I didn‚Äôt really set out to prove the theories of a clich√© today but I also didn‚Äôt intend to treat myself to a Hummus Bros. lunch (it‚Äôs the packed lunch for me these days…) so there we go. It‚Äôs a bit of an odd pleasure of mine to act completely like I‚Äôm NOT going to work at a proper company, with a decent pay packet with worries about gross profit margins and all that business, during my journey into work. Today that translated into some peach knee high socks with a pleated grey dress and some white patent jazz shoes that from a distance look like the white plimsoll shoes Hong Kong kids have to wear to school. There were also huge peach hair clips in my hair and in juvenile delinquent fashion, I had cranked up the iPod to a maximum with my huge headphones on and along with the more formal croc clutch hung the inevitable dirty canvas tote. I probably could not have been further away from the person who sends emails about CPM/CPA hybrids (don‚Äôt ask…it‚Äôs joyless…).
My regression of course has its repercussions as I was stopped at Euston by a uni student doing some sort of sociology survey who asked me how old i was and I said ‚Äò24‚Äô and she said ‚ÄòOh sorry, I thought you were 16 or something…‚Äô. Which goes back to the clich√© which is that you‚Äôre only as old as you feel and this morning with Yelle blaring out, the huge peach clips and the plimsoll steppin‚Äô, gosh 16 doesn‚Äôt seem that long ago.
It feels like right now, I’m dancing between those treacherous lines of looking like I’m a 24 yr old trying to dress like a 16 yr old or genuinely looking like a 16 yr old and I do wonder when the lines will start being drawn and the rules laid down. But it‚Äôs nice to know those phrases that people love to regurgitate time and time again sometimes aren‚Äôt a load of bollocks.
Ahh, I love yelle! And your peach socks, yum.
xxo
My boyfriend thinks I dress like a teenager… though I’ve never really thought about it.
I absolutely love those socks. Never quite sure about knee-socks on myself though. I own loads but never feel I can quite get away with it without looking like I’m trying to be all schoolgirl sexy or something.
wow i am in love with your socks!!
where are they from?
lol i often get confused for being sixteen, to the point i got asked out by a 15 year old waiter because he thought i was ‘his age’ lol eek!
At least you only get that if you dress a certain style. Anytime that I am not dolled up in heels people think I’m 15 and younger and I can’t say that even when I’m wearing heels people don’t think I’m a tarted up teenager.
I hate it now but like every other person tells me, “Oh you’ll love it when you’re 40 and people think you’re 30”
meh.
LOVE the peach-colored hair clips. Since they usually just blend into someone’s hair, I love the ironically large size and pretty color 🙂
Oh, you’re going to love looking young in five years or so. For me, living in America with its so strict drinking age of 21, I love looking young now that I actually AM 21. I think I’d like to be 21 and look 16 foreverrrrrrrrrr.
So you work in advertising then? Media buyer? Me too…….ughs
Haha I LOVE when people think I’m younger than I am it totally makes my day! Loving your peachy accessories that colour just isnt about as much as it should be!
I am 16 and whenever I wear hairclips or knee length socks people think I’m 12! I guess theres no pleasing!!
i think i’m like this every day!
I’ve been dressing kinda juvenile recently too.. My doctor asked me today what I wanted to do with my life when I became a grown up. Err, I’m 26!
Love the peach socks too, saw a peach pleated skirt from a charity shop on my way that I will have to buy.
I’m nearly 26 and I dress like a 19 year old….hmmm do I need to dress my age? what kind of dress style for a 26 year old?? none and I don’t care. Dress whatever you want Susie, everyone has their own personal style.
Love your blog!!
K
I’m 23 and dress like an eighteen-year-old, I guess, but who says you HAVE to dress all ‘adult’ once you’re past a certain age? Fashion ‘rules’ are such non-fun things, and it turns out they’re applicable to literally everything- more than colour combinations, if someone as young as you starts feeling restricted, where’s the joy in it? And if you hadn’t said so, I’d probably assume you were a teenager too…
Dear Susie, I really love your ‘chee sin mui’ (‘crazy/loopy girl’, in Cantonese, and in this case, a term of endearment, not insult) style. I used to be quite a ‘chee sin mui’ myself when I was younger and working in a ‘creative’ environment then, with no dress restrictions kind of helped fuelled that habit a little. I’m now waaay past 30 and people are shocked when I tell them my age (they think I’m still in my mid-20s max) and I attribute that to my good Asian genes and my insatiable lust for all-things popular culture-related (makes one feel young and therefore look young?), and if I’m feeling cheeky, I’ll say, ‘I have a very good cosmetic surgeon’. However, I find that my fashion choices, amongst other things like foul temper, have mellowed with age (I seriously still don’t know why) but not to the point of being boring and feeling the need to ‘dress my age’. I still incorporate maybe one, alright, sometimes more, ‘chee sin’ element/s in what I wear daily, just not head-to-toe like before. So wear what you want, which you already do and do so well, and not worry about the “treacherous” lamb-dressed-as-yearling issue for it will sort itself out should the ‘mellowing’ process set in one day. x
I dress like I’m younger too!
I think it’s a reaction to growing up where I revert to dressing to express my more carefree days. Like you, I hate my job so maybe dressing like a teen expresses my longing for another reality?
Great comments guys…glad you feel the same way about dressing younger…. glad you can also get away with it too…
All I can say about ‘chee seen mui’ is LOL…. thanks and I’m still laughing about it…
I’m 24 and got carded the other day here in Dublin. The bouncer thought I was 17. Made my day. haha but I’m the same, I sometimes worry I dress ‘too young’ and wonder when the day will come when I’ll have to stop dressing in Topshop!