Rachylou your descriptions of various characters are so apt. Stealing sugar packets from Denny's indeed. Multiple chuckles.

Yeah, and on the topic at hand: I concur, be energetic, not a couch dweller.

How to be energetic--do something you truly care about. You may not always love it (this is something I haven't found yet) but you CARE.

As for the rest, Angie helped me find ways to incorporate trends into an extremely classic base wardrobe. I had no clue how to do this before and in fact sort of despised trends. Now people say I'm hip, or fashionable, or whatever, but they also say I'm age appropriate!

I didn't understand that classics alone don't quite say what I want. They don't say I'm flexible or open or easy to get to know. For that I need citron, and a moto jacket, and super cute booties.

As my husband I age, I believe people around us tend to age more. (I sincerely hope I am not in denial!!) I think that is because they do injury to themselves.

Yesterday, I noticed one man my age (late 50's) in the store yesterday buying cigarettes. That is certainly going to age your skin, your lungs.

What about fitness? lots of fruits and veggies...skipping fast food. EXERCISE? enough SLEEP?

You cannot simply "think" or dress yourself energetic. It has to be a lifestyle effort that I see many boomers simply ignoring. Yes, it is about discipline. Vegetables take more work in the kitchen than a doughnut. It is hard to walk outside on days of rain, sleet or snow. It is tempting to watch television into the wee hours instead of getting the necessary sleep.

I believe these personal-care habits are just as important as how we dress. I believe we communicate these habits whether we want to or not!

Hi Truecolors --

You said:

"I'm about to write a blog article and thought I'd consult "the wise ones" on this forum. My clients are generally women over fifty who are reinventing their careers and styles."

so "boxes" aside, I'm pro keeping your planned title. [SEO and turning readers into clients for the win!]

While you got tons of good tips above, I'm kind of surprised by some of the responses. YLF members are by definition CURRENTLY interested in personal style/fashion/trends, so not your target audience.

However, I know a lot of us began our style etc journey with lots in common no matter our age at the time. We had:

• similar desires (reinvention, looking more current)
• similar cluelessness (how? what? when?)
• similar internal and external barriers (workplace factors, body shape issues, physical limitations, money, time)

I've both read the stories and BTDT....

Of course any person can chose to wear any thing. But floundering people generally like direction! Some will follow it to the letter; others will use suggestions as a jumping off point and pass it through their own filters.

For any style article, visuals help -- and for yours I'd think they'd really help. It all depends on how you want to structure your article, but I could see posting a range of "shows" along with your "tells."

So take haircuts. Show -- '90s bob --> updated classic bob --> trendy short cut. Show -- Outdated long --> updated long --> trendy long. Ditto for makeup and accessories.

For casual, similar with an outfit (jeans + top?) so you could show boyfriends, skinny jeans, straight and/or bootcuts with a variety of tops.

And then the same for professional wear (casual business casual, dressier bc?)

You get the idea. Maybe it's a series that includes hair/makeup, accessories, and clothing. Or maybe you show outfits that include the extras.

And FTR, I'm mid-40s but my friends range in age and stylistic tastes. My most seasoned pal (mid-70s) dresses the most trendy/young and doesn't care what people think -- and she admits it's a luxury that she doesn't have to care!