I receive a lot of questions about how people can dress their age or age-appropriately, or how they can use my advice and adapt it for someone older than me.
So, in this article, I’d want to discuss how to dress your age.
But, before we get started, I’d like to point out that my approach is a little different, and I absolutely do not believe there is anything that is age-appropriate or age-inappropriate.
I’m a firm believer in wearing whatever you want whenever you want, and no one should tell you otherwise.
So, with everything out of the way, let’s get this party started.
Dressing your age, in my opinion, entails recognizing your place in life as it relates to your age.
Whether you’re a youngster, in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or beyond, all of it will add up to a unique set of life experiences. Various events that have shaped you into the person you are now.
Understanding that displays a true sense of self, regardless of what decade you’re in, and I believe it is the fundamental cornerstone of dressing your age and feeling very good in who you are.
Comfort
My first piece of advice is to always choose comfort over style.
I believe that you should always appear to be at ease in your own skin. You should strive for self-acceptance and self-understanding at all times.
I believe you will gain a better understanding of this over time.
You’ll have a varied level of awareness and eventually comfort about who you are depending on where you are in life.
Fully embrace it, and let your wardrobe and apparel selections reflect it. Make it known to the rest of the world that what you’re wearing is a choice that allows you to enjoy the hobbies, people, food, and activities that you prefer.
Be Unique
Likewise, I believe that dressing your age entails wearing items that you’ve accumulated over time.
Everyone’s life will look different depending on where they are in their lives.
Whether it’s items that have been passed down to you, or items that you’ve gathered on excursions or travels, or items that you’ve saved for and budgeted for and now have in your closet.
That will all change over time, allowing you to develop a unique personal style that reflects your personality.
Something completely personalized, which is something I truly enjoy. People who appear to wear items that have been carefully chosen for their particular style inspire me endlessly.
I strongly advise you to do the same.
Go into your closet and look around. I promise you already have something similar hanging in your closet, and you’ll be able to locate something that’s completely unique to you because it’s a hand-me-down. Or it’s something you picked up while on vacation in a small shop.
Then be intentional about incorporating it into your particular style. That’s fantastic, in my opinion.
Forget Rules
Dressing your age, in my opinion, entails emphasizing what you genuinely like about yourself. That’s something that comes with experience.
The more you learn to know yourself and play with your style, the more you’ll find things that make you feel truly confident. That is something you should always put a lot of weight behind.
Ignore any outdated rules that say you can’t wear shorts after a particular age, or that you should start covering your arms or cutting your hair after a certain age.
All of these are rules that are intended to make us all seem the same. This is the polar opposite of what personal style is supposed to be about.
Prioritize Fit
My next piece of advice for dressing your age is to put fit first.
When I say prioritize fit, I’m referring to the fact that most clothing, especially mass-produced apparel, is based on a standard fit model that is then scaled up for each size.
That doesn’t account for the differences in all of our bodies, including our various sizes, arm lengths, leg lengths, bust sizes, shoulder widths, and everything else that distinguishes us.
You realize this by prioritizing fit, and you also know that you can adjust things to work for you.
Your best pal is going to be a tailor. If you haven’t already done so, I strongly advise you to seek out a tailor.
When I first went to the tailor, I was really excited. My mother took me because I had a major occasion coming up and needed something special.
It had a significant impact on my life.
Since then, I’ve set aside money for tailoring. Because I’ve noticed a significant change in my personal style.
I always lean towards the fitted items in my collection over the ones that haven’t been.
Know Your Style
Next, I believe that dressing your age implies you know what styles you prefer to wear and aren’t afraid to stock your closet with only those styles.
This is something I’ve noticed on a personal level. Because I’ve tried a lot as I’ve grown more acclimated to what I like to wear.
The more I learn about the pieces that get the most wear in my closet, the things that I grab for again and over again, the more I stick to those.
Unless I want to change, I no longer have the drive to explore and try a lot of various things.
But because I know what I want, I can simply choose it and stock my closet with it in a variety of colors and fabrics.
I’m confident that I’ll always find things to enjoy.
Similarly, I believe that dressing your age entails recognizing your age so that you can put more money into certain things.
If it’s something you know you’ll wear several times a week, depending on the season, you know that investing in quality, construction, and material will result in a piece you’ll enjoy for many years.
I think it’s an important aspect of figuring out your personal style, as well as becoming older in general.
Colors
Dressing your age, like understanding what styles you want to wear, I believe also implies knowing what colors you prefer to wear.
That has been one of the most eye-opening experiences of my own style journey.
I had a foundation that was useful to me once I worked out my color pallet and gradually built it.
In all of the colors that I’ve picked, all of my clothes mix and match beautifully. It’s been nothing short of revolutionary.
Understanding your style, in my opinion, is impossible without first determining your color palette and then selecting one.
Definitely devote some attention to it.
There are budget-friendly methods to play around with color.
You may go to a craft store to get some ideas. That’s exactly what I did. I went to the fabric section and took pictures of myself draped in various textiles.
Then I went home and compared them to see what looked nice, what didn’t look good, what I liked, and what I didn’t like, and I began experimenting with outfits from there.
I would buy a secondhand or vintage item if I wanted to test a new color. And gradually incorporate it into my wardrobe until I was completely comfortable with a core selection of colors.
After that, I created my color pallet. That’s what I’ve done since then.
I rarely leave it, and when I do, it’s because I’ve gone through all of those procedures to create a new color.
For me, it’s always worked.
Dress How You Want
Last but not least, I believe that dressing your age means dressing precisely as you want, which should come as no surprise given that all of my advice has centered on this.
I believe that when you become older or have more experience, you gain confidence and, hopefully, assurance in who you are. You should be proud to show it out to the rest of the world.
Don’t allow someone tell you that just because you’ve reached a particular age, you can’t do or wear the things you enjoy.
I hope that this article has given you a little more confidence to lean into that and not feel limited just because you are a specific age or not.
Every day, I try to remind myself that age is a gift, and that the older we get, the more fortunate we are to witness another year.
Everything else will fall into place if you keep that in mind, and you will be able to express your joy to the world through your clothes and whatever else you choose to accomplish in life.
