# What age were you when you decided to stop dressing for fashion-cool, and just dress for comfort? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225 "2013-03-18T03:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/1 "2013-03-18T03:44:53Z")
It hit me the other nite. I’m there!! We were dressing to go to see Eric Clapton. I tried on and discarded a dozen cute outfits: long dresses with skinny straps, off the shoulder dresses with cute heels, sheer tops with silky chemises and boots, and then I started thinking. It’s warm. There will be a lot of people. We’ll have a pretty good hike from the parking garage to the bar to meet, and maybe more than one bar. (We’d already had calls changing the meeting place 2X for crowds). There’ll be steps. It may be chilly afterwards. If I am going to be jumping up and dancing, will this outfit bother me? We’ll be sitting in a crowded room. On and on. The hell with it. Jeans, low heeled boots and a comfortable top. Out the door. But, darn!! No thought to fashion? Just practical thoughts of comfort!! Ancient me!! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/2 "2013-03-18T04:03:12Z")
I was supposed to dress stylishly on dates? That explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/3 "2013-03-18T04:03:41Z")
When I had kids, so about 24. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/4 "2013-03-18T04:40:55Z")
Do the two (dressing for comfort and dressing for style) necessarily have to be mutually exclusive? I don’t dress _just_ for comfort, nor do I dress just to look good; I want my clothes to offer me _both_ amenities. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/5 "2013-03-18T04:59:57Z")
Around 22ish when I started working a job where I got dirty a lot. Then I started biking to work as well. I dress nicely around friends, just not on a daily basis. I would definitely dress for comfort to go to a rock concert. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/6 "2013-03-18T05:03:54Z")
I have never been cool, so by default I guess I’m dressing for comfort. And ease of maintenance (i. e. no ironing). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/7 "2013-03-18T05:05:25Z")
_Just_ for comfort? I haven’t done that yet. I’m sort of tomboyish and my uniform is a tee shirt, jeans and snickers, but I don’t tuck my wolf shirt into my pants or anything or wear white sneakers. And if throwing on jeans and boots with a comfy top is a sign of resignation, then I apparently resigned a long time ago! That \*is \*my idea of looking nice, unless it’s an actual formal event, in which case I will dress appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/8 "2013-03-18T05:18:34Z")
Snickers? You wear candy bars? Well, yeah, that’s not comfortable. I wouldn’t think it’s fashionable, either. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/9 "2013-03-18T05:20:24Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I was supposed to dress stylishly on dates? > > That explains a lot. You’re supposed to go on dates? No wonder my wife won’t talk to me. And, to answer the OP, I don’t think I’ve ever dressed stylishly. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/10 "2013-03-18T05:34:10Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Snickers? You wear candy bars? Well, yeah, that’s not comfortable. I wouldn’t think it’s fashionable, either. :shakes fist: Don’t sass me! ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/11 "2013-03-18T06:29:10Z")
Early 20’s. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/12 "2013-03-18T06:29:27Z")
What happens if I sass you? Do you throw candy bars at me? If so, I prefer Dove bars, but Milky Ways will do in a pinch. Don’t want Snickers, I don’t care that much for peanuts in my candy bars. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/13 "2013-03-18T07:06:35Z")
I only dressed for fashion during the summer I was 14, which also happened to be a year the fashion had been designed for boyish women - something I already wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/14 "2013-03-18T07:38:43Z")
As soon as I was picking my own clothes. So 15 or 16. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/15 "2013-03-18T07:49:54Z")
There was a brief time in my late teens that I would wear pretty shoes, no matter how uncomfortable. I stopped aftethe age of twenty. There are only so many blister filled walks a girl needs before sh decides on wearing comfortable shoes the rest of her life. If she isn’t a masochist. So I have been telling myself all my life that [Ecco sandals](https://www.google.nl/search?q=birkenstock+sandals&hl=nl&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=S8ZGUei_K46B7QaTi4DADA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=979#hl=nl&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=ecco+sandals&oq=ecco+sandals&gs_l=img.3..0i19l2.18595.19262.0.19596.4.4.0.0.0.0.37.118.4.4.0...0.0...1c.1.6.img.DlHEQzWeAss&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43828540,d.ZWU&fp=11ba9e5a87fe874&biw=1920&bih=979&imgrc=qvbnbJ7TmmFIKM%3A%3BHvRCV168wazCsM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ecco-sandals.com%252Fimages%252Fecco-womens-sandals%252Fecco-sandals-3.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.picstopin.com%252F1280%252Fsandals-on-the-beach-ocean-sunset%252Fhttp%253A%25257C%25257Cwww*free-hdwallpapers*com%25257Cwallpapers%25257Cnature%25257C199351*jpg%252F%3B1000%3B750) go fine with summer dresses. I haven’t quite succeeded, though. 😉 In all other respects, I need to bike in the outfit to work or to town. That has been a factor all my life. So, in anwer to the OP: 18 and never. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/16 "2013-03-18T07:51:16Z")
I have never dressed for fashion. It was always for comfort based on what I could afford. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/17 "2013-03-18T08:26:49Z")
Probably since my thirties, and it started with shoes. I have always had wide feet but they seem to have widened with age, and I can no longer buy from a standard shoe store, as I need a 4E fitting. I still take pride in my appearance and enjoy wearing nice clothes, but my criteria for purchasing has become more focused around ‘when/where would I wear this, and is it suitable’ rather than ‘do I like how it looks on me’. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/18 "2013-03-18T08:37:16Z")
Fashion? That’s when everything you buy is new, but exactly 25 years OUT of fashion - right? I guess I never really got the hang of it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/19 "2013-03-18T10:29:31Z")
I never cared about fashion even as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225/20 "2013-03-18T10:36:30Z")
Jeans and tshirts since high school. Can’t do that at work but whenever I’m home or out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-age-were-you-when-you-decided-to-stop-dressing-for-fashion-cool-and-just-dress-for-comfort/653225.md?page=2)