Getting older...or getting better?

So keeping on the topic of aging, I've been thinking about the process of actually looking older. While I don't physically feel much different then I did 10 years ago, I have obviously aged, right? (rhetorical question actually, no need to answer this....)
While flapping my gums chatting with BFF over the weekend, I asked her how have I changed since I was say,  22 yrs old? My life has changed dramatically with family, kids, career etc. but I'm talking about it strictly from a physical perspective. No sir, I am no Heidi Klum, this mama does NOT bounce back 5 weeks after kid number 2, or 3 or whatever to walk the runway.

{We still lurve you Heidi, even if you do make every other women in the world look mediocre}

After my two babies, and way too many years of yo-yo dieting, gravity is in charge of this body and it's so kindly made asked me to pay my dues.
So the body has changed, but thank the GOOD LORD above, we walk around in clothes all day. No one needs to know what's really going on "underneath" until you have to go to: a). the doctor, b). to swimming lessons with kids or c). to the beach (which good or bad, likely only happens a few times per year).

But what is it exactly that actually makes us look older? Is it gradual weight gain, less trendy/more conservative clothes, shorter hair-cuts? Now don't go getting offended women with short hair (there are tonnes of cute, sexy shorter styles) but you have to admit that most women eventually chop their hair to a more "manageable" length sometime after they turn 40. Do we suddenly get tired of drying and styling longer hair once we're 40? Why do we get "lazy"? What makes us think that short hair is any easier, it can be challenging/time consuming too...so it's not like it's that much easier really!

{The opposite of "mom-hair", there aren't a lot of 45 year olds rockin' this look}

And thanks to Clinton and Stacey, apparently you really have no business wearing mini-skirts after age 35. Define "mini", how short is too short? (Fo-sho no one wants to see butt cheek!)  Why is 35 that magical cut-off age?  I'm beginning to think I'll hate 35. 35 is the new 40 and it sucks. There I said it! And I don't even wear mini-skirts...much.

And how exactly do our faces age? So obviously we develop fine lines, but our skin actually starts to gradually look different. It's hard to put your finger on it exactly.  I suppose we lose the elasticity in our skin (slowly) and then the overall tightness that makes us actually look good. All the Botox in the world isn't gonna help Mama with that! And until the miracle face cream that freezes our 29 yr old faces is invented - say hello to your wrinkles, grandma!!!

 But I'd like to think that I've gotten better with age. We're always evolving, trying new looks, new make-up, learning from our past style-mistakes. Just about everyone cringes when they see pictures of themselves from high school. (Present company included...if only there were time machines, high school would have been fierce!) 

I think we all fear looking old a bit, and if you don't you're in denial.  I look forward to getting smarter and wiser. Oprah says her 50's have been her best decade yet.... and I believe it.  But I just don't look forward to looking older. 

Do you notice that you've aged? How do you look different then you did 7 or 8 years ago. (And if 7 years ago you were in grade 9, ignore the question completely...)