Dianne If you love fashion over 40 outfit ideas and how-to style tips, you will love the many, over 40 wearable fashion trends, including tips about how to style a pencil skirt, a midi skirt, and a pleated skirt. In this blog post and video, I share Chic Black Skirt Outfit Ideas Illustrating the 7 Universal Styles.
If you love skirt outfits, this fashion lookbook for women over 40, is for you. Also great for women over 50 and over 60! I share lots of elegant outfits and tons of outfit inspo uncover your personal style based upon the all-inclusive, 7 universal styles.
Perfect transitional outfits for wearing as the weather changes from summer to fall. This blog post is all about chic black skirt outfit ideas for women over 40.
Express Yourself in Fashion
Today I’m talking about styling up something we all probably have in our closet’s – a black skirt. In this blog post, I’ll be styling several black skirts into lots of different black skirt outfit ideas to provide you with inspiration about how to look and feel your best in a black skirt.
After reading this post, you will have ideas about how you can incorporate your own personal style and flair into your black skirt outfits.
If we’re doing it right, and blessed to have different clothing options to choose from, the clothing we choose each day should help us look and feel our best.
While the focus of this blog post is to provide ideas about how to create some attractive black skirt outfits, I wanted to go a step further and offer an outline to encourage you to step into more self-expression in the way you dress
To do this, I jumped on the Internet to get a full list of fashion styles to use as a guide. Oh my goodness, the number of lists out there is endless. Thank goodness, I found one concise list that organizes the essence of personal style into seven major categories.
What is Universal Style?
Neatly categorized into 7 universal styles, Alyse Parsons is not only the brains behind creating this simple, yet comprehensive style list, she is also one of the founding members of the Association of Image Consultants International. This list comprises the seven universal fashion style categories encompass all other style descriptors. Further refined, she summarized the seven styles into two major categories: classic & accent styles.
What are the Main Types of Styles?
The 3 styles in the Classic Style category are Elegant, Sporty and Traditional.
The other 4 styles are Accents (Non-Classic) and allow the wearer to personalize their style further. The accent styles are Creative, Dramatic, Magnetic and Romantic.
Professional Image consultants have adopted and used these styles as their standard styles when consulting with clients. In this blog post, I style black skirt outfits that honor each of the universal categories while remaining true to my personal style.
How Do I Find my Fashion Style?
The best way to find your fashion style is to review style cues from each style category and decide which of these seven styles feels good to you. It’s likely that a few of them speak to you, no problem. It is not uncommon to gravitate to 2 or 3 of these styles.
Next, create a few outfits based upon the inspiration pictures below. Start with capsule wardrobe basics to build your foundation then, add and delete clothing, jewelry and accessories until you find the right combination. As you put outfits together, take pictures of each and make some notes about of how you look and feel in each outfit. It may take some time to find the right combination of pieces, but when you are wearing clothing you love, you’ll feel great and know it right away!
Our style foundation remains quite consistent throughout our lives; however, our accent style changes with our stage of life. The clothing accents we like and chose to wear in our 20s and 30s will likely differ from what we wear at like and choose to wear at 50 because our needs and our lifestyle changes.
Classic Black Skirt Outfit Ideas
Traditional Style
Traditional style is all about clean lines, tailoring and a timeless aesthetic. With a preference toward neutral colors, the use of color-blocking and creating monochrome outfits feels right. While those with traditional style may choose to wear prints and patterns, designs are simple and not fussy.
Style characteristics of those who align with traditional style have a disregard for the latest trends. The attire does not share the uniqueness of your personality, rather it is uniform-like and in alignment with culture.
As pictured, a traditional style black skirt outfit has clean lines in a neutral color pallet. This outfit is ideal for a business or semi-formal event and includes a black pencil skirt paired with a white button-up shirt and wide black belt and simple black heels to create a clean, refined look.
Sporty Style
Women who gravitate to sporty style prefer unstructured, soft fabrics that are comfortable and easily allow natural movement. Informal and casual, this style of dress is relaxed and easygoing and allows for lounging, exercise and outdoor activities.
Sporty style is casual yet attractively stylish, informal and easy to wear. The attire is less structured and ideal for both an active lifestyle or for those who prioritize comfort and relaxation.
For this sporty look, I paired a sleeveless chambray shirt with a black pencil skirt and a white ribbed tank top cardigan thrown over my shoulders. The ultra comfortable black pointed-toe flats with embroidered buckle detail polish off the stylishly comfortable, sporty look.
Showing the versatility of a black pencil skirt, this time I styled it with a basic pima cotton white v-neck t-shirt and a blue jean jacket for an easy-to-wear casual look.
For another a black pencil skirt outfit idea, this time I created a casual sporty look, wearing it with a white v-neck tee, a khaki cargo jacket and white leather sneakers.
Elegant Style
A woman who gravitates to an elegant style of dress enjoys good, high-end fabrics that fit impeccably. Graceful and stylish in appearance, she is polished and has fabulous attention to detail.
This elegant outfit is stylishly simple with a beautiful beige halter style blouse paired with a black pencil skirt. Nude heels and an elegant black purse polish the outfit, and epitomize the sense of grace and poise.
For a slightly more elevated black skirt outfit, I have slipped a white linen blend blazer over my shoulders for a look ideal for the office.
For a slightly more casual look, this outfit includes a white cardigan sweater worn over the beige halter-style top and a black pencil skirt. For an elegant touch, I have styled this look with Chanel-inspired cap toe shoes.
Equally elegant, I have style a simple black turtleneck sleeveless top with a black pleated skirt and nude pumps. To add a pop of interest, I added a gold Tory Burch belt to complete the look.
For a sporting take on elegant style, pop on a blue denim jacket and black pointed toe flats for a stylishly casual look.
Accent Styles
A lover of creative style appreciates clothing with colors, textures and prints. Jewelry and accessories are a perfect place to show your sense of uniqueness.
Since creatives enjoy that sense of singularity, an ideal way to get that one-of-a-kind, quirky look is to wear vintage. Also look for unique pieces at art shows or from indie designers.
To create a black skirt outfit with a creative edge, incorporate bold colors, bold patterns and unique accessories that align your fun personality and quirkiness.
For this outfit, I style a leopard print t-shirt with a black fitted midi skirt, a red Tory Burch crossbody and black pointed-toe flats for a stylish, creative look.
Similar, but a bit more sporty, I slipped on a jean jacket and black pleated skirt with a pair of black pumps for a fun, creative look.
Fun and creative. For this black skirt outfit, I paired a black pencil skirt with an orange halter top, a floral rectangular scarf and a cream leather jacket for a fun, lively look.
If the romantic style of dress speaks to you, delicate neutrals are probably your vibe. Clothing that is soft and flowing, and includes elements such as lace, eyelet, and embroidery, makes your heart sing.
Small floral prints and delicate, simple accessories are the elements that make you feel in your element. Kitten heels, ballet flats and sandals in pastels or ivory polish off your look with ease. The romantic style is timeless and the accent pieces soften the classic style.
Since a romantic style of dress is very delicate, and this may compel some to act on the innate sense of innocence and vulnerability. To counter balance this, consider grounding softer colored clothing like this pink sweater twin set with a black pleated skirt. This black skirt outfit aligns with the romantic aesthetic, while also incorporating a level of confidence and seriousness to your look.
Another example of a perfectly grounded romantic style black skirt outfit, this black midi skirt. It pairs beautifully with this eyelet blouse, pink sweater and Teddy Blake nude/pink bag with a pearl replacement handle for a romantic style outfit.
Tuned into fashion, those who align with the dramatic accent style love fashion and want to take part in the latest trends.
Structured outfits with bold colors, grounded with black, feel good and natural to those who love dramatic attire. Clothing, shoes and accessories with strong color contrast, along with modern, geometric prints and asymmetry are perfect elements to incorporate personality and individuality into outfits.
For a sporty, dramatic black skirt outfit, consider pairing a black midi skirt with a orange halter tank top, turquoise jewelry and accessories, such as this teal blue crossbody bag with white Adidas sneakers for a fun look.
To slightly elevate this black skirt outfit and transition it from summer to fall, throw on your favorite blue jean jacket and a pair of black & white check pointed-toe ballet flats for a stylish, yet casual look.
Those who gravitate to magnetic style love strong, contrasting colors and bold prints. This style sends out a message to everyone in her presence to come closer. The style and demeanor of those with a magnetic style exhibit strength, confidence, and security.
While outfits may be expose some skin and be form-fitting, if done well the look is powerful rather than sexy.
For a fun, casual magnetic style black skirt outfit, try styling an animal print shirt with black midi skirt and accent it with a red crossbody bag. This stylish outfit is fun, creative and very wearable for summer and perfect for transitioning into fall and winter.
Slip on a red jacket and pair it with black heels and this leopard print blouse and black midi skirt to create an elevated black skirt outfit, perfect for a business conference or an important day at the office.
Looking for more Style Inspiration?
Thank you so much for joining me. I hope this video and blog have provided you with ideas and inspiration about how to create some attractive outfits with your black skirts, plus some guidance for better self-expression in the way you dress so you can look and feel your best everyday. Get more style inspiration by checking these out:
- 10 Rules Classy Women Live By | Women over 50
- Cocktail Dresses: How to Make Your Cocktail Party Dress Look Expensive | Women over 50
- How to Look Polished in Shorts Outfits this Summer
