What makes you look older? “Weight” and “color temperature”
Looking older is not about age: it comes from clothes that are too heavy for your frame and colors that clash with your skin tone. For Wave types it is heavy fabrics and long lengths, for Straight types drapey fabrics, for Natural types accessories that are too small.
The concern I hear most from women in their 30s and 40s. Lift your center of gravity with shape and switch the one color near your face to your temperature — your photos change immediately.
Cause and fix, by body shape
Straight type
CauseDrapey fabrics, low waists. Your volume sinks and you look tired
FixA true-to-size jacket with a V-neck. Crisp fabrics sharpen your outline
WWave type
CauseHeavy fabrics, long layers. Your upper body is overwhelmed and you look older
FixHigh waist, a layer that ends above the hips, a small collar. Lift your center of gravity
NNatural type
CauseSmall collars, small accessories. The scale is off and you look diminished
FixBold accessories with the ease of natural fabrics. Volume that matches your frame
Articles: looking older · by age
FAQ: looking older · by age
- Do the colors that suit me change in my 40s?
- Your temperature (yellow or blue base) does not change, but going one step darker looks more settled. Yellow bases move from pastels to coral and camel, blue bases to rose and navy.
- What is the biggest reason people look older?
- Long layers for Wave types, drapey fabrics for Straight types, small accessories for Natural types. What they share is a mismatch of weight and volume against your frame.
- Why do I look older in an air-conditioned room?
- The bluish light drains color from your face. Place one coral piece near your face if you are a yellow base, one rose piece if you are a blue base.
YUKIProfessional stylist of 13 years / Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The articles in this category are written by YUKI, who has spent 13 years as a professional stylist helping clients find what suits them through body shape and personal color, based on what she actually wears between 80% humidity outdoors and 22°C air-con indoors in Malaysia.
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