Dress your Age

Dress your age

The first time it happens we are horrified, the little phrase or quick response to a question that signals that yes, you really are turning into your mother. It’s a scary moment and subsequent lapses are often made far worse by the taunting of siblings or our partner – “You sound just like (your) Mum when you say that.” Urgh, never!

While your mum may have many lovely qualities you would be happy to adopt and make your own, there is one area that you should definitely never venture into after your mum – and that’s your wardrobe. Much has been written about “Mutton dressed as lamb” or “Whitney dressed as Britney” but seldom do you read about the tragic slide to the reverse.   

It is a given that certain clothing stores cater to women over the age of 45 – 50 and although the clothing and fashion rules are more about your body than the age of it, it is a truly sad thing to see a young woman in her late twenties or early thirties sifting through the racks. The only time this is forgivable is if she is shopping for her mum. Yes, there are young women who love to go shopping with their mum, not least of all because she may be the one wielding the credit card. It’s OK, as far as a girly mother/daughter bonding thing goes – especially if your mum is a funky fashionista who subscribes to Vogue. It’s definitely not OK if your mum, keen on fashion as she may be, guides you to items that she would wear herself.

I’ve been in stores shopping for clients in their fifties and seen the sales assistants gushing over a young thirty-something woman wearing the same clothes as I have put aside for my client. You can’t blame the sales assistants – to them you are epitomising how they would like these clothes to be seen – on young bodies without the issues of flabby upper arms, saggy bums or middle aged stomachs. It’s so much more pleasant than the reality of who their real client is.

So how do you know when you’ve ventured into a no-go zone fashion wise? Here’s a few clues: check then age of the sales assistants – are they ultra trendy young things or older women? What about the labels – would you read these in the pages of the top fashion mags? Check the styling – is it this seasons styling or just a ‘safe’ interpretation of it. Are there clothes on these racks that only a middle aged woman would ever wear? Are the clothes you are looking at styles that would work just as well on your mum or her friends?

Life has moved on from the mid/late 80’s when dressing ‘old’ was new – remember all the Princess Di ruffles, small Laura Ashley print blouses and floral drop-waisted dresses? What about when we used to do our shirts all the way to the top button and wear these with a brooch at the throat? Let’s hope we never go back to dressing like frumpy housewives from the forties again.

We often make the mistake of dressing too old with our work wear. Too many of us have never shifted our working wardrobe away from the boring business suit. We may need to wear a suit for our work, but do we really need to go the straight skirt, standard lapel jacket route every time? Yes, classics won’t date and yes, you’ll be able to still wear them in ten years (if they’re good quality). But ask yourself – do you want to be dressing the same in ten years? Life on this planet is too short by half, why not have a little fun on the journey? There are neat suits out there that are still very professional, but with funky details to set you apart.  

As far as safe interpretations go it’s interesting to note that there are many younger women who are a little scared to try anything edgy or different, for fear that it will date too easily. There are those of us who make safe choices because we don’t want to be noticed, or we are trying to hide ourselves. Sadly, this leaves you with a really boring wardrobe – sure it will take you anywhere and you’ll never stand out, but is that really what you want? The advice here is simple: scare yourself. That doesn’t mean heading to stores where the music is a constant throat thumpingly loud “doosh, doosh” beat – it just means be a little daring and try on something different to what you might normally look at.