This weekend we experienced the gloriousness of Fall…70 degree days, sunshine, low-humidity and a cool breeze.

It made me giddy to reaquaint myself with some of my old friends…HELLO, sweaters, jeans, boots, leggings, and cardigans.

When I turned 40 this year, I made a commitment to myself that I would only wear the clothes I loved and I would also not be afraid to try different trends. As my dear friend’s mom said,

“Rock it while you can, when you turn 70, no one wants to see you in leggings.”

So with the help of Leawood’s Park Place, I was able to experiment with a couple of today’s hottest trends – aztec cardigans and bold prints.

(And because this was my first photo shoot and I was scared to death, I recruited my friend Kristen from Dine & Dish to go with me and take all of the photos.) 

Fall Fashion Trends 40 Year Olds Can Wear – Aztec

First, we stopped by EJ’s Boutique. EJ has been in the business for over 30 years and as she told me “I’ve seen all the trends come, go, and come back around again.” Her store is all about classically styled clothes with just a bit of edge.

There were so many things I fell in love with while I was at EJs including a leather hoodie jacket, lace top, and batwing sweater. But ultimately, I decided to showcase these amazing leather leggins and aztec sweater.

I can’t say enough about these leggings. It was hard to not buy them from her right on the spot. They were the right ratio of leather to fabric, had a higher waist to stop trouble tummy issues and were made of a thicker fabric so they felt more like pants and less like leggins..

I think I could write a love song about this sweater!! Isn’t it beautiful? Pair it with leggins, pair it with jeans, pair it with whatever and it will look awesome. PLUS, this is a statement piece that you will have for the rest of your life. Seriously? What aged woman would not look amazing in that?

Fall Fashion Trends 40 Year Olds Can Wear

 – Prints

Next, I went over to Alysa Rene Boutique. It was much more trendier than EJs and at first I wondered if I could find anything that would look right on me. But the owner Alysa put me right at ease. That woman can take a look at your body and come up with about five outfits that would look great in under three minutes.

Alysa and my friend Kristen decided this bold striped shirt was the one I should wear. At first, I wasn’t feeling it. I tend to like more subtle colors and prints, but they were ADAMANT that this.was.the.shirt. And they were right! I loved that was tight where it needed to be (hello, accenting my chest) and loose where it needed to be (hello, space around my tummy) with those awesome sleeves.

Alysa  also convinced me to try on the Black Orchid Jeggins. Again, I wasn’t sure because the jeggins looked like they would fit a junior high girl, not a 40 year-old mom…but they were amazing. Seriously. So comfortable. Great pockets. Not too low rise. AMAZING. And look….they show off my calf muscles!

And can we just take a moment and appreciate those boots? Okay, maybe one more minute? Seriously, is there anything those boots would not go with?

So what did I learn from my little experiment?

• There are fall fashion trends 40 year olds can wear.
• It’s important to try different things than your norm (hello bright shirt and jeggins).
• Trust your friends. They don’t want you looking goofy, but they can see things that sometimes we are blind too.
• When in doubt, suck in your tummy, pull your shoulders back and rock it like you got it.

Want more of my fall fashion for 40 year old picks? Make sure to follow my Fashion Trends Pinterest Board.

Follow Kelly Snyder’s board Style ~ Fashion Trends for Women over 35 on Pinterest.

Disclosure: I worked with ParkPlace Leawood on this post, but was not compensated in any way (nor did I receive free clothes).