Do Your Clothes Retire When You Do?

By Erica and Karen

You had a job that required you to dress rather formally, in suits, or dresses with jackets. You made sure you looked formal, but also like yourself–a stylish woman dressing for impact. And you like clothes, so you had fun creating your own professional look.

Now you are retired. Many questions have arisen, but one of them is–what to do with all those well loved clothes?

You have many options.

One, of course, is to sell them through a consignment operation, like The RealReal. If your clothes are really world class, Christie’s might be interested!

Another is to give them to someone who can use them–a friend, or a non-profit.

Dress for Success has been a great resource for decades, offering professional clothes and stying advice, as well as other resources, like job training, to women who need an assist in the job market.

We have been at the forefront of women’s economic development for over 26 years. Through our no-fee career development, job skills preparedness, mentoring and coaching, financial education, and professional attire services the women we serve are provided with the tools and skills to achieve economic self-independence.

Bottomless Closet is another good one.

In 2023, Bottomless Closet provided 1,578 women with 1:1 Pre-Interview & Post-Hire services which includes resume preparation, interview coaching and professional outfitting. 1,239 attendees attended our workshops in the areas of Financial Management, Digital Literacy, Professional Development and Personal Enrichment.

Or—you can repurpose those great outfits.

You probably will not want to wear suits very often, unless your retirement strategy is board service. (If it is, you might have a look at The Fourth Effect.) But those jackets look great with less formal pants–jeans, white twill, neon satin. Or flowy, longer silk skirts. Suit pants will also look great with less formal tops–sweaters or silk shirts. Suit skirts we have had a hard time repurposing, but that may reflect a lack of imagination.

And if your jackets need a little zhuzhing up, you can do all kinds of things, even if you are not an accomplished seamstress Add colorful buttons, sequined stars, maybe even a brightly colored lining. Even simpler–a huge cloth flower on the lapel.

One of the great things about being an accomplished woman who has retired is that you can have fun with everything! Let Iris Apfel be your inspiration! Or check out Ari Seth Cohen, Advanced Style, or That’s Not My Age by Alyson Walsh, or An Unapologetic Woman. They won’t tell you how to zhuzh up your clothes, but they will give you ideas!

Post-career life is different—but dressing with intentionality is still the game. In the words of our friend, Elaine Barnes, an expert on elegant dressing on a very tight budget, dressing up never gets old!