Style in the New Year

Part of my goal in starting this blog last year was to find some personal style.  I've made some small steps, but I've still got a long way to travel.  I have a hard time seeing past single items.  I rarely see clothes in layers.  I see a v-neck sweater and I think..good with jeans.  Done.  Then I look around at style blogs and see people with 3 & 4 layers of shirts, plus accessories, bags and shoes to match and realize how far I still have to go.

There's nothing wrong with my casual t-shirt and jeans style, it works for me and the life I live.  Carting kids to school, cooking dinners, going to doctors appointments and the grocery store don't really require an involved wardrobe, but I'd still like more from my clothes.  Or from myself, I suppose it's not the clothes fault I haven't got it all figured out yet.  Hehe.

One of the issues that I seem to constantly struggle with is whether or not an outfit or style is too "young" for me.  Now, I'm not even bordering on old yet (I'm 36), but some of the fashions out there that are really cute, seem to be designed for someone much younger than me in mind.  It could be my imagination or it could be that I just see them in photos of women who look very young.  For instance, skinny color pop jeans.  They're everywhere!  I can't turn a corner without running into someone wearing a pair, that being said, I'm not sure I've seen anyone over 30 in them.  If I have, then they were very young looking!

Another issue with some of the more popular styles is that I don't ever seem to look right in them.  I'm talking about maxi dresses.  I've tried on a dozen of them and I'm always left feeling short and dumpy.  The seem to be better suited for wearing to bed then for wearing out once they're on my frame.  Maybe a maxi skirt is the way to go instead?

So, my options are to keep dressing the way I do and feel moderately dissatisfied with it or I can go outside my comfort zone, be uncomfortable, but slightly adventurous.  One thing I do know is that I won't be able to figure out these outfits on my own.  I'm going to be looking high and low for inspiration(pinspiration, really, since that's where I'll be starting my search)  It'll be slow, maybe one outfit a month, but that's probably a good pace for a fashion noob like me.  :)