When Spring shows it's sunny face we all seem to want to brighten up our wardrobes to match the weather and all the beautiful scenery that surrounds us.
While my Mom was visiting for Easter week I took her shopping. She recently has lost a bit of weight and was finding that most of her clothes were not fitting.
My Mom is a
young 83 and to be honest I chose things that I would gladly wear. Age can place certain parameters on us in our daily lives, however when choosing clothing there is a lot more
to consider besides our age.
We did not
want to spend a lot of money so for some basics we headed to Target to
start her out with some fun basic pieces that she can wear throughout
the Spring and Summer.
Target always seems to have a great selection of stylish pieces at great prices.
Good Tip:
Remember proportions and the silhouette you are creating when choosing clothing.
I think my main pet peeve with the way most women dress is proportion. It drives me nuts when I see a short legged woman, like myself with cropped pants at the wrong place in their leg and they look as if they are four feet tall and wide. I could go on and on about this one subject, and who knows maybe in the future I will.
In California the weather can get mighty hot in the summer time.
My Mom lives in the valley and it is blasted hot. She is self conscious about her legs and arms. I know we can all relate.
Since she likes them covered we tried to choose fun basic pieces to start out her new Spring wardrobe.
First thing to think about is what colors do you want to wear! Consider what colors you get compliments when wearing them.
For my Mom who is a natural red head, but now colors her hair she looks great in pretty pinks and brighter blues.
We decided to use black, white, bright pink and bright blue as our base colors.......
Since we are almost starting from scratch we bought the basics. Our objective is to stay cool so the first thing we chose was tank tops in all four colors that she can wear very light weight cardigans over her tank top. (remember she does not want her arms to show)
To cover her arms we chose three light weight cardigans.....
The white one has a bit of an open weave to it, it is darling on her with the black tank underneath.
I would like to bring up a point here....
In the past my Mom would wear a tank and then put a blouse on top of it and let it remain loose, not buttoned.
I see many woman doing this. Lets think about the silhouette this creates for a minute.
The tank shows her curves, and then she puts a square blouse on top of it and she looks twice her size and a bit like Bob square pants.
Often ladies of a certain age wear this look thinking it camouflages their tummy or midriff, when in actuality it just makes them broader.
If you want to wear a blouse, wear a blouse and button it. DON'T use the blouse as a cover-up, or jacket, it is only making you look larger, and wider.
This is the only way I like to see a tank under a blouse, notice she is cool and covered, and yet her silhouette remains slim and she has not added any width to her figure I don't care if you are larger than her, shoot I am larger than her, but I could wear this look and so can you!! Found at Chico's!!
GOOD TO REMEMBER!:
Loose bottoms, tight top!
Tight bottom, you can wear a looser bottom.
Next we got her two cute pair of pants at Talbots. Pants are hard for her and for me to find, and the pants at Talbots fit us both well so they are a good purchase.
Since it is summer we chose a bright cobalt blue and a white pair. We figured these would be a great base for all the other pieces....
While we were at Talbots we saw a really cute t-shirt with stripes, and a v-neck. It was perfect until we saw another striped option.
We chose the second option because to be honest the V-neck was pretty typical of a shirt a woman of a certain age would wear, and I wanted to brighten her up so we chose the more current looking stripe that made her smile when she looked at it.
REMEMBER...
When you shop don't settle for the normal options you would normally pick step outside the box, and have a little fun with your wardrobe.
"The Winner!"
She will have so much fun wearing this top of many colors.
We also got her a maxi dress from Target that is cool to wear, and will hide her legs.
She will wear it with a light weight black cardigan that fits close to the body, and is NOT too long, keeping her silhouette smaller, and not boxy.
GOOD TO KNOW!......
When wearing a cardigan with a maxi be sure it hits no longer than half way between waist and hip, right around 4-5inches below your waist. If it is any longer it will make you look older and out of proportion.
She will wear some neutral strappy sandals with this a nice bangle bracelet and be cool, calm and collected!
This dress is really darling on, and at a great price point, plus it is on trend.
We also took inventory of her shoes.
She needs a shoe that is stable and comfortable. We felt a black ballerina flat for dressy, and a cute platinum sandal for casual, plus a nude pair of ballerina flats would take her wherever she needs to go.
AND
She still needs a few things and I wrote out a 3X5 card for her so when she is out and about she can make some smart purchases.
Her SHOPPING LIST:
Two Maxi skirts to wear with cute short sleeved t-shirts.
A good pair of dress pants for special occasions.
2 dressy tops to wear with black pants.
Long sleeved white collared blouse, (Talbots) has the best, no iron blouses.)
We purchased her a short sleeved to wear in the summer, or under a sweater in the winter time.
So whether you are 55, or 85 you can dress stylishly as long as you plan out your purchases, and always keep in mind the proportions and the silhouette you create.
