I admit I have always been a sucker for animal print. The stylist daughter (who is not averse to a bit of animal print herself) told me I was channelling Coronation Street barmaids perfectly in my outfit below.
“Leather and animal print?” she chided.
“Faux,” I replied, my feathers ruffled!
“My point exactly!” she sneered.
I wonder am I really too old to wear an outfit like this? I would hate to be ‘mutton dressed as lamb’, but we are a long time dead and I am damned if I won’t wear what I want, within reason of course. I will wear a bikini, but only on holiday and I will cover up when I walk around.
The’ Yayawomen’ pants are from Paula’s in Malahide Dublin (€ 79) and are literally like a second skin, so comfortable you wouldn’t know you are wearing them and machine washable too. I will team them with a jumper when the weather gets colder. The animal print shirt I found in TK Maxx (€25) and I love the long tail at the back (kind of snakey) and the jacket is old.
If you want the barmaid look, it is pretty easy to replicate, as most of the High Street shops have something similar. All I was missing were the long dangly earrings!
I am a bit of an impulse buyer and fell in love with this black jumper from Zara (€30) with the amazing bell sleeves. I had an idea it would go with some lovely wide-legged Paul Costelloe trousers I got in Dunnes (€60 in the sale). But when I tried them on it didn’t work.
“The proportions are wrong,” I was told by ‘you know who’! “It doesn’t work as your body is too short. We need to elongate it.”
Here is what, in a matter of minutes, “she” decided would work. And you know what… I agree with her. Yes I know she is a stylist and I don’t pretend to be anything other than a fifty-something woman who still wants to feel fabulous and look fashionable.
The black jeans are TK Maxx again.
The coat is Bastyan (last year’s) and the ankle boots I have about twenty years. I felt I looked good in the ensemble, whereas I knew that the black and wide pink trousers weren’t right. Luckily for me, the stylist daughter was visiting and could add in her tuppence worth! She has promised to take me shopping ,so the pink trousers might appear again with a different top.
Of course, you don’t have to wear black boots or shoes. Below you can see the red kitten heels bought last year in Arnotts add a pop of colour to the outfit.
So don’t be afraid to experiment. If you feel good in an outfit, go for it, no matter what age you are. We are too young to give up on style and old enough to not give a damn!
