6 Outfits That Seem Fine But Are Actually Making You Look Old And Tired
Who knew?
by The Candidly Team
Obviously everyone should wear what they want. The point of this article isn’t to have some self-important internet voice telling you that certain choices are “bad” or “wrong.”
However, we noticed lately that some of the things we were wearing were making us look … older.
And while we’re not on a quest to dress like we’re 19, we also don’t particularly want the clothes we spend our money on to age us.
Thankfully, we found that some very small adjustments solved the problem. Our outfits were better. Our proportions were better. We FELT better looking in the mirror.
So with this knowledge, here are the six outfits we’ve pretty much nixed from rotation. And since we hate an article without solutions, here are also six ways to fix them.
1. Loose TeEs with cropped pants or jeans
WHY: A baggy tee is already problematic when it’s too long and the sleeves cut right across the widest part of your upper body and thickest part of your arms. What this does is make our upper body look wider and our legs look shorter. And all of this gets exacerbated when we add a cropped pant. We’re just cutting away at our proportions to look shorter, while all but erasing our waistline.
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
If our goal is to look taller and more hourglassy, the solution is very simple.
1) Wear full-length, high-waisted pants. THIS $50 pair is perfection.
2) Add a fitted tank or tee - ribbed is the best for smoothing curves. Our fave tee of all time is THIS because the proportions it creates are magic. And THIS $19 tank is all you’ll ever need in the tank department.
3) If you still want the arm and tum coverage of a baggy tee, add a light outer layer like THIS airy button down, THIS heavenly cardi, or THIS knit denim jacket, which feels like a hoodie but has all the cool factor of a jean jacket.
OUR FAVORITES
2. Cardigans over skirts and dresses
WHY: We love a cardigan over jeans and drapey pants and leggings. But if you have a voluminous or flowy skirt or dress, wearing a cardi over it can make everything look a little frumpy. We’re not gonna overcomplicate this. There’s one piece of outerwear that guarantees this won’t happen. Can you guess?
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
A jean jacket of course. There’s plenty of roominess but the lines are crisp and clean. We have two favorites. ONE is cropped and thrillingly flattering. The OTHER is long for when we’re wearing a tighter dress or something shorter on the bottom.
OUR FAVORITES
3. Shapeless blazers and slacks
WHY: We feel like this is where you’re going to get mad at us. What’s wrong with a blazer and slacks? What the hell else do you expect us to wear to work?
And listen, the problem isn’t a blazer. We LOVE a blazer. And it isn’t ALL slacks. It’s really just about either of these things not having any shape. When everything just falls in a big rectangle, we can’t expect to look like anything other than a big rectangle. Having clothes that don’t look tailored makes us look more disheveled and unflattered. And we don’t have to do expensive tailoring to solve this. We just have to do this…
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
Buy one perfect fitted blazer. The way THIS one goes in at the waist is like illusory magic.
THIS linen version from J.Crew is perfect for warmer months. Somehow it’s stretchy, while still being skimming.
And finally, THIS cropped blazer will also make your waist look smaller and your legs look like they start two inches higher. It’s all just a lazy hack for creating your best silhouette.
Wear any of these with long trousers or any jeans, and you’re set.
OUR FAVORITES
4. Colorful print blouses and black bottoms
WHY: We’ve actually written at length about why bright colors and white on top just don’t work with a black bottom. It’s a look that can seem very “ We got it at Chico’s,” and no one looks their best in it.
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
We’ll get right to the solutions here, because there are two, and they’re very easy.
1) For starters, just wear neutral, non-white colors with black bottoms (gray, oatmeal, camel, and of course black)
2) Alternately you can wear black on top and white on the bottom. This is a very chic combo and helps you avoid looking like a waiter.
5. Long mom jeans with white sneakers
WHY: You have to be careful with mom, barrel, or baggy jeans, mainly just to make sure they flatter rather than flatten your butt. The right pair can be chef’s kiss but anything short can go very wrong. And one thing we should never do when wearing a looser tapered style is add a geriatric white sneak. Again, we LOVE a white sneak and where them with jeans all the time. But if we don’t do it strategically, we can end up looking like a linebacker - wide at the top and coming to a sharp point at the bottom.
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
1) Choose a flared cropped jean. We have two we wear constantly: THIS curve-complementing pair from Madewell and THIS stretchy $50 pair from Quince. These make you look really well balanced with a graceful white sneak
2) Choose a cool girl sneaker. Ugh, we hate ourselves for writing that. But it works. There are two we feel are actually timeless: THIS one we know is trend, but still it’s chic. And THIS leather one that we will LOVE and wear with everything (including dresses) forever.
OUR FAVORITES
6. Baggy Matching Hoodie/ Jogger Sets
WHY: Sets are incredible. We are all about them. However (and we don’t even fully understand why this is) but if you wear a zip up instead of a pullover that matches a sweat pant or jogger, you pretty much look ready to join a Mall walkathon. Thankfully, this is easy to avoid. Just do this.
WHAT TO WEAR INSTEAD:
Wear pullover sets with no zippers and non-tapered pants. We have two favorite sets right now that feel like heaven, meet this criteria, and flatter our curves.
OUR FAVORITES
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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