Hitting the Style Sweet Spot

Do you ever have one of those days when you just sort of dress from instinct, don't put a lot of thought into it, but when you look in the mirror, you realize what you're wearing feels so totally like you? Today was one of those days for me, and tells me that perhaps I've been overthinking this style thing, and letting myself get too influenced by what I see on The Sartorialist or style blogs/books or other people.


Women our age are constantly warned against falling into a style rut. We're told that we need to keep updating our closets and our look. Makeover shows hawk transformation: the "after" woman not only looks more stylish, but also has more confidence and assertiveness. But I often wonder, when the look they're given is so drastically different than where they started (especially if it requires more maintenance) how many actually sustain these changes over time? Sure, we need to push the style envelope at times, but do we need to totally discard those tried-and-true elements that feel like second skin? And how much of a style "rut" is actually a rut, and how much is a clearly defined, consistent style?


Or can we use those dressing-from-the-inside-out days to help discover our own style foundations and build upon them? What are the elements of what I wore today that feel so right for me? Minimalism, a neutral color scheme (black and grey), comfort, boots, nothing fussy or frilly. While everyone needs some variety, sometimes at our age, we need to edit more than we need to append, and getting down to our style core is essential to editing wisely. (I think I feel a major closet purge coming on...)


One of the things that comes up frequently about French women's style, even more than their talent for clever tying of scarves, is that it's so integrated with who they are. They don't radically change their style from year to year or even decade to decade, they don't have closetsful of this year's trend, and they aren't afraid to wear a favorite item repeatedly. They seem to be comfortable with this kind of instinctive dressing; it's not that they don't put in some effort, it's that they don't put in too much.