Even though cultural and social norms of what is appropriate have loosened up, what constitutes an appropriate work attire still depends on institutions and context. It also largely depends on psychology, of how we want to feel, to be to perceived, our personality, and how much of ‘ourselves’ we want to reveal.
What’s more intriguing and sensitive, is the notion that appropriate work attire also depends on our age.
This becomes even more sensitive if you’ve always dressed fashionably.
But if clothes have a way of making us ‘feel a certain way’, and they do, it’s wise to adjust them to at least: ‘situation appropriate’.
Fashion Director at the New York Times, Friedman writes that as we age, “just because we can wear something, it doesn’t mean we should”.
However, what to wear is highly personal even though to Friedman’s opinion, certain garments “still come with certain associations and assumptions”.
What’s useful to consider regardless of your age is:
1. Do the clothes fit your physically?
2. Do the clothes fit you psychologically? How do they make you feel?
3. What words to you want associated with your style?
‘Practical’, ‘elegant’ (constitutes: ‘casual elegant’), ‘pulled together’, ‘chic’, ‘sporty’. Adopting clothes to your personality and values is what makes your appearance authentic (click here to learn more).
4. Do the clothes fit the purpose, the environment & situation you’re in?
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Image: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis in Top Gun, 1986.