Two friends of mine have been talking about clothes lately.  Here are their situations in brief:

Friend A is a professional woman, a freelancer, whose life and work intertwine a lot.  She works with clients in her studio in her apartment, for example.  She is interested in curating her wardrobe so it works for easy daily wear, but also gives the impression of competence, professionalism, and style.  She wants to be able to grab any item from her closet in the morning, and look like a put-together professional.  She sees it in terms of costuming: dressing for the role she has to play. 

Friend B is a professional woman as well.  Her job requires a college degree, but is also physical and doesn't require dressing up.  A very active person, she likes to wear comfortable clothes, like sweat pants and gym-wear, on her days off.  However, when people routinely tell her she looks like a teenager or young college student, she finds this annoying.  She worries that people are telling her she's immature, or are judging her as less serious because of her clothes.  So now she's wondering: should she make an effort to dress more "adult" in order to forestall those comments?  And if she does, does that mean she's less of herself?