I loved clothes as a teen and often made items. Despite it being the 70s I leaned towards glamorous and have particularly fond memories of a pure wool grey pencil skirt and a white satin wrap blouse that I made. I also loved a black shift dress with white boat collar and a black velvet swing coat I bought from Richard’s. One of my mother’s friends was always glamorous.
Having ‘my colours’ done was useful as it largely confirmed what I knew. It let me give up on pastels and confirmed the colours my mother wanted me to wear growing up were not right for me. I’m not slavish about it but I did find it liberating to stop looking and trying clothes in colours that deep down I knew didn’t suit me.
I hated one job and they regarded me as a weirdo who didn’t fit in because I liked to dress nicely and the norm was scruffy. My next job I was expected to dress smartly and I felt more comfortable.
I went through some wilderness years when small children, full time work, lack of money and a different workplace where boring not too scruffy style was the norm meant I didn’t really think about clothes too much. Trouser suits were in so I wore a lot of those to work with jeans and tee shirts outside of work.
Later part of my career I was in a more visible role so went for 60s style plain dresses& heels with eye catching bold jewellery. I’ve several good handbags in different sizes and colours as they were a part of the image.
In contrast by this point I’d completely lost my way for casual clothes and lived in Jeggings and tee-shirts 🤦♀️ My username comes from me realising I had no idea how to dress when I retired. Initially caring responsibilities and a need to live out of a travel bag at short notice meant practical and little time to think about clothes. It’s also taken me time to justify spending on good casual clothing, whereas when working I could justify spending on my work wardrobe.
Now I’ve time to think about clothing I realised my taste hasn’t changed greatly from when I was in my teens and twenties, probably because it was out of time even then, but my body shape has. I still like to dress a little more vintage and glamorous but it needs to be practical as well. I love poncho/capes in spring and autumn. If I’m dressing up I like a good coat. I still love heels but arthritis in my knees has impacted what shoes I wear.
I’m trying to wear the good clothes and think about cost per wear for items. I realised it was ridiculous to wear a supermarket tee shirt almost all the time so it cost pennies per wear and rarely wear the nice tops which meant they had a high cost per wear but it’s a hard mindset to change. Very few small independent clothes shops near me unfortunately. I don’t like most of what’s in M&S apart from their wide leg jeans. I’ve bought a few items from Vinted but it seems to be flooded with Primark and supermarket brands now and the sizing is all over the place these days.
I’ve found Marie-Anne Lecoeur on YouTube hugely helpful and my retirement wardrobe is very much still a work in progress.
Thanks OP the thread is an interesting read and a useful thought exercise.