Help! I hate my boyfriend’s style

22:19this is one accessory likely to make the list next year too. And I have to agree with that. I do think we're going to continue to see them. But again, like thongs, I see scarves as one of those things that, yeah, you've always got it in your wardrobe, but it may not be something you bring out every season. We saw scarves, I remember 2007 to 2010, scarves were really cool. Yeah. Literally everywhere. Also, like I know that people probably think I'm sponsored by Acquired at this point because I love that podcast so much. but the Hermes episode which I can't recommend enough it really is worth every hour of that episode like that is one of the first products that Hermes did outside of saddles which is what they started in hence why they have the horses look anyway go listen to the episode you two can know all the history but I'm like a silk scarf a girlfriend of mine Sarah actually had me over at her house to show me all the different ways you could wear it as a top yeah I know at the moment everyone's kind of doing that like diagonal thing on your pants which I don't think you're gonna to see from me I just think I'd look like our Maharties but I look like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean but like the way that you can do it as a one shoulder top like it kind of it gives one of those like market stalls in Queensland where they've got like and you can wear it like this like this but I was like if you buy one really beautiful silk scarf you kind of have endless opportunity you know you can tie it on your bag you can do the little like boat crew you know I've just baked some cookies yeah you can do it as a like cute little sexy top I'm like I I don't know if I look at silk scarf as a trend rather than just an item, much like you're saying, Jo, kind of just rose up in the moment.

23:52I feel like as well you can kind of take the piece because it's almost like wearable art and then you can frame them, which so many people do, especially with like those more luxe items. But then I know I spoke about this last week, but Soleil Soleil, a brand that I work with, all of theirs are actually hand-painted artworks. Amazing. So we actually have some framed in the showroom. They're beautiful gifts. Around this time of year, they go off for Christmas. Like they're just such sentimental pieces that you can obviously wear and then frame. Yeah. Good idea. I like that. Is there anything else that you guys would pinpoint as something of 2025?

24:25Like if you look back in 10 years, what defines trend-wise 2025 for you? Because the first thing that came to my mind was the baggy t-shirt and lace skirt. Yes. Good one. That's a really good one. I think the lace camis will be a real hallmark of 2025. Like, I feel like there's just a lot of that and kind of the dresses over back over the pants. Yeah. Yeah. Me today. I know. I actually think we have done so much looking back while looking forward, which is something that I absolutely love when it comes to fashion. Like we spoke about before it's been quite cyclical. But this year, I feel like we were really inspired by Y2K dressing.

25:03And we even saw like accessories come back, like those old Balenciaga handbags, the Chloe Paddington, like things that from our past eras come back into the forefront. and I feel like we might be seeing some more 80s, nod to 70s continuing into 2026. Like obviously YSL has come out with the big retro sleeves, the big shoulders. Like we're seeing so much of that. Chloe's synonymous with boho. I feel like we might see a new era coming through. I do love a big Chloe style sunglass. So I'll happily see that little trend come back because I've got a pair waiting on. You would really suit them. I've got a pair.

25:38Yeah. Got them 80 % off on Net-a-Porter years ago. Love that. absolute bargain. Okay, next we're going to talk about the rise of convenience beauty, but that'll be right after a word from today's sponsor. With less than two weeks until Christmas, there's still time to give something special to everyone on your list. Thanks to our friends at Maya. Right now, get 50 % off the second item across a range of men's casual fashion, footwear and swimwear. They get spoiled while you save. It's kind of a no brainer. And for the women in your life you can't go wrong with fragrance and beauty sets. Maya is your number one destination for Christmas gifting and everything else you might need for the magical festive season.

26:17A huge thank you to Maya for making this episode as stylish possible. Please note that offers are on sale for a limited time. Conditions apply. Last week, news that comedian and media personality Celeste Barber's beauty brand Bowie Beauty would be entering Woolworths and my golly gosh did the Slack channel go off about this one. In a press release about the news, Woolworths said that the launch forms part of the evolution of Woolworths' beauty and skincare offering, with the supermarket now offering more than 115 brands, ranging from makeup, skincare, beauty tools, nails, hair care and more. They said over the past three years, cosmetic sales at Woolworths have grown by 50%.

27:00Wow. That stat did not surprise me in the slightest. I mean, given Emco. Yeah. Makes sense. Exactly. It got us thinking about the rise of convenience beauty and something in news.com.au article explored earlier this year. According to their article, there's been a huge increase in demand for beauty products in supermarkets across Australia, but particularly Coles and Woolworths and then low discount retailer Big W. The article said that Coles is experiencing a surge in customer demand for beauty products, with the retailer stating that economic strain on Aussie households is a key part of the change to shopping habits.

27:36I want to start, I guess, with a question because we've spoken a lot about Emco, who we know are available in supermarkets now, but are there any beauty products you previously wouldn't have bought at the supermarket that you now would or do? Maybe hand washes? Yeah. Because I think there are a nicer range of hand washes out now, like that Soma brand. I think we've spoken about that before. Yes, that's hand and body wash. Yes, and yeah, body wash as well. Yeah. I like that, that addition to supermarkets because previously it would be like, oh, you've got to go into an Aesop and invest a lot of money in a nice looking, you know, with nice packaging.

28:13It's not just a palm olive. Yeah. You know. I mean, some of my supermarket favourites off the top of my head, dermal therapy will always be at the top of the pyramid. Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Lotion, which I tend to use like at the end of a night for like a thick lather um what else do I love I mean Soma body wash I buy the cedar one of that which is really quite beautiful it's I think for anyone who loves something like a little bit woody or you know like nice little heavier um you know that's kind of in my wheelhouse also you know Annika and I off Michael just saying how much we love oral bay toothpaste so you know that old chestnut works well too yeah ever since I got pregnant I've been really trying to like pare back my skincare and use gentle products.

28:55The Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is so good. It's affordable. I love getting it from the supermarket. And we all know I'm a grey girly. So of course I buy my box hair dyes. Shout out to L 'Oreal, Revlon, anybody who will actually like help move my greys. It's always a go-to for me. Jo, you worked for a beauty retailer, as did I. Not to leave you out, Annika, sorry. How have you perceived this shift? And have you noticed this? Do you think it is just economic? Or do you think that it has more to do with the evolution and introduction of brands? like Soma. Well, I think the convenience piece that you spoke about at the top of that intro to this headline is a major factor for people.

29:32They don't want to wait for things or they want it really, really quickly. And that was a huge USP or unique selling point for Adore Beauty, who I used to work for years ago, because they had extremely fast shipping. So even people that were based regionally would likely get their order the next day rather than them having to drive two hours to the next town to go to Chemist Warehouse. So it is the ease of accessing these brands. I think there is a wider spectrum of skincare available to people, skincare in particular, obviously we've got Emco being a little bit more makeup focused. I think they do a little bit of skincare.

30:06But the brands in supermarkets now, there's just so many. And I think it's overwhelming to people. A lot of my own clients, you know, in skincare consultations, like there's just too much out there. I don't know what I should be buying. And so I think there's pros and cons to this availability in supermarkets, because obviously I want skincare to be accessible to everybody. Everyone should be able to access it regardless of what your budget is. But there's also the con of going in blindly to purchasing these kinds of products. And we've got a lot of brands in supermarkets now that are selling retinols on the shelves.

30:40And I see time and time again, clients coming to me being like, oh, I had a really bad reaction to retinol. And I'm like, no, no, you just didn't know how to use it. And that's okay. But like, if there's no instruction around how to use these ingredients, how are you meant to know how to incorporate that into a skincare routine if you don't know anything about skincare? So you don't have that context when you're shopping in a supermarket. And I think a lot of it is just like impulse buying. Yeah, I agree. I think as well, like my observation has been that the supermarket kind of caught up with where the market was going.

31:10I think it became really clear that brands like Glow Recipe and Drunk Elephant and brands that had real DNA and personality were really starting to fly and gain a lot of popularity. So then, you know, I kind of feel like Monday hair care going into Kohl's is like, in my mind, where the signal shift happened, because then it was kind of like Gem entered the market. The breakout hack was then in Kohl's. We've got Soma, we've got Sunday. Like it felt like this rise of brands that looked like brands that kind of could have been on line at a door or on the shelves of Mecca suddenly being available for a third of the price in the supermarket.

31:46I know Emco is another one, undeniably so, but I'm talking about brands that weren't necessarily just lifting and loading the whole DNA of what another brand looks like. And I think there are a lot of brands at the moment, their vision board when they're creating a brand is Coles and Woolies. They're not even creating a brand to be D to C. They're just wanting to be in supermarkets. It's smart. Hey, like, I mean, when you kind of have those buzzwords that you were talking about before, like as such a beauty novice, I feel like I would get so overwhelmed to not know. But if you were like to me, Annika, no, this is your routine.

32:21You can get that product from the supermarket. I'd be like, absolutely. It's kind of that educational piece for me that's missing. I do recommend the breakout hack quite a lot, but I would say I typically, when I'm working with a lower budget for a client, I'm relying on chemist brands and K-beauty brands. So I'm recommending Laurish Posay really frequently, Bioderma, Alkaid Beauty brands like COSRX, Beauty of Josian. They're all ones that I really lean on because they have those more affordable price points, but it allows me to still build out a really effective routine for someone. Yeah, nice.

32:52I do love that kind of the supermarket aisle did transform from tampons and toothpaste and things like that. And I love those brands that look great, right? Like I love that the breakout hack and, you know, Monday and everything looks great. but I'm not going to lie as well having worked in product development and beauty development I also love that a brand like Dermal Therapy has been unapologetic about the fact that they're not particularly cool like they haven't gone and changed their packaging and I think social media and TikTok has kind of proved that platforms can have this groundswell of virality that can completely change the trajectory of a brand I mean even the I think it's the Vaseline body glow lotion that's going off at the moment on TikTok.

33:35I'm like, it's never on the shelf anymore. And I'm like, that's been there for years. It doesn't look particularly good. Palmer's cocoa butter has been around. I think I was slapping that on in year seven, thinking that the hot guy in year eight was going to just fall at his feet on the train when he saw me, you know, and maybe take me to the school dance. But I'm like, that's been around for ages. And then you're watching like some Gen Z being like, I love this new Palmas. And I'm like, doll. It's been around. Let me tell you, I'm not saying I'm old, but I've been around the block and that is not a new one.

34:08So, yes, I love the Somers and the Mondays, but I also love that kind of these like old school nostalgia or unapologetically uncool. Sure, they're not in a boardroom calling themselves that, but they are. Yeah, they'll be shuddering hearing this one. We are so sorry. Dermal therapy knows that I think it's the fucking coolest thing since sliced bread. I've got about 800 of those lip balms. I actually really like this because I think as well, like every time I go to LA, I go to Errol One. And like, obviously this is a luxury supermarket I'm talking about now, like luxury. You're spending 32 Australian dollars on a smoothie.

34:39Tell us more. But anyway, something I actually really loved when I went there was they are really leaning into like that whole organic ethos. And they really leaned into like the products on offer. You could buy anything from, you know, lemmy gummies all the way through to your smoothies and then Whole Foods and everything else. but their beauty aisle was actually really impressive. And they had brands like Quora Organics, like shout out to our Aussies. They also have some super cool zeitgeisty brands like Supergoop and then also Kosas. They also have Tower 28 there. Love that. But I feel like they're doing a good job at speaking to the community and their shopper who would actually be like, this is convenient.

35:16I love these brands. I trust them and I will buy them from here. Yeah. Because that's the type of shopper I am. The people shopping there are like that's their impulse buy. That's their thing. Kosas, Tower 28. Exactly. $40? Perfect. Do you know what? I do have to say as well, like we covered dupe culture on an episode that Rhea and I did on our fortnightly Friday episode. And we actually spoke about brands that are kind of doing dupe in a way. And we did actually reference Soma, which we brought up. And full transparency, Soma was developed by two friends of mine, Georgie and Camille, worked with them both at Mecca.

35:48I love what they've done and I think that, you know, it is really important that beauty is accessible and I think it is a symptom of the economic times we're in. But also, you know, I think we're seeing so much being lifted behind, you know, the curtain of beauty and how things are developed that not everything needs to be expensive and lux. Yeah, well, I think The Ordinary really paved the way for these brands. Yes. In that you just, like, you don't need to spend ridiculous amounts of money to see results. Yeah. And that's kind of why I love a brand like The Ordinary, which some, you know, dermal therapists might hate me for saying that.

36:22But it's a great way to get people into skincare. And then they become more interested in skincare because they're seeing results. And then there's that ability to continue molding their routine and making sure that it's always well suited to their skin type and concerns. So 1 ,000%. Okay, we're back with opinions, please. And this one is a goodie. We did foreshadow where this might be going. But we've had a lovely listener write in and her subject line of the email was, help exclamation mark I hate my boyfriend's style how can I help him improve it one of my more flavorful uh emails that we've seen come across stylish and I'm obsessed our lovely listener Lucinda wrote in hi lovelies I'm a long time listener thanks so much for listening this is my first time writing in first time caller I know Jo has spoken on socials before about how she's upgraded her partner's style.

37:11I'm looking at Ada. Go Ada. So I thought this might be the right place to send my dilemma. A few months ago, I met an amazing guy and things are going incredibly well, but his style is the only thing that is letting it all down. We made things official a few weeks ago and I'm really happy with him, but I really dislike how he dresses. I know that it's a superficial thing, but I'd consider myself and my friends pretty into fashion. Fashion girlies, if you will. Love that. And I really do put a lot of time and thought into my outfits. As it's still early days with this guy, he hasn't met any of my friends yet, so I haven't had to worry about how they might perceive his lack of style.

37:50But I'm taking him to Christmas drinks next weekend, where he'll finally meet my circle of girlfriends, and I'm feeling really nervy. I say this with kindness, but he really just has zero sense of style. Girls, I need any and all advice here. How do I politely tell my boyfriend to level up his style without hurting his feelings? Love your loyal listener, Lucinda. XOXO. Not to be confused with Gossip Girl. Jo, given you were singled out in this one. I was. This one was targeted. And given Ash's Ado to Adrian transformation. Yes. What advice do you have for Lucinda? So the first thing that I kind of want to lay the groundwork here, I don't know how long Lucinda has been seeing this guy for, but it was probably about six months before I started to transition Adrian's wardrobe.

38:39But what I want to say, Adrian, he's Adrian now. Okay. So what I want to start by saying is kind of don't feel like your friends are going to be judging his outfit. Like don't make that part of why you're nervous for him to meet your friends. They should be looking at how he's treating you and behaving and getting along with them. that is going to be their main focus of the evening. Like as a friend, that would be my main focus. I don't care if he's wearing an ugly T-shirt. I'm going to mention it to you later and be like, maybe we could get him a new one. Secret Santa, Winkler. Yeah, yeah. But it can also be a gradual thing.

39:13I know that style and a lack of style can be really off-putting. The way that someone presents themselves can be a really big part of attraction, I think. And so if that's really putting you off, but everything else is right, I guess there is ways to approach it differently. I'm a very blunt and straightforward person. Really? Did I know that? I didn't tiptoe around that with Adrian, but I did allow for the relationship to kind of blossom before I went down that path and cleaned out his wardrobe. Yeah. You knew the work was going to be worthwhile. Yeah, exactly. I was like, he is the kind of person that I want and what he wears doesn't define that.

39:48But there's ways that I can kind of mould him a little bit and update his wardrobe. You're like, you're fantastic, but you could be perfect. Yes. And that he is. His wardrobe was just outdated. Like he clearly had not updated his wardrobe in a really long time. Like there was still stereosonic singlets in there. You know, the ones with the really baggy, like, and the pool was almost out. He had like several of those that I had to donate. It's giving big day out, like 2014. Exactly. Exactly. And it was 2022. I'm glad the listeners can't see my face. I just shriveled up my whole entire world. I'm so sorry.

40:25I'm so sorry if you're still with us. But it was gradual. I wasn't like, oh, you've got to come with me to Chadston and we've got to drop$1 ,000 today. I just gradually, if we were at the shops, let's pop into Zara, let's have a look at what they've got. Maybe, oh, maybe you could get like a new pair of like, you know, straight leg pants and let's try them on. And I would pull an entire outfit and then be like, oh, what do you think about this? And as he started trying things on, he started to see my vision a bit more. And because his love language is words of affirmation, I was just gassing him.

40:53I was like, oh, you look so handsome. He did. He did look great. But like the feedback and other people would say it to him as well. Like, oh, I really love that shirt or like, you're really good. And I think just hearing all of that feedback, it was kind of like, oh, okay, I'm a bit more open to this transformation now. But I wasn't too forceful about implementing that new style immediately. It was about slowly accumulating pieces. We'd go to Zara, Cos, Unison, Uniqlo. Yeah. Not places where you're spending a heap of money, but where you can accumulate some basics that he can also dress himself in and doesn't need me to be home to put together an outfit.

41:30Do you know what I always say? I'm like, guys have it so much easier than girls because I mean the irony of what I'm about to say, because Joey's quite literally sitting across from me wearing exactly what I'm about to say. A good white t-shirt, a pair of jeans that fit well, and a good sneaker will go a long way for a man. It's really not hard, is it? I really think there's a great business model in men being able to go and get styled by a woman who can be like, let's help. Yes. A hundred percent. And I like how you did it. I like how you did it as well because you softened the blow because I feel like personal style can be so personal and it can be something that men are quite proud of and females.

42:06Yeah. But like, believe it or not, I like to, I'm so proud of James' style. When I first met this guy back in like 2013, homeboy was so obsessed with the color red. Like it was, I don't understand, like red everything. and Ralph Lauren. So it was like a red Ralph Lauren cap. Holy shit, is he me? I think he is. And I'm like, do you guys want to date? I love a red sweater and I love Ralph Lauren. No, like literally red Ralph Lauren polo, board shorts, thongs, jandles, flip-flops, whatever you want to call them. I know, but I realised the juice was worth the squeeze and I slowly introduced him to things.

42:41So I complimented the tonal dressing, but less offensive colours. So our wardrobe building blocks became blacks, whites, greys, a little bit of navy, brown. Navy's chic on man. So chic. And even though like having brown and red softly paired together in a way, and then that kind of lifted the confidence. He liked where I was going. Yeah. And we have James Plum in today. Yes. I think it's framing it as compliment and connection, not correction. Yes. Oh, there we go. Because, yeah, look at the wordsmith over here. Look out, Taylor Swift, I'm a coming. I think the minute that you go, I hate that, or you can't wear that, or that looks like shit, It's like you're insulting someone.

43:21Yeah. If a man walked into my wardrobe and said, you're not wearing that, I'd be like, get out. We ain't flipping this wardrobe. Unless you're paying for it. Then you flip it. Let's go shopping. Give me the credit card. I'm going to chatty. But I think if you're going, that looks great on you or like it's those subtle things. But I think you're right. It's putting the financial pressure on someone to go and change their entire wardrobe or, you know, pushing your own agenda of, I want you to dress like that or wear that. to go back to this, this is in a fortnight. What does she do? It's hard because as you just said, like they might be really proud of their style and also might have their own defined style.

44:00They might really like wearing like, I don't know, grungy clothes and you putting them in a knitted polo is not going to feel natural to them. I like how you're looking me directly in the eye knowing full well that I would be like a polo. Pop on the polo. A cashmere over the shoulders with a clean, crisp white shirt would just look so beautiful. I think a trip to Uniqlo is worth it for just a simple pair of pants and a T-shirt. A white T-shirt. As you said before, the nicely fitted pair of jeans, a white T-shirt and a pair of sneakers. Maybe you could suggest that you go to the shops and just happen to fall into Uniqlo or Zara for a little look-see in the men's section.

44:41A Cree Christmas shop. I actually think the timeliness of this as well works quite well because you could be less offensive by being like, my shout, little gift, wink, wink. Because you're kind of Christmas present putting them together. But something actually Elliot mentioned last week on our episode when we were talking about who we can look to in men's fashion for styling advice. Could she subtly drop like Harry Styles, Jacob Elordi, Joe Jonas. You look so much like Jacob Elordi. He's like 5 '10". Can we find his celeb doppelganger? And like if he's got the style, be like. I, yeah, it's so funny.

45:15Is there like a style? Like for me, if I was to, when we get the Etsy witch and I can pick what he's going to dress like, I'm like let's do P. Johnson for less. Buying a sweater or a shirt from P. Johnson is obviously on the far more exy side. But going to Coz or Uniqlo, to your point, I'm like you can get that look for less. Like I think just like making sure things are tailored. Uniqlo, do free tailoring of your pants. in store I'm like it's just the little 10 % bets. It's so true. I feel like the Scandies do no wrong. Like if you go to Coz I feel like that's instantly a recipe for success. And even like finding what is the thing that you most don't like about his outfit.

45:54Like what's the most offensive thing. For me I don't know why but when I was a single Pringle I used to judge a man by his feet up. So I'd always look at his shoes. Cool shoes into them. Gross shoes. What would you be most offended by in the footwear department? Oh my God, I'm about to say the thong. And I'm like, all right, P. James's riddle up for a thong. They were in the trash straight away. You're like, I don't miss you. I don't think about you. He wouldn't dare wear a thong around me now. I also think, Lucinda, I actually reckon it might be a power play for you to rock up as he is. Have your friends judge him for who he really is.

46:29And then you can start the transition afterwards. And just gradually, maybe you go to the shops after that. Let's get a few outfits for Christmas events. You've got your family thing. I've got my family thing. Let's like get a few things, build out your wardrobe a little bit more. Do it softly like that. I also think as well, I think about my own girlfriends and like, you know, some of them might be like, oh, Maddie's into fashion. If my girlfriend had like previously had a shitty boyfriend or hadn't had a boyfriend for ages and brought a guy to meet me for Christmas drinks, I would be tickled pink.

46:59Yeah. Let me tell you, I'm not looking at his footwear or what t-shirt he's wearing. I'm like, get in the corner and let me ask you 27 questions. Let's start with your Maya Briggs and your star sign and then we'll work down from there. But I'm not going, hey, is that a Mambo T-shirt? Absolutely. And like, oh, God, I hope they're not Yeezy sneakers. As long as they're not those, I'm good with the rest. Yeah, their style is the least important thing to your friends. It is. So just remember that. You don't need to overhaul him in the next fortnight. Yeah. And I get why she cares. Totally. Like we give grace to why she cares because, girl, I'd be the same.

47:32And style is something we can change. It's not a deal breaker. But he sounds like he's a bloody divine little legend. He does. Send in a pet, go on. Send us his style evolution in 12 months' time, please. Yeah, maybe you too can have a social series like Jo and Adrian's glow up from Ado to Adrian. I think we'll end it on that note. Yeah. Right back to where we started, which is Ash getting a pump up for his best man's feet. That is all for this week's episode of Stylish. Thank you very much for joining us. It's very nice to have the band back together. Thank you both, Joanna Fleming and Annika Joshi-Smith.

48:05Always a bloody push. Excuse me, Fleming Coucher for this episode, please. Fleming Coucher. Thank you. Joanna Fleming Coucher. Whoa. And remember, you can drop us an email anytime. Maybe if you've grown up your boyfriend, let us know at style-ish at shamelessmedia.com.au or you can slide on into our DMs over at stylishpod. We can't forget to thank the beautiful Shameless Media team, head of podcast Lucy Hunt, and our senior podcast producer, Kate Emma Burke, who did tell us how great her boyfriend dressed so she didn't have to worry about this. Shout out to you, Rob. We see you. Rae and I will be back with you on Friday and we'll be right back here next Wednesday.

48:40See you then. See ya. Ciao.

48:53This podcast was recorded on Wurundjeri land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.