How did you learn to dress casual? Teach me masters!

Pinterest, that's how I do it. I can't get dressed without it.

I'm a very casual dresser - ripped jeans, half tucked in baggy top, Converse, jewelry. Pinterest taught me everything I know

I'm almost twice your age..but I just go to lands end jeans (they have a bit of stretch), stretchy Women's Slightly Curvy Adventurer® Ripstop Crop Cargo Pants from eddie bauer.. for warm weather..and top with a nice print t-shirt from sahalie..or polo shirt. maybe with a jeans jacket.

I like sahalie for casual..eddie bauer.. and try shirts from Duluth trading company...they are extra long so they cover the waist when I want that. (like most of the time). I don't do fancy resort casual...just bumming around doing stuff casual.

If the first video I watched is anything to go by, I don't think I'll be following this site:



I would never in a gazillion years wear something like the outfit above, even if I was as skinny as the woman in the video!

Plus, most of the women are skinny, so the clothes they are wearing would not be any good for me. 

I'll check out some more of the site, hopefully there are some short chunky women on there! 

I'm in your age range and recently started shopping a bit at The Loft. Have you gone there? They carry petite if you need shorter lengths - though I've only bought tops not bottoms.

I too have considered trying the stylist at Nordstrom. At least to find me a great pair of jeans and a few versatile tops.

I find as much as I cringe the higher end $100+ jeans look and fit me so much better than the others that stretch out in the butt after 20 minutes and look sloppy.

The dress struggle is real. The trendy A-lines look horrid on me.

I noticed it also costs $49.00 to join. I know it's not the same, but part of her premise is building a wardrobe with the basics. So, you can go to pinterest and search wardrobe capsule and get lots of ideas.

AussieMeg , have you seen the Styling You blog? She is an Aussie living in Queensland so it isn't great for winter ideas but I really like her style and I've bought a couple of things from stores she promotes www.stylingyou.com.au She is very similar in size to me so I like her Model and Me posts where she has a pic of a model wearing something and then wearing it herself.

It is a very paid sponsor type blog but I ignore that, there is a market for middle aged women who want to dress well and she has captured it well.

I just searched on Pinterest for "Casual clothes for chubby women" borrowing your term, chubby. A few really cute outfits came up on the first page. Then there was one that looked like a chubby hooker with her boobs on "come n' get it" display. Awful. I think she would look a lot better keeping them under wraps.

Then there was an outfit put together by this website, and I had to go there because of the name.

flabbyfashionista.com/2015/02/plus-size-outfit-of-the-day-green-for-spring/


It looks like they show an outfit every day. Some were kinda cute, some were not my taste at all. I think a good place to start would be in searching on Pinterest and putting a board together of all the styles that appeal to you. I like the red necklace in the above example. The green is pretty bright for me, but maybe I need to step out of my comfort neutral zone.

I was just going to suggest this. I found GYPO today and already love it.

I already had a pretty good idea of what styles suited my figure type--broad-shoulders and back, thin arms, long-waist, big gut, short, muscular, thin legs legs and flat ass, but after being sick for a couple of years and not really caring what I looked like, I got better and decided I wanted to look more put together. I began to study fashion blogs targeted at women over 40.

Once you find a blog you like, they usually have a blogroll of other blogs they like and so I narrowed them down to women whose style was similar to mine or was where I thought I wanted mine to go.

Know your body type and learn your style. Know which parts of your body you like and want to emphasize and those you want to play down.  I do most of my clothes shopping online and because I know my style, I can scroll through quickly things I know won't suit me or look good on me. I know I don't want anything with a waist-emphasis, and I'm not a retro-style person, so I focus on simple clean lines for my basic clothing and then add color and personality with accessories.

I know I want to emphasize my thin arms and legs and play down my gut, so in warm weather if I'm not wearing my workout clothes, I'm typically in a long A-line t-shirt over a short pencil skirt or a short (above the knee but not mid-thigh) plain cotton dress, like a t-shirt dress. Just a simple pullover dress with no waist emphasis. With those, depending how casual I want to be, I'll wear a sandal or a patterned slip-on sneaker like Vans.

To that I'll add a third piece. The third piece is the secret to looking pulled together and going a little over and above. This winter, my
"uniform" was a solid cotton tunic or tunic-length sweater worn with a patterned tee or button-down shirt, opaque leggings, and either knee-high or "biker" ankle-high boots to which I added earrings and my third piece, a scarf. It still fits my casual style, but with a bit more polish.

My third piece in the winter is always a scarf because it adds a pop of color to my wardrobe which is pretty much limited to black, gray and navy, and because it keeps my neck warm and if my neck is warm, I'm warm. In the summer, I do statement necklaces or wear multiple necklaces for the most part, because bracelets tend to get on my nerves. Some other third pieces I've used: faux fur vest, cargo vest, utility jacket.

I get a lot of my clothes at J.Jill because they use mostly natural fibers and their Pure Jill casual, sporty line jibes with my style. In the past couple of years I think they've added a lot of "old lady" looking clothes, partly because of the styles but also because of the color palettes. I personally think that neutrals always look more polished than a lot of different colors, and we don't really do flashy and colorful here in New England. I also buy some basics from Lands End and LL Bean; J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, Garnet Hill, Gap and Old Navy round it out. Lately I've hit the jackpot with Uniqlo for pants, because they do a lot of pants and jeans with elastic waists and because their clothes are designed for tiny Asian people, I don't have the constant "clown pant" problem of lots of extra fabric in the thighs and butt. I also like some of their designer tee shirts and just the whole Japanese aesthetic of clothing. For a fast fashion store, I think their clothes are pretty well made. 

ETA: Some fashion blogs I like are: The Mom Edit (3 or 4 different women with 3 or 4 different styles) 40+ Style (she and I don't really have the same style but I think her ideas are solid) Cyndi Spivey (very casual but put together) Alterations Needed (she's petite so her clothing recs are kind of useless, but she always looks put together but also a little edgy)

White House Black Market is usually very helpful when I need something. Their stylists help a lot. Although, they are a tad pushy. I send DH to return anything I'm unsure of and that makes it easy! Ha.

Also, I recently discovered Wit and Wisdom jeans at Nordstroms. I love them! Great stretch and good price point.

Once you start getting a feel for your look, you can shop at less expensive places (New York and Co, Marshall's, Ross, etc)

I cannot stress enough about using an alterations expert. So many of the ready-to-wear clothes fit most of our bodies (sounds a bit like your tummy/waist issue) that we have to have them altered.

It really is a lifesaver. If you have some clothes that sorta fit, try taking them to a reputable alterations expert. You'll hold onto clothes you love and already spent money on, and they will fit.

I have 2 blogs that I follow for style ideas. One is called "outfit posts" and the other is called "putting me together"

Lots of ideas on how to mix colours and add accessories and they also provide shopping links for identicle or similar items