Posts Tagged "lifestyle"

By Leslie Willmott on Aug 10, 2017

  To women who are of a certain age (as I am), I say, “Don’t let age or lifestyle be an obstacle to dressing well!” When you put on an outfit that flatters you and speaks to your style, you’ll feel more confident to take on any challenge, especially since dressing well is said to boost self-esteem. Putting together stylish outfits – for travel, volunteering or part-time work – takes a bit of effort. Sometimes it helps to seek out advice from others who easily express themselves through fashion to give life to what we find inspiring. An easy way for us to find this inspiration and catch up on trends is to browse the pages of online senior fashion influencers. Age is no obstacle to being a fashion icon. SeniorAdvisor.com recently published a list of 20 Senior Fashion Influencers and Resources. Getting the latest tips from these seniors who have found their unique style can help you polish your look for the day, even if you are just meeting up with friends for a game of mahjong or bridge. While the web is full of fashion influencers, there are a few I follow to help me transform my wardrobe – which is transitioning from a corporate career look to one better suited for active retirement — into a closet of trendy threads. Style at a Certain Age Beth Djalali is a blogger with a keen eye for knowing how to put timeless outfits together. Hailing from the Midwest, Beth has lived and traveled around the world. Blogging since 2014, with Style at a Certain Age, Beth offers style that is thoughtful and fashionable. Although Beth suggests a certain audience for her blog, any woman at any age can find ideas and inspiration in her understanding of how classic, chic style works. Her outfits of the day (ootd) feature versatile, affordable pieces that can be worn over and over again. I love getting Beth’s posts in my email each morning! Advanced Style Advanced Style is a blog run by photographer Ari Seth Cohen devoted to “capturing the sartorial savvy of the senior set.” His first book, Advanced Style, has become a fabulous reference for me on a “strikingly fashionable...

By Leslie Willmott on Mar 2, 2016

  My wardrobe strategy for smart travel packing – pack a few versatile pieces planned around coordinating colors – is one that can help you streamline your dressing every day. It’s called a “capsule wardrobe.” I use this concept when planning what to pack for every trip I take. Taking a small mix-and-match wardrobe means fewer pieces, lighter luggage. When you pack the right pieces, less is more!  What does it mean in your closet at home? How many times do you go to your closet and feel like you have nothing to wear – in spite of the number of items hanging there? If you create “closet capsules” within your wardrobe, you’ll be able to put together several polished outfits that you can pick at a moment’s notice. When your closet door opens up to a well-planned wardrobe of coordinated pieces, you spend less time thinking about what to wear. First . . . what is a “capsule” wardrobe? Simply stated, it’s a small wardrobe made up of pieces that mix and match that you love to wear. Some would preach that instead of stuffing your closet with items you barely wear, take the Marie Kondo “Tidying Up” approach and strip down to a few key staples you love. I suggest you think more strategically: Minimize your wardrobe into a collection of pieces that not only mix and match but also streamline your dressing routine, especially for work or travel. It means you’ll no longer stand in front of your closet, wondering what on earth to wear! The concept goes back to the 1970’s and was initially referred to a collection of essential clothing items that don’t go out of fashion – classics – that can be built upon each season with new pieces. Today’s capsule concept refers to building groups of 5-12 related pieces that can be worn in several different combinations. Building a working wardrobe for your lifestyle is easiest when you think and build in terms of “closet capsules” by lifestyle need: work, evening, travel, etc. 5 Benefits of Having “Closet Capsules” Reduces decision fatigue – busy women have to make decisions every day; the removal of one – choosing your clothes in the morning – leaves you with more mental space...

By Leslie Willmott on Jul 14, 2015

  How many items in your closet beg to be worn but you have no place to wear them? Are they part of your past? Or, did you buy them with hopes they would be part of your future? We’re all dreamers and it’s easy to buy clothes for the lifestyle they promise instead of letting our lifestyle determine the clothes we buy. Lifestyles change at different stages in our lives – student, professional, working or at-home mom, re-entering the job field, retiring – and lifestyle transition can create a big change in wardrobe needs. A woman with young children who also works or volunteers could need a more varied wardrobe to take her from morning to evening than a business woman who spends most of her waking hours in an office. And the woman who retires from a long corporate career to adopt a more casual lifestyle of travel, volunteering, and golf might need to shift her wardrobe dramatically.   Chart Your Lifestyle If you never again want to cry “I don’t have a thing to wear!”, before you go on your next shopping spree, analyze how you really spend your time … then commit to making purchases that work for the activities in your current life. Do this periodically and the result will be productive seasonal closet edits and cost effective shopping excursions. Here’s how to get a clear picture of your lifestyle and needs: Ask yourself: What are the activities I spend my time in, and what is suitable and acceptable dress for those activities in the area where I live? Make a list of all activities you engage in during a month (either keep a diary and record this in real time or reflect back) and how often you do them – not how many hours you spend in each but how many days in the month you do it.   Note: You might spend 8 hours in an office and only two hours dining out, but they could require two different types of clothing. Group the activities into categories that require a similar type of clothing. For example: — Professional time (full-time, part-time or volunteer work) — Casual daytime (shopping, lunch with friends, travel) — Social time (church, entertaining,...