I’m enjoying this discussion! One more thought, based on Sloper’s comment that the weekend is only 2 days, so why have many casual clothes. I fell into that mindset too, but more negatively - I basically started thinking it wasn’t worth having nice things at all, since I rarely used them. And I love clothes, shopping, and fashion! I was fortunate to have the means to retire at age 61, because it was honestly a matter of mental health for me to free myself from that tedious WFH job, move to a better location for me, and start getting more active and happier.

I ruthlessly culled old clothes when I moved and still found I’d hung on to too much stuff I wasn’t using. I think I get anxious if my closet seems empty! But once I realized I didn’t have much I wanted to wear, I did a whole bunch of shopping, and of course I made loads of mistakes. Now I pay better attention to what’s working (there’s been a bit of churn) and have learned to stick to a silhouette - wide pants/jeans, flat shoes (usually low profile sneakers), boxy-ish tops, crossbody bag - and color palette - mostly deeper shades of blue, green, a bit of cool reds/pinks, with bIack or navy neutrals. It makes shopping and dressing much simpler and I can still add my own personality without it being a whole new puzzle every day. I have learned to be cautious about impulse purchases, especially second hand, and to not buy hard to care for fabrics. I have shrunk otherwise destroyed a few thrifted silk and rayon pieces recently! I do lead a very casual life and don’t need that kind of thing anyway!

Anyway, fun thread. I’ve enjoyed reading all your insights!

Karen23, oh, it’s tough when you have limited options of brick and mortar stores. Good luck with ordering online.

Congratulations on your first year of retirement! I'm not there yet, but I enjoy reading all of the insights on this thread.

If I had to guess, my retirement wardrobe will be heavy with gear and athleisure most of the time because I already wear a fair amount of that with WFH. I'll probably have a similar sized amount of casual run errands, go to dinner, other out of the house activity clothes because I will be home most of the time. And I'd have no more business clothing because it won't be needed.

I took the last year as a kind of practice retirement after being laid off after 25 years at the same company. I do hope to go back to full time work sometime next year. Biggest observation is that with a bit of effort I wore a lot of my winter office clothes out to dinner etc, but my carefully curated summer office items (linen suiting pieces, mostly) went completely untouched. Although I loved the menopause and hot summer outfits I had figured out for work they just didn't translate to casual life the same way. Maybe just because my summer evening out style is relaxed and a bit boho? And we spend time at the cottage which is uber casual.

Jenni, in Canada we do get one of the government old age supplements only at 65. The other one can be collected at age 60 but at a reduced amount. I would say that a lot of people retire early because they get laid off from corporations, so it's not entirely voluntary. Being laid off at age 50 is very typical (it's what happened to me). People who have good public service jobs including teaching typically can't be laid off or not as easily, but tend to have good pensions that may even pay their full amount well before 65 depending on their years of service etc. So most teachers will retire before 65, my husband who works at a university reaches full pension status at 62 I believe, etc.

Thank you Jules! I guess I had been surprised at the timing of Irina’s and Runcarla’s retirements before age 60, but Carla says she was fortunate to be able to retire then and Irina says her job had been stressful for a few years. One of my medical school friends had her husband have to retire early after he was laid off from a telecommunications job, he is over 65 now but wasn’t at the time and could not find another job, so her income was their only income for some while- thankfully it was a good one as she is a haematologist, and I do realise that for many decades a lot of families lived on one income. So yes, people being laid off is definitely a reason here too. I am sorry you were laid off and hope you get something else good next year.

Irina, I think your style — retirement or no — is fantastic and suits you so well. I enjoyed this analysis.

For me the concept of retirement is a bit meaningless — I don’t think artists ever retire, per se.

But my interest in style didn’t wane a bit when I stopped working in an office almost two decades ago. I still enjoy shopping and styling my wardrobe to suit my mood and activities for any given day. And yes, I do attend more “professional” events that warrant some sophistication in my outfits, but the truth is, I could show up in old jeans and a hoodie to judge a photo competition and probably no one would bat an eye — at least the male judges I’ve seen do that!