When are the best times for style reinventions?

carter

Veteran

When I was about to turn 50. It was my birthday present to myself. Totally recommend it!

11 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

After I started running and lost weight/got in better shape. So much about my outlook on life changed, including my ability to be kinder to myself.

Although, going one level deeper, all of that was sparked by the loss of my mother. Realizing how finite our time is and how many of her dreams were deferred by her "I can't" thoughts really woke me up to what was holding me back in my own life. Answer: me and only me.

11 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Great question. I'd say a huge change in the internal and external factors that affect your style (which is often the reason new clients contact me in the first place):

change in body type and size (weight loss or gain)
Post pregnancy (related to the first point)
new job
lifestyle shift
climate change
"coming of age" - hitting milestones like 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70
an important event (wedding)
stuck in a rut
lost with how to wear the new fashions

11 years ago

Kossy

(website)

Active Member

Just right now.When i decided to become a member of Angie(ylf) blog after subscribing via mail for over 4years now.It was great i did,and i look forward to starting a great fashion blog under the tutelage of our own ANGIE xxx

11 years ago

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I will be 40 in May and the last time I had a style reinvention was 10yrs ago. I was transitioning from 10yrs in the army with no knowledge of what the future would hold for me. I went from a buzz cut and no style to trying everything. Now transitioning to my 40s from 30s I am again going through a style evolution. This time I am loving it. My "Style" outwardly is reflecting the manifestation of who I truly am on the inside. I believe growth takes place in stages and reflects who we are truly meant to be.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I refresh a lot it seems - each new contract job, life-stage / age, etc. But I think the last big one, which I'm kind of still working through, came from moving back to the city from the suburbs. They are parallel universes as far as I'm concerned and clothes just melt away into non-existence when you travel between...

11 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

When I've changed jobs, I've taken it as license to change my look without people commenting. In grad school I was still on the punk tomboy side of the spectrum, very casual (huge biker jacket, lots of tshirts, but at least jeans that fit, unlike college!). When I started my postdoc, I could wear fancier clothes without worrying that people would always say "oh, what's the occasion?"

11 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

I think that for me it's been associated in the past with new jobs or living in a new country with very different dress codes. This time (I'm in the midst of one) I think it's actually mostly a new outlet for creative expression.

I've been having artist's block related to my employment for awhile, I have plenty of ideas but in my work it's a very long painful drawn out process to bring each one to fruition. The idea of playing visually when all I have to do is mix things up in the closet and there isn't a weight of expectation/market forces/longevity behind them is very freeing, and makes it easier to face my job.

11 years ago

Hil

(website)

Veteran

I felt this years change of job gave me a reason to try and reinvent my style a bit, but whilst I guess in some ways my days are are bit more dressy (for me, that is) - It has also served to consolidate what works for me. I thought, when I started the job, that I would need to make my style a whole lot more conservative, but as I have settled into the job and found my groove, I have also started defaulting to what feels like me.

11 years ago

Mo

(website)

Veteran

My first thoughts were job change and climate change. Obviously, gaining or losing a lot of weight would necessitate new clothes, but I have no personal experience with that. Just the subtle changes in body shape as we approach middle age.
I came here shortly after turning 40. Dressing for the heat but not like a teen can be a struggle. You want to just grab a tank, shorts, flip flops and be done with it.
I'm feeling most like expressing my true self through my clothes as of late, no matter my climate or employment status.

11 years ago

Susannah

Active Member

Weight loss...but not weight gain. Weight gain leads me to a bit of denial and/or squishing my body into the clothes I already own.

11 years ago

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Janet, that's one mind-blowing answer!

11 years ago

mrseccentric

(website)

Veteran

oh how i love these philosophical/meta threads!

i think this partly depends on what you mean by 'best'. Some circumstances demand re-evaluation, as in a new climate or job. Some circumstances offer a great opportunity for style exploration, as Greyscale put it a new social set or increased resources (for example excess time or money or access to exciting boutiques or people who spark your creativity). And so on.

I've found the most illuminating and fruitful style re-evaluations/insights have come when i'm forced to deal with circumstances which made all my typical style strategies completely impractical to downright torturous. (Moving from wonderfully foggy and layering conducive Berkeley thru the tunnel to hothothot Walnut Creek was the biggest one). This type of situation is very hard but can help you strip down to the true essence of your personal style, allowing you to manifest it in more situations than you ever imagined. It's tough, but so freeing and confidence building when you've made it through.

About five years ago i decided to really focus on developing not so much the style i dreamed of, but the closet (and sewing/shopping/structural resources) that would support that style. Of course, my style has developed along the way to working towards this goal but i dont' feel like i've made any drastic changes, nothing where i'm feeling, "OMG i would never have thought i'd have worn this in a million years but i love it!". More like i finally got around to wearing what i wanted to wear but i didn't focus enough on to be able to have that happen everyday. I've had a number of chronic health problems since i was 15 (i'm 52 now), which have prevented me from having a career, finishing college, having children, etc. So i wanted to do something that was a dream growing up instead of simply focusing on everything i can't do. on edit: i see i have some similarities with Janet's motivations here. Hi Janet!

And you have to get dressed anyways Happy Day! steph

11 years ago

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

Not so much a style reinvention, as it is a wardrobe redo: pretty much every time we move (average every two years). This is because our moves usually involve major climate differences and also a role change for me. I've gone from full-time bedside nursing (scrubs) to full-time student (casual) to full-time office job (business casual) to employment-free-by-choice homemaker/frequent traveler (casual?). It usually takes me close to a year to really hone in on the right pieces and as I start to feel really comfortable with things, it's time to move again.

11 years ago

Eliza

Veteran

I think the answer has to do with when you are ready to both think about and actually tend yourself- identify your goals, what you want from this moment in your life, what you believe your appearance communicates, how connected/disconnected your style is to your aspirations... It has to do with putting you on your own radar screen, for whatever reason propels you to do so.

11 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

When you want one...and can afford one.

Sounds flippant but I don't mean it that way. As Janet points out, there comes a time when you realize you can no longer afford to put it off. What precipitates that will differ with the person.

11 years ago

dustt

Veteran

As Suz points out - in my mind it's always first about WANTING a change - yes there is usually a jumping off point of one of those factors that gets the ball rolling but those milestones can and do occur while you may still be comfortable with your current style. I had several of them converge in the last couple years - a milestone birthday, some significant weight loss, an empty nest and a promotion. A refining and defining of my style became more important to me and I decided to put my time and resources towards making my outside reflect who I was on the inside - I find it very creative outlet!!

11 years ago

Karina

Active Member

Within the last three years I had my third (and last) baby, including all the weight gain/loss, moved to a new climate, formed a totally new social circle, gained more financial freedom and turned 35. I'm finally beginning to find my footing as a grown woman! Lots of life change all at once; at first it was so overwhelming but the necessity of buying virtually a whole new wardrobe has been an opportunity to learn more about myself. I've always been an orderly person and I get a lot of peace from feeling prepared and in harmony with my environment, which certainly includes my clothing. When I feel comfortable in an outfit (psychologically as well as physically) I feel much more relaxed and able to engage with the people around me. I'm finding myself feeling good about my purchases and outfits on a much more consistent basis and that is a skill and an intuition that I want to keep developing. There will be many more style reinventions ahead, I'm sure, and I hope each time I can just keep building on what I've learned in the past.

11 years ago

MsMary

Veteran

For me it was losing a bunch of weight and having no choice but to replace everything from the shoes up and the undies out. And lately I've had a whole new life as a single person, and that's sparked a new, if somewhat less dramatic, change as well.

And yes, job changes can do it, too. Changing from casual to more dressy, and vice versa.

11 years ago

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