*AD – This post is in conjunction with Dresshub
I think there is something freeing about turning forty. I didn’t expect it when the birthday loomed ahead of me, forty after all sounded a lot older than thirty-nine. But I think that turning forty is liberating in many ways. I found that I began to know myself more, what I like and what I don’t like. I can focus on clothes that I love rather than the clothes I thought I should be wearing. Working out what my true style is and learning to be happy in my own skin. Here are a few of the things I have discovered about fashion in my forties.
I Can Wear Dresses Everyday
Dresses are my favourite wardrobe item of all time. They don’t have to be saved for special occasions and hung in the wardrobe to be hardly worn. If I want, and I often do, I can wear dresses every single day. They can be dressed up or down and I often wear them with leggings or thick tights and boots in the colder months. But gone are the days of saving them for special occasions.
Shoes Can Be Comfy
I have so many memories of finishing the day or evening with such sore feet I can hardly walk. Blistered and sore from straps and heels. Now I’m past forty, yes I want shoes to look good, but I am not going to compromise on comfort anymore. If they’re uncomfortable, no matter how good they look, they can get in the bin. Comfortable shoes for the win!
Pink Hair Don’t Care
I have wanted pink hair for ages. I bought the dye in lockdown and was too chicken to go through with it. But last month, I decided now was the time. Time to embrace it, have fun, live in the now and not worry about what people might say. And do you know what? I absolutely love it! I’m so glad I did it.
Wear the Bra or Don’t Wear the Bra
So many women abandoned bras in lockdown. Realising just they made them uncomfortable. So many evenings I have been sat down with an underwire sticking into my side thinking why on earth am I wearing this? Shops have seen a huge rise in the sales of the balconette bra and I completely understand why. If they hurt you don’t wear them, do what makes you feel comfortable in your body. For me, I’m not comfortable bra-less but I am definitely investing in more bralettes.
Focus on What Makes You Happy
I have spent too much of my life worrying about what other people think. Worrying if they would think my taste in clothes and style was silly, if clothes didn’t flatter me, made me look big, I wasn’t cool enough to pull them off. And now I know that it just doesn’t matter. What matters is what makes you happy. Because if you are happier that’s all that matter to the people who love you care about.
Life is too short, wear the clothes, dye your hair pink, burn the bra, wear high heels or don’t wear high heels. But turning forty has liberated me. I love clothes and fashion, but I only love the things that work for me. As for those ghastly articles that tell you what you’re too old to wear over a certain age, they’re probably written by women in their twenties, who will get understand it really doesn’t matter in about twenty years time.
