Welcome to the latest edition of Ask CF! Every two weeks, we select a reader fashion question and answer it here on the site. Do you have a specific fashion question for us? Scroll to the bottom of this post to learn how to send it our way!

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Ask CF Question

Hi College Fashion,

I recently turned 21! However, people think I am younger and say I look 16. I researched how to look older and some sources suggested wearing more makeup and wearing high heels. 

Although I key up my makeup on the weekends, I don’t usually go all out during the weekdays. Also, my high heel collection is growing slowly, I don’t wear them every day. 

Do you have any weekday and weekend outfit suggestions to help me look older?

Thank you,

Mega Babe(y)

Our Response

Dear Mega Babe(y),

As someone who is 26 but could still pass for someone in their early 20s, I understand your struggle.  

Luckily, there are lots of things you can do to make yourself look older –particularly when it comes to what you choose to wear!

But, before we get to our tips on how to look older, I would like to dispel a myth that you mention in your letter — i.e., that in order to look older, you need to wear high heels and a lot of makeup. This is not only false, but these tactics can actually do the opposite of what they’re intending and make you look even younger!

This is because, when you look young and start wearing high heels and putting on a lot of makeup in deliberate attempts to look older, it can appear to others that you’re a kid who’s trying to look older, rather than an adult who just so happens to like heels and makeup.