These Trends Are Frumpy! - Nada Manley - Fun with Fashion Over 40

“I walked into H&M the other day and oh my word. Everything is SOOO baggy.” These were the words a friend and Ageless Style Program member greeted me with at church. And she’s not wrong. I love H&M but, like many stores right now, it’s kind of hit and miss. You see some cute things alongside some crazy things.

I guess trends have always been this way. There are those that are stylish and flattering and fun and give a boost to your wardrobe, and then there are the others. The trends that only work for 17-year-old supermodels or one of the Kardashians.

Back in my fashion-victim days, while working as a fashion editor at magazines, my only criteria when shopping trends was love.

If I loved a trend, I wore it. These days, my standards are higher. Good trends are like good friends. They should love you back. It can’t be one-sided.
NM

The trends here are frumpy, unflattering, and won’t do you any favors. These are the kinds of trends that talk about you behind your back and bring out your worst qualities. Who needs that?

All of the items in this video and post can be found in this catalog.

Gargantuan Coats

The best coats are classic and flattering. Oversized coats that swallow you up do nothing to enhance your silhouette. Look for a little structure, a slimmer profile, and waist definition for ultimate flattery.

Baggy Jeans

I love a flowy style as much as the next girl, but jeans should fit well in the waist, hips, and bum in order to be flattering. Period. The leg can be loose, but if the hips and bum are saggy, the whole look is unflattering.

Balloon Pants

There’s a difference between a classic tapered style pants and these monstrosities, which look like you were creating a wide leg and then changed your mind at the end and decided to make them skinny. No one needs this odd oval shape where a leg is supposed to be. No one.

Overly Cute Suit

These are not frumpy because they’re too old or too shapeless or too boxy. They’re only frumpy because of how they will make us look. If you’re older than 20 and you wear a very young-looking outfit like this, you will look older than you are by contrast. It’s not fair, but it is true. Who needs clothes that make us look older? Not me.

Knit Pants

These are your grandmother’s knit pants. Or they are leggings masquerading as pants. Either way, they’re not cute. I like a good knit pant, but they can be hard to find. The new ribbed pants can be cute and comfortable, but some styles veer into matronly territory while others are just leggings. Proceed with caution.

Paperbag Waist Pants

I mean, who doesn’t need extra volume around the tummy?

Frumpy Midi Dresses

I love a chic and flattering midi dress, and have done roundups and shopping tips and and styling tip videos just dedicated to this most classic of styles. There are some midis, however, that are just treacherous. They make no concessions for flattery or modernity, and just make you look shapeless and old. And short. This is one of those styles.

Ruffle Shoulder Sweater

Ruffles at the shoulder are nice. Gargantuan sharp ruffles coupled with shoulder pads that extend so far off your shoulders that they infringe on your neighbors personal space? Those are not okay. Recognizing the difference is everything.

Tight Jackets

I hope you’re not actually supposed to wear anything under these. All I know is that when a jacket is this snug and also fluffy and also stiff, I can end up looking like one of the boxes Amazon leaves at my door.

Fluffy Shackets

Also fluffy and also a jacket, these have the opposite problem of the tight jacket, above. They are oversized, which just adds bulk all over.

Pointelle Knit Sweater

This feminine and delicate knit can be very pretty if used on a modern piece with clean lines, but on a short sleeve style in a camel color, it looks matronly. Approach with caution.

The Frump Pump

You know I’m a pump girl. It’s my favorite style of shoes. But increasingly, trendy pumps are taking traditionally matronly styles (low block heels, awkward toe shapes, and lots of coverage at the top of the foot) and making them hip. Sadly, they only look hip on the very young.

Stiff A-Line Midi

I have often spoken about the perils of an A-line midi skirt in a stiff fabric. It is stodgy and tentlike and practically guaranteed to add decades to your look. Skip the midis in denim and leather and go for a softer, drapier fabric instead.

Oversized Anything

Clothes that are too tight are hard to wear. And clothes that are too baggy are equally hard to wear. That’s why that in-between zone of tailored clothes that actually fit is so critical. This is where the flattery lies.

Micropleats

Tiny pleats are a huge trend, and they can be flattering and forgiving, but head to toe pleats in a mature tunic-and-crop-pant combo is dicey at best. Save these pleats for pretty blouses or leather skirts.