not age appropriate

Today my 16 year old and I went thrifting. We discovered there's an outpost to a cool store we'd been to in Brooklyn not far from where we live so we spent a lovely fall afternoon walking uptown, prepared to browse. 

I walk in and was overwhelmed. Rack after rack jam packed with clothes. And then I felt old. Or at least too old to shop there. I, who am usually pretty comfortable in my skin felt dowdy, dumpy, embarrassed by everything from my messy hair to my hot pink Nikes. As my daughter fell in love with a full length sheer ball gown skirt, I scoured the racks and managed to pick out anything drab and grey. 

We tried things on and even she said most of what I picked was too shapeless, too conservative, too bland for me. 

While on one hand I know that, why do places like this make me feel so style-challenged, so insecure, so old?

I don't have an answer to this one, yet. But I'm hoping to find that grateful frame of mind from before so next time I thrift I'm not beating myself up quite so badly.