How to Dress Elegantly Over 50 ¦ Timeless & Chic Wardrobe Guide.

Every single day I talk to women over 50 who tell me they are struggling with their wardrobe. It is the reason I started Capsule Closet Stylist. So today's video is all about looking and feeling elegant over 50. Hi my name is Michelle Barrow. I've been a personal stylist for 25 years. I now help you build capsule wardrobes that mix and match easily. So now before I go on I just want to say a huge thank you to everybody who is liking, subscribing and sharing. Please keep that coming. It genuinely helps me bring more content to you. So without further ado let's get started. Now first up I recommend you prioritise fit and tailoring. One of the biggest mistakes that I see people make a lot is that they kind of put on a little bit of weight so then they wear things that hang straight off their bust and hang straight down with no structure. I want to show you today that whatever age you are, whatever body shape you are, that one of the best things that you can do is to kind of incorporate tailoring into your wardrobe. Now one of the things that I think looks really lovely is natural fabrics like cashmeres, silks, linens etc. Because silk is one of my favourite kind of fabrics. Like this shirt for example by Mome Silk is made from grade 6A silk. It's absolutely beautiful. You can see the way the light is catching it, the way it feels on my skin. It feels really luxurious. It doesn't feel like it's clinging to me. It's kind of cut very nicely and the way it catches the light. I love silk in the daylight. It just catches the light beautifully. So whatever fabric it is you're going to go for, whatever garment it is you're going to go for, think about quality over quantity and those beautiful fabrics which work really well in the light. It is all about, I promise you, how the light hits that fabric and the contrast in your outfit. So you know like linen with silk or linen with cashmere or linen with wool, you know any of those things. It kind of acts differently every time you see it. Now as you can see I'm wearing this gorgeous silk shirt from Mome Silk. It is absolutely beautiful. I love the way it catches the light. It looks elegant. It's very light and because it's made from mulberry silk it allows your skin to breathe as well. I've teamed that with a skirt from Sdia which kind of gets lots of flowing going as well and I love the fact of having all the white but breaking out with a black panel inside as well. So one of the main things that you can do to try and look elegant is to keep your colors to a kind of minimum. So you know two or three colors in an outfit works really well. Next up I've gone for that kind of very contrasting outfit again with my black skirt which is from Because of Alice and I've teamed it with a silk shirt again from Mome Silk. It's quiet, it's sophisticated but it looks slightly quirky and interesting as well. So you know looking elegant doesn't have to be boring. My next tip to you is get a color analysis done. Definitely look into that. If you're interested in that book in for a discovery call with me and we can have a little chat about how I might be able to help you. A color analysis will help you identify the colors that work for you and that can make a huge difference in looking elegant at any age. Doesn't matter what age it is. So today I'm in the same shirt I'm in today which is my Mome Silk shirt again. This time I'm teaming it with a pair of linen trousers. Again like I said it's kind of the way the light catches the outfit. So the linen being very matte and very muted and kind of not catching the light works really nicely with the mulberry silk which catches the light and it flows really nicely as well. There's something really elegant and special about that in the way that you move. In the next case I've also worn the silk again and I've teamed it with a pair of barrel leg trousers. I wanted to show you this because I feel like it's slightly more edgy. I love my trilby hats you might not like something like that but it is a way of me adding my personality but still looking elegant and that's the key I think with anything. Whatever age you are but particularly when you're over 15 you lose your way a little bit. Just make sure you add your own personality into your outfit even if you are trying to look elegant. If you're really struggling with your wardrobe particularly if you're over 50 it is my specialized area. I'm 52 myself. Definitely book in for a discovery call with me. I'd love to meet you. I love meeting so many of you all over the world. I promise you I genuinely enjoy it and we can have a little chat about how I might be able to help you. Now one of the best things you can do if you're wanting to look elegant is to look at quality over quantity. Now quality doesn't necessarily have to mean expensive but think about the most luxurious fabrics that you can look at. So your silks and your cashmeres and your linen and your good quality Pima cotton for example. You know think about those. I absolutely love these silk pyjamas that Mome Silk sent me. I wore them last night. They feel really light on the skin. It's fantastic as well if you're going through perimenopause or menopause and you've got all those kind of sweats at night because it allows your skin to breathe. It's a lot better than wearing satin and the way that the light catches silk is very different to the way it catches satin. It's kind of much more subtle. It's much more fluid. So look at the fabrics and think about the quality as well. Now if you are on a budget take a look at Preloved, maybe Vinted, maybe eBay and look at kind of what you can build there as well. Think about blending the colours like I said in the last section. You know one of the best things that you can do in a way is to almost go for that kind of monochromatic look where you've kind of got a maybe it's sort of like a sort of a beige colour but it's slightly different in your top, slightly different in your pants or skirt but it catches the light differently so it looks different enough but kind of subtle and kind of very neutral. That kind of thing works really well if you're going for that kind of elegance. The other thing that I would do like I often say to you is to link through any accessories so belt, bag, shoes or maybe a trim on a hat. You know wherever you can link those items through. Think about quality over quantity every single time. A quality piece will last you years. It will look different, it will hang differently and it will kind of it will just immediately say something that's much more elegant and much more luxurious. Now if you're trying to build a capsule wardrobe whether it be you know for work or just generally or whatever it is definitely download my capsule wardrobe planner. The next up embrace elegant silhouettes. Now what I mean by that is often elegance I think is pieces that fit you really well so it's something that kind of skims the body it's not usually really really tight it's also not usually really baggy it's somewhere in between it's kind of tailored or it's just made to fit you and this can be anything from jeans like I'm wearing in this video with my white jeans and my white silk shirt it's kind of very monochromatic but I break it up with the belt as well and it kind of gives something that immediately looks elegant. The reason why it looks elegant is firstly because of the fabrics again secondly because it fits me well it's a cut that isn't overwhelming my body I'm only five foot three it's not kind of super tight either but it just hits the light lovely as well and that monochromatic kind of very neutral kind of colours as well always look better when you're going for that elegance. Next up I've got this fully black outfit again the kind of linen of the skirt is quite structured it's got a high split up it which is kind of pushing the boundaries a little bit with the elegance but that's what I quite like to do is push the boundaries so it's got that big tie kind of makes it look like it's a wrap skirt that's from because of Alice the shirt is from Hilara and that's kind of got the slash top and it's quite loose and a little bit more flowy so again what I've got is something that's fitting my silhouette but the fabric is behaving in a different way and that is what I think works quite well for elegance as well. Now last but not least is accessories super super important now I have said to you a thousand times before I know but try and match them through I basically have two colours in terms of accessories I have different coloured shoes but I have like two bags I have two belts in two different colours when my daughter doesn't steal my belt that is by the way I have and so then I can link it through it makes it really really easy so be really careful about the accessories you choose I love this bag which is from Teddy Blake it's kind of really good quality made in Italian leather beautiful colour and I love that kind of cream colour because a lot of the outfits I wear it links in really well so whatever you buy in accessories also think of quality you know some of the best kind of accessories you can get are made in really good quality leather which will last you for years and years and years and if you're vegan then go for the best kind of there's those mushroom leathers around at the moment go for the best kind of quality that you can get what you don't want is something where you know the film's going to peel off that you want something that's going to age really well and that's going to kind of age with you that will even get passed down in generations so whether that's a bag whether it's shoes whether it's a belt think really carefully about that in addition think about what else you've got in your wardrobe and think about those elegant kind of colours they tend to be quite muted think you know your beige your black your ivory your tan as well as a lovely colour tan is a wonderful colour to go with ivories and whites and creams and beige a bit like which I've showed you in some of my videos in addition as well if you live somewhere like I do I live by the sea I love a good pair of sunglasses I always keep them quite simple work out what frame and kind of shape works best for your face and just stick to it whether it's bags whether it's belts whether it's shoes whether it's sunglasses whatever it is when it comes down to elegance find the style and the cut that works for you that feels quite timeless that's not kind of over kind of some sort of fad fashion trend and that will last you for years if you're struggling with your wardrobe and particularly if you're over 50 why not think about joining my VIP area here on YouTube it's for the price of a coffee £4.99 a month and we get together we do a live we've got our next live on Sunday which is all about intentional shopping and how to create that wardrobe that you love you can ask me questions directly I prioritize your questions and any of your comments in the whole community so out of 32,000 people you are the people that I speak to the most we have a private little area every single week I have a special offer that goes into that area as well so you get discounts you can even request brands to me as well you will be the focus on how I develop that area so I'd love to see you over there so if you're interested in that take a look at the link in the notes so I hope you found today's video helpful let me know in the comments what you think let me know what you thought about some of my outfits all the links to anything that I featured today will be in the notes as well so you can take a proper look there if you've got any questions let me know I'd love to hear from you and have a wonderful week and I'll see you next time take care bye