I frequently help clients evolve their styles into retired life. How their styles change varies from person to person. Some change their style drastically when they move into retirement, and others don’t change nearly as much. Either way, a lot of the preparation is the same and some things are universal. Here are some general guidelines on how to move your styles into the next chapter of your life.

Slow Down Dressy Career Wear Purchases

If you wear business formal or casual attire to work, or a work uniform of sorts, slow down the purchasing of that type of dress code a year to two before you retire. For example, purchase fewer formal sheath dresses, dressy suits, formal blazers, and high-heeled pumps and boots. 

Amp Up Crossover Items

Crossover wardrobe items are the pieces that you can wear in your non-retired and retired life. For example classic knitwear, smart casual outerwear, moto jackets, some blazers, some blouses, shirts, some pairs of trousers, dressy jeans, boots, tube skirts, ruanas, casual dresses, dressy flats and knitted tops are versatile items that can be dressed up or down. If you purchase more before you retire, you can dress them down with items like fashion sneakers, a utility jacket, jeans, utility pants, a denim jacket and casual boots in your post-work life.

Needs Analysis and Closet Edit

Once you’ve retired, a new needs analysis is in order because some of the factors that impact your style will have changed. You’ll need to do a few thorough closet edits in order to decide what to do with the work clothes, footwear and accessories you will seldom wear. Don’t pass it all on right away, and be sure to keep the crossover items.

Take Your Time

No matter how much you prepare and plan your evolved look for retired life, it will take time to find your stride. Try to make changes gradually and organically. Relax into it and enjoy the process. After all, you’re retired! Ideally, you need to settle into retired life for a while first in order to correctly establish new routines, schedules and activities, all of which will impact how you dress from day to day. Take your time to evolve your retired look so that you do it effectively, efficiently, and enjoy the results.

Build Effective Wardrobe Capsules

Once you have established routines in your new way of life, figure out which activity capsules you’ll need to complement them. All of my retired clients have fleshed out their activiewear, loungewear, casual wear and travel capsules. But some of them have also added athleisure, resort, cabin, beach, crafting, camping, gardening and theatre capsules to their wardrobe.

Build each activity capsule with mix-and-match items. Remember to incorporate existing wardrobe items into the capsules. You might find that you need to flesh out wardrobe categories like jeans, utility pants, athleisure bottoms, sneakers, knitted tops, casual skirts and dresses, house shoes, and casual toppers.

You also need to figure out your at-home style. Do you want to wear loungewear, athleisure, beach wear, casual wear, smart casual wear, dressier items, or a bit of everything. It’s all good as long as it makes you happy and works for your new lifestyle.

Hair, Make-Up, Nails, and Eyewear Re-evaluation

Re-evaluate your hairstyle, and the time and money it takes to maintain it. You might want to keep it the same, go grey, change the colour, leave it curly, go shorter, grow it out longer, add rainbow locks, straighten the waves, have it styled more or less frequently, or go for a more adventurous look.

Re-evaluate your nail care regimen. Do you want to amp up or scale down professional manicures and pedicures. Maybe you want to join Team Naked Nails. Maybe you want to have professionally groomed nails and feet because you finally have the time and can enjoy the results. Maybe things stay just the same.

Re-evaluate your eyewear. Maybe you want to switch from contacts lenses to specs, update your collection of readers, get prescription sunnies, or refresh your existing day-to-day eyewear. As for make-up, decide on a look that feels right day to day. It might mean wearing less than you used to, or keeping things the same.

Throw in LOTS of Personality

Your style into retired life needn’t be less fun, less expressive, or less visually impactful than before, unless of course, that’s exactly how you want your style to evolve.

Some of my clients are having even more fun with their styles after retirement because they feel less inhibited and more empowered. They can finally wear exactly what they want. Many are more sartorially adventurous and on-trend than they used to be. Some have maintained their daily levels of dressiness, playfulness, polish, tough edge, and avant-garde integrity. They continue to have fun with fashion, but are not bossed around by it.

Over the years, I’ve seen some of our veteran forum members evolve their styles into retired life, and they have never looked better. Your style might be different as you head into retirement, but it needn’t be void of verve, chic, and personality. Retirement can absolutely be your time to shine. You’ve earned it.

Don’t Leave Things for Good

I can’t stress this point enough. My late Mum, who loved to wear beautiful dressy clothes and jewellery, left too much of it for good. She died at age 59, and missed many opportunities. Wear your fabulous wardrobe items. If not now, when?

These guidelines are not exhaustive. Feel free to add your tips and experiences in the comments. I’m sure we can all learn from each other.

We’re excited to check back in with Germany-based Claudia Steinlein (56) of Glam Up Your Lifestyle, who was first featured on YLF in September 2015. Her more relatable style is a mix of casual and dressy on-trend looks with lots of Sporty Luxe touches. Claudia loves pendant necklaces and remixing her favourite pieces. These days, she is embracing more colour and has incorporated sneakers into many of her outfits. She also prefers timeless classics now, and relies on high-quality pieces. Her trademark bright orange-red lipstick is still going strong.

A statement blazer dresses up a casual tee and trouser look. Claudia is sporting a yellow crew-neck T-shirt over cropped white pants. But the star of the show is the tailored olive topper with eye-catching insect print and gold buttons. The fabric has a subtle sheen that adds a luxe touch and the colours make the yellow tee extra lively. The plaited detail on our blogger’s high-heeled ankle strap sandals adds a bit of textural interest. A small two-toned crossbody, delicate gold necklace and orange-red lipstick complete the look.

Here, Claudia dresses down a snazzy glen plaid suit with on-trend chunky sneaks and bright-coloured blouse. She’s tucked the V-neck blouse into the relaxed-fit trousers, which lengthens the leg line from the hips upwards. The fluid fit of the suit, together with the casual sneakers, gives the look a fun Sporty Luxe vibe. Part of the brightly coloured accents on the sneakers echo the fiery orange of the blouse and Claudia’s trademark orange-red lippy. The gold-toned layered necklace and slim bracelet tie in with the studs on our blogger’s big crossbody bag.

Claudia’s yellow tee comes out to play again. This time, she’s paired it with a brown crocodile print midi skirt for a day of sightseeing. The A-line skirt has a flattering flowy, slightly flared hemline. The vertical animal print running through the skirt lengthens the leg line, as does tucking the tee. The cognac platform sandals with crisp white soles and chunky straps work well with the yellow and brown palette. So does Claudia’s croc-embossed handbag in a deep darker brown. Combining a short string of pearls with a long pendant necklace finishes off the look.

This is a fab example of Angie’s Easy & Pretty Spring Tweed outfit formula. I love the vibrant light blues of Claudia’s Chanel-esque tweed jacket. They work brilliantly with the mid-blue jeans, and her blonde hair. Pairing the polished and dressy jacket with a pair of faded balloon jeans makes for a great outfit juxtaposition. Adding a graphic tee and casual velcro-strap sneakers creates a further playful touch. Two modern pearl necklaces instead of the classic strand of pearls are a playful nod to the iconic Chanel look. Claudia’s black quilted Chanel bag — that echoes the black tipping on the jacket — makes it all “official”.

A boho-lite dress that Claudia felt was a little too short to wear as is, is transformed into a breezy Summery tunic when paired with cropped white trousers. The ’60-esque graphic pattern on the blue-and-white A-line tunic runs both horizontally and vertically, which draws the eye up and down, and creates lovely visual interest. The white soles on our blogger’s platform sneakers echo the white pants. The earthy cognac straps work great with the crisp white in the outfit. As does the rich dark brown and gold hardware on the croc-embossed bag. Several pendant necklaces, a silver and rose-gold bracelet, and Claudia’s orange-red lipstick are the glam finishing touches.

Mustard, toffee and purple is a colour combination you don’t see every day, and I absolutely love it! Claudia is wearing straight-legged cords in a rich dark purple with turned-up cuffs. She’s paired them with a statement cosy colour-block turtleneck sweater in mustard, toffee, orange, and light grey. The roomy fit of the chunky knit pullover is tempered by the narrower fitting trousers. Casual Timberland hiking-style boots echo the mustard in the sweater. The croc-embossed crossbody brings shine and polish to the look. Finally, Claudia’s go-to orange lipstick matches the orange in the pullover.

Let us know what you think of Claudia’s relatable, on-trend style, and be sure to check out the rest of her wonderful outfits on her blog.

More and more retailers are offering some type of rental service. Some items for rent are hot off the press new-season items, whereas others are from seasons past. Banana Republic recently launched theirs, which allows you to create a monthly wardrobe from weekly arrivals. Retailers like Anne Taylor, Vince, the Loft, Rebecca Taylor, Bloomingdale’s and Urban Outfitters offer rental services too. And businesses like Rent the Runway, Armoire, Gwynnie Bee, and Le Tote specialize in wardrobe rental, although you can purchase items at a discounted price after renting them.

Either wardrobe rental is getting traction, or it’s simply a strategy retailers are employing to cope with depressed sales. Either way, you have the option of renting most of your wardrobe these days. I have some friends who do just that. I have clients who rent from time to time, just for fun or for a special occasion.

We discussed wardrobe rental last year, and many were intrigued by the idea. There are advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this week’s poll is to establish who is renting and who is purchasing their wardrobe, and whether the pandemic has changed your thoughts on this. You bat for Team Buy if you prefer to purchase your wardrobe items, and vice versa. Note that if you like the idea of renting your future wardrobe but haven’t gotten into the swing of it yet, you bat for Team Rent.

I have no desire to rent my wardrobe at all. I bat for Team Buy because I enjoy being in complete control of my curated wardrobe. Each item is a piece in a puzzle that has its deserving place and fits perfectly. Items work together so that I can create complete looks that work for my lifestyle. I also frequently repeat my favourite outfits. Each item is familiar and has a memorable history that I cherish and value. Adding wardrobe rentals to the mix would upset the system that is working very well for me, not to mention the challenges with creating a perfect fit.

Over to you. Do you bat for Team Buy or Team Rent? Tell us why, and no batting for both teams. But feel free to sit this one out on the bench where I’m serving leek and tomato quiche with a green salad in sanitized take-out boxes if you can’t choose a side. There are also South African crunchies for tea, but they’re going fast.

This outfit formula is easy to pull together. The solid columns of colour are streamlining and elongating, and can be created with various separates, or a dress. The stars of the show are the very large necklaces that make a strong statement and are the focal point of the outfit. 

In the first example, black is worn from head to toe, but the tortoiseshell necklace breaks up the expanse of flat black and adds some texture. I can see animal print shoes that match the necklace work well too. Don’t feel bound to black for the solid column of colour. Any neutral or non-neutral is good.

Here a column of slate grey is created with a two-piece dress. Cognac sandals add warmth to the palette. The large silver necklace adds life and texture to the flat grey. I can see the outfit work well with silver shoes, or black to bookend the wearer’s hair. It’s the type of outfit that can work well in a warm Fall or Winter.

If you prefer breaking up the solid column of colour, you can create a vibe similar to the one below. It’s neutral, but has some high contrast. Unbutton a shirt or blouse and wear a large necklace inside the collar. I suspect that a longer neck will absorb the size of a large short necklace more easily than a shorter neck. Layer a topper over the lot. It’s also one way to add accessory pizzazz to a digital meeting.