Is Your Wardrobe Age Appropriate?

I wanted to talk about age-appropriate dressing. It’s an odd topic it's really difficult to define what age appropriate means. It’s also strange because no one really knows where the cutoff age is, who defines when you are too old to wear something or too young to wear something. It's kind of up for grabs and I think it leads us to being the one who decides for ourselves what we will wear.

A lot of my followers have mentioned they feel the best when they wear what they like and maybe that defines what is age-appropriate.

When you are younger you dive into a plethora of styles and it’s a necessary stage that one needs to go through to find what their true style is. You go through many different types of styles in order to whittle it down to the one that feels the best. I say it's an important stage to go through typically when you’re, say, fresh out of high school. You don't have a lot of money, normally. You tend to get clothes that aren't that expensive. You go through clothes more quickly because you're always trying to define who you are through trying different styles frequently. Also, you’re more apt to try many different things because you're in search of something that reflects who you want to be, yet, you’re young you don't really know who it is that you want to be, even though you might think you do. As you mature and you have more life experience, you start to discard the fluff and zero in on clothes that feel better and look better and that suit your lifestyle better and also fit your expense account. As you get older you start to know more about what you want to wear and how you want to present yourself the world. There’s a certain maturity and confidence that obviously comes with age and that helps you to find your style.

Everyone reaches those milestones at different times of their life because we all have our own path and we all reach these milestones at different times in our life. Someone might become a mother in their 20s and someone might become a mother in their 40s, therefore, what they are wearing and what is supposedly age-appropriate will differ between those two groups. One thing is consistent, though, is that as you age, you do learn from experience how it is that you want to clothe yourself and what looks good on you.

It's overwhelming with all the selection of styles that are out there and the trends that come and go. The seasonal updates of wardrobe are so many that women can feel pressure somewhat to follow those trends. Too many women are made self-conscious by the trends they’re trying to fit into. Consider all the pressure in our world where women are validated by consensus. Yet, as you get older you don't always follow the trends as religiously because you realize they’re going to come and go and you don't need to stay on that rollercoaster ride of always changing your wardrobe every few seasons.

What happens then, when you're not changing your wardrobe every few seasons, is you tend to go towards more classic pieces. What do I mean by classic pieces (I bet you could guess!)

• your littleblack dress • your fabulous fitting jeans • your great t-shirts or great blouse • an awesome jacket

Solid colors work really well because they tend to mix and match better with the overall wardrobe and overall look. As you mature, accessories can tend to become more of a quality type and more of investment pieces. For example, if you have on a well-worn t-shirt with your jeans but you have a great looking diamond or gold or silver necklace, that will uplift the whole look. Pieces of great quality jewelry and accessories can elevate your the overall look from really casual to another step higher of maybe not so casual but a little more fancy.

Another piece that's very classic and fundamental is a really great fitting jacket.You throw that over a t-shirt and jeans and you get elevated again to something that is a little more sophisticated and can take you into a broader area of any life situation. You're more dressed for the occasion. It’s amazing what a jacket will do or a really nice pair of shoes or a really nice bag.

Also, as you get older you tend to simplify the lines and have cleaner lines on clothes. Once again, they all tend to mix and match with each other a lot more beautifully. The length of time to get dressed is shortened. You don’t have to be concerned so much of the details like you do when you're younger and you have a lot more accessories and patterns and textures to contend with. Maybe you have more time when you're younger to devote to those things, and more energy. So, it's all good. It’s all is as it should be.

Back to age appropriate dressing. What if you're in your 40's and you have wonderful legs but you've been told by society that miniskirts are only for women in their 20s? If you want to wear them and will feel beautiful then I think you need to wear them. What makes a woman feel insecure is when she's trying to please other people and looking for validation outside of herself.

There is a lot of noise in our chaotic world which can fill our heads with clutter and take us away from where we are feeling our most comfortable. We need to really listen to how we feel when we put on certain clothing. The best thing is when a piece of clothing fits you really, really well. To help make that happen, I highly recommend finding a tailor who can take in or let out or do what needs to be done for a piece of clothing you really like to fit you perfectly.

I hope that this topic today about age-appropriate dressing will give you more freedom to: 1) experiment with clothing when you’re at a younger age and 2) be at ease with your outfit choices as you mature and get older.

Discard those things you’ve had for far too long that don’t fit your your figure or lifestyle any longer. Be okay with letting clothes go to somebody who really needs them. Replace those pieces slowly but surely with new pieces that make you feel beautiful. Make sure that they are the highest quality you can afford so that you can start to build these fundamental pieces that will last you longer than the trendy pieces. In the long run you're actually saving money. Try not to consider too much what society says you should or shouldn't wear. Fortunately, we are in an era where women are given much more freedom to express themselves.

If it feels good on you and it makes you feel confident and beautiful and stand up even straighter then I would say that is an age-appropriate thing to wear.

I hope this helps.