Defining Your Midlife Style - Tips and Tricks on How to Look and Feel Good
Finding the right clothes to match your fashion sense, body shape, and lifestyle can seem daunting.
Our bodies have changed and are still evolving. We learn more and more about how gravity affects our bodies and how the color and texture of our skin change. So you may be wondering, how can you have the best midlife style?
We may not look the same in our favorite colors. Our usual fabrics can begin to fit in ways we'd rather forget. We are also witnessing the reemergence of belly-baring Ts and extra low-rise jeans, stuff we thought was left behind 20+ years ago.
To make it worse, the stores that used to carry the exact brands and styles that we love have moved on to serving the up-and-coming generation of buyers, leaving us in the dust.
We may not be young, but we sure aren't old.
So what do we do? Shall we resign ourselves to wearing wallet chains and prairie dresses for the next few years? Or should we endeavor to find new styles in a much better fit that will blow these teenyboppers, and their tiny clothes, out of the water?
Your Style
At some point close to age 30, we pretty much know what our style is. How we dress sends a message to others about who we are and helps us gain the confidence to be ourselves around others. Your personal style is your initial introduction to other people.
So, think about it.
What do you want the world to know about you from your appearance? More importantly, how do you want to feel in your clothes? How can your clothes reinforce your confidence? What do you want?
Who Are You Now?
Are you more conservative, still a rocker at heart, or somewhere in between? Are you at-work business casual or at-home business casual? (It's so hard to find a nice blouse that matches pajama pants today!) You are not the same person you were a few years ago. It's time for a new wardrobe for your midlife style!
Ignore those clickbait articles suggesting that women of a certain age can't wear certain clothes or that they need to have certain hairstyles.
Wear what you want, as long as it's appropriate for the setting that is.
It doesn't matter your price points, what size you wear, or whether you get your clothes at Walmart, Amazon, or Prada. There is always somewhere carrying your style in new colors and fits if you know where to look.
The Perfect Fit
In fashion and style, the word 'perfect' is unreliable. The 'perfect' article of clothing has many natural and tangible meanings. The perfect shirt, for example, is something you are excited to wear because it's your style, drapes perfectly on your body, and fits well. Finding the right fit and fabric is so essential.
Ready to shop for your midlife style? If you shop online, you have to know your measurements to get suitable sizes.
Pro-Tip: Have a measuring tape handy. You may want to remeasure yourself often, especially if you are like many of us and your weight goes up and down. Write those measurements down; they are so easy to forget.
Your Perfect Fit Tips:
Know Where Your Clothes Come From
You must know where your clothes are coming from to anticipate the size differences between countries. A size 'large' in an Asian country is not the same size as a 'large' in the United States.
I don't know about you, but I have ordered many pieces that were soooo off in sizing that it threw my head for a loop!
Pro-Tip: Pay attention to the labels. Not only for size info but also for fabric info. Are you allergic to anything? Do you only buy cotton? What fabric looks best on your body? Is there a type that hides your perceived flaws better than another?
Try a New Color Palette
Wondering why things don’t look the same on you as they used to? Your skin and hair have changed their colors and textures. Your skin and hair have changed their colors and textures. In midlife, our skin’s elasticity, color, and tone change. It may be time to find a new color palette and silhouette before shopping.
Read Customer Reviews
Read the reviews on 3rd party sites, such as Amazon. Some may not be honest, but they can't be fake. If there is something up with either the buyer or the product, the reviewers will let you know.
Check out any images that customers have downloaded so that you can see what the item looks like on an actual person. Always check out the return policy before you buy.
Don't wear what someone else tells you to wear. Don't let clickbait keep you from the leather jacket or flouncy tutu of your dreams. Your growing confidence will hide any of your perceived flaws.
Self-Esteem and Confidence
Would you prefer to go to a business meeting in a power or bathing suit? While a few of you may be shouting bathing suits from the back, a power suit does what it says; it makes you feel powerful. Either “suit” does not contain anything special besides a few choice darts and stitches, but the power you and your peers attach to the suit is what gives it strength.
When you go out with the girls, do you want a dress that looks the part but that you have to keep adjusting? Or do you want something gorgeous, in exactly your color, and a perfect fit?
It's hard to be confident and feel sexy in your midlife style while trying to dance and pull your dress up, down, or both simultaneously. But your success in finding the best clothing in midlife comes from your ability to stand tall and command respect simply because you are you, and you are tough, competent, and so very valuable.
Stores have already begun selling bathing suits for the summer, which may cause many of us some stress. You can't, at any age, shape, or skin color, grab that suit that's calling your name. Everybody is a beach body.
Midlife Style on Midlife Bodies
With all that being said, as long as your clothes are clean and they fit correctly, who cares if you are 60 years old in bootcut jeans or 25 in 'mom' jeans, the fact that you feel good in what you wear and are proud of yourself, well, that is the only thing that matters.
If you feel confident, you will act confident. If you act confident, people will see you as the self-possessed and vibrant woman you truly are; it's that simple.