Fashion for 60s

If you read my blurb, all about me, you would know that there are certain clothes that I will never wear. I am most definitely not a pink, or frilly or sparkly person. I loathe white trousers, well those that cling in all the wrong places so I suppose the trick is to get a material that is really good quality and make sure they don’t hug the knees and are a bit bendy. However, you still won’t catch me buying them because I am very fair skinned and think they look wonderful on those among us who are lucky enough to have sallow skin.

I have been fortunate enough to be styled for TV Fashion by the likes of Roxanne Parker, Judy Gilroy, and Lisa Fitzpatrick and all had an instinct about what suited me. I have a shape that is common to a lot of women. I have very small boobs and a bigger bottom half. All in all, it still amounts to being a size 10. I aid and abet my tiny boobs with a good bra, preferably smooth, padded and sometimes resort to “chicken fillets”. I have a funny story about those that my friends know all about!. All I will say is, be very careful when wildly jiving at a new job work bash. I think at the ripe old age of 60 I know what suits me and what doesn’t. I prefer the longer lines on my top half, and love the new trick of tucking shirts or tops into the front of trousers/skirts and leaving the back down, so as to balance what my sister used to call my “ballet bottom”. I love both crisp shirts and flowing, not bulky, skirts, though not necessarily together. I am better making my top half look broader, once again to balance things out. If I wear a pencil skirt, I like the top or v necked sweater to come to the top of my thighs. I like my trousers to be fairly high waisted (think Simon Cowell) and to allow me to either wear brogues or kitten heels. I really adore trouser suits, as opposed to skirt suits. I like midi dresses and sometimes vintage; check out Charlotte and Jane http://charlotteandjane.com/ who made me the most glorious Mad Men dress, perfect for Mother of the Bride. I would never wear anything above my knees. It just doesn’t suit me and I actually think that it rarely suits women of a certain age. God bless opaque tights. Likewise I prefer sleeves to come to either just above or below my elbows, or full length. Crepe is all very well in a material or as a pancake……………..

I love jeans that have a bit of give in them, and I found the absolutely perfect pair in And Other Stories https://www.stories.com/en_eur/clothing/jeans/product.straight-slim-fit-jeans-faded-blue.0576472009.html. Best pair. Hands down. Comfy and just the right length for my 5’10.

I bought both these dresses from Instagram @kristinitla and they were just perfect for summer and winter and did everything I want a dress to do. She has some very good sales and they took no length to arrive. I tend to wear a certain shape in a heeled shoe; rather than round toes, I think more of a point elongates the legs and makes your ankles look better.

I found the following on my “dry January” browse of the internet shopping. I decided that since I retired, I really need to wear all the clothes in my wardrobe. So I am not buying. Repeat after me, Brenda. I was very very very tempted by the sale in Zara – do have a look. Better by far than browsing the rails https://www.zara.com/ie/en/sale-l879.html

I really want this, especially since my hair is redder and think charcoal grey is divine.

Can’t go wrong with black tuxedo jacket in your wardrobe.

Love contrasting patterns

Perfect over jeans – very country chic.

Cos https://www.cosstores.com/en_eur/index.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb-dublin-wicklow-street is a great store, and I have a very chic friend, Marianne, who is smaller than I am and also a completely different shape and always looks elegant and well put together in clothes that she often buys here. They do wonderful crisp, white shirts.

I love bottle green but think I would wear this with a tan belt and boots. I am a big fan of not wearing something right up to the neck, rather leaving some decolletage. It just seems to lengthen the neck and doesn’t concentrate on any turkey neck one might possibly have. I love polo necks for just the same reason and an icon is Diane Keating.

So, that’s my style. Sometimes, I get it. Sometimes I don’t, But you know despite knowing the bits of my body that I don’t particularly like, I concentrate on the fact that I can move. I can dance – with or without chicken fillets.