REAL advice for dressing in your 20s, 30s, 40s

From her body I bet you will have a hard time guessing this clients age. An example of a body who should not be dressing her age but younger.

As a Help a Reporter Out (HARO) subscriber, I scan the lifestyle listing daily. As much as I love writers, I often get annoyed at the broad spectrum that magazines seem to cover. Obviously a fashion magazine needs to sell product to justify their expensive ad rates, but most times, their stories tick me off in their simplicity.

For example, the issue of what is or isn’t age appropriate for someone in their 20s, 30s, and 40s is ridiculous. First of all, that’s very exclusionary in terms of age. Second, it’s not just AGE that is important – BODY type needs to be taken into consideration too. This is too broad of a topic to include accurate and actionable advice. Would I prescribe a mini skirt for a 20 year old, size 14, inverted triangle? (I know, I’m getting techie on you.) Absolutely not.

I have a very stylish and talented makeup artist friend in her 50s who just so happens to look amazing in a mini skirt, and it is in total alignment with her style personality (kinda working the cougar thing in a good way).

I also have another client in her 60s who has such an amazingly slim and trim body that the clothing geared towards her age group just ages her even more. Talk about a bad fit for where she’s at!

So, I guess what irks me is that most of these writers and magazines approach fashion from a general one size/style fits all way, which is why I practice a HOLISTIC approach. Holistic in the sense of looking at the WHOLE picture. Check out my style prescription, the foundation of all of my work.

As we age, we find that we’ve outgrown looks. This is very much a personal decision and is greatly helped by style clarity. I urge you to make a mood board for each era of your life. Recognize that change, growth, and evolution are a part of the process.