Elegance expert reveals the seven things to never wear if you want to look sophisticated

An elegance coach has revealed the outfits people wear that scream you have ‘no class’.

Anna Bey, a YouTuber who splits her time between London and Geneva, told her viewers that the ‘number one secret’ to looking stylish is to avoid ‘what the masses are wearing’.

The lifestyle guru, who ‘helps women improve themselves so they can live their best lives’, offered the advice in her latest video on YouTube, where she has 1.84million subscribers.

Skinny jeans, black and white stripes, and leather leggings are just some of the ‘classic items’ that have been ‘overexposed’, according to Anna.

Ranting about skinny jeans, the YouTuber said: ‘Even with a pair of heels, it does not look elevated.

‘Wow – we’ve really seen it everywhere like this is oversaturation which is why it looks dated.’

Anna added that skinny jeans make you look as though you have ‘sausage-looking legs’.

Despite her damning review, the expert added that viewers should not go and throw their skinny jeans away because of her advice.

‘Of course you can still use them,’ she said. ‘You can repurpose them.’

Offering an example of how skinny jeans can be styled to achieve an elegant look, Anna said to wear them with a knee-high boot.

‘Or any boots that basically just cover the fact that you’re wearing skinny jeans,’ she said.

Wrapping up her rant, she said: ‘If you want to look more modern, the skinny jean is not the way forward.’

The next clothing item to get a thumbs down from Anna is the motorcycle jacket – most commonly worn in leather.

The elegance coach, who admitted to loving leather jackets herself, said there is a big difference between a well-made one and a poorly made one.

‘The craftsmanship is not there,’ she said. ‘The fabrics are not the highest quality and therefore it just looks more dated.’

Anna continued: ‘The moto jacket has been seen too much on too many people.’

‘And definitely do not wear it with skinny jeans,’ she added.

The elegance expert also expressed her dislike of the waterfall jacket, which she describes as ‘the cousin’ of the moto jacket.

Anna said: ‘I think a lot of older ladies have been really big fans of this kind of jacket which I do understand because it does give a bit of a styling element when you wear it.

‘It gives you a bit of fluidity and a feminine silhouette with those waves.

‘The problem is that ladies who are slightly older tend to have a bigger chest or a bigger midsection and the waterfall jacket creates a widening effect.’

Elsewhere Anna stressed that another ‘overexposed item’ is leather leggings.

Sharing an image of herself wearing the item, Anna joked: ‘That was in 2017 and fast forward 100 years later, unfortunately we have seen too much of the leather leggings.’

But Anna reassures her followers that they should not avoid leather entirely.

Instead she said you should shop for leather trousers that are flared or cropped and therefore look ‘elevated’.

‘I think the leather element can look quite youthful and give a little edge to an outfit,’ Anna said.

Next up, Anna says she disapproves of the horizontal black and white stripe.

Showing pictures of models in striped t-shirts, Anna asked: ‘Do you think this looks elevated?

‘When we start wearing horizontal black and white stripes, I don’t know, I just immediately started thinking about those cartoons that we watched when we were young when somebody was in prison – not a good look!’

But Anna acknowledges that there are exceptions to the no-stripe rule such as the navy and white Breton stripe which she describes as having ‘an elegant flare’. 

‘I do think that stripes can be beautiful. I personally love the pinstripe – very sophisticated. Or vertical stripes can be quite nice.

‘We have to talk about the checked print too,’ Anna said.

‘I would wear it in the countryside or in the mountains but I think generally in a city, it looks a little bit out of place.’

But Oxford students can breathe a sigh of relief because Anna makes an exception for tweed as it is ‘very classic and traditional’ and therefore has ‘longevity’. 

The next item on Anna’s no-go list is colourful pumps.

But she offered a disclaimer and said: ‘Colour alone doesn’t determine whether something looks cheap or expensive – it’s not that simple,

‘It’s the combination of factors like what kind of material the shoe has, what kind of construction or design or detail it has.

‘If you’re not experienced with styling then please play it safe by just avoiding colourful pumps all together.’

In the same vein, Anna advises people with less styling experience to avoid colourful denim. 

Last but not least, Anna believes that the denim skirt looks dated.

‘It certainly looks very 2000s,’ she said. ‘And not necessarily in a positive way!

‘It’s not yet time for the denim skirt to come back like it needs to rest a bit more before it feels appropriate to come back.’

But Anna is more forgiving of the white denim skirt because it ‘is less over exposed’.

But denim blue or grey? ‘Store them away!’