Retirement Dressing AW18 - The Skirt

Hello my lovelies.  I'm enjoying our Indian summer and I hope that the season is sparkling for you too, wherever you are on this wonderful planet of ours.  

And let's keep it wonderful, eh peeps?  Each of us thinking about the impact we make on our planet can influence others too in some small way, we can lead by our actions.  Each of us making small differences in our lives can have a beneficial impact on the generations to come.  Like reusing existing clothing.  Slow fashion, it seems to be called.

Slow fashion is something that's close to my heart.

Making conscious choices about what I buy.

Charity shopping, auction buying.

Donating what's no longer needed and holding on to what I love.

But shopping my wardrobe is where the fun is!

 I've been enjoying wearing skirts in these past few weeks, so no surprise that my wardrobe has been my source.

My long-gone plum wool skirt from 1968.  Well, it wouldn't fit now anyway!

There is a knee-jerk reaction to wear jeans solidly in retirement.

 Skirts in Retirement

A few years into retirement I befriended a couple who were a few years my senior.  The lady of the couple had long since been retired.  Let's call her Sally.

What struck me one Sunday morning when popping round for coffee was that although it was the weekend and she was relaxing at home, Sally was wearing a smart polo neck and a skirt.

It was a light bulb moments, a duh moment !   

Skirts can still be worn in retirement.  So I did!
But I've found I now wear my skirts differently - no jacket, more knitwear and less formal blouses.  And I find that I'm wearing
skirts that I would never have worn for the office, like denim and leather.

There IS a place for skirts in retirement!

You can dress smartly in a skirt, but casually too.  And all those business skirts suits that I'd retired along with me could be split up and worn again.  The skirts worn with jumpers or cardis.  The jackets with jeans and trousers.  And bingo! The idea of the skirt in retirement opened up more possibilities for dressing each day and got me leveraging my wardrobe with a whole new category of slow fashion.

So although jeans and trousers are practically the uniform for retirement,   the rebel in me wants to skidaddle around in little skirts too!

Skirts in Autumn and Winter

Now I have to fess up here.  Even prior to my retirement, a winter skirt meant tightage on the legs, and latterly those wonderful opaques that go on forever ... and obviate the need for shaving!

But this autumn I've been doing  something different, something radical.  I've been going bare-legged in skirts!

Yes, maybe it was something to do with the gorgeous Indian summer we've been having, maybe it was something to do with the fantastic self-tanning products on the market, or maybe it was just me wanting to mix things up a bit.   Whatever the root of my radical thinking, I think it's a winning formula.  Bare legs and skirts makes for a slightly edgier look, and I've been fancying a bit of edgy of late!

There IS a place for the bare leg in winter!

So without further waffle, I now give you some pics of my current skirt looks for autumn, my skirt outfits from previous years and a little internet inspo that's out there that you might want to try out.  The inspo may be a bit young, a bit whacky and the skirts may be prohibitively short for aging knees, but one can take an element or two from the outfits and make them our own.

You're welcome!

The Denim Skirt

My A18 look.

(For a coffee pop-in)

Other looks from older posts.

Other Inspo

The Leather Skirt

My A18  look.

(For day)

(For evening)

Other looks

Other Inspo

The Suede Skirt

My A18 look.

(For town)

(For the osteopath)

Other Looks

Other Inspo

The Wool Skirt

My A18 look.

(For afternoon tea)

(For the supermarket)

Ok, this skirt is a little on the big side now, but I think you get my drift here.  A wool skirt isn't just part of a sharp business suit and killer heels.  A wool skirt isn't just brogues, Burberry and headscarf.  It isn't purely synonymous with jam and scones and knitting bootees by the fireside.  There's a lot more fun left in the wool skirt in retirement!

Other looks

Other Inspo

The Print Skirt

My A18 look.

(For just about anything!)

Other Looks

Other inspo
(Oh yes, I was spoilt for choice here!)

And of course, I end with the ubiquitous AW18 leoprint skirt.

Mmmnnn, I don't have one of these  ... yet?!!

Yes, retirement dressing is so much more than jeans and trousers in the colder months.

So my dear ladies, do you fancy getting out of the jeans and into a little skirt?  

Maybe think about how you can style your skirts differently as your life moves from corporate to casual?

Perhaps wearing a denim or leather skirt fits better with the life you have now?  Maybe even a leoprint!

All I am asking is that you give skirts a try - they may surprise you!

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Sally who has very sadly since left us, but fond memories of her and her inspiration live on.

A la perchoine, 

Mary.

Photo sources, Pinterest.

P.s. I'm aware that subscribers are still experiencing notification problems (thanks for the heads-up, Theresa) - I apologise, I still haven't worked out how to fix it.  Whilst it remains unfixed, I will do my darnedest to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so's you know when to pop by!

 If any tech-minded bloggers there have experienced this and have fixed it, please let me know!