Rediscovering My Style Through Seasons of Life

For years, I dressed for work in structured, business-appropriate pieces like Old Navy Pixie Pants, button-downs, and the occasional blazer or skirt. When the office relaxed its dress code to business casual, I found myself defaulting to jeans and a simple top. Then the pandemic hit, and like many people, my wardrobe shifted dramatically. First came the pajama phase, then sweats, then jeggings, and eventually leggings with oversized t-shirts or sweatshirts.

When that job ended and I started a new one with a very casual, almost non-existent dress code, my wardrobe followed suit. I leaned hard into what I jokingly call “rustbelt (not so) chic,” lots of flannels, jeans, sneakers, and the occasional handmade sweater or shawl to survive a very cold, industrial office space.

After more than two years of this, I started to feel… well, bland. Drab. A little disconnected from myself. Back in high school and college, I embraced a kind of grunge aesthetic, but let me tell you, grunge at 20 feels a whole lot different than grunge at 50. Somewhere along the way, I started to feel like a shapeless blob, floating through my days in clothes that didn’t reflect me. That disconnection started bleeding into other parts of my life, too, less motivation, more depression. It was a slow, self-fulfilling spiral.

Now, I find myself longing for more dresses, more skirts, pieces that make me feel feminine and grounded. I want clothes that feel beautiful and wearable, simple yet expressive. I have bins of fabric collected over the last 20+ years filled with printed cottons, plain linens, and treasures from two JoAnn’s stores that were liquidating in the mid-2010s. But during the pandemic, between working from home and finishing grad school, I barely had time to breathe, let alone sew.

What’s kept me from diving back in is the same thing I think a lot of us struggle with: style paralysis. I like too many aesthetics. And with some changes in my body due to menopause and the more sedentary lifestyle of recent years, I haven’t been sure where to start. What feels like me now?

There is one thing I have figured out: round necklines don’t suit me. At all. My 80-something-year-old mom put it bluntly: “It accentuates your round face.” (Thanks, Mom.) But honestly? She’s not wrong. As a busty gal with a fuller upper body, round necklines just feel wrong. They’re not comfortable, and they don’t flatter me.

I’ve started exploring more modern indie sewing patterns like the Roscoe Dress and Tunic from True Bias, and the new Ember Dress from Sew Liberated. I made the Roscoe when it first came out in both top and dress versions, and I really like the fit and the subtle V-neck. The tops still fit; I haven’t tried on the dresses yet, but that’s next on the list.

To begin this next chapter, I’m leaning into what I’m calling a hobbit cottage aesthetic. Clothes that feel soft, simple, cozy, and a little romantic. With summer arriving, I’m craving breathable layers and clothing that moves with me. I still need to finish a blanket for my mom, get my herb and tomato garden going, and tape together the Ember and Strata patterns I just bought from Sew Liberated, but I’m feeling ready to start sewing again.

And honestly? This might be the beginning of a blog series, something like reclaiming your style after life changes, or rediscovering your wardrobe through making. I want to share the messy, thoughtful process of figuring it all out: how life seasons, body changes, and shifting values can transform the way we dress, and how crafting your wardrobe can become a way to come home to yourself again.

Have you ever gone through a time when your style no longer felt like “you”? What changed, and how did you start finding your way back?