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Wardrobe/fashion milestones

Runcarla

Veteran

When you consider the development of your wardrobe, can you identify milestones or agents of change? I don’t think of my clothes as being ‘x years old’ so much as:

-pre or post YLF (early 2013)
-pre or post big relocation (summer 2014)
-pre or post retirement (spring 2018)

Pre YLF I experienced a renewed interest in fashion as I emerged from the fog of 30’s and 40’s child rearing and career developing. WNTW jump started things with the idea of MOTG and comfortable didn’t have to be pj’s and gym pants.

YLF introduced me to all kinds of new-to-me style conventions in an understandable and applicable way. I embarked with enthusiasm on a journey of personal exploration.

A relocation a few years later introduced the challenge of dressing for a different climate, new community, and different work environment. I was thrown for a loop, feeling like a country mouse in the big city, and with a more temperate climate to adapt to.

Retirement from the world of paid work required a redefinition of my ‘brand’ and a wardrobe that aligned with the activities of my new lifestyle. It also freed me from any sense that I needed to conform - to anything, for anyone!

Though I did experience a weight loss of 15 lbs in the years between the relocation and retirement, it did not have the same impact on my style or wardrobe management as the milestones listed.

Have you experienced any milestones in your fashion journey? Can you identify the impact they had on your sense of style, fashion, and your closet?

General

27 replies

Latest reply was from Liesbeth

slim cat

Veteran

Relocation, changing jobs - very true. The biggest is menopause and later - the search for the better way of dressing after 45. I'm still learning and trying to improve my wardrobe. Finding YLF was one of my milestones for sure .

Helena

Veteran

This is a really interesting way of breaking things down Carla! And clearly, each milestone only makes your style better and better.

I think I've always had a thing for clothes and appearance - I distinctly remember starting to substitute items in outfits that my mom had chosen to make them more minimal (surprise surprise!)

My biggest milestones:

start of high school - when I really started choosing an aesthetic that would become truly my own (it all started with jeans, a black turtleneck and a berry lippie)
late university/start of career - late 90s. I had a lot of confidence in my personal style, and for personal reasons, I spent a lot of time building myself up as an individual, so my style became a lot less influenced by people around me
baby/toddler stage - hello yoga pants and jackets (always neat though - I never got sloppy and always wore lipstick!)
kids in school/the "get a life" phase - during which I realized I needed to start re-defining myself more broadly than my kids, for all our sake, during which I also realized that the 'style and fashion knowledge by osmosis' ease of youth was gone and I would need to be a little more intentional. Enter a host of tools - colour analysis, a session with a stylist, DYT and other programs, and of course, the best of the bunch - YLF
fabulous 45 - that's now! I feel like I'm in a new phase of self-confidence and ease; I am starting to trust myself more, do what works for me regardless of what others might be doing, and embracing my age with it's blessing and curses!

nemosmom

Veteran

I am nodding along with you on all the events you mentioned: job change, child rearing, relocation - all required major shifts in my wardrobe. My relocation came just as I was trying to go back to work and my kids had become preschoolers. Now I am trying to navigate working from home, while still looking presentable, and think I am on a good path. Hopefully there aren't any more major changes coming my way!

I do have some monumental pieces that I consider to be milestones, of sorts:

- my first big girl coat! The happy yellow peacoat I purchased after moving to San Francisco (too much fog and black outerwear, so I HAD to buy the yellow one);

- the first pieces I bought as "investments" after starting my big important corporate job(tm) : a handbag, a LBD, a blazer, a pair of Frye boots, my Barbour jacket. I bought them before kids, and I still have them!

kellygirl

Veteran

A real, post college job, motherhood and/or SAHM life, work promotion are the milestones I can think of. Had to wear something other than jeans and tees for work--that was a rude awakening. Motherhood brought some physical and lifestyle changes that skewed more casual and the environmental norm was far less conservative. Work promotion kind of forced me to adopt a more grown up style--nothing fussy. I think the last milestone is self imposed--I don't know if it makes a difference to how others perceive me--more how I perceive myself. Dress for the job I wanted--more or less.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I loved fashion in my 20s. I had no money so wore a lot of thrift and vintage along with jeans and a few high quality items found on sale at Holts or creeds or Simpsons. Also some Merrimekko and Vuoko samples from a place I worked. I developed my two favourite “uniforms” of jeans/blazer/boots or 2 piece dress.

Then came several decades of fashion avoidance. I had little money. Few shopping options. And no time

YLF was the next big milestone!

Sal

Veteran

Interesting Carla - I can see how those events have had a fashion influence on you. And how retirement and the freedom to DYOT has made you braver with choices because there are no parameters such as commutes or dress codes.

I think of:

1980s - teenage years, no budget but no responsibility - lots of crazy jeans, borrowed outfits, raiding grandparents wardrobes supplemented with new fashion forward choices
1990s - end of university, early work years, travelling, saving for a house and wedding - no money, not really liking most of the 1990s choices, keeping the wardrobe very simple in the most part with clothing being not that interesting.
2000s - awakening a sense of fashion when we lived in Melbourne, lots of MOTG clothes but loving many of the A line skirts, ankle boots and merino knitwear choices.
2010s- a bit more money to spend, struggling during the tunics and leggings and ballet flat years, but eventually getting to 2018-2019 with a lean, hard working wardrobe that meets almost all my needs easily.

Joy

Veteran

Yes, my milestones would be a 40+ pound weight loss and wardrobe rebuilding, relocation and grandchildren have made me change wardrobe priorities. Also the requirements of aging and keeping healthy have meant big changes in footwear and fits forgot college and my first job when I needed completely different clothes from college. You can’t teach class with a trench coat over your nightgown.

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I think that you are so right.Large changes in lifestyle are naturally reflected in our clothing out of practicality if nothing else.The big change for me was going from full time uniformed work to full time motherhood.l basically had nothing to wear for a life based at home.Other changes have been more gradual,aging and now as my daughter gets older I am starting to reclaim a life outside the house.

Jane

Veteran

I can kind of measure it by where I have been shopping - sometime ago there was a shop in my local town called Delilah. It was FAB. I bought a lot from there. May be it was open for about 5 years. Impact was that I totally widened my choices.

The change to my current job in London, was a complete change and thankfully coincided with YLF. Thank you so much YLF, I have learnt so much. Impact was almost a workday and weekend wardrobe divide. Plus the start of flat shoes except for the office. And trainers any where, any time (except for the office). YAY!

rachylou

Veteran

Well, the Great Leap Forward came when I got a school-time job as a teen and could really buy my own clothes.

The next giant milestone was becoming diabetic - where I went from a size 8 to a size 4 in a couple of weeks. My entire closet was rendered unusable in the blink of an eye.

And the last was moving back to town from the suburbs, perhaps four or so years into being on YLF and becoming a baker. I started to finally see daylight re getting rid of my old unusable clothes and their hysteria-bought replacements and having some freedom from corporate dressing.

... I think I may have been my dressiest and most polished in my teens, because people still dressed up then. You’d take a couple hours to dress and somehow there was time for that. But I’m very happy and in my element now with more freedom and funkiness allowed.

Kathie

Veteran

Angie’s blog post had me thinking about this, because at this point, I have very few (perhaps no) clothes that are more than 10 years old.

Pre-2005, I had no clue about fashion, and bought whatever was on sale at Talbot’s (shopping with my mom) or LLBean and Sierra Trading Post.

The latter 2000s were a blur of small children and very limited income. I wore a small group of clothes on repeat. Like a few others have mentioned, my late 30s. and now 40s, have been a time of finally having enough income and also time, to focus on defining and maintaining a functional wardrobe. The biggest impact has been my career change in 2011, and going from being an at-the-bench-scientist to an externally facing academic role. I do tend to date almost everything from 2011 (major updates to what is now my late fall/winter/early spring wardrobe) or our 2015 relocation. The latter affected my high summer wardrobe, which was almost non-existent after 20+ years in Seattle. I started lurking on YLF around 2013 or 2014, when I realized that I needed to develop a work wardrobe- the advice clicked, and I never looked back!

MsMaven

Veteran

My fashion life flowed from one era into another. My Mom and her mother were very fashion conscious, and my sisters and I grew up with concerns about whether our clothes fit in with what our classmates were wearing.

My biggest change came with graduation from law school into the Dress for Success and Color Me Beautiful eras. I didn't feel comfortable in wearing a suit, but that's what we were conditioned to wear. When the women lawyers got together for a lunch, the talk often turned to what to wear to court, and would the judge throw us out it we dared to show up in a pantsuit. It was a serious crisis for some of the women younger than I, who had lived in jeans and hippie wear most of their lives.

When someone mentioned a matching vest and pants, I remembered a pinstriped set I had in the 80s, and had a yearning to have another one.

Right now I feel like I am about to flow into a new fashion era for me. Not sure what it will be, but it's the adventure of being a fashion lover that keeps me going.

Bonnie

Veteran

My milestones: The distant past before retirement, My retirement - touring North America in a Motorhome full time and part time for many years, Buying a home in the desert in Jan. 2014, Joining YLF in 2015, Moving to the Coast in Dec. 2018. Clothing needs were entirely different in each stage. I joined YLF after I started becoming very involved in social activities which really helped me build a workable wardrobe. I had mostly hiking clothes and shoes in my Full Timing years. For my desert years, I needed mostly warm weather clothes and now my predominant weather is 60 - 70 year round, so I've been layering. YLF has been my go to source of ideas for the past 4 years 8 months.

Windchime

Veteran

So interesting to read everyone’s milestones! A big one for me was finding YLF; I’ve since rebuilt my entire wardrobe with more intention and confidence than ever, previously. It coincided with a certain milestone birthday and feeling that taking good care of my professional appearance would be more important for my remaining working years.

Irina

Veteran

I experienced common changes associated with relocations and work environments. My last big milestone was 2015. It was turning 50 and was off work for almost a year. I entirely revamped my wardrobe during that year. I decided to stop wearing polyester and other synthetic fabrics sometime in 2013 or so. As a result, I got rid of about 80% of my clothes. I reevaluated my approach to shopping. I kept reading and educating myself on how to build a functional wardrobe. For the first time I was shopping with a plan and a list. First of all I need clothes for interviews. So I got my first capsule

nuancedream

Veteran

After I finished graduate school and started my first full-time job in the mid 1980s, I had absolutely no confidence in my own sense of style as a twentysomething young woman. I blinldly adopted the corporate uniform of a skirt, matching jacket, button down shirt and silk tie knotted at the neck. It wasn't much better in my 30s when I let my family members have way too much influence over what I wore. Finally, when I hit my mid 40s, I decided to approach my life, including my wardrobe, with more intenton. Now I have created, with more than a little inspiration from YLF, a wardrobe that works for me regardless of the situation and allows the authentic Andrea to shine.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Oh, Sal, "struggling a bit during the leggings and ballet flats years." You are singing my tune! Luckily I was almost oblivious to them. Still hadn't found YLF.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Although I do remember loving thrift stores in my university days, I always worked in very casual work environments in both NY and Tel Aviv and I don't remember giving much thought to what I wore. I did not develop a significant fashion awareness until my twins were around 2 and I finally began to come out of the haze of going from 0 to 3 kids in under 3 years in my upper 30s and began to consider myself again (with a gentle nudge from DH). I went on-line and searched out all the fashion and style related stuff I could find, which is how I discovered Angie and YLF. Best style find ever and biggest milestone.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Carla, you just write such awesome posts! Great topic. I have so many fashion memories. They start about 12 years old. Mum still bought our clothes, but she had a good sense of keeping us up to date even although she was an older mother 40 years older than me. When I was 12 she bought us both (sister is 5 y younger) “hot pants”. I think they’d be called a play suit today? Mine had tropical pink flowers on, I think.
At 13 I fell in love with a cotton dress- seersucker, turquoise top half and daisies on the skirt. I saw it in a store window and she bought it for me - it fitted. At 15 she gave me a budget for the year and I started choosing for myself. Big milestone!
Next milestone- uni years, not much money, thrifting, church fairs etc. I bought some 1960s (?) “winklepickers” for 50c I remember. Start of the Sassy Shoemaker’s Elf?
There are more, I’ll post this before I lose it.

Bijou

Veteran

So fun to read these.

From a very young age I liked fashion and dressing up. I can remember being under school age and selecting my clothes and also being somewhat of a little shopping assistant to my Mum when she went shopping. I always dressed myself and wore long dresses when other kids were in shorts and t-shirts. Not that it stopped me from riding my bike and attempting Evil Kenevil-type stunts or playing on the monkey bars, just all done in my dressy clothing. I adored Alice in Wonderland and my dress choices at age 5 were consistent with this vision of myself.

I wore a school uniform, so University was wonderful to me. I must have been the only person to attend my university and NEVER wear jeans. I simply refused to wear them as they were the uniform of Uni and I was DONE with wearing any form of uniform. So I wore dresses and skirts with my denim and leather jackets and boots.

Professional work caused a real change in my dress and I was back in uniform. I had to wear suits. Colours of black, grey and navy, you were a rebel if you wore trousers and I did not for the first 3 years of my employment, dress standards were unbelievably strict. I lost sense of my personal style in the pursuit of career acceptance and success. I felt disadvantaged by being young and female, so I tried to look as serious as I could to be perceived as being competent and knowledgeable. As I moved through the ranks I had a bit more flexibility with what I could and would wear and dress standards relaxed a bit too.

Motherhood changed my body and focus. Suddenly the ability to keep clean and wear shoes that could chase down a toddler were important. I wore my work suits and when came home changed into the wash and wear lounge-wear and ballet flats. I carried the largest tote bag with everything in it.

YLF was a real turning point and this coupled with a new job allowed me to reinvent myself. The new work colleagues had no preconceived ideas about how I dressed and I found myself adopting a style that had some elements of my uni dress style coupled with the tailoring from my work suits. I feel happier about my style and wardrobe now than at any other point in my life.

Lesley

Veteran

Interesting idea! Probably milestone 1 was coming into my own as a teenager, and it involved shoes (natch)... deciding that Converse and Doc Martens were my thing instead of Reeboks and flats.

Next was the first time I started to feel like my work wardrobe was not wearing me, probably in my late 20s. I had gotten far enough in my (relaxed dress code) career that I could feel comfortable dressing down the fancy items in my wardrobe with a cool tee or nifty flats (yes, I came back to them and never left again).

The biggest, though, was definitely emerging from having babies and having my body stabilize. I had three, and the youngest was 5 years younger than my oldest, so the wardrobe that was sitting in my closet waiting for me was at that point probably 7 to 10 years old! I shouldn't have been shocked that I disliked most of it. I also started to move away from the 1950s-1960s silhouettes that had always been my signature. I felt like what looked great on the ingenue, for lack of a better word, felt sort of matronly on the 40-year-old. I started to prefer more modern looks. That's kind of where I am now, and my wardrobe is right where I want it at the moment.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I’m back for the next milestones. Finishing uni and earning money. I went to Australia, this was 1984, and in those days the Australian fashion was more different ( and cheaper) than the NZ fashion so I set myself up for work in the hospitals where the only uniform was to be tidy and put a white coat over it all. Bright yellow summer Oxfords, a yellow and a coral T-shirt, a green midi skirt- fond memories! Those clothes lasted several years and were the basis of a style. We got married 1986 and travelled 1988, where the Thai silk suit, the Irish tweed suit, etc got bought.
1991 with first baby I lost my way a bit. Think I spent years of the 90s in leggings and long jumpers (sweaters) desperately trying to care for 3 young children and still work part-time- probably didn’t look as professional as I could have. Just neat and tidy I guess. I had 3 new people to have fun dressing though, that was an upside!

Anonymous

I change pretty regularly due to career and body changes, so feel like I'm constantly reinventing myself! I did change drastically after high school when I started working full time, then upon becoming self employed, then when I went back to regular employment, and again when I got promoted. My love of deep colors, skirts and dresses, and sandals is constant though

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Loved reading this! Great thread, Carla.

Like others, biggest milestone fashion changes:

Teens
Varsity (needed every day clothes after wearing a uniform for 12years)
Entering the workforce as a fashion professional
Moving to Europe
Moving to Seattle
Adding Salt Lake City to the mix

Synne

Veteran

Joining YLF! I've had some semi-fashionable eras before. Well, a couple of good outfits at least. I do remember a summer dress dream from when I was 16, some cool boots and leather jacket when I was in college. But no consistency. No coherence. And A LOT of "nothing to wear, with a wardrobe bursting at the seams"-moments.

The Cat

Veteran

I haven't had any big milestones when it comes to fashion/wardrobe. Already in my teens, I established a casually elegant style. In my twenties and early thirties, I read a lot of style books and spent a few hours with a stylist--this helped me identify my best colours, lines, textures, etc. In later decades, my style has been fine-tuned, and it is still evolving. I love playing around with my items and styling them in new ways. However, I remember a lot of outfits and items I wore in the 1970s and '80s that I would happily wear even today if I still had them.

For the last 45 years I have had office jobs where looking representative is a must. If I ever retire, I guess I will purge some dressy items and feel the need for more outdoor and casual items. Anyway, I think I will always want my style to be casually elegant and a bit playful.

Liesbeth

Veteran

Lovely to read through others responses!
Yes, I measure my wardrobe development by important periods in my life:

As a child, my mother bought and sewed my clothes. She has a quite colorful style and we wore lots of prints & pattern, often matched between siblings. When my brother in law saw our childhood pics he thought we were constantly playing dress-up :D.
Starting high school where I had to make all new friends, I soon realized that these type of clothes made me thoroughly uncool. My own hesitant preferences (I owned a navy sweater, a plaid mini skirt and a pair of brown leather lace up booties that I loved) were nipped in the bud by my desire to fit in without having to resort to platform trainers and Tommy Hilfiger logos... So my teens were characterized by blue jeans, colored cardigans and basic sneakers - everything to keep from standing out too much.
University is when I came out of my shell and experimented a bit with clothes and trends, some succesfull and others less so. Everything strongly influenced by prescriptive 'What not to wear'. Examples can be found in the early outfits I shared in my 'then and now'.
A couple of years into working life, a time when there weren't many practical restraints (working in an office, no kids yet), I discovered the plethora of personal style advice online (not yet YLF though). I wanted to get more out of my wardrobe and got heavily into capsules and minimalism. Felt fed up with all the 'rules' and looked for those that worked for ME. Got educated by Anushka Rees from Into Mind. Built a hard working wardrobe on principles I still use.
Then motherhood threw me off my game again and when I resurfaced I found my preferences had changed. This is when YLF helped me evolve my wardrobe once again. I'm finding this an era of renewed experimentation, caring slighly less about what others think, and channeling playfulness and creativity into my fashion interests.