Ask Angie: How to Transition Wardrobe - YouLookFab Forum

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Ask Angie: How to Transition Wardrobe

Leigh Anne

Member

HI Angie!
I am so thrilled to have found YouLookFab! I am moving into the retirement phase of life, after 20 years in corporate America. I need to transition my wardrobe to more refined casual as opposed to dressy corporate. I am wondering if you have any guidance on how to transition clothing from one phase of life to another - what to keep, what to give away?
I hate the thought of looking "old", so am always seeking ideas and articles on "how to not look old" for clothing, hair and make-up. Can you direct me to specific categories within YouLookFab to find the info I am seeking? Have you ever thought of having an "Over 50" or "Over 60" category? There are so many boomers these days, I think you would see lots of interest.

Thanks!

14 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Welcome, Leigh Anne!

This is something I help clientele with quite regularly. We also discuss it on this forum - like here, on this thread:

https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....-lifestyle

Happy to help you through this transition on the forum

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Welcome, Leigh Anne. There are many women on the forum in the retirement phase of life, and many others who are approaching that milestone, and still others who have simply changed careers, or whose career wear needs have changed markedly with the current work-from-home situation. So you'll find lots of company here. I'm sure they will weigh in soon!

Anonymous

Welcome, Leigh Anne. Immediately stop buying for your corporate life.
Look at Angie’s “smart casual” dressing blog posts. You can wear your dressier tops and toppers with denim or other casual bottoms. Some dresses and skirts can be worn with a denim jacket and sandals or sneakers to dress them down. Invest in well fitting, current styles of denim. You may want to look at work jackets, utility jackets and bomber and moto jackets. Twill, leather and tweed work well with denim, especially in the fall, so keep those things. Keep a dressy outfit for each season for weddings and special occasions and keep nice things that will work for funerals. Think of a travel capsule for each season. Keep comfortable footwear and things that are well fitting and make you happy. Get rid of anything that does not fit or spark joy. Work with one season at a time.
Look at anything Angie wrote about closet edits. You need to try everything on. Having a style Monicker helps keep you focused. How do you want to present yourself. Think of what you need for your lifestyle. Go slowly because things may be different than they seem now. I have seen lots of retired persons go back to work for various reasons. You may be asked to stay on part time and may want to. You may do lots of traveling.
Good luck. You are wise to be thinking about this now. Some YLF members who have retired recently will have suggestions for you. If you plan to move, that will make a difference.

rachylou

Veteran

Hello and welcome! Haven’t retired yet, but stopped working corporate office environments... my first thought is consider what you really spend your time doing and in what proportion. Home, for me, is a rough and tumble place: Always with the dog and/or walking or in the garden or doing housework. In my imaginary life I’m going to galleries and plays and dinner, but it’s not so!

Carla

Veteran

Welcome, Leigh Anne!

Being a planner I joined YLF 7 years ago with a long view to retirement in 5! 18-12 months before retirement, I stopped buying ‘work’ clothes. I felt about my work clothes the way I felt about maternity clothes! Once retired from Big City office work, I did an immediate purge of anything I didn’t ever see myself wearing again. 6 months later, I did another big purge. The second edit was ruthless and supported by DH. I was glad to leave the work world behind and some of those old clothes didn’t have good enough vibes to carry on into my new reality.

I retired 2+ years ago, and I’m very happy with my modest mix and match collection of clothes. I can put together an outfit for any occasion from black tie (yes, I own a ball skirt!) to grubbing in the garden.

Rachylou mentioned sorting out your daily activities and then planning your wardrobe accordingly. I did that when 60hrs a week was devoted to work and the commute to get there, and then again after retirement (when some of those 60hrs gained went to extra sleep!) Give yourself time to settle into a routine. No matter how much you plan, the reality is different than the fantasy.

FWIW, Angie is an equal opportunity fashion activist, and there are all kinds of folks who count themselves Fabbers. Quite a few 40-50-60 yo’s here as well as younger and older. This is a milestone year for me and later this winter I will be 60.

Anonymous

Here's one of Angie's posts about closet editing, but she does them regularly.
https://youlookfab.com/2012/08.....t-editing/

I'm not retired, but went to a temporary (3 weeks has extended into 4 months and counting) WFH situation. Most of my nice workwear is unworn in favor of gear. And once I'm back in the office, I may want different things (3+ in heels, I'm looking at you). But I'm not making those decisions yet- and likewise, you may not want to either, until you see what life looks like. If you join a board, for example, the corporate dresses may be just right.

MsMaven

Veteran

Hi Leigh Ann! My search for how to dress my older self is what first brought me to YLF a dozen years ago. While I still look at articles and blogs on What Not to Wear over whatever age, I often have a good laugh. You'll soon be caught up in how to look the way you want to look to express yourself the best way possible.

There is a huge amount of accumulated wisdom here. I think I read for about a year before I finally joined up, and I spent much of that time reading old forum and blog posts.

Sal

Veteran

Welcome to the forum!

My advice would be to have a holding zone - and put a few things in there for a period whilst you see how things change. There will be pieces you can immediately edit out - pieces that are tired or just very corporate (tailored woven pencil skirts). And there are the ones that could be worn in a refined casual way and may or may not work (tailored trousers, blazers etc).

I see people take on a variety of interests and lifestyles on retirement. Some people are very active and sports gear take on a more prominent role. Others are into more charity or club roles where smart clothes are more important.

Whilst I work almost full time I work from home, from a casual office and have some mixed roles outside work. I find for winter good knitwear a must, because it moves across all my roles. Winter blouses and shirts get less wear because they are too cool to wear alone at home and I don't want to wear a smart jacket when at home. Summer is a bit more variable depending where you live.

All the best and see you around the forum.

DeeCee

Following as I have recently retired and am in the process of transitioning my wardrobe. Prior to retirement my casual clothes were the weak spot of my wardrobe. I am struggling to find a wardrobe for my now very casual lifestyle that flatters my short, short-waisted 8 Body type. I have liked here on and off for a few years and finally decided to introduce myself.

ZoeyGirl

Good morning and happy retirement! I have not retired, but I have gone through the prebaby /maternity/After-baby situation. (I found YLF after my first was born). I agree with others that editing is a first step. It makes room, literally and mentally for something new. My first round of editing was clothes that were worn out and clothes that I never really wore anyway- easy stuff. I utilized a holding zone type scenario, but being ruthless like runcarla sounds pretty awesome. We recently discussed donating items that are newer/ pristine to an organization like Dress for Success, so you could also edit by removing all of your newest pieces in hoping they really would have a second life.

Regarding rebuilding, give yourself time! Time to find your style, your go-to brands, your preferred shoes for this stage. Congrats again!

Anonymous

Just reinforcing and combining Rachylou's suggestion about activity assessment and ZoeyGirl's "give yourself time".

Maybe be ready to tolerate doing laundry a little more frequently initially so as not to make too much of an investment in a category that you then realize was transitional.

All the best and cheers to this new life!

cindysmith

Veteran

Welcome to YLF!

I'm 50 myself, and I find a lot of inspiration and sound advice here. My style is very extremely RATE (Rough Around The Edges) and yet I find lots of inspiration here because of the diversity of our members and the skill Angie has in finding ways to speak to each of our individual tastes and budgets. I was glad to see Carla chime in, as she recently made this very same transition. I want a ball gown because of Carla

If you go into the blog section of the site, there is a way to look at all of the categories of posts, and I find that helpful when I need to look polished and age appropriate for something very specific.

Good luck with your transition to the next phase of your life and your style!

deb

Veteran

Welcome! I retired 4 years ago and it took me about 2 years to find the new me to dress. You have some excellent advice above. The hardest part of my transition was trying to not be so hard on myself. Purchasing mistakes were made, I missed purged items, but mostly retirement was an emotional roller coaster. Be easy on yourself is the best advice i can give.

JAileen

Veteran

I ran across YLF when I went grey. There were posts called (I think) Mom on the Go. Those outfits helped me consider lots of types of outfits that weren’t office wear.