Honing Your Personal Style As You Age

Been following you for ages and I'm a big fan! I'm a 38-year-old stay at home mom. I live in Raleigh, NC - home of the country club set. Though I love this preppy look, since I am plus sized, I feel like this style is aging me. I guess what I'm asking is how do I inject some youth into my clothing but not look like I'm trying too hard? I love color, but find myself looking a bit too 'precious.'

This plus sized preppy look is from the current Talbots collection and is a great example of a fashion that becomes more stylish with age. In this post we will discuss how to home your personal style with age, with a focus on plus size preppy fashion.

Honing Your Personal Style As You Age

A simple green and navy look get a subtle pop of color with blush colored loafers and small pink stud earrings. The classic loafer tones down the twee of the heart sweater. The classic green color is toned down with navy making pattern mixing sophisticated.

This is a fantastic question, and one I think many experience around this age. How do you look stylish, current, and true to your personal style aesthetic without looking try-hard? Whether you lean towards preppy clothing or more of a rock and roll vibe, you'll find that things you wore just five years ago that looked chic and fun now look frumpy or even like a costume. Below I share some tips for navigating your wardrobe from young adult to grown adult without sacrificing style.

Simplicity is Key

Purple plaid and red is a fun combination, but if you don't choose the right accessories the look can read cheap or childish. Black accessories with shine and plenty of personality mainting your style aesthetic while tempering the bold colors of the clothing.

Logos, trim, sparkle, florals, graphics, embellishment... these are all things that are added to clothing to increase interest and hopefully style. Such details may have been fun at 32 but feel cheesy at 42. The best thing is simplify the wardrobe. See, as you get older you become a more defined, interesting person. Your clothing stops highlighting and starts competing. By choosing simpler pieces, you shine through and complete the look.

Instead of the floral cropped pants, choose a solid color. It can be a bold Kelly Green or candy pink or even yellow, but choosing a solid over a print gives your personality space. Instead of printed tops or pieces with lace, ribbon, or embroidered trim go with a solid. Say no to overly trendy details like mixed fabrics or patterns on a single piece, cut-outs, words, intarsia sweaters (the kind with a picture on the front). If your outfit of solids feels boring, use an accessory to jazz it up.

With such a bold sweater, there's no need to have a lot of competition to create a stylish look. Ivory trousers and navy patent flats neutralize; a red bag highlights the sweater but the Saffiano leather and smaller profile prevent it from stealing the spotlight. A necklace extender lets you customize for the perfect length for your body and the outfit.

Temper Colors

Have a statement-making bag? Let it steal the spotlight by keeping the rest of the ensemble subtle but not at all boring. This ivory look is luxe; black suede flats and fun but not overwhelming earrings complement the bag and keep the ensemble cohesive.

If you love color, rock it! However, too much color can look twee. Balance brights and pastels with neutrals. Pink with olive, yellow with denim, red with khaki, magenta with khaki. Pastels with white can feel juvenile, brights with black can feel matronly. Unexpected color pairings and tempering colors with a neutral feels both youthful and sophisticated. If you're wearing two bold colors, temper it with a neutral for your shoes and bag.

A feminine silhouette like this can easily feel too precious, but a dress in a darker print with sophisticated and subtle accessories, the effect is elegant and not at all juvenile.

If unsure, try ivory, cream, or winter white. A soft white or cream color adds elegance to any look, elevating and making the ensemble sophisticated but not too mature. This is also a great way to also tone down bold patterns and add maturity to precious prints.

Less Matching, More Complementing

I hope these tips and sample outfits help you on your journey. Great style is achievable at any age, any size, and to fit any personality or lifestyle. You sound as though you know yourself well, and that is the most important thing when finding your personal style!

It's tempting if you're wearing a red blouse to continue that red with your shoes, your earrings, your lipstick. Overly matching can end up appearing juvenile. An unexpected pairing is fresh, modern, youthful but not young. Wear a warm red lipstick with a pink dress, pair a blue plaid top and blue pants with yellow flats, let your bag be an accent color nowhere else found in your ensemble.

Let One Piece Be the Star

We're in a time of fashion where more is more. Statement lip and statement shoe and statement earrings and statement bag. Thing is, unless you're a style icon or 17, having so many statements can leave a look feeling try-hard. Try letting one piece be the star. If your dress has a strong pattern, keep jewelry small and just to highlight. If you have an amazing pair of shoes, choose a small neutral bag and jewelry. Feel free to glam up a simple frock or sweater with fabulous earrings or necklace but no need to do both to look amazing. Remember, you are an accessory, and as Chanel said always take one thing off before you go. Don't let yourself be left behind!

Quality not Quantity

When you're 28, you can wear cheap and quirky things and appear fun. When you're 38, those cheap and quirky things look... well cheap and quirky. You've experienced more, you know more, you've lived more, you're a more vibrant and sophisticated woman and your clothes should be as well. You don't need a dozen different sweaters or eight pairs of jeans, you just need a handful of ones that fit and flatter your personality and style aesthetic.

Don't shop for situations, shop for your life. Peruse the archives of this blog to find tips on how to cull your wardrobe and curate a collection of clothing that works as hard as you do. And when you add to your closet, add to it with care, with thought, and with purpose. By doing this, you'll find your closet is more cohesive and you'll also have a bit more money to spend when you truly find something perfect.

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