Midlife Style Reset: Body Shape Dressing & Affordable Fashion for Women Over 40 with Angela Howenstein

0:00Honestly, I've been spending way more time with animals and coins than ever before because dating right now is a full-blown circus. Clowns everywhere. If I wanted chaos, I'd open my inbox. So I go home, kick off my shoes, and dive into animals and coins. Build a village that doesn't fall apart. Collect adorable animals that don't ghost you. Raid people who actually deserve it. Zero mixed signals, only pure enjoyment. If you're exhausted by the emotional gymnastics, choose something that actually delivers. Download Animals and Coins right now and reclaim your piece. You just got to either love it, embrace it, and go for it and put it on and go to Whole Foods in Longmont.

0:37And who cares? In your athleisure and your YSL bag and go for it. I agree. Love it. And it's a beautiful designer handbag that you feel like you'll have forever. You might pass it down to your daughter. Then just keep it and look at it. That's fine. On investment pieces like that, go ahead. Hi, everyone. My name is Haley. And this is Laura. And welcome to The Body Pod. Welcome, Angela Hauenstein, to The Body Pod, who is a wardrobe specialist here to change up our lives with our midlife closet dilemmas, which Laura and I have already decided we've got 9 million. So we were just chomping at the bit for this episode.

1:24So welcome, Angela. Well, thank you for having me. This is so much fun. It's so much fun. So I just like to start off the conversation. As we hear wardrobe specialist, I think I just this is funny because I was driving last night and the car in front of me said like word. I don't remember what they said, but something like wardrobe specialist. I was like, Steve, my husband, I were having this lady on the body pod tomorrow. And he's like, why do you need a wardrobe specialist? I'm like, I don't know how to dress anymore. I don't know how to dress. So when people reach out to you, first of all, how did you even fall into this?

2:03I'm guessing that you were always a very classy dresser and that you just were able to put things together. So tell us a little bit about how you even got into being a wardrobe specialist and what that actually entails. Yes. Okay. So I would say, well, first of all, at my grandmother's funeral, I learned that she wrote a letter back home to her parents and it said, I am in Paris and I'm just buying hats and that's all I'm doing. And I thought, oh my God, I got the gene. So first of all, I think my mother loves it. And we've just been that kind of person our whole lives. And it's a true talent.

2:43Well, I just think that you either really like it and know what you're like, you're pretty confident in it, or you really don't like it, or you're just not confident. So there are a couple of different ways. But ever since I was a little girl, I was always in the closet, not studying when I should have been and rearranging my clothes and picking my outfits for the next day when I should have been studying. And then it turned into, I also love a bargain. I am not really brand conscious. So I would spend an hour at Marshall's for fun, just because I thought that was really fun to find something really cool.

3:15And I was just one of those people where people would say, where did you get that? And I was like, I guess you've got a nag for this. And then I would be like in my 20s, I was cleaning out my friends' closets and helping them get dressed for things. And then when my kids started to grow up and I was looking for things to do, I thought, you know, I should really just do this like for real. And so I started doing people's closets and helping them shop for vacations or pack for vacations. And then I started a website. And with that comes, you know, an Instagram account, social media, all that stuff.

3:46And that's kind of how it happened. Well, yes. And Jocelyn was telling me that you like blew up overnight on Instagram from this tie from this white shirt tie. Funny enough, I just what? Yeah, I just reposted that today for fun just to see. It was just a very weird. I wanted to grow organically because then you really get the people that really like you and want to know what you're talking about. But when you blow up like that, sometimes you're getting people who don't even necessarily care. So it seems great. But what happens is your engagement goes down. That's a whole nother story. So anyway, but yeah, that is what happened.

4:27But now tell us about the knot because Jocelyn was trying to explain it to me and I was like, and now I've got it. And I remember seeing it because she sent it to me months and months ago when she was like, you and Laura should have Angela on the body pod. And this is her Instagram. And now I wish that I like, clearly I forgot I haven't been doing it with a white shirt. Well, it was one of those things where it's kind of like a slipknot. So, you know, a lot of people don't want to tuck shirts into their pants because they feel like it makes, you know, bulky and it can be a lot to tuck in. And if you just tie it, that can be fine.

5:00Sometimes it can be then too tight or too loose and you've got bigger, longer tails hanging out. So this is just a way to sort of almost do like a slipknot so that it's not rising up on you and showing your belly. I love it. So if somebody comes to you when they're coming to you and here you have this business, are most of them like Laura and myself? How we're just like, listen, I used to know how to dress. I mean, I went to college and I was kind of pretty hip, but now I have zero clue. And I, you know, Laura's situation, she has an infant. So she's not really, you know, a toddler. She's not really I don't know.

5:36She's probably going out way more than me. I just I'm like, I don't have time to go out all that much. And I just don't really care. And I live in Boulder County where the the dress code is like, you know, Tevas and workout clothes. So I think Boulder got like the worst dressed town or city one of these years. And it I would say it sounds like it deserved it. Yeah. It's explaining to someone today because I lived there for 13 years as well. it's a reverse snobbery. So if you are dressed, you would consider nicely and you go to Whole Foods and you're walking around, people kind of look at you like, why are you so dressed up?

6:16Yes. Your reverse snobbery is they're wearing the best of the outdoor wear, the workout wear, the cycling wear. They're wearing the best of the best. And it's just a very different mindset. You know, they're not, they're not putting value on my beautiful bag, shoes and outfit that I put together because I care. Yeah. They're more worried about their fancy, you know, outdoor athletic wear. So I'm calling you and I'm saying, listen, I'm 47. I wear workout clothes all the time because that's all I'm doing or I'm filming or whatever. Uh, what, where do I even start in my closet? If you were here right now, what would you do with me in my closet?

7:00Okay. So with, I'll just go back one step. I have a 40 year old who's an over buyer. So for her, it's a different story for me. I'm weeding out for her to say, you don't need all this with people our age. They're usually coming to me with the problem that, um, my body's changed. My lifestyle has changed. Um, my bank account has changed for the good or for the bad, whatever it is. And, um, I need to figure out what works for me. I have too much of my closet. I can't find it. I don't see it. I wear the same five things every day. And so I'm going into people's, right? So I'm going into people's closet, pulling everything out, every last suck.

7:41And we're going through, the person is going to sit there and watch me go through each piece. And what I'm looking for is a reaction. Oh my God, I love that top. I wear that all the time. I feel great in it. I usually put that in the, it's probably going to go pile. And when they know it doesn't look good on them, that's a sure sign like that is going to go. And I try to train them to do that on their own so that they, so that you would know if you put a shirt on and you wake up or you put it on and you go to the mirror and you're like, oh my God, I hate this. Then don't keep it. You've got to get rid of it because what your goal is to have fewer pieces of clothes that you feel really good in so that you can kind of have a uniform.

8:23And in order to do that, you need to know a couple things. One, your body shape is very important. Knowing how to dress for your body, knowing what colors look good on you. And I do recommend that a lot of these people get their colors done because it will keep you from wandering around a store on racks that don't suit you. I would never go look in the olive green section because that doesn't suit me. You've got to know what your budget is, what your lifestyle is, and frankly, what your personal style is. Are you bobo or are you preppy? Like you got to know where you stand. And so I'm really getting in there to try and kind of peel all that away to bring the wardrobe down smaller so that getting dressed is really easy for the person.

9:06Okay. So what I need. Exactly. Most people I know want help with their everyday just to be presenting themselves better and making it easier. But what What are the other ways that you can work with the wardrobe specialist? Yeah, I mean, it depends on what the person really needs. If they have a knack for putting things together, I don't usually need to spend time doing that. But what I would say is, first of all, I usually offset my price by when I take people's stuff, I always sell it for them. I either give it to a gal, and I can introduce you, she's in Boulder, who will sell things on Instagram for their higher end items.

9:49I will send them off to the real real. And usually they always make their money back from what they spent on me anyway. So that's when you're working with a personal stylist, just know, don't just give that stuff to Goodwill. Have someone in the house that knows what you can do with those things. Donate, sell in one area, sell in another area. The other thing to do is, I mean, you can certainly follow your favorite influencers, people like that, people who look like you, people who you feel like dress like you, either inspirational, aspirational, follow them. They're going to give you a link. Today, I put up a yellow shirt.

10:25If you wanted to try a yellow shirt, you would click it, you would buy it. And if it's in your price point, you're really happy. The other thing you can do is it is about everyday wear. If you're going to go to a special event, you can walk into Nordstrom, grab someone, and they'll show you the special event section, pick something you like, try it on. But you can also use those same ladies. They're free in department stores to help you go through, you know, what it is you need. A lot of them will work on the side too, and they'll come out to your house. And a lot of boutiques will do that for sure.

10:54They will send someone from the boutique to your house to do what we're talking about, generally speaking, for free because they want you to come back and buy a whole new wardrobe there. But what it really just is more about is if you can't afford it and you get scared walking in Nordstrom because it's so big, find someone on the floor, again, that kind of looks like you, that's dressing in a way that you like. And that person can usually help you put something together. And trying to find someone who's really honest, who's not going to try and sell you a bag of goods, someone who really is understanding your body and is really being honest that that does not look good on you.

11:34I know you'd like it but it doesn't look good on you let's work and find something else okay so how do you determine your colors I mean outside of just there's certain ones that I don't like just because I've never liked them on me but I don't know if that would fall under my color yours is kind of like food your your body kind of doesn't go near the things that you don't like because your body probably doesn't like you know I know from all your nutrition and all that but I know I don't like turkey and it actually doesn't really work well for me. So I don't go for that, right? Inherently, you kind of know what colors look good on you because you gravitate toward them.

12:13There are people out there who do it in person. You can find someone in your town, you can Google it. There are people all over the internet. I've worked with one company where you walk around your house, grab every blanket, shirt, your husband's sweaters, whatever, every color of the rainbow. You throw it around your neck, take a picture in front of a window, and you send it into this company and they will put together a whole chart for you. You can do that. You can also do a free app online. There's so many ways to do it, but it is a really valuable experiment because a lot of people don't realize that they think they love white, but actually they're more of an acrue person.

12:49White doesn't look as good on them as they would in ivory or acrue or black versus navy, brown versus black. Like there are a lot of different, you know, shades of yellow. Yellow's really in right now. Some yellows, mustard looks great on a gal with dark hair and darker skin. And I look good in fluorescent yellow, you know, so it's a great exercise to go through. But generally speaking, you kind of know what you're gravitating toward is what looks good on you. What about body type? I mean, I think some people know, oh, I can do high waisted jeans, but not all the time do we know exactly what what looks good on us.

13:31So how do we help narrow that down? Okay, so that's another easy one, too. You can always find this online as well. There are measurements that you can take. you know the traditional shapes would be like a carrot and I would make it to like I always have celebrity names that I use but you've got your hair your apple shape which is bigger around the top and the real skinny legs and then you've got your pear who's very narrow in the shoulders and rounder maybe in the butt area and then you have just a rectangle with no shape and you can do measurements to figure that out. The bottom line is everybody is gravitating and hoping and wanting to have an hourglass figure.

14:16That's the goal, right? To be pervy in a way that you go like this, if you can see my hands, everything is kind of balanced. So let's say you're a pair and you're very narrow and then you go out like this. You want to wear things that are going to make your shoulders look a little bit bigger because then it makes your waist look smaller and then you're going to come out like this. On the reverse, someone who is an apple who's carrying everything up here would never want to wear a boat neck, never shoulder pads, never ruffles, nothing that's going to accentuate the shoulders. So it's about trying to, you know, kind of find that balance.

14:56A carrot where she's broad and then really, really narrow. she's really good in like flared pants or wide legs or things that are going to give her a little bit of fullness on the bottom. So it's just about trying to get that. And that's something you learn once you realize what your body type is, which is very easy to find out. I just feel like I need help. I need someone to tell me what to buy and how to put it all together and just smart smart purchases. Like I'm so over not making smart purchases. I love when I can, I'm like, now that sweater or jean or whatever it is was such a good purchase.

15:39I still love it. It still works. It's a great quality or whatever it is. And so, Hey everyone, it's Haley. If you're tired of feeling like you have to figure out fat loss and nutrition by yourself, I want to invite you into something really special. My Shred Happens course is a six-week challenge with effective workouts, practical nutrition, and built-in accountability to help you stay consistent. But the real magic is in the community. The support, the connection, and the shared experience of doing this alongside women who truly understand what it feels like. No extremes, no burnout, just smart training, real support, and momentum you can actually build on.

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17:19How, like what advice do you have for me and all of my friends who are extremely frustrated and don't know what to wear and want to buy things, but it just feels like a headache. It does feel like a headache, especially again, if you don't really love the process. And what I tell people most of the time is it's, you gotta get up, you gotta, it. If you're going to do a workout, whatever it is, you've got to get dressed. So if you're going to work out later in the afternoon, then fine. Don't take a shower in the morning, but put clothes on. Don't just go straight for your athletic wear, right? Get dressed.

17:58And what you're gravitating toward every single day is probably your uniform. Whether that's like, for me, it's jeans and a sweater. I like button downs more than I like some other blouses. It's unusual for me to wear a crew neck. I usually wear things that are like this. So you gravitate toward those things, right? And you can always have a system in your closet. If all your tops are in one area and you wear one one day, great. Then when you put it back, turn the hanger around so that you were like, oh, I loved that yesterday and I'm not going to wear it again. I'm going to try something new tomorrow.

18:34You're going to pick the next one. And when you put it on, again, same old thing. If you don't like it today, you're not going to like it in a week and you're not going to like it in a year. So that would be a time to get rid of it. Don't, I hate that old thing. Like if I haven't worn it in a year and then I should get rid of it. Right? Like, no, because when you buy things you love, you'll keep them as long as you want. And just to not be on the fence, that's another thing. And don't shop with friends. Hell no. Especially if you are, no, especially if you are shopping, unless you're shopping with a friend who's not a shopper.

19:07Sometimes that's good when you've got your really discerning friend that will give you the honest truth. But if you're going shopping with a shopper, because that's what you guys want to do for fun, she's going to want to buy a bunch of stuff that she doesn't need. And she's going to make herself feel better by telling you, oh, those jeans are great. Maybe they're great, but she's just making her feel a little bit better. So I, I, I'm very picky about which friends I will shop with. Yeah, that's good advice. Yes. But but it's really just about it's you know what you like. Like, you know, if I put on skinny jeans, they make me feel like a stuffed sausage and I cannot stand the feeling.

19:50So I will not wear them, even if I'm trying to put them in boots. I just I they're not good for me. And so it's about when you put the clothes on, how do you feel? And if you're feeling good, stick to that little formula. And usually it's, you know, it's about some people don't even wear jeans. They like to wear dresses every day. My sister-in-law wears dresses every day, no matter what the temperature is. And so it's kind of figuring out, you know, your lifestyle and, but just getting dressed so that you can start the process. I was just listening to a Tony Robbins on the Skinny Confidential and he was talking about, you know, focusing on the things that, you know, work for you, not worrying about something that's sitting in your closet.

20:32You've had it for so long. Don't worry about that. Don't worry about that. Focus on the ones that are great for you right now today. Okay, so then definitely you don't want to shop. You want, like, there's got to be some balance between what's trending, because we all like that, but then not buying something. I mean, there's some things that are trending right now where I'm never putting on. So don't just buy it because it's trending. hell no especially if it's like um uh polos are really in with the collar pop a proper polo shirt and you're like well wait a minute i like floral you know romantic blouses why would you buy that just because it's a trend right um not falling for trends is huge you can add a trendy piece to what you like that's fine and i don't spend a lot of money on trendy pieces ever that's when i I go to H &M, Zara, and I might buy, you know, something that's trendy, but I probably won't have it forever.

21:39So I won't spend a lot on it. It's just not falling for it. I mean, do you really care what's trending? No, no, because then you go to a party, you're wearing the trendy outfit and you look like and feel like a total jerk because you've just walked in. You're uncomfortable. This isn't your style. People are like, oh, wow. look at that dress on you you know they don't even know what to say or they don't say anything and then you're self-conscious and then you have a shitty time then you have a terrible time party and you want to just go home and then your husband's mad because he wanted to stay and you're mad because you feel uncomfortable in your skin you know okay no trending if we're looking at like what are the the the five items the five five staples that everyone should have in their closet and can you give us like a budget friendly and then a deluxe option like if you're if you're gonna spend on a few things I'm done glad you asked because I would never sit here and give you five pieces you need because your five pieces and my five pieces and your five pieces are never going to be the same and so for me to say I think you should have this is what people say all the time.

22:51A white button down, a white t-shirt, a black blazer, wide leg jeans, and a sneaker. Okay. So let's start there. I don't wear a lot of black and I don't, I have a black blazer and I rarely wear it. So that would be a great for me. White t-shirts. Yeah. But like, I don't like a crew neck. I like a V-neck. So I'm not going to tell you, right? A button down. I love button downs. You might hate them. You might prefer more of a flowy blouse. So that's, that's why capsule collections are such a silly word they're not the same for any two people unless you literally say we have the same body same colors same lifestyle same budget and same personal style i personally invest in denim because that's what i wear the most and i like fit well and um so i don't buy cheap cheap denim um i don't splurge again on trendy items um i rewear a lot of special occasion dresses because no one remembers unless it was a real knockout.

23:53And chances are you're not going to the same event with anybody. If you're going to a family wedding, maybe you won't wear the same hot pink dress to all family weddings. But again, like, who cares if you do? I really have a hard time answering that question. So it's more you think we should have kind of like a set of, look, these are my go-tos. Yes. And you're a go-to, you just want to figure out what those are. You're either a blazer or a sweater girl. Let's put it that way. You're either a jeans or a pair of pants girl. Like you prefer to wear like a black pair of trousers. Like I don't wear black trousers.

24:31So kind of trying to figure out sort of what's this, what's the underneath piece? Is it a t-shirt or a button down? What are the, what's the bottom? Is it jeans or pants? um are you some girls overheat and they wouldn't dare put a sweater on so do you love sweaters you know it's about kind of layering the different pieces um having a great bag that you might love and investing in shoes because you really like that and you wear your shoes out a lot um and kind of just trying to figure out what are your go-tos and reading different capsule collections and seeing which ones fit your style. I don't follow a single stylist online.

25:14Well, you're going to be following Angela. I mean, now I'm actually mad because why am I not following any? I mean, now I'm just going to have to start like Googling and Instagram like hashtag, I don't know, middle age. You can do over 50 style, hashtag over 50 style or over 50 chic, things like that. But the other thing is just start Googling capsule wardrobe for 50 plus or 40 plus. You might look at it and be like, no, I'm not going anywhere in any of those things. That's the name of my kind of brand is where are you going in that? Because that's what I used to say with my girlfriends all the time.

25:54Even if we were shopping together or if I was cleaning out their closets, I would say, where are you going in that? And if you don't have like a bunch of answers, then it's a no. Because if it's not a hell yes, it is a hell no. This is with anything important in life. Anything. Anything. Yeah. And the same goes for your closet. Like you should be able to walk in your closet and like I'm about to go upstairs and pack for a trip and I'm going to bring the things that I love. And I know what those things are. You know, you know, oh, I love that sweater. That's so cute. I love that. I'm going to bring that sweater.

26:29And if you've got things in there that you never gravitate toward. That's your sign to try those things on. They're not part of my capsule wardrobe and I'm going to get rid of it. Okay. So you don't buy into the, what was the book that came out where you held something? Oh, Marie Kondo. Does it bring you joy? Yes. Does this bring you joy? I kind of agree with her because I know the things that I really love. I really do. And I know what I feel really great in. I don't sit there and stare at it, but I like to watch people's reaction when I do it for other people. What if you're a pack rat? Well, if you're a pack rat, then you've got other issues.

27:13What about if it's hard for you to get rid of clothes? What's that about? I think that's a lot of people are. There are always a lot of things around that. Like, I spent so much money on it. okay, my dad gave it to me and I don't want to get rid of it. Or, you know, my husband gave that to us on our first anniversary and he'll be so upset.