However, how you dress is a statement of who you are and how you want to be perceived. And that changes as you grow. In some cases, it changes more than body shape or clothing size (although, of course, those things change too).
Personally, I feel that the past years have been hard-won and the experience is worth gaining. That meant saying goodbye to the clothes I associated with my youth: above-the-knee hems (especially on skater and rah-rah skirts), navel-baring tops, ruffles, and slip dresses. Really, anything can cause me to slip down a wormhole into a time when I was not formed as a human being or have already experienced it once. It has as much to do with personal connections as it does with actual years.
It’s similar to the problem of family reunification, where being around siblings or older relatives finds you reverting to the role you played when you were 12 years old. Even if fashion has decided that it’s time for a new generation to discover it, they still wear clothes from an earlier era. They tend to have the same effect. (Actually, this might be a rule worth considering; if you first wore it when it was on trend, you might want to avoid it the second time around.)
I think that’s why I’m drawn to long skirts and wide pants that range from mid-calf to ankle. Both give you a swooshing sensation when you walk. Also, three-quarter sleeves or long sleeves. Being more covered feels more practical and more elegant to me, and both of these words (along with the corollary “put together”) suggest values that I have come to understand. doing. Kitten heels or mules, mainly as their name suggests, are not.
But that’s me. That’s the point!
When I think of women of a certain age whose style I admire, I think of women who know who they are and feel comfortable sharing that with the world. Sigourney Weaver, Isabelle Huppert, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Lauren Hutton, and more. , Michelle Lamy (Rick Owens’ very goth partner/wife/muse). That means making your own decisions about what makes you feel good, like wide-leg pants. It’s truly the ultimate adult way of dressing.