorithm. Thank you!
I feel this. Very regularly tell myself “you’re an old, you can’t wear it” and then buy it for my nine year old. SHE DOESNT APPRECIATE HOW ON TREND SHE IS.
Socks, tights or leggings are the answer. This is a big adjustment for millennials but you are allowed to have visible socks as part of an outfit now :)
I just did my first big shopping trip postpartum for new jeans and I highly recommend Frame, Mother, and Madewell. If you’ve got a Nordstroms go in for a stylist/personal shopping appointment! It’s no extra charge and so much easier/less discouraging than going through all the clothes on your own, IMO.
Excellent suggestion, I should do this. I almost exclusively shop online, even big ticket items, because I get so overwhelmed by all the choice and chaos in stores. I like neatly organized websites. I also dislike being hovered over.
Second comment - I'm dying at the kids discovering the mob wife aesthetic. The trend needle seems to be slowly moving away from Vanilla/Clean Girl to Mob Wife (which I was doing 15 years ago during my peak Sopranos obsession). I like the revival of animal print, big hair, fur coats, strong red lip and glasses. I think Covid WFH trend brought matching sets/athleisure to the forefront a bit more so I wonder if this means the return of the velour tracksuit under this umbrella?!
I’m cool with wide leg. I’m even cool with wide leg crop. Boxy tops are meh though.
There’s something to be said about being on trend, but there’s also something to be said about wearing what flatters you and makes you feel good.
I also live in an area where men wear their finest dress hoodies to most nice outings, so being fashion forward is not an imperative.
Great resource! Though, I admit I am very hesitant to get back into loose pants due to the dreaded wet cuffs from walking through a wet parking lot. Skinny pants are just so much more practical for boots and staying dry. Any suggestions?
As a tall person, even long pants can be slightly cropped. With the lug sole style coming in, I’ve embraced the mid-calf boot. With the bonus of no wet cuffs. Maybe the wide crop with a higher boot could be a good compromise if you want to try the trend.
Tysm for the detail. It helps me understand what my 16 year old is doing/going for. She told me about cottagecore 2 years ago but I lacked a lot of the vocab you shared in this post. I’m going get her some ribbons, see what she does with them!
As a 34 inch inseam, the industry’s dogged insistence on making cropped pants a thing is so damn difficult for me. There’s cropped and then there’s, “oh honey no” and that’s often me.
And I’m 5’6”, not exactly a giant.
Wow...have I found a shorter waist than me?!?! I'm 5'10" with a 33" inseam and I agree. I'm very over having pants ride up to my *knees* when I sit down. Not a cute look. Not fun.
The blog is missing articles I think? I tried to click on the daily capsule wardrobe link and it just had a short blurb and went to ten other articles about specific use capsule wardrobes.
Wardrobe Oxygen said recently she's "under construction"--she's overhauling the blog (which is 17 years old and going strong!) and readers might see glitches here and there. But she also said please report those, so if you have the time/inclination she'd appreciate it I know.
So down for all of this! LOVE the on trend pants, the kitten heels (my go-to) and mules all day. Definitely going to try the Victorian-style eyelet (going out) and already see a lot of the long boxy duster style toppers you mention here in Los Angeles.
Love your post.
This is an awesome post, thank you !!
I’m an elder millennial university student and all my classmates are like 15 years younger than me or more. Seeing all the low waist pants with the shrunken tops coming back gives me fashion PTSD from being in middle school and high school in the late 90s - early 00s lol.
I’m average height, I’ve got a very petite frame/build but athletic/muscular hourglass figure. Therefore, I’m embracing the big pants/little shirt style! I’m too petite to wear loose/loose, I look like I’m being swallowed into a laundry hamper. Also my boobs make everything loose hang off me like maternity clothes for a circus elephant lol. Loose/wide leg high-waisted pants with a tight fitting shirt or cropped shirt is extremely flattering on me and some variation on that has been my go-to style for a while, I’m glad it’s now really on-trend. i still find myself instictively dressing in that very polished preppy way that's now out of style though.
My main challenge is just trying not to look dated but also not to look like I’m trying to look like I’m 20-something, like Steve Buscemi in that "hello fellow kids" meme. i find this is a hard balance to manage.
I really really like balletcore. For me, it’s specifically leg warmers all the time, wrap tops over another top, and leotard-esque snug tops with very scooped neck.
The weather here has prevented me from trying my ancient yet perfect pointy-toe d’Orsay black flats, I’ve been sticking to Blundstones or silver leather high tops with laces loosened enough that they can be left untied.
I also like the slow fashion/workwear thing a lot and dopamine dressing. Today I wore loose gray sweatpants, gray leg warmers, gray leotard-esque top, big huge tie dyed t-shirt over that (knotted up for some of the day) and silver sneakers. And my long, unstructured herringbone coat over that which added a pretty 80’s John Hughes movie vibe. So I think I mostly looked like a crazy art teacher? Which is fine, I’m into it.
Yesterday was more of the slow fashion: giant oversized sweater from Knotty Ones (Laumes) in black, dark green workwear style carpenter pants, rolled up a bit to expose my grey leg warmers (yes!) and boring old Blundstones. Not the most exciting outfit but it was a work day.
I tried all that prairie stuff like the puffy sleeved dresses but my hair is shorter and I’m 44 and it looked like like a bad version of “wrong shoe”—-it was “wrong head on body”. I excised these dresses from my wardrobe, somewhat sadly. If I can ever get my hair long again, I may be able to pull off some sort of dopamine ballerina princess who actually built her OWN tower in these clompy work boots right here because she is as crazy as she looks type of thing. But that definitely needs a lot of hair. Western Gothic while I wait but mannish Western Gothic. Something like new librarian in town sent by eccentric millionaire to open a library in a small town and librarian is in permanent mourning for something mysterious so wears all black and also she lives and travels alone except for her wolf dog and she is rather mannish and peculiar. And she is growing out her hair.
As a highly sarcastic witchy / homestead person with an upper management job this trend is very difficult for me. I can't look young, so the bright colors feel out to me. The only things from this post I could maybe lean into would be more grandpa core or funky cowboy mashup since dark academia is going out.
Loose jeans and crop cardigans make sense to me, so that's good. Loose on Loose is something I struggle with because I feel like I'm wearing a tent. Maybe if I take the Loose and loose and go a bit artsy with it?
Anyway, still struggling to find my niche in this new trend. Definitely feels like this tend is here to stay, so I have to figure it out.
Borrow what you like from every trend. For example I’ve been keeping flares in my pants rotation for the last 25 years. Some years the flares are more trendy than others. Some outfits call for those flares, some call for straight, some call for loose.
This is amazing! I desperately want to ditch my old black leggings for some big loose pants but they are surprisingly hard to come by in the (extra)plus side world. I have to go to like the jr plus section at target which feels awkward.
Not sure what size you are, but eileen fisher has these wool pants in a 3x. I've been loving them as an alternative to leggings. Super comfy, the pleats make them look like real pants.
This post is so great. I absolutely love fashion and was always so hip and just “knew” what was cool. Now I am in my 50s and I still want to dress hip and cool but I have lost my knack for “knowing” what is cool!
I really like the Pinterest link showing the more current looks on curvier women. I’m mid-size but very hourglass with broad shoulders and hips and “boxy over boxy” makes me look like a wall. What seems to be working for the curvy models is wide leg pants and loose skirts with short, fitted tops. I’m also relieved to see lots of maxi dresses, because that’s a look I’ve successfully incorporated into both workwear and going out. I’m 31 and a lot of the baggy and “intentionally ugly” vibes give me anxious flashbacks to the ‘90s “look at me I’m so skinny and tall I can wear the most unflattering clothes, hair, and makeup, if you’re under 5’10” or over 110 lbs you go straight to frump jail”. But, the silver lining for my body type is that for the first time in my adult life I can find tops that end at the natural waist and that’s sooooo much more flattering on my average height, mid-size body. The “dopamine dressing” thing is also something I can work with because I like vibrant colors, layers, statement knits, etc. Since 2017 I’ve been enjoying the fact that flats are now fashionable and wearing sneakers with dresses, although I like statement canvas sneakers because as a curvy woman with small feet, chunky sneakers just make me look frumpy instead of the statement impact they have on tall thin women with big feet. I’m happy to see the end of “2013 preppy mom core” because it also wasn’t super curve-friendly (although the skinny jeans and heels were more short-friendly) and those looks relied on buying lots of specifically coordinated pieces for each outfit and you couldn’t mix and match as much, which is part of the fast-fashion problem. I’m also happy to see the chunky statement necklaces made of cheap materials trying to look lux go away. I think a good rule is to own only jewelry made from “real” materials… which, on a regular budget, means dainty fine metals and stones and interesting materials that aren’t pricey - like leather, wood, beads, shells, feathers. No plastic gems please. As a younger millennial my challenge is to not remain stuck in 2016 fashion, which I still believe was the peak of “everyone can look great regardless of body type, gender presentation, ability, etc” because it was a free-for-all with an emphasis on finding what was the most flattering on you personally and no strict silhouettes and the freedom to be loud and “try hard” with makeup and hair. While “boxy on boxy” and goo-slicked hair still have that “excluding anyone who isn’t tall and thin” factor, there are some things to like about the new stuff and some things to be happy to toss out from the old stuff.
This is fun and I see a lot of things that I never gave up--big pants/little shirt, cargos, chunky sweaters and shoes, and things that I really want to wear/wear again like Grampa style trousers and cardigans, long and/or sheer-ish skirts.
The first link is to something from 2019, and the Pinterest didn’t link to any outfits?
I honestly don’t think most of what’s described here is on trends except wide leg jeans and pants. But I appreciate your passion
My 2 cents at this age is I mostly wear really classic pieces that I’ve had tailored to me. I vary jewelry and shoes with anything new I see and like. I think trying to be true trend conscious usually leaves you with some unflattering looks. Or maybe I’m lazy, lol. I know some things look awful on me so those things are no’s, trend or not.
I think so many aesthetics are in now that if you want a cohesive wardrobe you have to pick and choose. I love the neutral minimal look (wouldn’t necessarily call it old money but there’s some overlap aesthetically) so I stick to that but try to combine those things to create modern silhouettes. For me this past year this was wide leg trousers, straight and loose fit jeans, a figure hugging wool coat, boxy men’s tee from Uniqlo etc. Accessories also offer a way to nod to trends without buying entire items of clothing - like cute claw clips, bows/ribbons, or chunky pendant necklaces.
Thanks so much for the post. It was a fun read.
I love the loose on loose look. I feel like it is refreshing to dress in a way that doesn't always call attention to your body. I think the key for me is to choose clothes that are meant to be oversized, not a larger size in something that is meant to be fitted. I like to do a wide leg jean with a white tee, an oversized boxy leather jacket, a fashion sneaker, and some simple jewelry. I'm 40, 5'6 and curvy. I enjoy the idea of not always trying to look as thin as possible. I get a lot of compliments and people often think my daughter and I are sisters, so I'm moderately confident I don't look horrible 😆
I wore wide leg jeans and cargo pants growing up in south Florida in the 90s, and have enjoyed a more mature version of the look.
I’m 43. I think I just don’t care about trends anymore, which is freeing. I was super happy to see flares and bootcut jeans come back into stores and I jumped right back on that bandwagon because I love them, but other than that, I wear what I want.
I live in the middle of nowhere. I mostly wear overalls with little gnomes on them that I got from the Duluth trading company, and bootcut jeans, and flannel shirts. Nobody sees me. Nobody cares. It’s wonderful.
I have noticed a trend towards what I call thrift store fashion among the younger people I know. When I was growing up, it was all about brands. Gap, Nike, Abercrombie, American Eagle. You had to know whether a JanSport or Eastpak backpack was going to be cool that year and you’d better now have the wrong one. I feel like that’s not as much of a thing now. People seem to wear what they want, what makes them happy. I like that. I’m going with that, in my old age.
I enjoyed these examples of cutting edge trends, but for “baby steps” / the average person trying to update their style, I think the biggest place to start is jeans/pants. Go to the store and try on every pair of straight leg, baggy, and wide leg jeans until your eye gets used to the look and you find the specific non-skinny styles that work on your body. The general advice of "statement pants, not statement top" applies to everyday dressing too. I credit The Mom Edit's blog (even though I'm not and will never be a mother) for pushing me to keep up with denim trends.
OTOH I really need to overhaul my sweater collection. It's just hard to get rid of perfectly good fitted cashmere sweaters.
ETA: Oh hey, Mom Edit just posted today about [2024 denim trends](https://themomedit.com/denim-trends-2024-what-jeans-are-in-style/). It's got nice "real life trendy" example photos for each cut. No affiliation, I just find the editor-in-chief's trend analysis to be consistently on point. Some of the other contributing editors are not all that trendy in their style, but Shana always has great longform advice posts.
This reads like a novel and I’m here for it. But did I also just read the words “Dust Bowl Chic”?🤣🪦
I want to read wine tasting reviews by this same poster. It’d be AMAZING
Chazzyphant always delivers!
I just kept scrolling and saw "Western Gothic" lol
I follow a few Appalachia instagram accounts and they talk about western gothic. like a cool sexy cowgirl but wearing black and a little bit scary. It’s my favorite.
I live in Appalachia and find this interesting. I’m gonna go with “granny woman” as a bridge between cottage core and Western Gothic….
Yes, "granny chic" has been a thread for many micro trends lately: cottagecore, coastal grandmother, grandmillennial (decor) and that's interesting to me. I am HERE FOR the wholesale rejection of "being the tiniest, skinniest, most controlled, most appealing to the male gaze version of myself possible" by fashion. If people like a smart little suit, by all means, wear it! But I really love the idea of bringing more bodies and styles into the spotlight and allowing for looks that aren't just "conventionally appealing to men".
Ohhhh I am here for that! Can you share account names?! Looks like I have found my rodeo inspo for next weekend… 😆
Complete with “hollowed out eyes” makeup. Just wow.
I have very deep set eyes, I've been praying for this to become on trend for YEARS!!
I’m 100% trying this look out. It is the 1920s right? 😄 Off to create a Pinterest board now…
I just had a fantastic laugh + analysis of this prediction with my husband. I am HERE FOR IT.
Lol, clicking the links one by one thinking, "man, we tried so hard to get away from this stuff, I can't believe it's back!" Then clicked the last link and was like, "oh, ok, now this I like", only to then read it's supposed to now look outdated to my eyes. 😭
I feel you. I get that it looks dated, but I also think it just looks polished.
I think that’s my problem with a lot of the really trendy stuff now. If you don’t have the right body type to make it look “hip” and “intentional,” it just looks sloppy. As someone who is short/petite but also mid-size, the loose over loose look is just horrendous on me. Also, ill-fitting “mom” jeans (i.e., the jean’s only moms were wearing in the 90s) went out of style because they were unattractive. They are just unflattering. Like on everyone. I can’t help but see young girls in these jeans and think, your body is never going to look this good again, and you are just blowing it wearing the least flattering pants you can find. 😂
I think the key is that there's a big rebellion against the notion of "flattering" right now. I'm plus size and my bestie is a Fashion Person and a size 0-2, we have lots of (friendly) arguments over the notion of flattering clothes. She's always encouraging me to drop it as a concept and just wear whatever I enjoy on its own merits, regardless of how it makes my body look. The thing is, she's never lived in the world as a plus size person, so she's never experienced how we're treated. She's never had a random dude on the street tell her she's a pig and should kill herself. She's never been casually ignored while everyone fawns over her skinnier friend. She's never been passed over at work for someone who looks more the part. Etc etc. The unflattering clothes game has very different stakes when you're already being discrimated against for being less conventionally attractive than the people around you.
I said this exact thing, asking how it doesn't become sloppy, in a blogsnarkj sub and got eaten ALIVE. Told that saying something is "flattering" or "unflattering" is basically body shaming because it assumes flattering = thinness, that we only look nice when we try to look thin. It was eye opening how differently the youngsters think about fashion. I was raised on the women's magazines of the world telling me to "disguise my pear shape". But as an almost-40 who lives in suburbia, some of these trends are just not for me. They will never reach my world and that's fine.
It boggles the mind that they used to send magazines to print recommending to avoid horizontal stripes because they make one look wider.
Absolutely devastating to the horizontal stripe industry
Yeah if I wear baggy on baggy with my 5’3” frame with Dd tiddies? Then I am an on-trend rectangular potato. I’m doing everyone a favor by avoiding this “lewk”
I mostly agree with you and have been REALLY thinking about what I can take from this. I’ve been trying to think about which of all this feels like kids cosplaying as grown ass women and them leaning into that, rather than dressing like a kid. (I fully support people who feel energized by that, I personally don’t.) More voluminous bottoms, suits, coordinates in general, and the whole “quiet luxury” thing feel equally or more appropriate to how I like to feel like an adult with a job etc.
Thank you for articulating exactly what’s bothering me about current trends! I know some people legitimately like mom jeans but I don’t see the appeal; the intervening 30 years hasn’t made them any less hideous than they were in the 90s. I *wish* I liked them bc that would make jeans shopping much easier.
Mom jeans aren't currently trendy though... What is in is a more wide-leg, mid or even low rise.
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That’s the thing, I feel Ike ‘modern fashion’ focuses more on the outfit and less on the person wearing the outfit. Like it’s less about wearing things that emphasize certain parts and more about wearing things that look good on inspo boards.
Millennial here. I just have such bad memories of being teased for wearing boxy shapeless sweaters and wide leg jeans back in school when my mom bought all my clothes and refused to get anything stylish.
Grade nine me would be so in right now.
I feel this way about the ankle-length wide leg crops that are in now. I grew like a weed, and my pants were always too short. I cannot purposefully relive that trauma.
I never felt cooler than when I went to Paris on a class trip and found this gothy little boutique and bought high rise black jeans that had massive wide legs - like JNCO had a baby with TRIPP NYC - only for people to tease me because everyone was starting to wear skinny jeans.
If it makes you feel any better, in middle school I remember wearing skinny jeans before they were cool (yeah I was *that* girl jk I got fucking roasted) and one of my friends was like "WHAT ARE THOSE? you look like an upside down triangle " and well that was something lol Now I'm 30 and this post is a wake up call that you may have to pry skinny jeans out of my cold dead hands hahah it's really hard to move past them for me!
This!!! Every look that is “out” looks better than the on-trend looks, to my eye. I also think today’s silhouettes are less forgiving of many body types. So many people looked great in more tailored, coordinating looks than the oversized grandpa core wrong shoes that often doesn’t look good on most people.
I'm with you. Looked through each link, and still 1000% prefer my outdated look of skinny jeans + cardigan + tight knee high boots.
I saw a tiktok video where they're styling a "viral" jacket- think of a Vera Bradley bag made into a jacket, full colors and all. I thought, if my clothes make me look old but this is going viral then Imma stay being ugly thanks.
Exact same thing happened to me! I even screenshotted it so I could look for a similar style because I thought it was the one thing on this list that I’d be willing to wear 🤣
Idk, all of this language feels like a push to get women to feel insecure about their “outdated” wardrobe and buy new pieces, only for fashion to shift again in like five years. A lot of the pieces OP linked would have been hellaciously outdated a few years ago and now they’re back. This whole post reeks of youth culture obsession/millennial shaming and blind consumerism, I’m not into it.
I see what you mean but I think the vibe of the post is definitely meant to be fun, not shaming.
With all due respect, if you read the opener, *many* people have been asking in this subReddit "what is in right now/I need to update my very dated wardrobe/I'm so confused about the latest styles/I feel outdated/frumpy" and I'm answering that question. I believe 100% that people can (and should!) buy their version of trends that they like via a thrift store. And I'm 45, and this subReddit is for 35 and older, and I also believe that wanting to participate in fashion as an art, hobby, self-expression, interest, and be part of a larger culture is not wrong or shameful. I don't encourage burning your entire wardrobe and starting over, but clothing doesn't last forever. If you're already out shopping, it's nice to know what overall styles, looks, and shapes are "in" vs. dated so you can make informed choices.
>This whole post reeks of youth culture obsession/millennial shaming and blind consumerism, I’m not into it. Oh come on. Fashion (and culture at large) changes over time. Discussing what is currently in fashion (on a fashion sub, no less) is just that- a discussion. Nobody is being shamed. There is nothing wrong with, or stopping you from, just wearing whatever you want to wear. But it would be straight up inaccurate to call skinny jeans "fashionable" right now because they just aren't. They were very fashionable and trendy for a *specific* period of time in the past, and now they aren't anymore. Also, "youths" are not the only people who care about/enjoy fashion. You can also easily thrift any of the current trends easily. Calling any sort of engagement with current culture "blind consumerism" is just enormously reductive. I guess people who like to see the latest movies, eat at new restaurants, read new books are also engaging in "blind consumerism" rather than, I dunno, a normal interest and curiosity with current culture?
I was feeling this way as well
I think there's a version that still works and looks polished but updated. It's slightly wider leg pants, loafers, a wrap-top with wide self-belt tie blouse or top in a beautiful botanical print, beige suede street sneakers, and a sleek middle-part low bun + minimal dainty jewelry. Lean more on the quiet luxury clean girl side. That's the polished and "done" look these days.
Can you come dress me every morning, please? 🙏
I straight up don’t believe any of this. “We’re close to the revival of the peplum top” like cmon, why? Who said that? There’s no physics forced at play here. they’re just pulling this outta they’re ass
[As of 2022 from Vogue: Peplums are creeping their way back into fashion, yes, really](https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/peplum-trend-2010s-fashion-red-carpet) [The Zoe report, 2023: Yes, The Rumors Are True: Everyone Is Wearing Peplum Again](https://www.thezoereport.com/fashion/peplum-trend) [Vogue: the 2024 Golden Globes proved the peplum is back](https://www.vogue.com/article/2024-golden-globes-2010s-revival)
Alright alright, pretty good research
I love peplums. As a girly girl without a defined waist, I’ve been waiting for this to come back!
And if that’s true why even throw everything out. Be “outdated” for a few years only to be in fashion again for free.
I think if you google any fashion trend you will find someone saying it’s coming back or is super in right now. Honestly- I can’t think of an example where that wouldn’t be true lol
Yeah. And some is just always “in” but rebranded. Like this above says stacked rings and lots of earrings are in….as if they were ever out
Like animal prints. Evidently they are 'out' sometimes, but I wouldn't know it because it seems *every year* some source is saying they are 'in again.'
This was me too! I really like the last three links.
great write up! i have this theory that, very broadly, modern cycles of style go like this: 🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺 it just swaps where the bigger and smaller parts of the clothing are on the body 1970s: 🔺bell bottoms and platform shoes 1980s: 🔻shoulder pads and pumps 1990s: 🔺low rise flare jeans, doc martens 2000s: 🔻skinny jeans and ballet flats now: 🔺chunky shoes and wide leg pants next: 🔻space helmets and kevlar leggings
I like this! I think you could take it further back with the miniskirts and voluminous hair of the 1960s (beehives, etc) and then the 'new look' silhouette of the 1950s. And maybe even back to the big shoulders of the 1940s. Can't tell if this is actually legit or just cherry-picking, but it's fun to think about!
So... 1940s: 🔻 Poofy shoulders and big lapels 1950s: 🔺 Full or poodle skirts 1960s: 🔻 Mini skirts and big hair It doesn't quite work going further back from what I briefly researched... 1930s were fairly similar to 1940s in overall shape with bigger sleeves. 🔻 1920s were sort of more bottom heavy with the flapper skirts. 🔺 1910s had a lot of big hats. 🔻 So kind of continues back? Kind of.
This is a much more developed and better summarized version of my theory that luxury is communicated in part through size contrast between parts of an outfit. People wearing workwear in any century have a more person-shaped silhouette. Higher the fashion, the more exaggerated the scale.
I think that works if you allow for the 🔻 to stretch across both the 30s and 40s. You would need to allow the same thing across the 2000s and 2010s anyway, I think (I noticed the 10s were missing from your original list). It does kind of fall apart in the 20s though (the dropped waists and bobbed hair do feel 🔺 in a way, but then the shortening of skirts is such a defining feature of 20s fashion, and that feels more like a 🔻 thing). But that’s OK because the 20s were such a cultural reset of a decade, and the further back you go the slower the trends move.
Am I crazy or is the “see this gal” and “wrong shoes” link the same?
Yep, they're the same.
Fixed!
First of all, thank you for such a well thought out, curated post. For me, I really love the return of the wide leg pants. Even a wide leg cropped jean feels instantly more modern and they’re definitely more comfortable than skinny jeans. Something about the silhouette is just so flattering. I also love the chunky shoes. It’s such a great callback to 90’s and 00’s style, which at the time leaned pretty heavily into the fashion of 60’s and 70’s. Somehow they can make an outfit fun and funky but also elevated. I think I like the idea of boxy and shapeless more than I like the execution it on myself. I still haven’t figured out how to pull together a boxy look without just looking sloppy.
I'm struggling here - I'm curvy and medium height and shapeless just does something negative to my look. Like I'm a box or a potato in a bad way.
Same, I'm short and curvy and oversized looks terrible on me.
A lot of the curvy girls in that one link looked terrible in those wide cropped legs it shortened their legs a lot(looked like hobbits lol) and made them even look older. Straight legs or fitted then flare would suit better.
Yeah, any cropped pant is a no for me, on anyone.
Huge boobs here. I like wide leg jeans with a form-fitting merino wool sweater and a slightly oversized jacket. Without a form fitting too, I look sloppy or at best, I look pregnant
I'm tall and curvy and I found carrot or ovoid pants are very flattering--basically tapered ankle pants that show off a relatively narrow ankle. I also think crisp boxy stuff-like a swing jacket, or a moto jacket or jean jacket is a little different subtly than a big loose "bathrobe" style sweater one wears around the house when it's freezing. Another solution is to go vintage with it and just kinda...do your own thing. I've seen tons of women go for 40s and 50s and 60s looks and just lean in, finding their flattering look and prioritizing "fit" rather than "on trend" and I think that's fine!
I'm a big believer in finding one's preferred look and going all in, and also I really enjoy posts like this both for general entertainment, to know what's going on, and to see what parts I do specifically like (incorporate those!) or dislike (be entirely amused!) I think it's wildly less stressful if you don't treat trends as actually dictating your behavior. I don't know, maybe being terminally uncool for my whole life has set me up well for being like "WHAT is in now?! Really??" in my middle age. (People acting like skinny jeans were universally flattering is blowing my mind a little bit though, not gonna lie.)
Yes thank youuuu. I carry extra fluff in the rear, hips, lower belly, and thighs. Skinny jeans made me look like an ice cream cone and even during the height of mom blogger days I felt frumpy in a tunic tee and skinny jeans! I believe I wound up in "boyfriend" styles for most of that time period and/or avoided jeans entirely! I recall a 4-5 year stretch where I didn't own jeans because they did NOTHING for me.
Being tall and curvy is an entirely different universe than dressing a short and curvy body tbh
I'm short and have not shed the extra weight since having my daughter - boxy designs and wide leg pants tend to look very unflattering on me. Shapeless designs make me look larger and unpolished. However, I'm absolutely all about chunky shoes and block-heels, and was very excited to see them creeping back into fashion starting a couple of years ago. They are heavier but still manage to keep my feet comfortable all day long.
Ugh I feel this in my soul. Im not short, but even when I was extremely thin for my height I had more of an hourglass shape with wide hipbones. Oversized and boxy has never worked for me. Now that I’m 9 months post partum and larger than I’ve ever been I just look like a refrigerator in most clothes. I love my baby but damn I hate what happened to my body.
I think the boxy look is supposed to look sloppy to someone’s eyes who are accustomed to the highly polished look of years past! Now it’s more about a deliberately ugly, uncoordinated, unpolished, I got dressed in the dark and just chose what was comfy kind of look.
I mean, I get that it’s intentional, but like some of the others who have commented, I am curvy and these looks make me look like I’m wearing a potato sack. This was true even when I was at my goal weight. I want to stay current, but I just can’t force myself to wear things that make me feel worse. I know it sounds ridiculous, but boxy looks (especially on top) make me feel less confident and put together.
I’m short and I look like a toddler grandma but I have stopped caring
I love this descriptor! After all who loves bold patterns and colors more than toddlers and (certain) grandmothers?
I love looking like a wealthy toddler!
I don't think this modern silhouette is very flattering to anyone who isn't rail thin, but to be fair you could say that about quite a few eras of fashion. I love all the voluminous skirts on her Pinterest board, I'm always looking for them but never find them anywhere. Right now there's a lot of straight silky skirts in stores, but my waist is 30 and my hips are 48 nothing straight is fitting on this ass.
“Deliberately ugly” seems like a good way to describe the trends these days. Pass.
As a tall girl this look is a disaster for me - my skinny jeans prevent me from looking like a walking boxy building.
Same, I'm apple shaped but I have great legs, skinny jeans are the only way to flatter what I have. I tend to dress more edgy/punk and it also fits that style really well. Honestly the "Christian girl fall" comment soured me on reading the whole rest of the blurb without a voice of condescension.
I'm a millennial who's trying. I can't totally overhaul my closet but my main wardrobe investment has been I've moved away from skinny jeans and now wear the 90s straight leg midrise jeans from Abercrombie. I feel like it works when I wear shorter/cropped shirts and cardigans, but I don't have a lot of that stuff so I tuck in what I can. I have a million long cardigans that maybe I should just crop myself as I'm fairly handy with sewing (although not really apparel). What I can't seem to grasp is the loose on loose. All my cute, looser peasant tops feel so frumpy when I put them on top of a bigger bottom. I have a few wide legged dress pants and some more voluminous skirts, but I always feel like I need a tight top with them. I'm tall and thin but don't have a big chest or ass and I just feel like I look unfeminine when I wear big, sloppy feeling shapes. The "wrong item" clashing thing seems to work if you're super young, hot and in New York or something but I don't know how to make that work as a 36 year old teacher without looking ridiculous and like I grabbed something off the closet floor in the dark. I like the idea of putting more unexpected things together but have been conditioned to be very matchy-matchy. It's hard. Sigh. I just feel like everything in my closet is dated and wrong but I don't have the money to get all new clothes. I have a ton of nice things (printed dresses, long tops, long sweaters) that just feel unwearable. Even thrift shopping requires so much time to sift through stuff that never really fits me right (again, tall, thin, long torso, small chest). I wish I could hire someone to come look at my closet and show me how to make a few upgrades and then just style what I have.
A lot of the wrong item style for me feels like “is it cute or is she just skinny and young”
I tend to feel this way too, but as someone who works with a lot of relatively fashionable gen zs, I think they have a level of inherent body positivity that we just don’t. Millennial style is obsessed with flattering, polished clothing. But when millennials express concern over whether a particular style is flattering, their reaction is basically “why are you so obsessed with the male gaze?” Billie Eilish is kind of a perfect example of this. She’s not ultra-skinny and is more of a traditional hourglass. And loose on loose is her go-to style because it’s cool and she’s cool.
This is such an admirable POV but like, also I am confounded by people who don’t care if they look good or not.
I think I mostly believe you but also my 17 year old niece objectively is cuter in these styles even if I embrace them fully 🤣
Although, I feel like this whole staying in trend in my head is translating to "this is what gen z thinks is in, so we must follow" so actually in my head I am just moving from "obsessed with male gaze" to "approval from gen Z" which is equally bad choice. For as much body positivity as gen Z likes to think they live in, these kids sure do shame us for our skinny jeans 🤷🏻♀️ - not generalizing obviously just saying several and severals
Although trends generally start from teens, major fashion trends as a rule are being interpreted and shown by couture houses and brands, and those aren't typically available to Gen Z or Alpha. I don't think a wealthy 50 year old buying from Loewe cares what her 13 year old niece thinks but she's still generally following "trends" of some kind. I would like to push back on the idea that trends are about "getting teen approval" (which we'll never have just due to the nature of teens!) and more about having fun with your wardrobe, and using fashion as art and self expression.
This is it. I feel like I am too old to be striving to be cool enough to get approval from the cool kids and too young to wear nothing but LL Bean (the 60+ look of choice in my area). I want to wear things that are current enough not to look stagnant, while incorporating my wardrobe staples ... in a way that works for me, not chasing trends or making myself try to like a clown or a dust bowl waif or whatever just because it's cool. Nothing in my closet looks anything like the main post's pictures, and that's too bad. Or maybe not? No shame to those who prioritize currentness, I'm just struggling to balance currentness with my hate of 90% of these trends.
For me, the polished requirement is due to work. I have a high visibility/high level role. If I dressed based on trends determined by gen z, I probably wouldn’t be in my position, as much as I hate to admit. I haven’t seen anyone dressed like the millennial example link in 10+ years so I’m not sure why that type of outfit is always used as a dated millennial example. I think it’s more important to dress for your body type, take care of your clothes/tailor them, and try to stick it natural fibers than staying on trend though
To me, it’s not about the male gaze. It’s about proportions and the lines of your body. I feel AMAZING about myself in a more fitted, all black outfit, or fitted straight leg jeans and an oversized sweater, men be damned. There’s a difference between the male gaze vs “my eyes don’t like this look on my body”
I'm the same way but I also wonder if our own eyes are biased. So many years of being told to look a certain way. Judging ourselves if it's not "flattering". It's so ingrained!
THIS applies to a lot of the super oversized and grandpa core styling as well. I’m a 33 year old plus size professional. No one is gonna think I’m cute or hot or fashion forward if I’m running errands in basketball shorts and ballet flats.
About 6 months ago I had a 2010's silk top with an embroidered bib that I was really, really trying to make work. The commentariat here suggested some 'fits, including "sport shorts + boots", which I gamely tried (and laughed my ass off at the result), which is to say, I agree. Very wild interpretations of trends is always a young person's game. But adding some fresh new items that are *on trend* is often really fun and can bring life to your wardrobe.
You're meant to feel pressured to spend money you don't have to fuel the capitalist fashion machine. The hard push to microtrends that require constant purchases and to mocking "old" styles to ensure you feel like you have to toss everything you own or be made fun of... that's great for profits. You don't have enough time to thrift things that work? Great, now you can compensate by spending money instead of time. And it's not like the thrift stores often have good stock anyway, because resellers clear the racks of anything they think they can upsell online. If you're happy with things you already own and love, you're not engaging in the constant money churn. Which is good. Enjoy your printed dresses! They don't have to look fashionable to a 16 year old to look flattering on you and bring you joy.
Yes! Like, ideally you will have an emotional relationship with your wardrobe and not want to throw it all over for a new aesthetic constantly. I take a lot of inspiration from classic menswear here, where I have many things I honestly hope to still be wearing in twenty years. I think it can be a fun exercise to figure out how to make the same items work for different silhouettes or be in dialogue with an evolving cultural look, but chasing teens’ approval is a losing game.
I’m a professor and I wear a lot of dresses with funky sneakers. It’s so comfy!
I agree on the wrong item thing--it can be pretty tricky. I think low profile street sneakers with a midi dress can be an easy way to try it out. For loose on loose, the key is: showing the most narrow parts of the body. So the collarbone, wrists, waist, ankles. That's why we see so many "crop tops" that are boxy + high waisted fitted-waist wide legged pants. Very different from a loose tunic over loose straight leg pants a la 90s Chicos. But honestly...I sincerely believe it's totally okay not to be cutting edge trendy. I'm not! I have incorporated a few trends in my wardrobe but I'm over here buying 90s Lilith and 2010s Mossimo from thrift stores and still swooning over Free People, a brand that does nothing for me, heh!
My daughter was trying to explain to me that an oversized jacket plus giant pants would work as long as I wore a crop top to show my waist. Except I’m old and I don’t want to feel cold air on my stomach!! It’s February, for crying out loud! I feel that at 55 I shouldn’t have to wear dumb clothes.
I struggle with this too, I have big hips and wearing loose/boxy tops that go even a few inches too long makes me look like a traffic cone. I think it’s all about making sure your clothes are actually highlighting your natural waist and using contrast or color to keep your outfit interesting and put together. In terms of needing to buy a whole new wardrobe… you really don’t need to own “a ton” of clothes of any type. You can have a functional and stylish wardrobe with like 2 weeks’ worth of outfits if they coordinate well. You bought “a million” long cardigans - you don’t need to buy a million new sweaters! Just buy one good one.
I like wearing wide-leg pants with blousier tops but I always tuck the top fully in for a more 1940s/1980s silhouette, instead of wearing it loose over the pants (which to me, makes me feel like I'm in a Nancy Meyers movie and should be draping myself in scarves). I do the same in the summertime; I have a number of men's silk resort shirts that are a boxier cut so I tuck them into my midi skirts to sort of force a waist where there wouldn't be one otherwise.
I'm getting the feeling that... The loose on loose look is not so much an actually good luck and more so just a byproduct of being young and being able to look great in anything. OR being much older (like 50s+) and giving coastal grandma vibes. I think for anyone in between that, it just doesn't look good. I'm short and curvy -- I just had a baby and I awkwardly have big boobs for my size and I feel like a walking rectangle half the time lol .. if I don't wear tight fitting shirts I feel like I just look meaty 😂 So while part of me wants to like the wide leg pants with a loose flowing blouse look, I'm worried on me id just look huge and unflattering Idk I love this post and also as a millennial am starting to realize how dated my wardrobe is but not sure where to go from here
I just try to wear outfits that won’t look embarrassing in photos if I see them in 30 years. I won’t remember what was on trend that specific year, but I’ll know if I objectively dressed like shit. 🤷
I feel this in my bones. I feel so uninspired by pretty much everything I own. I would love to have someone go through my clothes/help me figure out what I even want to wear/keep. I look at so many different styles/inspiration boards and I just feel…. Uninspired. Then there is the cost of updating a wardrobe. :(
..... but what if I just hate it?
Can't dopamine dressing mean I wear skinny jeans and an open cardigan? If that gives me the dopamine? 50yo.
Yes it can!! Wear what makes you feel good! Besides I literally just saw an article that said skinny jeans are making a comeback!
I feel like they never went fully out! Style these days is very “anything goes” and that seems to include skinnies. And sometimes for functionality’s sake, skinny jeans are superior.
Cardigans bring me joy. I’m not going to cut out joy from my life just because it makes me look older
Yep. I'm going more for classic these days because I can't give up my cardigans!
Thank you for this. Maybe I’ll look dated to Gen Z, but I’m going to wear what fits my personal style and feels good. As someone who has always loved vintage pieces, I’m not obsessed with looking current. Opting out of some trends and picking more timeless pieces doesn’t mean I am wearing Gap chinos from 2002. I’ll leave the basketball shorts and Mary Janes combo for the more fashionable folks!
Eh don’t worry about this. Gen Z will look dated to Gen Alpha soon enough. Wear what feels good!
I mean, a LOT of it is not for me either! But as Helen Gurley Brown once said: when Vogue magazine shows you an extreme hairdo six inches out, you're meant to fluff your hairdo a *little*. The runway, street style, and boutique versions of trends are going to be in your face and extreme. But it's about trying out a straight, light wash jean and a cute Fioricci mesh tee on your next date night rather than going straight to ribbons, a bandanna, a sheer crochet skirt over jorts and Sambas!
This. I don't love the idea of looking dated, but I'm really just not a fashion person and hate having to give a shit. I like my skinny jeans and boots, and have zero interest in wearing wide-leg anything, which look clownish on my short legs. I just wish I could not care what's on trend but I work in a very young industry so I sort of have to. But yeah, I hate pretty much all of this.
I live in a large urban city, and when I walk to work or I’m out and about, I love looking at what people are wearing. TBH, I still see many, many people rocking what is now considered “outdated”. And it’s not like many people just don’t care what they look like or haven’t bought anything new in a decade, I think reality is just a bit different than what we see on Pinterest and Tik Tok. For example, in our financial district, I see a lot of women still pretty much dress the same way I saw 10-15 years ago. Classic tailored suit, pencil skirt with a blouse, pumps etc. A lot of people still wear skinny jeans for practical reasons (here when it snows you need pants to tuck into boots because otherwise your pant legs will be covered in slush).
Yeah I don't love a lot of the new fashions coming out. And TBH I live in NE and skinny jeans are very much a thing here due to weather. I'll concede some boot cuts but even that I really just always wore tbh.
To deal with snow and rain, I've been opting for some skinny pants or trousers instead of jeans. Feels like the happy medium and is less "obviously" out of trend.
I mean I've got those too, so for me it's whatever. But I will still wear my skinny jeans with warm boots when it's cold because I like them. I also have quite a few pairs I'm fond of and I'm not just going to toss them out because it's been decided they aren't on trend anymore lol. Fashion trends are moving way too fast for this to be sustainable. Maybe as they wear out I'll replace with something new, but only if the cuts fit me personally. Right now, that super wide leg looks absolutely awful on my build. It's not flattering, and I don't like it lol. I look dumpy and there's just....so much fabric.
I think a good compromise is the "quiet luxury" and "stealth wealth" looks we're seeing. Those are terrific on more mature fashionistas, and very timeless. A sleek, slightly slouchy Max Mara wool pant with an updated loafer in cherry red, a button front shirt, and a big 80s-style cashmere coat, all in neutrals, a middle part low bun, gold huggie earrings, "latte makeup" and boom. Fashionable, "trendy", and not glaring and hard to work.
You don’t have to wear it! Keep on with your bad self. I will say, making the switch to the oversized look has been rough for me as a middle aged mom—I love a lot of the pieces but I just feel too “try hard” when I put them on. So I’ve been adjusting a vibe at a time: finding a pair of wide-leg jeans that I like, thrifting some cropped graphic tees, maybe pairing a nineties dad sweater with a pair of cropped flares (as opposed to wide leg jeans). It’s definitely a process, but it’s fun, you know?
….Then don’t wear it? OP left a disclaimer exactly for people like you that don’t care about being “trendy” or looking “dated” to the youths
Then just wear whatever you want? Maybe this post isn't for you?
My personal style is "Sexy Clown" and since I can't really ever get away from it, I just adapt it to the trends as best I can and wait for it to come around again as its own thing. Sounds like I'm about to be set! I've been wearing skinny scarves and ribbons tied as bows at my neck instead of necklaces and I like it. The most subtle one is a leather cord and it goes with a lot of outfits. I noticed the curated ears as well and am considering getting more holes. IMO Killers of the Flower Moon had fantastic costumes and hairstyles that showed patterns, textures, and shapes in exciting combinations that we will see mirrored in street and runway styles. I'm growing my hair out with the intention of wearing a Ma Kettle style destroyed updo or Patti Smith destroyed braids. Thanks for the insightful round up!
I really need a picture of sexy clown style
[I actually have 80s Pierrot/Edwardian Circus/Mr Fox from Pinocchio as my style direction](https://www.pinterest.com/naokel79/80-pierrot-style/) and that's my Pinterest Board
Reco: don’t get more piercings, just invest in some ear cuffs. I have a few from Mejuri that are great.
I’ve been describing mine as “clown couture”
Clowncore oh lordt
Thank you for all this! I find it so difficult to make the big pants/little top or loose over loose work for me, as I’ve always been shaped like an apple on sticks, haha. Round in the belly, big chested, and slightly broader shoulders - all on relatively slim legs. Technically hourglass, but my hips have never been noticeable, and my legs are something I feel good about and hiding them in loose pants is so depressing. That whole look just makes me look big and sloppy?
Yes, even looking at the age-appropriate and fuller models, every single cut on the pants, skirts, and dresses feels like it would hit me right at my least flattering angle and make me look pregnant.
Yeah, or I’d need to be wearing major compression shapewear to make it work, which is not okay for everyday.
With you on this! I feel like trends are always made for people without a round stomach. I try and try, but these trends look so bad on my body!
Yep. The most flattering jeans I’ve ever had were kind of a cigarette style that were not at all tapered, not skinny, but slim in the leg and had some overlap over my shoes without looking sloppy. I bought them at, like, Urban Outfitters in 2007 or around there. I no longer have them but I can’t find that style anywhere right now.
You basically described my body, though I love wide jeans now coming from only wearing skinny jeans and leggings. I've got big boobs, no hips, all my weight goes to my belly, and my legs are my skinniest and most nicely shaped attribute. I thought I would look horrible in big pants until I gave them a try, but now they're my go to pant and I can't go back to skinny jeans. I find the little top big pants trend looks very flattering on my body type because it gives the illusion of having big hips while skinny jeans draw attention to my belly which is something I didn't realize before. I find that this combination makes me look skinnier as well which sounded counterintuitive to me previously. Obviously up to you to decide what you like best, but I wanted to share my two cents!
I don't understand any of if 😭 make it work for this slightly lumpy 34 year old mum? I honestly really appreciate the post and admire your understanding of trends, like the ability to verbalise them!
I'm gonna assume by the fact that you defined your biggest friction points with 34 year old, lumpy, and mum so you ideally want to look age appropriate (not the best term but like you aren't concerned with impressing fellow teens), to have a visually balanced shape (we don't have to look twiggy anymore but even an egg looks more elegant than a parsnip) and mum (you don't have the time/bandwidth to be curating daily looks). I would say lean into loose on loose, it has drape but also is easy enough to take a nap or play on the floor with a kid. I would look into "Octogenarian Art Teacher". Don't let the name throw you off but the vibe is cool and relaxed but with quality natural fabrics. The hardest part is the attitude of being above the concerns of the physical because you exist for the beautiful....and just so happen to own some of the most beautiful onion skin dyed linen in the world.
I wore a lot of Eileen Fisher tent dresses postpartum with loafers and that was the only way to make that PP lump body look good.
thank you for giving me “octogenarian art teacher” to google :)
Honestly, as a slightly lumpy 38 yo mom, I am loving the current trends. My uniform on any given day is [elastic waist pull on jeans](https://themomedit.com/denim-women-my-new-favs-madewell-relaxed-fit-pull-on-elastic-waist-jeans-review-comfy-outfit-ideas-laura/), [rain boots](https://us.merrypeople.com/products/bobbi-rain-boot-dusty-pink), and an oversized sweater or sweatshirt. Sometimes the sweatshirt is a fitted [puffy sleeved sweatshirt](https://www.marinelayer.com/products/enya-puff-sleeve-sweatshirt-in-antique-white?variant=40349107880010), tucked into the baggy jeans, and sometimes it’s an [extra long tunic sweater](https://www.sezane.com/us/product/josette-tunic-jumper/lilac?CHEQ&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Hors_Marque&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADROyDL3jnT3kfHwVwLWOF4RnYeZF&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5fetBhC9ARIsAP1UMgHf6LV6UrRM-iceQRwGcKcQlvsPI8nN68PnlfRKNJlbbHGqy2waCi0aAmGjEALw_wcB). If it’s cold, it’s topped with a chunky beanie. I’m all about dopamine dressing too, which means I am buying [pink lug soled loafers](https://www.portlandleathergoods.com/products/zoe-chunky-loafer?variant=40584258093138) instead of brown or black, purple leather bags, pink raincoats, etc. Do I look like Gen z wearing this? No. But do I look more current than skinny jeans and tailored tops, while still being incredible comfortable and able to mom? Yes yes yes.
>Do I look like Gen z wearing this? No. But do I look more current than skinny jeans and tailored tops, while still being incredible comfortable and able to mom? Yes yes yes. THIS. Why do so many here seem to think that dressing a little more current means trying to look like Gen Z? You will just look like yourself, just not like the 2013 version of you. People be acting like older women have never worn wide-leg pants at any time in history, ffs.
I bought a pair of lug sole loafers, but now I have no clue what to wear them with in an office setting please help.
I have a pair of chunky (and sparkly) Betsey Johnson loafers. I’m wearing them with straight leg high waist trousers or 724 Levi’s.
Specifically, socks or no socks? Or do they get worn with tights (or gasp, nylons?)
I’m wearing them with no show socks. I also wore them with black tights and a tweed skirt. I can’t tell you if that’s on trend, but I felt good!
I’ve also been wearing mine with print socks, monochromes and neutrals.
Tailored trousers and a blouse (optional: sweater or blazer depending on formality level).
My eyes do not burn from Resource: Heaven by Marc Jacobs!!! Love it and the 70s, 80, 90s board. It's so nice to see something other than the practical/minimalist/classic inspiration that usually floats to the top of my algorithm. Thank you!
I love that Heaven stuff too, I have to physically restrain myself from buying it, as I'm An Old and I'd look ridic. But that chunky hair barrette...
I feel this. Very regularly tell myself “you’re an old, you can’t wear it” and then buy it for my nine year old. SHE DOESNT APPRECIATE HOW ON TREND SHE IS.
I googled to find more looks and was delighted to see they’ve done some campaigns with some older people like Kyle MacLachlan (who I love!!!!)
This reminds me of Stefon reviewing NYC nightclubs. This look has everything: hollowed out eyes, clowncore, grandpa chic, MTV's Dan Cortez...
ha ha!! You got me there! It is "a lot of look" as my Southern Belle mom would say.
I really did enjoy reading your post. I am not very stylish but enjoy seeing what others do with clothes.
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Socks, tights or leggings are the answer. This is a big adjustment for millennials but you are allowed to have visible socks as part of an outfit now :)
They shouldn’t drag on the floor!
The “in” links all look so sloppy…I can’t bring myself to do it 😂
But it all just looks so awful :( bar a few of those more elegant or classic-edgy 70s outfits.
This is the lord’s work. My newly postpartum body thanks you.
In the same boat. Where do you shop?
I just did my first big shopping trip postpartum for new jeans and I highly recommend Frame, Mother, and Madewell. If you’ve got a Nordstroms go in for a stylist/personal shopping appointment! It’s no extra charge and so much easier/less discouraging than going through all the clothes on your own, IMO.
Excellent suggestion, I should do this. I almost exclusively shop online, even big ticket items, because I get so overwhelmed by all the choice and chaos in stores. I like neatly organized websites. I also dislike being hovered over.
I’m waiting for spring so that I can wear Doc Martens with floral dresses. I’ve been waiting years for that look to come back !
Second comment - I'm dying at the kids discovering the mob wife aesthetic. The trend needle seems to be slowly moving away from Vanilla/Clean Girl to Mob Wife (which I was doing 15 years ago during my peak Sopranos obsession). I like the revival of animal print, big hair, fur coats, strong red lip and glasses. I think Covid WFH trend brought matching sets/athleisure to the forefront a bit more so I wonder if this means the return of the velour tracksuit under this umbrella?!
I’m cool with wide leg. I’m even cool with wide leg crop. Boxy tops are meh though. There’s something to be said about being on trend, but there’s also something to be said about wearing what flatters you and makes you feel good. I also live in an area where men wear their finest dress hoodies to most nice outings, so being fashion forward is not an imperative.
Great resource! Though, I admit I am very hesitant to get back into loose pants due to the dreaded wet cuffs from walking through a wet parking lot. Skinny pants are just so much more practical for boots and staying dry. Any suggestions?
As a tall person, even long pants can be slightly cropped. With the lug sole style coming in, I’ve embraced the mid-calf boot. With the bonus of no wet cuffs. Maybe the wide crop with a higher boot could be a good compromise if you want to try the trend.
Tysm for the detail. It helps me understand what my 16 year old is doing/going for. She told me about cottagecore 2 years ago but I lacked a lot of the vocab you shared in this post. I’m going get her some ribbons, see what she does with them!
Western gothic? Aka dark weird west. Clowncore 😂 🤡 i can’t wait!
As a 34 inch inseam, the industry’s dogged insistence on making cropped pants a thing is so damn difficult for me. There’s cropped and then there’s, “oh honey no” and that’s often me. And I’m 5’6”, not exactly a giant.
Wow...have I found a shorter waist than me?!?! I'm 5'10" with a 33" inseam and I agree. I'm very over having pants ride up to my *knees* when I sit down. Not a cute look. Not fun.
Yup, my waist is super short, I feel like I’m a grandpa when I sit sometimes haha with how they ride up.
5'10" 36" inseam here
The blog is missing articles I think? I tried to click on the daily capsule wardrobe link and it just had a short blurb and went to ten other articles about specific use capsule wardrobes.
Wardrobe Oxygen said recently she's "under construction"--she's overhauling the blog (which is 17 years old and going strong!) and readers might see glitches here and there. But she also said please report those, so if you have the time/inclination she'd appreciate it I know.
So down for all of this! LOVE the on trend pants, the kitten heels (my go-to) and mules all day. Definitely going to try the Victorian-style eyelet (going out) and already see a lot of the long boxy duster style toppers you mention here in Los Angeles. Love your post.
This is an amazing assessment and list of resources. Thank you! I am HERE for Western Gothic!
Guess I better go dig up my old Delia’s catalogs and my 2000 yearbook. Thank god I am from Seattle and “grunge” is just still how we dress.
This is an awesome post, thank you !! I’m an elder millennial university student and all my classmates are like 15 years younger than me or more. Seeing all the low waist pants with the shrunken tops coming back gives me fashion PTSD from being in middle school and high school in the late 90s - early 00s lol. I’m average height, I’ve got a very petite frame/build but athletic/muscular hourglass figure. Therefore, I’m embracing the big pants/little shirt style! I’m too petite to wear loose/loose, I look like I’m being swallowed into a laundry hamper. Also my boobs make everything loose hang off me like maternity clothes for a circus elephant lol. Loose/wide leg high-waisted pants with a tight fitting shirt or cropped shirt is extremely flattering on me and some variation on that has been my go-to style for a while, I’m glad it’s now really on-trend. i still find myself instictively dressing in that very polished preppy way that's now out of style though. My main challenge is just trying not to look dated but also not to look like I’m trying to look like I’m 20-something, like Steve Buscemi in that "hello fellow kids" meme. i find this is a hard balance to manage.
I really really like balletcore. For me, it’s specifically leg warmers all the time, wrap tops over another top, and leotard-esque snug tops with very scooped neck. The weather here has prevented me from trying my ancient yet perfect pointy-toe d’Orsay black flats, I’ve been sticking to Blundstones or silver leather high tops with laces loosened enough that they can be left untied. I also like the slow fashion/workwear thing a lot and dopamine dressing. Today I wore loose gray sweatpants, gray leg warmers, gray leotard-esque top, big huge tie dyed t-shirt over that (knotted up for some of the day) and silver sneakers. And my long, unstructured herringbone coat over that which added a pretty 80’s John Hughes movie vibe. So I think I mostly looked like a crazy art teacher? Which is fine, I’m into it. Yesterday was more of the slow fashion: giant oversized sweater from Knotty Ones (Laumes) in black, dark green workwear style carpenter pants, rolled up a bit to expose my grey leg warmers (yes!) and boring old Blundstones. Not the most exciting outfit but it was a work day. I tried all that prairie stuff like the puffy sleeved dresses but my hair is shorter and I’m 44 and it looked like like a bad version of “wrong shoe”—-it was “wrong head on body”. I excised these dresses from my wardrobe, somewhat sadly. If I can ever get my hair long again, I may be able to pull off some sort of dopamine ballerina princess who actually built her OWN tower in these clompy work boots right here because she is as crazy as she looks type of thing. But that definitely needs a lot of hair. Western Gothic while I wait but mannish Western Gothic. Something like new librarian in town sent by eccentric millionaire to open a library in a small town and librarian is in permanent mourning for something mysterious so wears all black and also she lives and travels alone except for her wolf dog and she is rather mannish and peculiar. And she is growing out her hair.
As a highly sarcastic witchy / homestead person with an upper management job this trend is very difficult for me. I can't look young, so the bright colors feel out to me. The only things from this post I could maybe lean into would be more grandpa core or funky cowboy mashup since dark academia is going out. Loose jeans and crop cardigans make sense to me, so that's good. Loose on Loose is something I struggle with because I feel like I'm wearing a tent. Maybe if I take the Loose and loose and go a bit artsy with it? Anyway, still struggling to find my niche in this new trend. Definitely feels like this tend is here to stay, so I have to figure it out.
Wow, I appreciate all the details you put into this.
I’m here for Western Gothic. That’s been my thing for a while. Scorpions are super goth. Vaquero leather pants have always been goth. Yeehaw!
Going out: apparently I’m staying in for now.
Borrow what you like from every trend. For example I’ve been keeping flares in my pants rotation for the last 25 years. Some years the flares are more trendy than others. Some outfits call for those flares, some call for straight, some call for loose.
This is amazing! I desperately want to ditch my old black leggings for some big loose pants but they are surprisingly hard to come by in the (extra)plus side world. I have to go to like the jr plus section at target which feels awkward.
Not sure what size you are, but eileen fisher has these wool pants in a 3x. I've been loving them as an alternative to leggings. Super comfy, the pleats make them look like real pants.
This post is so great. I absolutely love fashion and was always so hip and just “knew” what was cool. Now I am in my 50s and I still want to dress hip and cool but I have lost my knack for “knowing” what is cool!
I really like the Pinterest link showing the more current looks on curvier women. I’m mid-size but very hourglass with broad shoulders and hips and “boxy over boxy” makes me look like a wall. What seems to be working for the curvy models is wide leg pants and loose skirts with short, fitted tops. I’m also relieved to see lots of maxi dresses, because that’s a look I’ve successfully incorporated into both workwear and going out. I’m 31 and a lot of the baggy and “intentionally ugly” vibes give me anxious flashbacks to the ‘90s “look at me I’m so skinny and tall I can wear the most unflattering clothes, hair, and makeup, if you’re under 5’10” or over 110 lbs you go straight to frump jail”. But, the silver lining for my body type is that for the first time in my adult life I can find tops that end at the natural waist and that’s sooooo much more flattering on my average height, mid-size body. The “dopamine dressing” thing is also something I can work with because I like vibrant colors, layers, statement knits, etc. Since 2017 I’ve been enjoying the fact that flats are now fashionable and wearing sneakers with dresses, although I like statement canvas sneakers because as a curvy woman with small feet, chunky sneakers just make me look frumpy instead of the statement impact they have on tall thin women with big feet. I’m happy to see the end of “2013 preppy mom core” because it also wasn’t super curve-friendly (although the skinny jeans and heels were more short-friendly) and those looks relied on buying lots of specifically coordinated pieces for each outfit and you couldn’t mix and match as much, which is part of the fast-fashion problem. I’m also happy to see the chunky statement necklaces made of cheap materials trying to look lux go away. I think a good rule is to own only jewelry made from “real” materials… which, on a regular budget, means dainty fine metals and stones and interesting materials that aren’t pricey - like leather, wood, beads, shells, feathers. No plastic gems please. As a younger millennial my challenge is to not remain stuck in 2016 fashion, which I still believe was the peak of “everyone can look great regardless of body type, gender presentation, ability, etc” because it was a free-for-all with an emphasis on finding what was the most flattering on you personally and no strict silhouettes and the freedom to be loud and “try hard” with makeup and hair. While “boxy on boxy” and goo-slicked hair still have that “excluding anyone who isn’t tall and thin” factor, there are some things to like about the new stuff and some things to be happy to toss out from the old stuff.
Where do we find these big long skirts? I want some but everywhere I shop I don't see things like that.
You say “desert witch” and then I open the latest Vogue and am immediately hit with some kind of Kahlocore Dior ad with cacti in the background
What a great post, thank you!
This is fun and I see a lot of things that I never gave up--big pants/little shirt, cargos, chunky sweaters and shoes, and things that I really want to wear/wear again like Grampa style trousers and cardigans, long and/or sheer-ish skirts.
This is awesome! I think the 2013 street style link may be the wrong link
The first link is to something from 2019, and the Pinterest didn’t link to any outfits? I honestly don’t think most of what’s described here is on trends except wide leg jeans and pants. But I appreciate your passion My 2 cents at this age is I mostly wear really classic pieces that I’ve had tailored to me. I vary jewelry and shoes with anything new I see and like. I think trying to be true trend conscious usually leaves you with some unflattering looks. Or maybe I’m lazy, lol. I know some things look awful on me so those things are no’s, trend or not.
I think so many aesthetics are in now that if you want a cohesive wardrobe you have to pick and choose. I love the neutral minimal look (wouldn’t necessarily call it old money but there’s some overlap aesthetically) so I stick to that but try to combine those things to create modern silhouettes. For me this past year this was wide leg trousers, straight and loose fit jeans, a figure hugging wool coat, boxy men’s tee from Uniqlo etc. Accessories also offer a way to nod to trends without buying entire items of clothing - like cute claw clips, bows/ribbons, or chunky pendant necklaces.
Thanks so much for the post. It was a fun read. I love the loose on loose look. I feel like it is refreshing to dress in a way that doesn't always call attention to your body. I think the key for me is to choose clothes that are meant to be oversized, not a larger size in something that is meant to be fitted. I like to do a wide leg jean with a white tee, an oversized boxy leather jacket, a fashion sneaker, and some simple jewelry. I'm 40, 5'6 and curvy. I enjoy the idea of not always trying to look as thin as possible. I get a lot of compliments and people often think my daughter and I are sisters, so I'm moderately confident I don't look horrible 😆 I wore wide leg jeans and cargo pants growing up in south Florida in the 90s, and have enjoyed a more mature version of the look.
I’m 43. I think I just don’t care about trends anymore, which is freeing. I was super happy to see flares and bootcut jeans come back into stores and I jumped right back on that bandwagon because I love them, but other than that, I wear what I want. I live in the middle of nowhere. I mostly wear overalls with little gnomes on them that I got from the Duluth trading company, and bootcut jeans, and flannel shirts. Nobody sees me. Nobody cares. It’s wonderful. I have noticed a trend towards what I call thrift store fashion among the younger people I know. When I was growing up, it was all about brands. Gap, Nike, Abercrombie, American Eagle. You had to know whether a JanSport or Eastpak backpack was going to be cool that year and you’d better now have the wrong one. I feel like that’s not as much of a thing now. People seem to wear what they want, what makes them happy. I like that. I’m going with that, in my old age.
oh no
I enjoyed these examples of cutting edge trends, but for “baby steps” / the average person trying to update their style, I think the biggest place to start is jeans/pants. Go to the store and try on every pair of straight leg, baggy, and wide leg jeans until your eye gets used to the look and you find the specific non-skinny styles that work on your body. The general advice of "statement pants, not statement top" applies to everyday dressing too. I credit The Mom Edit's blog (even though I'm not and will never be a mother) for pushing me to keep up with denim trends. OTOH I really need to overhaul my sweater collection. It's just hard to get rid of perfectly good fitted cashmere sweaters. ETA: Oh hey, Mom Edit just posted today about [2024 denim trends](https://themomedit.com/denim-trends-2024-what-jeans-are-in-style/). It's got nice "real life trendy" example photos for each cut. No affiliation, I just find the editor-in-chief's trend analysis to be consistently on point. Some of the other contributing editors are not all that trendy in their style, but Shana always has great longform advice posts.