How To Have Great Style At Every Age

Tina, here.

Your kids hate it when you try to be all cool, and dress like them or their girlfriends. Remember that movie Mean Girls, and the "cool mom"? Yeah, no.

One of the biggest concerns our clients bring to us is that they don't want to dress too young in their post-30's years, but they still want to look current and modern. Dressing like you're trying too hard to look young is an unforgivable fashion crime with stiff penalties.

Trends get real tricky after a certain age. Take tie dye. There's a fine line between Bonnaroo tie dye and age-appropriate Boho tie dye. Image source.

Fashion jail isn't just for the trying-too-hard bunch. When women dress too old and frumpy for their age, it is usually done unwittingly and is just a result of not being tuned into what is "in" and what looks good on them. Grace abounds here and we love showing you how to lose ten years (and pounds) just by wearing the right clothes or updating your hairstyle.

Yep, hi. Me looking kind of old-school with my hair up and a long skirt, and basically a curtain of black with no shape.

We also have clients, probably much like you, who want to put off updating their wardrobes because they're not happy with their weight. Our stylist extraordinaire Amy Croker says it doesn’t matter what size you are or what size you want to be, you dress for where you are in your life now, your age now, and what size you are now.

Here's more from Amy:

I mean let’s be honest, we all want to look and feel good, right? But whatever stage of life you're in, whatever size you are now, it’s hard not to feel uneasy about about how to dress when we cross the threshold into our 30's, our 40's, our 50's and so on. Maybe some of you are mommies, like myself, or a soon-to-be mommy? Maybe you just scored your dream job or you are recently retired? Maybe you are an empty-nester or just moved to a new city? Dress for where you are in life now.

So we're going to share with you how to have style at every age and stage of life with our favorite looks for each chapter. Kind of a day in the life of...from our team at Tina Adams Wardrobe Consulting.

Great Style in Your 20's

For your 20's: for daytime, keep baring too much skin to a minimum if you want to be taken for an adult and not a nightclub morning after non-contributer to society. Deidre is in an ombre button down, dark jeans, tassel necklace and a floppy hat. She's not wearing her white jeans just to spite me.

So many offices are casual now, especially where millenials find themselves working. Jeans are ok (if your office says so) but command respect from your elders by sticking with a bootcut instead of skinny jeans, and add a blazer. Never, ever show cleavage at the office. And I don't recommend ripped jeans for an office.

Nighttime is your time to let loose and wear every trend while you can. Because once you reach your mid-30's or so, I'll start bearing down on you to curb the Forever 21 wardrobe. Deidre doesn't really shop there, thank goodness. But she does look cool in her ripped black skinny jeans and a white crossover top with a black lace bandeau underneath. And an edgy necklace completes the look.

Great Style in Your 30's

Entering your 30's may mean getting back into the work force or starting a new career. At the very least it means leaving behind the cheap thrills of super-trendy clothes and starting to think about investing in more substantial pieces for your wardrobe that are still youthful. It's time to dress the part.

Amy is a young mom of two sweet girls who keep her running. Of this look she says, "Very casual, yet French chic. When you are a young mom, you want to wear something easy, yet you still want to look put-together. When you look put-together you feel better, even on the days with no sleep or a morning full of meltdowns."

Dressing for a job in your 30's means differentiating yourself from the interns and twenty-something's. The new suit isn't a suit at all. It's coordinating pieces that don't necessarily come as a set, like white pencil skirt and a white blouse. Add a jacket to cover your arms if you need to. And statement jewelry always completes the look.

Is that monogrammed clutch not fabulous! Amy's mother-in-law gave it to her. What a thoughtful gift!

For going out in your 30's, you may still want to show some skin. But be judicious (take a look at the back in the next image). Love the LBD here with snakeskin pumps and metallic gold clutch.

Sexy and classy. Love a low back in this dress. It's being not short makes up for the skin shown back here.

Great Style in Your 40's

Oh the 40's. Kinda an earthquake of shattering realizations that your past shopping habits of grabbing something quick and easy no longer works. Poorly made and overly-trendy outfits look ridiculous on us forty-somethings, even if you have the body for it. It's time to evolve your personal style from flirty-girl/festival-goer/Target clothes-addict to a less-is-more/French chic/smart shopper wardrobe that says "you can trust me with your child or this career." And still look relevant and modern. Classy can still be fun.

For a professional look, I usually pull out a pencil skirt and blazer with a blouse and heels. Works for important meetings and professional luncheons. The key is that skirts need to inch down to the knees in your 40's, and cleavage must disappear altogether for daytime.

You've seen this outfit. And you know I'm a chronic outfit repeater. So here it is again illustrating business casual, which is what our "office" is. A menswear shirt (see May Style Vault Notes for how to order yours) with a pencil skirt and wedges. The leather belt makes it more casual, but to dress it up I add an ivory blazer.

Here's my daytime casual look, a knit sundress with flats. The sun was going down when we took this shot which made me realize I wear this dress at night too with wedges and fun jewelry. But for daytime, there's nothing easier than the "one pot mean" outfit.

What to wear for evenings out in your 40's is the real game changer. No more short dresses or skin tight jeans. So to add some youthful zest without looking like you're competing with the 20 year olds, how about an off-the-shoulder blouse (shoulders are an attraction zone) with bootcut jeans? Find your best feature and highlight it. If you have amazing legs, wear dresses! Love your long neck? Wear a deep neckline. And always show a little wrist. My off-the-shoulder blouse was a featured Vault must-have, and it's now sold out, but I found another great one! See May Style Notes inside the Vault to order yours.

Fabulous Over 50 and Beyond

So you just sent your babes off to college, and throwing yourself into your career, or you are looking forward to traveling and volunteering more? Step up your style from “soccer mom” to a more sophisticated look, and yet still remain casual for your new life.

For business casual, our stylist Barbara is an icon, really. She's wearing a surplice top (wrap-style) featured in our first Style Vault issue, in January, and a white pencil skirt. She and Amy did not plan this! We just all happen to have drunk the white clothes kool aid. If you're not wearing heels these days, stick to a pointy-toe flat.

Style At Every Age: Your 50's and Beyond

For a fun day with your girlfriends or meetings, white jeans are just so darn useful and flattering. (Trust us, they are. The perfect styles for any age, any size are available in the Style Vault.) An animal print is always chic.

I mean, Amy and Barbara are just SO COOL. Both are modeling snakeskin pumps with their white. Can you draw any conclusions from this? YES. Do like Amy and Barbara and get you some snakeskin pumps. I provided a great pair in the Style Notes of the May Style Vault for Vault Insiders.

And for evening. Don't you just want to be Barbara and Amy? In their sleek black dresses? Barbara's is sleeveless so she added a jacket that is nipped in at the waist (bought recently at Gus Mayer). Her dress is also a bit longer, but still at the kneecap so it's not too long. The turquoise bracelet gives it a pop of color and keeps the whole look from being stodgy.

Close-up of that turquoise bracelet with a spotted clutch that matches her heels, too.

Now that you have seen a few of our favorite go-to looks for every stage in life, just remember one thing, wear what you wear with confidence and you will always be in style in our books. Clothes are just clothes. The life you live in them is more important.

But you could also hire us. Ha, you thought I was done. You're great just the way you are and all, but what about self-improvement? When we finish with our clients, one of the most frequent compliments they get is, Wow, you are looking so great lately! (from friends and husbands) and Have you lost weight? And no they haven't, they're just dressing better. So Nashville folks, let's get you started with Barbara or myself.

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