So you're a millennial confronted by your own mortality...

There's a lot of anxiety out there from my generational peers about dressing and I'm here to say; What? Like it's hard?

There's plenty of sources out there for clothes that take cues from current trends and execute them in a subdued grown up way whether that's Marcella NYC, Universal Standard, or the Gap hydra. You could live in that stuff and have a pretty easy go of it.

But what if you want to do more?

Now, I'm 41, WFH, and live somewhere blue collar and outdoorsy with a weird streak. So my needs and lifestyle will have different demands and allowances, knowing yours is key.

From a base of adult contemporary styles and basics you can branch out into vintage, niche, designer, or whatever else you need or vibe with and incorporate those elements.

Take stock of what you already own. Shapes, styles, colors, materials, what you wear most and what's missing. You can look up color palettes on Pinterest or use tools like coolors.co to plot out your color scheme goals.

Really think about how you want to branch out. For example, if you're jeans and Tshirt centric to a fault, look into fun shoes and sick ass jackets that match the vibe and try to incorporate shades and themes in your graphics. Up your jeans game with current and or classic styles. Hell, get into vintage denim.

Shake off the idea of named styles and needing referral links from influencers who look just like you and really think about individual pieces you want to incorporate. Start searching for what you want piece by piece. Descriptively. Don't be afraid to go down a rabbit hole. That can be where the good stuff lives.

Finding niche brands is cool and all, but you'll be amazed what you find when you decenter brand identity from shopping. Imagine my surprise that Land's End makes the plush 90s style corduroy wide leg pants I've been searching for for ages.

Take flatlay measurements of things you own that you like the fit on to compare to listings and size charts. This will help more than your own measurements as they will account for the ease needed to wear things comfortably.

And finally for real for real, be aware of your limitations but also be willing to branch out. Mixed messages, I know, but it will help you achieve a balance of realistic exploration.