Is That Style Age Appropriate?

I have been helping people dress themselves for almost 16 years now and not once during those years have I told someone that they were not the appropriate age to wear a piece of clothing.

Why? Because I believe that it is ludicrous to think that our age should dictate our style. Our style may change and grow as we change and grow, but to say that we cannot wear a certain piece of clothing after a specific age OR that wearing clothing in a way we love makes us look old is ridiculous. If you truly feel amazing in a piece of clothing and it matches your ideal style, that is all that matters.

There is so much chatter on social media about how wearing a particular style of jeans or socks or even how you part your hair will make you look old. As if aging is some horrible preventable illness that you can protect yourself from by pulling up your socks and wearing wide leg cargo jeans. The truth is, young people tend to follow fleeting trends more than grown ups because they are still trying to figure out who they are and how they want to present themselves to the world. I believe it’s why fast fashion seems to appeal more to the younger generation since they can try on a certain persona for a season and see how it feels. I spent my teenage years trying on so many different styles, until I found a style, many years later, that felt like Me. BUT I had to figure out who I was before I could even start to write my style story.

Sometimes trends come along that harmoniously correspond with my style and I welcome them with open arms into my closet. I believe that if a trend not only matches your style personality, but also coordinates with other pieces in your closet, (and makes you feel amazing) then it is worth purchasing. However, if you have to buy more pieces to work around that trend or change your ideal style to make it work, then maybe it belongs in someone else’s closet. And that’s okay.

My favourite thing about style (and my job) is that no two people are exactly the same. It’s what makes fashion so fun. You can have 100 people, wearing 100 different styles that all look and feel fantastic in them. Style also means that there is inevitably someone older and younger and exactly the same age as you walking around wearing an outfit that you would never wear and feeling fabulous in it. I believe that whether we are 3 or 93 we all have a right to that.