Womens clothing - fashion advice on avoiding mistakes

These are the 5 most common fashion mistakes women make. Our fashion expert outlines simple, sensible ways to avoid them. See our colour guide too.

1. Having an untidy wardrobe

Do you adore shopping and live from sale to sale? Do you buy EVERYTHING that you think is cheap, cool and stylish? This is where the root cause of this fashion disaster problem lies. With all this clutter to choose from, you still spend hours in front of the mirror in order to find the answer to the question: “What do I wear?”

Unfortunately, if you buy everything you want, you end up finally not knowing what to do with this skirt, or that handbag, that doesn’t match any of your shoes or blouses. With such a complete mess there is no way out, except throw all the unnecessary things away and try not to buy them anymore.

The 2 golden rules of bargain shopping are -
Firstly, only buy the thing that looks cheap if it matches at least 3 things that you already have.
Secondly - it's not a bargain unless you would have considered paying full price for it.

2. Becoming a Fashion Victim

Many women now use TV fashion programmes and magazine articles as reliable and authoritative advice while choosing what to wear. As a result, by the end of each season, they feel exhausted, bankrupt and still don’t have anything to wear.

In this case the internet is a brilliant solution. If your friend has a good sense of style you can email them the URL of the page of your fashion choices for them to look over. Some sites, like LandsEnd, even allow you build a 3D image of yourself, so you can see what the clothes look like on you. You can show this to friends too for their opinion. Even if you don't have stylish friends, the net allows you join shopper forums where you can find reliable fashion opinions and answers

3. Wearing Inappropriate Clothes

Often women chasing famous fashion brands forget about their own personality, shape, style and, in particular, age.
Mutton dressed as lamb always looks like mutton! In order to avoid looking awful, don't wear clothes which are either too small or too tight. Sequins, bare bellies & backs, and outlandishly mixed colours are for teens, not their mothers or grannies!

4. Looking Old-fashioned

This fashion mistake is the reverse side of being a Fashion Victim. Some women have a dawdy and out-dated wardrobe, with items that haven't changed for many years and have gone out-of-fashion long since. They seem to be from another age (or another planet) and appear boring and unattractive.

Your appearance needs some gloss, boldness and different style now and again. The solution need not be expensive. It can be as simple as initially buying 'classic' fashion clothes that never date, eg the little black dress. Then add new fashionable accessories:- necklaces, scarves, handbags, shoes, various jewellery and belts. A never-fail tip is to check out several clothing retailers at once, and note this season's common look that they all share.

5. Dressing improperly for the situation

The average person has formed their first impression of you inside 5 seconds of first seeing you. So if you are dressed improperly, it could prevent you from getting a promotion or a job. It could make you appear disrespectful eg tarty make-up and a mini skirt to pick up children at the school gate. It could convey the wrong message to a potential date, e.g. " I'm easy", or " I'm boring".

So, before going anywhere, know what kind of event it is that you are going to. Then decide what impression you want to make, and others to have of you.

Irish womens clothing advice - tips on avoiding common fashion mistakes