What do you wear to feel most like yourself?

Among all the clothing style tips for mature women, seeking stylish comfort heads the list

Rose Gerstner is the founder of Sympatico, an artisanal apparel maker that focuses on clothing for mature women. She regularly blogs about sustainable fashion and artisanal clothing.

I read recently that people mostly wear variations on only about five outfits. Considering how many garments are in my closet, that makes no sense at all! And yet, when I think about the combinations of items that make me feel attractive, comfortable and most like myself, it's true! Obviously I still need dress-up clothes for weddings and special occasions and casual or worn pieces for painting, gardening and play. But mostly I wear a narrow range of styles in several interesting colors that reflect my mood. The combination shown above is one of my favs: I'm wearing a Graphite Tuxedo Top and Black Angled Skirt.  What do you find yourself wearing again and again that reflects you best?

I like the expression being “comfortable in one’s own skin.” If you consider your wardrobe an extension of your skin (and it is!) then paying close attention to how you feel both physically and emotionally about items in your closet can help you whittle down an overstuffed closet. Cull the clothes that are constricting, itchy, awkward to wear, tough to color-coordinate as well as any apparel purchases you’ve come to regret.

Sometimes, of course, it’s not a specific physical or tactile problem. Maybe the garment is simply one that you rarely if ever wear. Spend just a bit of time with it and you’ll probably figure out that your emotional response to the garment is well founded. Perhaps it’s a combination of things: Your hair color has changed and the shade no longer works for you. Or maybe the item is wearable in a pinch, but your figure’s changed and the fit is no longer ideal.

I find the clothes that best represent my inner self are often the ones that I intuitively pluck from the closet. On reflection, you’ll likely find that those garments you return to again and again are the same pieces that tend to make you feel good about yourself.

It may be a combination of factors that make these most favored apparel items the faves that they are. Classic, fad-proof lines along with fabrics that feel good against our skin are a potent combination to help earn favorite status. Versatility, of course, helps, too—I find myself going back to the same layerable items season after season: items that can be layered and worn in three seasons tend to stay front and center in our wardrobes.