Back in May I felt a bit uninspired by my wardrobe. I was still adjusting to coming off living out of a suitcase with limited clothing and now living for several months in a different climate. I bought some pieces of clothing just to get me through the winter without paying attention to how it might look. I thought I wasn't going anywhere special so I'll just grab a few items off the rack that fit. Sadly, my clothing reflected my thoughts. I didn't look as if I was going anywhere special not just where I was, but in life. These days I don't wear dressy clothing from Monday through Saturday due to the nature of my work and that made me feel a little less feminine.
I spent some time in self examination about what I might want my wardrobe to look like now that I'm in my 50's. For the most part I was clueless. I wanted the confident feeling of the clothing of my 20's when I was more style conscious, and an injection of fun and verve back into my life which I experienced during that decade. What does dressing at 50 really look like? How do we dress bodies of different shapes and sizes beautifully we age? These were my biggest questions. None of us can get away from aging. Our bodies become different as well as our skin and hair.
I now believe your cellphone can read your thoughts. I don't remember speaking about this to anyone, yet one day a YouTube video popped up on my phone which took me down a path of learning. Welcome Beth Djalali into my life. Her videos about Style At A Certain Age (www.styleatacertainage.com) have been the best resource for me. She does not just talk about fashion, aging, staying healthy and about life, but she teaches it in bite sized pieces, making it easy to grasp and follow.
After looking at about ten of her 8-15 minute videos, I began to have clarity on what I needed to do to rearrange my closet, make better choices and how to change from frumpy to fabulous. I was one of these people who went shopping in my comfortable clothes with minimal or no make-up because I didn't want to get make-up on the clothes I was trying on. I learned from her this is one of the biggest mistakes. This is the day that you should get dressed up and look fabulous because if you dress frumpy, whatever you try on will also look frumpy. Even if you do your hair and make-up and dress 50% better than you used to, to go clothing shopping it will make a big difference in how you see yourself in the mirror and you'll make better choices. I tried it and it was very true for me. For the first time in a very very long time, shopping became an extremely fun experience and not a frustrating one. My gut instinct on my choices kicked in and I went with what I was guided to select.
I had patience with myself and was willing to try on anything, any colour, any fabric and very different styles and loved it. I can sometimes be a very linear and stiff person in my choice of fabrics. For example, one pair of glasses that I recently purchased has a slightly curved frame. That bugged me for a long time and I could not figure out why. One day it hit me: it's curved, not a straight line! Once I understood that, I let myself settle in with this new frame because it was a softer look for me. What I am learning taught me that I should embrace some of the softer fabrics and even some ruffles to appear more friendly and approachable.
I learned how to make myself look taller. At 5'1", I saw the difference it made when I followed her instructions. Beth also encourages her audience to shop anywhere, from the second hand stores, to Walmart, to ahem Giant Tiger for me, to high end shops. I experienced the wide spectrum of possibility all of these stores have to offer and came out with items I absolutely love. I'm no longer a person who would buy something and put it away in the closet without wearing it. After all of that fun and effort, you bet I'll be dressing up more often now and rocking my styles!
