5 style tips for an effortlessly chic and elegant look
there’s a rhyme and reason to looking stylish. today, i’m sharing style tips that will keep your wardrobe working 365 days a year. by mixing your proportions, zeroing in on color palettes, and adding the right accessories you can elevate your day-to-day look. it’s important to step out the door armed with confidence each and every day. with the right tools at your disposal, you can do just that. here are my 5 style tips for an effortlessly chic and elegant look.
1. proportions
long over lean – a loose top looks great popped over tight fitted pants or shorts.
or try the reverse. wearing a looser fit pant? add a tight fitted top to balance the proportions. a half-tuck adds a little definition to your shape.
2. mix styles
they say opposites attract. and that’s never truer than in the style world. have a glam sequin skirt? add a little edge to it by popping a denim jacket over the top. what about a feminine pencil skirt? try a dark rinse denim shirt. casual jeans? wear a pair of heels to elevate the look. i always refer to this style tip as the yin and yang.
3. monochromatic
pick a color, any color for a sleek look. when in doubt go monochromatic for an easy modern look.
4. accessorize
if i’ve said it once i’ve said it a thousand times (gosh, do i sound like my mother…). an easy way to update your closet is with accessories. add a scarf, a fun necklace, brooch, jazzy shoes/boots, or the perfect handbag to instantly elevate your look. it’s the easiest way to add your personality into the mix.
5. style uniform
find your go-to style uniform that looks good on you and you feel great in. mine is the 4B’s – blazer, button-down, blue jeans and ballet flats. this is comfort food in an outfit.
there you have it. my 5 style tips for an effortlessly chic and elegant look. don’t forget to watch the video where i talk you through all 5 style tips.
happy sunday, ladies!
Love these tips, especially about proportions. Never thought about it before but makes perfect sense! Absolutley love your style sense and your insights into fashion. Keeping the blog fresh can’t be easy, especially now, but you do a fantastic job!
awww, you just made my day! thank you.
Hello Beth, you look radiant with each combination, we learn a lot to combine colors and styles, God allow you to always shine with the same passion for that fine and good dress, greetings.
thanks so much for stopping by, elsa!
I’m bookmarking this fabulous post so I can refer to these gorgeous outfits. You and I have very similar tastes and I am looking forward to recreating some of your great looks with items from my closet. I am having trouble picking a favorite, they are all so great, but I think the dark chambray shirt with sleek purple floral skirt might be it – such a great high/low mix. Thank you for your encouraging site. I hope you have a wonderful day! Best, Elizabeth
love pairing a pencil skirt with an unexpected denim shirt or even a denim jacket.
Great style tips, Loved looking back at some of your prior outfits.
thanks for traveling down memory lane with me!
Great style tips. I really enjoyed seeing some of your past outfits. Video is spot on as usual.
so glad you watched the YouTube video. thanks!
I especially love the last outfit under accessorize and the first one under style uniform.
thanks carroll!
Beth, I love all the tips, & styling of outfits from casual to dressy today!
Gives me so many ideas to shop my closets first, then adding to it. It’s so much fun to see how you think of everything with accessories to make the look pop! Thank you!!!
accessories always make or break the outfit!
Beth,
Sorry, but that gold ruffled skirt is not for you. We all wish we could wear styles for the younger ones hah!
Lillian D.
Canada
oh lillian, you missed the memo that there’s no such thing as age appropriate style.
Hi Beth,
I must say I loved the skirt on you.
Love the colour and the cut.
I absolutely love the gold skirt and navy jacket. Keep thinking young and stylish!! My best to you and your family.
I liked the skirt but I think the proportion is off. If it were just a bit over the knee maybe. And I would pull it all together with a navy kitten heel.
Loved this one! I love them all, but this is a good one to copy and hang in my closet to remind me!
glad you found some inspiration, christine!
Very helpful!
so glad to hear you loved the post!
I know blazers are holy in the fashion industry but I just never liked them but I do love a good basic jacket. I think it is because I’m rural, small coast town so we tend to be less business or dressy. Our big event is a fishing rodeo or an art festival or Mardi Gras. I love most of these outfits so I just ditch the heels and blazers and replace with boots and jackets I like. You look amazing with your new shorter hair!
it’s always easy to tweak style to you’re preferences. that’s what i love about it.
I really like the “4B’s” approach! It’s pulled together and comfy and a lot more stylish than the leggings and top look that a lot of women (of all ages!) throw on. Minimal effort but endless rewards! The yellow jeans are very fresh looking and especially cute.
i always love to add different colors of denim to my jean collection.
You look so much younger with a paler lip….just sayin
Where did you get the fabulous gold skirt with ruffles? Thanks!
the gold skirt is Ralph Lauren.
My 4th ‘B’ is boots as I’ve never been able to comfortably wear ballet flats.
love all different shades of lipstick! it’s never about looking older or younger. just what i like at the moment.
Got to echo Blog Sister Sangita’s comment! Heard myself chuckle with your “gosh, I sound like my mother,” statement. Don’t we all? Love ya, Beth!~
thanks, gf!
I have been following you long enough to recognize some of the outfits from past years(?). The point is, the still look terrific! A nod to your timeless style!
awww, thanks pegg! that’s what love about classic style – it’s timeless.
Thank you for your ideas and looks. As I am now giving up dying and accepting the grey hair I need to change my colours and this is an opportunity to update my look.
i’m glad you found some inspiration!
I so love your blog but I would like to see some of your former styles re-modeled now since that is what you are using. Do not use from years past with your short hair and the ones we have seen before. REFRESH YOUR LOOK and it is ok to show the same clothes as I love them but I feel we need a “refresh” and I love seeing the styles again but take “now” pictures and put this time of isolation spin on them. Don’t continue to pull from the archives, to me it feels tired and with all of us staying home I need spark to reinvent the clothes, accessories and such that I already have. Give me new ideas using the old! Not just the old revisited in the same ole way!
thanks, suzi, but we do produce fresh content five days a week. we love to pull from the archives to stress the point that style is timeless and that goes with style tips too.
I love your blog, Beth. One thing I’ve noticed that makes everything you wear look so stylish is that you have a jacket or a scarf added to your outfit. I love the look – gives it a very classy feel. However, when you’re in 90 degree weather with humidity about the same, it’s a little more difficult to get that polished look, imho.
Great style, Beth.
I LOVE the gold skirt and gold shoes! I’m going on for 69 and would wear the outfit at my next ballet concert (if ever with Covid 19). Thank you, Beth.
I’ll just throw in a recent experience for good measure.
During our national Lockdown (autumn into early winter) we were sequestered at a small beach cottage. I had 2 pairs of jeans, a few long and short sleeved t-shirts of whites and navy. A pair of sebago boatshoes, runners and one black moonboot, because I did my Achilles on a long walk in flat-soled shoes. On return to the new artificial normality and my city wardrobe, the pressure of more choice in a wardrobe was telling. I stood in front of the cupboard every day and stressed, no kidding, at what to choose. Such a first world problem!!!! In the end, I started taking pics of a day’s successful choice and making a computer file. It has got me over that strange hump and given me fashion confidence back again. A strange by-product of Covid 19. Cheers!
Thank you Beth for all your tips, thank you for being such an inspiration, keep going.
Hi Beth! I do love the gold skirt! It totally works with the conservative blouse and jacket and looks so cute on you.
Hi Beth!
Great refresher on proportions and mixing. I think that the high low mix can make an outfit more youthful and fresh.
I love the new do, shows off your beautiful face more.
Thanks for continuing this great blog with all life has thrown at you.
Pam Zwieg
Hey beth, always looking good!
I have to say, my two favorite outfits/shots are the pink top, print scarf, drab olive jacket, khaki pants. And the hair – it’s a fabulous shot.
#2 – classic jeans, shirt, the paisley scarf!
Yup, I like that ‘rough casual’ look the best on you.
thanks for the tips.
xok
My favorites also!
I love how well you look in tight jeans. I’ve never even tried a pair on because I thought I was too old even though I’m tall and thin. No more! Thanks for your age appropriate remarks. You look wonderful in everything. And I’m getting skinny jeans! And shorter shorts! Age is just a number.
I love each and every look but surprisingly my favorite is the smoky grey slacks, cardi, and sweater combo. Love the monochromatic look of it! Thank you for such great articles!
Hi Beth –
Stunning as always, every last outfit, and I so appreciate your confidence and unabashedness when it comes to encouraging women to own their sense of style and, thereby, self.
Along those lines, could you offer a word of advice or an opinion around style and femininity, specifically as it relates to, for lack of a better term, sex appeal. I have been married for 20 years and at nearly 55, can finally fully appreciate that I was blessed with a pretty rocking figure…I know, late bloomer! My style, similar to yours, is very classic, if not conservative, yet I understand how to look tastefully sexy when stepping out with my husband. I’ve always been modest when it comes to exposing the least bit of cleavage, which, now that I’m aging, is a bit of a regret since I finally have a true appreciation for my own physical assets. For years my husband encouraged me to not be shy about that one last button, lol, but I laughed it off as “typical man.” Have I missed the boat here? So many times over the years, I would look in the mirror and think, “Actually, that looks lovely,” but quickly convinced myself that it was a little “too, too.” Outside of the obvious “rules” around dressing appropriately for the occasion, do you have any opinions about how low is too low or how old is too old?
You always rock it! Love all the outfits you put together. You need your own magazine or TV show – Golden Glamor.