Has your look/style changed in a surprising way as you’ve aged ?

Maybee70. You are right, weddings are a nightmare. I totally forgot about hands and eyes. I used to be really proud of my hands, long fingers and nails that were long. Now they are knobbly with arthritis, but I still defiantly use varnish. I will certainly investigate the mascara mentioned. I have no idea what happened to my eyebrows, I only seem to have half left, and the hair is very coarse. I think I have tried every colour eyebrow pencil under the sun and now resort to ordinary grey with a light dab of powder to tone the colour down. I’m not vain enough to rectify the matter with beauty shop treatments so I will just plough on.

Oh, by the way I have the reverse problem with sandles - both my great toes are fused, but the joints have been removed from all my toes, so all you see are the great toes coyly poking through.

Actually it’s quite good refreshing thinking about one’s appearance rather than health.

I also had dark chestnut hair but now quite short and very grey, especially at the front, but I'm "embracing my natural self" as they would say in the US! I tan quite easily so it's ok in the summer, but I can look quite washed out in the winter. Never liked black or pale pastels very much on me - have always worn autumn colours like brown, green, orange, before going (so) grey but now prefer navy, strong pinks, blues etc.

I managed to go up a dress size to 14 during lockdown, which is difficult to lose!

Pink Cosmos: I’ve only ever had one vanity in my life and that has been my hands. But now arthritis and Dupuytrans have turned them claw like and my nails which would grow so long just snap off. I can’t bear looking at them! I did wear a ring the other day for the first time in ages. In fact I put on a few bits of jewellery and I’m planning to do so more often even if I don’t go anywhere!

I’ve got boxes and boxes full of shoes that I’ve bought over the years that I can’t wear because of my mutant feet, but I’m loathe to part with them because they cost so much. Weddings were always a nightmare; trying to find nice shoes to go with an outfit. In fact, I went through all my shoes two nights ago and found shoes I’d forgotten about. I bought three pairs of Clarkes sandals @ 3 years ago. If they’d been made years ago they would have covered me for everything. My main problem is a bunion which thankfully doesn’t hurt but does make me big toe go sideways so if I wear sandals it looks as if I don’t have a toe at all. I haven’t bothered with clothes or make up throughout the pandemic but when I did put in my usual make up the other week I looked ridiculous. Reminded me of the ‘panda eyes’ scene in ‘The Favourite’. So I’m rethinking my make up. I’ve bought some mascara aimed at older women with sparse eyelashes. I thought I was just being conned by stuff I’d seen on Facebook but it does actually do exactly what it says and I’m delighted with it. It’s called Prime. I’ve now got to sort my eyebrows ( lack of) problem. The Look Fabulous Forever stuff is useless so I need to get something softer.

I decided to start growing my colour out last year because I thought I was really grey and was fed up of colouring it, I'm pleasantly surprised to still be quite dark at the back but my fringe is grey, I use a colouring shampoo which makes my fringe look blonde so I have a sort of ombre look from front to back which I love. Ironically I would never wear trousers when I was young (and slim) and now I am very much larger I wear them all the time.

Nope. Pretty much stayed the same smart, colourful and coordinated casual. My absolute comfort zone. However, I have resorted to being a wee bit slobbier around the house since I retired. Not dramatic but certainly noticeable to me since retirement.

I don't wear black next to my face but will wear black trousers, though I do prefer navy these days. I agree with the other poster about round necks and prefer a v neck or a collared shirt

I am a size 18 and no longer wear t-shirts or jumpers which cling to every lump and bump. I prefer blouses or tunic styles. I have also worn dresses more this summer than ever before.

My hair has been the same style for the last 20 years. It is dyed mid brown and in a layered shoulder length bob. I am trying to build up the courage to let it go grey.

I hate catching sight of my reflection in a shop window and seeing an old woman staring back at me. Unfortunately, I look more like my dad than my mum !

I don't like my wrinkly hands. I don't wear my rings any more and mostly wear clear nail polish. In my younger days I always used to wear coloured polish

Most of my shoes are now flat or with a low heel. I like to think they are reasonably trendy styles and not old lady styles with velcro. I never tottered on very high heels when I was younger but am now worried about falling as I have done this twice in recent years and ended up with broken bones both times

I don't feel old inside and am lucky that I don't have any health issues.

I too tend to choose navy over black these days. I used to wear a lot of black. And I've taken to bright colours big time. They do cheer me up somehow. And I almost always have a pink streak in my grey hair these days. I love it!
I'm dressing more for comfort these days, with so many aches and pains in joints etc. Tight clothes make it worse.
As for my bottom, it seems to have disappeared somehow!
The most important thing now is for me to lose a bit of weight. I'm trying to...

I let my once very dark hair go naturally grey during lockdown, Ive recently taken the decision to dye it darker again (not quite as dark as it used to be) Ive also had it cut a little shorter. I just felt so washed out and felt my face and hair were all blending into one.

On the shoe front I totally agree with Lexisgranny I have so many lovely pairs of shoes but now they cripple me after a very short time so I buy shoes with comfort in mind for everyday wear. Even in trainers my feet end up hurting. Oh to swan around in a stylish pair of heels like I used to.

I had dark chestnut coloured hair, now that it’s grey veering towards white, and I keep it quite short to make it easier to deal with, it has thinned a bit so I use my grandmothers tip of bending my head and brushing my hair forward before brushing it into shape (I was really surprised that one worked). Therefore there are colours that I have worn for years that ‘drain’ me, like others have mentioned black no longer suits me. Strangely round necked jumpers look awful, I tend to wear a shirt underneath, or a scarf v-necks not so bad.

Fortunately I am the same weight now as the day I left school, (not by a lucky quirk of nature, I can put on weight at the drop of a hat, and have done so in the past) but because I am careful what I eat for health reasons. This comes at a price, I hate my scraggy old arms and prefer to have them covered. Alas I can’t exercise much.

I was sad to notice that I no longer have a rounded bottom, it hasn’t sagged, it just sort of flattened.

I think of all things I regret, shoes must come at the top of the list. How I would love to wear high spikey heels. I have a lot of shoes, regretfully all fall into the “comfort” category and many are 10+ years old. I have ‘difficult’ feet after several operations, and tend to reach for the ones that are the most comfortable

Other Things I am not happy with include age spots and wearing specs more regularly ( not for vanity reasons, I have always disliked the feel of them). The main thing is my face, I do avoid mirrors, because I can’t relate to the ancient crone peering back at me!

Wrinkles! GS mentioned the other day that my arms look like 'that paper we use at Christmas to make the table look nice'. He was being kind but, yes, he did mean crepe paper. At least my arms aren't red, green and white!

Glad to hear your hair suits you Lucca.

I find I'm wearing more unstructured clothes now I'm at home more. I hardly ever wear anything with a waistband anymore.

Ah well…the wrinkles. I was really wrinkly (actually lined.) A few days of steroids post chemo has removed a lot of them !

I never wore jeans in my youth, but wear them a lot of the time now that I am mature and a couple of sizes larger!

I always wore my wavy hair in a short pixie cut but now it is shoulder length with the tousled look. Fortunately I still have a lot of it. I think the softer style suits me better as a wrinkly!

I've stopped dressing as formally no more trouser suits. I no longer wear as much black and find I'm going towards the colours that my mother wore like bright pink and blue which at the time made me cringe.
My once blonde bobbed hair is now a pepper and salt crop.
I have also put a lot of weight on resulting in having to see the DR. with health issues.

You are happy with your new hair growth and style that’s a positive attitude Lucca.

My hair was curly red and bobbed it started going white. It’s now shorter and white but people still recognise me even when wearing a mask.

Solid black clothes don’t suit me anymore either. I have shrunk a few inches and gone from 10/12 to 14. My main complaint is being riddled with arthritis I am not as agile as I once was.

I always wore black when I worked. It was easy and meant the pupils weren't distracted (as if) by what I was wearing. Now I'm retired, I rarely wear solid black now. My hair is another matter. I have very little hair either, in my case because of an auto immune disease. It doesn't suit me particularly but I don't have a wig, I just ignore it.

That is nice to hear Lucca - a small silver lining at least!

My hair somehow seemed to go from ashy dark blonde (with help) to white in the blink of an eye - or because I had too much on my plate with Paw’s illness to get to the hairdresser and although people say how much they wish their “pepper and salt” was a true white , it has still taken some getting used to.
But I realise it’s not much to complain of

That’s brilliant about being happy with your hair Lucca
I used to have a very close crop (I’m not going to say skinhead, but it was) and I absolutely loved it.
It’s a very liberating feeling.
And it made me feel very feminine, some how.

I’ve also realised that black doesn’t look too good, I much prefer dark navy.

The main difference, as you know, is that I am much, much larger than I have been.
And it doesn’t bother me any where near as much as I thought it would