70% of the time the everyday clothes I need are chore clothes. I'm either doing messy things involving clay and plaster, packing boxes in an unfinished garage, doing work emails with sheddy cats sleeping on me and kneading with their claws, gardening, or cleaning.
Therefore I keep ratty clothes and ratty comfortable shoes. But the key for me is not to keep too many. I keep the clothes that might be holey and plaster stained, but are favorites in provenance and fit and color. Even with a liberal dusting of plaster dust, and hair in pigtails to keep it out of the way, one can still look vaguely cute IMO. My sneakers might be beat up, but they are bright colors, my t-shirts are from artist residencies and classes I've taught. My gardening coat color works well with my old skinny jeans which I've rolled to hit my boots in the right place. It's nice to feel like I look like me, but also to feel perfectly comfortable if muddy kitten claws scramble up to my shoulder when a dog appears down the street, or a bucket of muddy water douses my shoes.
I also have a hair dying bathrobe, that hangs somewhere unseen, but is just the perfect thing every month or so.
