Typically, I go through what the Edies would call four Costume Changes a day, which might seem excessive, but I don’t see any way around this. But this week, on Wednesday, I had FIVE Costume Changes, which felt like a perfect topic for today. However, my main motivation for this post was something that I will probably talk about at more length later, and that is that as much as I love clothes, as much as I love Costume Changes, I and my perimenopausal body have been experiencing a bit of a wardrobe crisis of late. As you know, I am a firm proponent of feeling good in my clothes at all times: if I don’t feel beautiful, or at least really cute, then the clothes are wrong. This has been a bit harder to swallow lately, so I decided to record my Wednesday Costume Changes to rediscover my love of clothes.
Listen, I’m a sweaty gal. When I work out I am dripping, and my clothes could actually be wrung out, which leads us to…
Anyone who knows me will be alarmed to see that single banana on the countertop behind me. I know! That’s why I was heading to Superstore! Not to worry, this is what it looks like now:
Speaking of perimenopause, my feet don’t get cold anymore like they used to, but I like to apply foot cream at night, and wearing socks helps to absorb it. Also, I don’t like leaving lotion footprints, nor slipping on the floor, so the socks stay on until I’m actually in bed.
I hope you all have a fabulous, fashionable weekend! xo
Nicole, your costumes are such goals – in your pictures, you always look so stylish and put together! I’ve been trying to balance rethinking my wardrobe from a uniform / personal style perspective (Lazy Genius inspired) with my own perimenopause challenges of not loving how what I loved in the past looks on this version of me. It’s a journey… sigh haha! PS: I bet that Golden Girls show was hilarious!
Lindsay, you’re right – things I used to love just don’t suit me now. I am going to write a whole post on the topic but for now I will just say – thank you for your very sweet words!
Well, first of all- you look SO CUTE. You look great in all your outfits. I do know that menopausal (for me) challenge.) People will tell me how “thin” I am, and I’m thinking “luckily you can’t see me without clothes on.” This whole “stomach” thing is annoying.
I love, love, love, love your holiday pajamas and socks! SO cute and festive!!!
Hahahaha Jenny, I hear you. The stomach thing is such a thing! Although you don’t ever look like you have a stomach on you from all your running photos with crop tops, I have to say! But I know what you mean, it’s a whole different story these days.
Your going-out dress is fab. I always love that lotus (?) necklace on you!
And I think that’s why you’re so fit, because you really workout! I never work up that much of a sweat with my leisurely walks and yoga and consequently don’t have the strength or tone.
So excited about the growing novel! XOXO
Maya, I wear that necklace almost every day, it’s my favourite!
I also don’t sweat when I’m walking or practicing yoga, it’s just when I’m doing my cardio that I become a sweaty betty.
*Exactly!* You’re actually working out. My (very young) yoga teacher had a goal to sweat everyday–I never meet that goal.
Cute, cute. I know that you like your costumes by the smiles on your face. Happy Weekend!
Thanks Ally, happy weekending!
I love this. I like all of your outfits; as always you are tres chic. Cool Mom indeed! As you know, I have very few outfits; I am like the exact opposite of you at the moment, and wear one outfit for five days! 🙂 Actually, I do have an outfit I wear for runs, and one for indoors and/or regular errands, but I don’t really have an everyday outfit. I am still carrying everything and until I get home, it’s yoga pants for now. I am looking forward to wearing jeans like a real human! My only saving grace is that I do NOT sweat that much, but I still change out of my running clothes when I am not running. Also I now have a washer which is a huge plus.
I was worried about your banana stash and am so glad that you stocked up again! How was the drag show? I remember friends going to Asia SF in San Francisco which is a restaurant with a drag show, and them not realizing what it was until they had sat down. There were some funny stories about that afterward! (PS some of the men are very good looking ladies and sometimes it was hard to tell that they were in drag!)
Kyria, I’m sad to say the drag show was not great, Bob. It was really dirty, which is not a deal breaker for me because I enjoy dirty jokes, but it was kind of “cheap dirty” rather than clever dirty, if you know what I mean. There are only so many pearl necklace jokes one can take in a two hour span. Also a whole plotline was devoted to Sophia making extra money by selling LSD-infused cheesecakes which was just…dumb. For one thing, LSD? Who does LSD anymore (maybe someone does but it felt like a stupid plotline). But I will say the voices and costumes were perfection, and Blanche was rocking the stilettos like nobody’s business.
So, this is a question I wonder about people who keep matching sets together. How do you organize that? If someone gave me so much as a matching top/bottom pajama set, I would go into spasms of worry about how to store them so that they are always together. Do you have a giant closet? A dresser with an entire drawer dedicated to matching sets? How does this work? How do you keep track of a PAIR OF SOCKS just to go with the pajamas? So many questions. I just want to know how some people are organized and I wander about life in a daze.
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, and one I am happy to answer. So yes, I do have a dedicated drawer, and a long time ago Gigi clued me in to the best way to store jammies – you lay them kind of flat together and then roll them up so that the top and bottom are always together. I wrote about it here and there’s a visual aid: https://girlinaboyhouse.com/2024/01/five-for-friday-the-five-ws-of-rest-edition/ Also in terms of socks, I have a basket full of fuzzy socks beside my bed that are ONLY used for when I’m wearing jammies, to keep the lotion on my feet. I just choose a pair and I have lots of colours to go with my jammies.
You are just the cutest! I hear ya on the menopause body and its effect on your wardrobe. We call it a fashion crisis at our house, and they are a regular occurrence.
It is absolutely a crisis! I’m in the “oh no, I need new clothes” part of the crisis.
Fabulous, but man, that’s a lot of laundry 🤣. I generally wear only two outfits: pajamas after my night time shower and my daytime outfit which is yoga type pants and shirt (workout shorts in summer). If I have a hubby date or GNO (girls night out) I’ll wear jeans and dressy top. I generally only wear my black Skechers.
I workout twice a day and never sweat, unless I’m outside in hot, humid temps. I’m either just lucky or not working hard enough 🤔
You said it, Bijoux, it is a lot of laundry! But I can’t see any way around it. I sweat so much there is no way to re-wear my clothes. Then my walking clothes often get muddy/ dusty/ Rex-ed, so I don’t want to wear my MAIN outfit then.
I love all of your outfits and the fact that you wore 3 different pairs of black boots in a single day. I am tempted to buy some Tims for myself. Good to know that the Gen Zs approve! I have Sorels right now but they are getting old and I’m due for a new pair.
I’m definitely in the “struggling to dress this changing body” stage of life, hence the order of 3 new dresses (well, 5 total, I’ll send 2 back).
Those dresses look so good on you, Lisa!
I have SO many black boots. Well, I have a lot of black footwear in general. Quality footwear is so important to me, and so my boots last a long time.
Sigh – I love all your “costumes”. Seeing as I don’t have anywhere to go or anyone to see lately, my “costumes” have consisted of jeans and tees/sweaters. I need to up my game for my mental health alone.
Oh Gigi, I’m sorry, it’s a rough time for you. xoxoxo
1. You have achieved your goal- you look cute in every single pic
2. whoa you must do a lot of laundry!
3. I am shamed about your pj style. I have had one or 2 matching pyjama sets in my entire adult life (and I’m old so that’s a long time). I wear workout clothes in the morning but I barely sweat so often wear them for chores, or shower and put on jeans and a t-shirt. I hate sleeping with anything on so have a couple of random boxers/tanks that I put on for the evening BUT I do love my big cozy robe.
Pat, you’re right, I do a LOT of laundry! And so much of it is “hang to dry” because of all the athletic wear/ woolly sweaters.
I often get PJs as gifts for Christmas and my birthday, it’s one of my favourite gifts to receive!
You are the Cool Mom!
I have four changes into three costumes on any given day:
1. workout clothes
2. PJs (leggings and a long sleeved top)
3. Work clothes – shirt and jeans. I either change right before my first on camera meeting of the day or before walking the dog at lunch, whichever comes first.
4. Back into my jammies after the last dog walk of the day.
I’m so fascinated by change from 1-2! You go from workout back to PJs! I love that we have so many costume changes!
The bananas made me laugh. We have friends (who eat a VERY “whole foods” diet), and their counter is always covered – COVERED – in bananas.
I love how we got to journey through a day with you via fashion.
The boots look fab. As you know, I’ve already been to Mark’s today and am hoping to find a great pair of boots before the first snow falls.
Ooooh I am so excited for you and your new boots!!!
It never fails, anyone coming into our house is like “what is with all the bananas?”
Omg, the perimenopause belly/body. Ahh! I am with you and recently did a closet clean whereby most of my dresses were culled. And several pants. Sigh. I love all your looks, my most favorite are those jammies. I’m going to use the matching/folding tip!
Anna, I am not going to lie: I cried a little. So many beautiful clothes – the dresses were the hardest for me. But I just can’t wear them! It’s very sad.
I have to know what a “bum warmer” is. I live in northern CA and it is just not that cold here, though I did go to grad school in Michigan! But still, should I have had a bum warmer then???
Kat, when I lived in Calgary a local woman would buy sweaters at the thrift store and turn them into a little skirt – a bum warmer. It goes over your jeans/ leggings and makes SUCH a difference when it’s cold. I have a photo here https://girlinaboyhouse.com/2023/01/nicoles-favourite-things-the-winter-pleasures-edition/
You are so beautiful, Nicole! You look amazing in every “costume”. My style these days is “big potato sack”. I can’t stand anything binding! But I do try to keep my potato sacks in good condition! I know first-hand that it’s emotional to get rid of certain clothes, but it’s also quite empowering to dress in a way that’s comfortable. It’s self-care for sure!
Lolololol “big potato sack!” I know what you mean, though. I hate the feeling of clothes digging in, which seems to happen more and more these days! I think I went through the five stages of mourning when I donated my clothes, but you’re right – it IS empowering!
OK, if YOU, who work out hard and look AMAZING are still not happy with how your body looks in your clothes, I actually feel better about how crummy I feel about me in my clothes. I’m almost 59, and the menopause tummy SUCKS. So frustrating.
I love your costume changes. I have 3 outfits most days, because I don’t work out hard enough to get sweaty. So I have my yoga/walk outfit, my day clothes outfit, and my jammies. I’m adding some strength training in, getting to be more consistent with that as of yesterday. So far, still doesn’t warrant a change of clothes before I go for my walk.
When I was in 5th grade, my mom’s boss took us to see LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO (sorry for the all caps, I just copied it from their website so I wouldn’t have to spell it out) perform Swan Lake. I needed glasses and had no idea that it was all men on stage, and could not for the life of me figure out why everyone was laughing so hard.
Oh J, I hear you, I really hear you. Thank you for your sweet words – but yes, it does suck. And I wish more clothes would be geared toward this issue that wouldn’t look like “our mother’s clothes” if you know what I mean.
I’m laughing at the ballet and also your all-caps (why is she yelling?) That must have been quite the experience in fifth grade!! (also: solidarity! I also needed glasses at that time and probably would have had no idea).
I would love a whole post on the whole “fashion crisis” thing… I think pretty much everyone can/will relate in one way or another!! Clothes are so annoying!! And I feel like all the constantly changing styles and demise of good in person shopping options only exacerbates the issues.
A whole post will be forthcoming, Kae! And you bring up a great point – I am at the age now where the constant style changes only bother me in that WHERE ARE ALL THE NON-CROPPED TOPS. Everything is so short now! But the demise of in-person shopping is real. It’s such a thing! I was shopping at Lululemon for pants for my husband and I wanted to feel the fabric, because he has some preferences. Of course they didn’t have what I wanted. “I can just order it online for you” the salesperson said, and I thought – if I wanted to order it online I would have stayed home!
I also wear socks to bed, but only to keep the lotion off the floor or avoid slipping! My feet don’t get cold at night anymore either (thanks, menopause), so I usually kick them off right before falling asleep.
Even with all your outfit changes, you seem to have what I’d call a capsule wardrobe—classic, matchable colors and basics that make putting outfits together effortless. I have a similar wardrobe—timeless pieces that never go out of style. It makes life easier!
Thanks Kari – I do wear a lot of similar pieces and am trying for the capsule wardrobe, so thank you!
Non-cold feet are a really nice upside to menopause!
You look so cute in all of your outfits – even when you’re dripping sweat! I love your style so much and I always knew you were a Cool Mom. Now you have legit proof!
A part of me is sighing in envy at your cute winter wear. Thankfully, Florida is cooling down a BIT (and I’ve even had my AC turned off for DAYS!) and I just need it to STAY COOL.
Hmm, a drag show Golden Girls. Sounds fun! But kinda weird that nobody there expected it to be a drag show!
Stephany, it was weird! I checked the advertising for it to see if we were just idiots, and all it said was Golden Girls – The Laughs Continue, 18+. I mean. It could be 18+ for so many reasons! I guess I know now and anyway, it’s a night we won’t ever forget!
I hope you get some Florida cool days!
As I told you many times, you and I could be style-sisters because I would wear everything you’re wearing 🙂 I definitely can see how these costume changes are necessary.
Hahaha I know you’re my twin not only in style but in sweatiness!
Haha, I cannot deny that! 🙂
The perimenopause body sucks. Hate the tummy. I’ve onyl got one pair of everyday shorts that fit me at the moment, but luckily I can still squeeze into my running shorts which will hopefully get me through summer, or at least until I shift some of the weight that I put on with the crazy hormone fluctuations and my stress fracture.
With your lifestyle you need the costume changes. I usualy have three sets of clothes – workout gear, everyday and PJ’s, but I rewear the PJs. When I run before going to Personal Training I often have to change between because I get so sweaty. Conceivably, if I did that and had to go out I’d wear five outfits too.
The tummy is a whole thing, and I honestly thought I’d be immune to it. SPOILER ALERT: I AM NOT. Well, it’s a good reminder that we live many different lives in our lifetimes, and getting older is a gift, etc. STILL I would like to fit into my pants.
I thought I was the only one having multi outfits per day: Pj, running outfit, gym outfit, work outfit, lounge at home after work outfit.
I am looking forward not to have cold feet!
It’s coming for you, Coco! I had cold cold cold feet my whole life until now!
