Women retain confidence in the way they look as they get older, according to a 2005 national telephone survey conducted by specialty apparel retailer Talbots.

When questioned about how they look today versus how they looked in their high school yearbook photo, 86 percent of women ages 35–44 said they feel as good or better about how they look today. Seventy-nine percent of women ages 45–54 and 76 percent of women over age 55 also indicated they felt just as positive about their appearance today as they did in high school.

The good news isn’t all on the surface, either. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that, in addition to feeling good about how they look on the outside, they also feel younger than their age, with the majority (64 percent) feeling at least 10 years younger than their biological age.

Women’s confidence in their appearance extends to their sense of style. The survey also found that 50 percent of women say they are more confident in their fashion style now than 10 years ago, 34 percent are more willing to take a fashion risk now than 10 years ago, and 26 percent are more interested in fashion now than 10 years ago.