Do You Dress Your Age?

The title of this post says it all – do you dress your age? Older? Younger? Or is there even such a thing? Recently, I had to face the fact that on average, I think I dress older than my actual age. I’ve realized that even when I happen to walk out of a store/check out online with younger, more playful items, I kind of actively have to work to do so – I have to force myself, to find pieces that are a little more fun, or trendy, or shorter (!!). Otherwise, I tend to gravitate towards those pieces, that in some places are called “classic” but also out of the mouths of other, more honest salespeople, are referred to as – “aging”.

Part of the issue is the style inspirations that I choose. For some reason I mostly love photos of women decades older than me. I feel like its mainly in women 50+ where I usually see true elegance. Do you agree? For example, take this photo of Jane Goodall:

I first saw this photo a half year ago, and immediately saved it. I mean – it’s Jane Goodall! And she looks wonderful. The way that shawl both works with her coloring and also references her own work with nature and how it’s set off of that turtleneck…very nice. And to be honest I was really excited to see a photo of this sort of woman in an Hermes shawl. The same way I feel when I see Janet Yellen in one of her (many) scarves. Just a perfect union.

The problem arrives, I think, as a result of the fact that I often have little imagination. I can’t really look at a photo like this and go “oh, let me translate this into my own thing,” maybe make it a bit younger because after all Jane Goodall is quite a bit older than me (though I’m pretty sure when she was my age, she wore much cooler outfits than I do now anyway). Instead, my next course of action tends to be along the lines of: “well, I guess I’ve got to get a black turtleneck and that shawl.” And of course I did get this shawl, in that exact colorway, and I did end up wearing it over a dress to a baby shower the other day, and then a dear friend described the entire look to me as “very museum curator’s wife.”

That’s when it struck me – I do love that museum lady look. I think in another life, I could happily purchase a good amount of my accessories from a museum gift shop. When I was little, I remember just staring up at all those animal shawls and big knit cardigans and bead seed necklaces and what not. But now I try to avoid my initial impulses because when I give into all of them…I tend to dress quite a bit older. Sometimes a LOT! I wish I could pick and choose the pieces I like and “freshen them up”. I think some people are very good at this. OCCASIONALLY I can do it too. But it’s never a guarantee.

Now I’d like to hear from you. Do you dress your “age”? Younger? Older? Or is this question not even relevant anymore?