Grown up & in the middle.

So, I turned another year older last week. I'm still pretty young comparative to friends, allies and co-workers, but older none the less. In fact, it's starting to grate that whenever I think I'm pushing away from the easily-patronised, career-uncertainty of my early twenties, there is always someone to exclaim 'Oh my god I can't believe you're that young!' and wipe the smile from my Grown Up face.

The problem is, I've never looked particularly young. And my fashion sense veers closer to the sensible (albeit hopefully well-styled) than the eclectic, whereas many of my peers who stick to the latter (the arty / post-grad types most often) tend to be reassuringly student-adjacent in appearance and so fool no-one.

The other oddity is my choice of where I get my clothes. People have pre-conceived ideas about what people your age are supposed to wear and where to buy. By fashion law, I should still be in Topshop - too broke for Rodarte and too 'grown up' for Tammy Girl. I suppose people wouldn't mind if you chucked H&M or Gap in there, and then a touch of something slightly more expensive (Louise Goldin or Mark Fast for Topshop perchance?) for when the bank account allows. It's not that I am above shopping in Topshop, or that I have the money to be exclusively buckling under the weight of Net-a-porter, it's just my style is more Whistles than Warehouse. More Jigsaw than Jane Norman. And it has been since I was at uni. However, I never realised there was a age limit (or start) for such stores....one good friend at work once exclaimed in shock when I let her in on my age: "but you have that lovely Jigsaw merino cardigan!" as if I didn't quite deserve it. Or it was too 'grown up' and I was old before my time by shunning a Hennes bandage dress in favour of blouses and pretty knitwear.

It seemed so much simpler in the olden days, back with the pre-Victorians, when ladies from 16 onwards were laced tightly into dresses that shoved their bosoms into very Grown Up proportions and left everything else to the fit of a good empire line and a nice hat.

So maybe in a couple of years time people will cease to be surprised by my Grown Up wardrobe. Or maybe I'll start going back in age and you'll find me riffling through unsuitable Ra Ra skirts in a teen store...