Not so much "rules" as "experience has shown me this doesn't work so don't do it again" type guidelines.

No more 100% acrylic sweaters, and think long and hard if a sweater is substantially acrylic; too much pilling. No DCO in regular clothing and try to avoid in outerwear; I end up not wearing DCO stuff because it's *too precious*. Heels over 1.75" are out; not sure I can even go above 1.25" these days.

Never say *never* with regard to styles.

Susan over at ‘Une Femme d’un Certain Age’ tackled this subject in her most recent post: https://unefemme.net/style-rul.....odern.html

Hmm, although I am quite routine oriented and disciplined in some areas, I am not sure I have wardrobe rules. Or perhaps they are so ingrained I do not realize what they are. Actually I am more about unearthing my hidden rules and testing them .

Guidelines like nothing that itches, I have to look good in the color, almost nothing that needs dry cleaning, etc.

My rules are mainly about comfort and fit and they work well for me. Examples that spring to mind:

• no clothing that requires shapewear, because honestly my climate is too hot for something that makes me feel like I am in sausage casing.
• no jeans that slide down my backside (this was an issue when the extremely low-rise jeans of the early 2000's were a thing)
• no itchy fabrics
• no uncomfortable shoes
• no blouses or dresses that are dryclean only (if I break this one, I generally hand wash and hope for the best)!

Haha everyone who hates 3/4 sleeves, boatnecks, bias cuts & collarless jackets, feel free to pass them onto me instead! I wear the former instead of half sleeves, so had to ban myself from tshirts (except for PJs).

Interesting how people are relating this to MBTI - I've always scored equally on both INFP & INFJ, but this makes me think I should indeed be INFJ (I like things planned out & ordered, whereas Mr Z doesn't even know what he wants to eat each evening until it rolls around lol!)

Psychologist here, weighing in to remind all that the MBTI is a fluid measure - meaning how you came out 2 or 5 or 10 years ago may not be how you'd score today.

[stands back as curious YLFers stampede the free online MBTI site...]

I'm still INFP April- though a bit more in the middle with all things than I used to be. Apparently INFP-A "assertive mediator".

I took a different personality assessment last fall for work (Lumina Spark) and it said that I am inwardly deeply a radical, but that I don't show that part of my persona to the world at all. At least, not in a work context. I suppose this would help explain why I am not too keen on rules for dressing.... It also said I am more comfortable than most people with ambiguity, as I mentioned above.

Haha I don't take too much stock in MBTI over the cognitive function stacks & Jung's interpretation of aspects, since many of the online tests read more like horoscopes lol. But the topic gave me a good chuckle because I remember our school giving us 'official' MBTI tests where we had to choose between dichotomous descriptions of each item. I was split equally between INFP & INFJ but our school careers counsellor tried to convince me that I was INFP because *she's* an ENFP, so we must be the same because we both believe in social justice & making the world a better place

I'm sharing this mostly tongue in cheek because I *know* what features my brain automatically defaults to (when I'm in an emotionally healthy place where I can express my natural tendencies), but most people like to make assumptions about this for me (including an ENFJ former boss & my ENFJ mother).

Anyway, thread jack over! I can see how rules can be helpful (for me & others) but I also feel that they can get in the way of wardrobe growth if you (me & others) don't create them with the future in mind too.

Ha ha April! As a group we probably do swamp sites that are mentioned here

Ginger has the exact same rules that i do!
no 3/4 sleeve, and no matter how much i like it, if its not a color i love that will work seamlessly in my wardrobe its a no...
i have zero other rules, but should

It's funny, for almost 14 years now, I have gone with "no rules, just keep up on YLF and all will be well" and that has served me extremely well. But right now, I find myself still too willing to lemming, still spending too much time online ordering and returning, still not quite where I want to be in terms of dressing.

And so, a few serious rules are now helpful.

I like to boss my rules!:-)

A year ago I would have said that I love rules and that they make my life less stressful ... but now I am embracing a less rule-oriented approach. I think I was getting to the point that I was so worried about rules I was undercutting my own common sense and intuition. So now, my only rule is that rules are made to be broken (at least in style matters!) ... and my own emotions + pragmatism are the only boss of me

My “rules” would come and go. The only one that is unchanged - no synthetic fabrics in my regular clothes. I accepted it as necessary evil for outwear, some underwear and gear but nothing else. There are things that I don’t consider as rules but more as a second nature to me - lounge wear is for lounging, gym gear is for gym, clothes that I wear must be ironed even if it will get wrinkled with wear. Are they rules? Perhaps, I know that dropping them would make me uncomfortable.

I think I'm going with rules this year because guidelines haven't been working for me.