I’m going to be honest with you about this, but before I am, repeat after me: I make the rules.
Say it again for the people in the back. IIIIIIIIII MAKE THE RULES.
It’s true. When it comes to our own personal style, we each get to make our own, unique, personal rules. Yet I’m amazed at how often I get the question, “Am I too old to wear this?” It’s always a reminder to me how toxic ideas have been deeply ingrained into our brains. We’ve been told the same stories so many times we’ve come to believe them as absolute truth – the ones that tell us there is a “right” and a “wrong way” to dress ourselves.
But first, let’s get clear about who decided what’s “right” and what’s “wrong?” Even if you tell me your mom’s the one who taught you all the rules and you believe everything she says, I’d ask you to think about who taught her. We all get taught “rules” from someone. And I’ve taken up questioning where rules come from, especially the ones that make me second guess myself and what I feel like wearing.
Also I said I’d tell the honest truth, so here’s when the question about dressing “too young” becomes an important one: When the way we dress is intended to prove something or leaves us feeling not quite like ourselves. At that point, we ask the question, “Why am I choosing to wear this?” We can easily feel out of alignment while dressing in a way that seems young. But we can also feel this way when dressed too old or too simple, too conservative or too wacky. The point is, it’s not really “us” we’re showing up as in these outfits. We’re trying to be something else and that often leaves us feeling distracted and insecure.
But if you are 60 and inspired to wear a mini skirt paired with a graphic T, and when you put it on, you feel SO VERY MUCH like yourself, then BAM! You nailed it! That outfit will come nowhere near being “too young” for you. And if you feel good in what you’re wearing and rock it with confidence, others will see you as beautiful and confident too. That’s how it works. We are what we believe about ourselves.
So remember, when your outfit is out of alignment with the soul of who you truly are, it’s not the right one for you. But when you wear something you love, an outfit that makes you feel utterly like yourself, there is absolutely no way for it to be too anything. At that point it’s perfect, because you feel good and that’s perfect for you.
DO NOT FORGET, you and only you get to make the rules.
Enjoy Getting Dressed,
