While I was a little girl, I can recall always enjoying fashion, clothes, shoes and accessories.  Unbeknown to me, I didn’t realize it was a passion until I was in my thirties and I discovered my love for shopping and the excitement that would flood my insides as I imagined the moment I entered the mall.  I remember a story when my daughter was only a few months old and my grandmother (who was in a wheel chair at the time) took me, my daughter; Aubri and my aunt to the mall and we continued to shop for hours until my daughter no longer could keep up and fell fast asleep.  I will never forget the line my grandmother used to explain her expiration to sleep…….”She shopped till she dropped”.  I love this line and used it often with Aubri (who is twenty four year old now) daughter who adopted the shopping bug from her Mother, grandmother and Aunt.

My love for fashion was handed down to my daughter but her fashion intelligence has increased since she has decided to style her mother while helping to build my personal Brand.  Her eye for fashion exceeds my very own intelligence considering that she can determine the best fashion option for each individual knowing everyone has a different body type.  Every piece of clothing isn’t meant for every body shape and honestly body shape is our first nugget of information that needs to be clarified as we mature in age.  Whenever I see advertisements from companies outlining the major body shapes for women, they range from apple, banana, Pear or sometimes they are described as shapes like triangle or square.  Either way, they both are a guideline that helps fit an individual into a box that ultimately leads that same person to decide the type of clothing that best fits that shape.  Although it’s safe to assume, many of our body types do fit into a box; I feel comfortable questioning the title of a shape as we mature as women.  It has been my experience that my body type is no longer the same as it once was as a younger person and although my weight has increased since my twenties, the added pounds have not created the perfect box scenario. 

It is common knowledge in the health field that body types change, expand and often times the stomach becomes the bigger perspectives that lead to an undefined way to define the body shape.  So why does the fashion industry continue to ask women over 40 what their body shapes are?  Stupid right but even bigger than that, it’s understood that women over 40 continue to follow the guidelines knowing we don’t have the same shape anymore.  So what do we do?  Based on my very own experience it’s critical to hire a professional stylist to help create the visual fashion experience as we mature into our better selves.  Many of us were not fashionistas when we were young so adopting the fashion bug at a mature age can become disheartening, complicated or flat out impossible or some of us had style while we were young but the added pounds have added an attitude that reflects in our style of fashion.  Either way, each should lead to a new mental shift of recognizing the need to have someone help define the best look.  I would suggest hiring my daughter to help with your events, galas or casual experiences or look for a person that you admire from a fashion perspective and politely ask their opinion or help. 

As we grow older, wiser and/or mature, we have to learn new processes and procedures, resources and tools that help maintain our healthy lifestyles.  Fashion over Forty is another entity that reminds us of the importance of remaining aware of all of our senses and ultimately fashion is a derivative to mature women, self confidence and esteem.