Welcome back to The Velvet Runway and this post about “Breaking Fashion Rules“. As a midlife stylist it may be assumed that by now I would be “playing by the rules”, but as anyone who knows me will tell you, in my book “fashion rules” are meant to be broken or at the very least adapted.
And the two “fashion rules” I am happily breaking today are about wearing skirts above the knee after the age of 40 and wearing horizontal stripes if you are not stick insect thin! In my opinion, both these rules are made to be broken!
Outfit of the day : Breaking fashion rules
Firstly, at my age, I shouldn’t be wearing skirts above the knee, but , I believe that skirt length does not depend on your age, but rather your body shape, the occasion and how you style it.
My second fashion “faux pas” is wearing horizontal stripes – surely I am too short/ not thin enough for horizontal stripes? Well, I admit that I am not particularly tall and definitely not thin, but I rather like the stripes and I personally believe that the style of the dress and your overall body shape have a big impact on the overall effect.
Thirdly, we are often told that we should never have long hair once we hit the big 4-0! Well, I could (and probably will) write another post just on this. For me, it’s a bit like skirt length – you should adopt a hair style (cut/colour/length) you are comfortable with. A bit like skirts and body shape, your hair style should compliment your face shape, and also your personality and life-style.
For more pictures and a comparison of horizontal stripes, read on.
Breaking fashion rules
So, for years, it has been commonly believed that vertical stripes are more flattering and that horizontal stripes tend to make you look fatter. But, according to a study by Dr Peter Thompson of the University of York (see here), horizontal stripes are in fact more slimming!
When people compared pictures of women wearing horizontally and vertically striped dresses, the majority found that when the two women were the same size, the one wearing the horizontal-striped dress appeared to be the thinner of the two.
However, all horizontal stripes are not created equal. It was found that narrow black stripes on a white background were most flattering — ideally when there was about 10 per cent black to 90 per cent white.
However, whilst it appears that I have inadvertently correctly chosen narrow black stripes, I think the reality is a bit more complicated and that the overall body shape, as well as the style of the dress all have a role to play!
I hope you enjoyed this feature about Breaking Fashion Rules, and have a look here for more of our style features.
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I never heard of the long hair rule past 40. Really? like really? horizontal stripes serve a purpose, they look TRENDY on ANYONE! I love them.
Thank you Rania – I love the horizontal stripes too!
Apparently, there is a “rule” that you shouldn’t have long hair past 40, but I will not be chopping my hair any time soon, as I think I look a lot better with long hair 🙂
Love your dress, agree about the “rules” ( am almost 58 with long hair). Interesting about the stripes. Great post, and on point look! I love Aqua from bloomies, their prices are good!
xx, Elle
http://www.theellediaries.com/
Thank you Elle. I think you look stunning with long hair – which proves my point entirely! I love the Aqua range too they have some great styles at affordable prices 🙂
I’ve always been very vocal about how I firmly believe age appropriate dressing to be absolute rubbish, Julia, and it’s lovely to meet a woman after my own heart 🙂 who’s to determine what women (of any age) can or can’t wear. Style is personal and subjective, and ought to be concocted based on our preferences, what makes us happy, puts a lilt in our steps. So I’m all for breaking “rules”, and may I say that dress looks really good on you. Those legs!!!
Thank you so much Sheela. It’s lovely to meet someone who shares my views on “age appropriate dressing”. Style is personal and fashion should make us happy! 🙂
Love the look
xx
https://theonethattravels.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much 🙂
No, I love this outfit a lot, your dress is so beautiful!
Thank you so much 🙂
I like horizontal stripes!! The wide vertical striped pillow totally looks wider. Such a cool post 🙂
Erica
http://www.pumpsandpushups.com
Thank you Erica. We’re always told that horizontal stripes make us look fatter, so it was interesting to compare the two pillows 🙂
You look so chic! I love your sandals!
xo
Siffat
http://icingandglitter.com
Thank you Siffat! I love them too – I wish I’d bought two pairs 🙂
You look amazing in these pictures!! I love wearing horizontal stripes too even though I’m short too!
http://thecourtneydiaries.com
Thank you so much Courtney 🙂
I totally agree with you on all of these points. I think you need to dress for your particular body no matter what your age. And I love the stripes study and pillow illusion. That is so interesting! I love this post, and you look amazing in those stripes!!
~Lili
Thank you so much Lili. I appreciate your feedback 🙂
I think you should wear what makes you feel good and forget the fashion rules! I love your striped dress! This is such a cute look!
Jill
Doused In Pink
Thank you Jill! I agree if you feel good then that’s the most important thing. Have a lovely Easter weekend 🙂
Such a great post! I completely agree! I am fed up with all the rules for petites, over 40s, etc and think we definitely can safely break them if we pay attention to our own proportions. The horizontal striped dress looks fantastic on you and I am so glad I’m not the only one trying to debunk the myth about stripes – I did a blog post about this very thing a few weeks ago – like you say, irrefutable evidence, so we can wear what we want! 🙂 Thank you for linking to UK websites – the Dorothy Perkins Bardot dress is excellent value – will be on my list! Quite like those cushions too! 🙂
Thank you Astrid! I’m glad I’m not the only one who is “breaking the rules”! 🙂
I’m glad you like the links by the way! I often shop on the UK High Street – there’s so much choice at reasonable prices 🙂
I think you look great in that dress and I am getting very close to 40 (will be 39 this summer) and I have no plans on chopping my hair!!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Thank you so much Carrie and you look fantastic with long hair, so you definitely shouldn’t chop it! 🙂
Great look dear! Love the combo!
Happy Easter,
XO Pisa
Thank you so much Pisa. I appreciate it. Happy Easter to you too 🙂
Fabulous.
Thank you so much 🙂
You look great…Love the dress. I too am a lover of stripes and breaking rules. Enjoying your blog.
Thank you so much Hilda! I’m glad you agree and that you are enjoying reading my blog. I appreciate the kind words 🙂
Love this dress and all the rules you broke with it! 🙂 I can totally relate since I’m up in years. Have a terrific Easter weekend!
http://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thank you Kathrine! It’s fun ‘breaking the rules’ (fashion ones at least!). Have a great Easter weekend too 🙂