Fashions For A 60 Year Old Guy

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m 60 and people tell me I look like I’m in my late 40’s, and the way I act (young, with young ideals and ideas), some folks can’t believe I’m this old.

So what am I supposed to wear now?

I have all kinds of jeans, horizontallly striped sweaters, hoodies, neat t-shirts (Straight Dope one being my favorite). I’m partial to corduroy sport jackets worn with a t-shirt instead of a button down oxford.

The only thing I don’t like to wear are those “shorts” that come down around your calves? I’m European (mostly) and I like my shorts with a 6" inseam.

I have all my hair (wear it in a Beatle cut as I have since they debuted in 64), all my teeth - some not my own, and I’m in reasonable shape.

I just don’t want to be seen as “that old guy trying to look young”.

So tell me: should I start to wear the waist of my pants under my armpits, with an Izod polo and a members only jacket and white shoes (with white socks)?

I get the LL Bean catalog (Can’t afford much in it, but luckily I don’t have to 'cause the stuff I bought from them during the “good times” is still intact and fits) and I see these guys in it, but I want to look younger than that.

What do your dads wear, if they’re 60 or thereabouts?

I see stuff in the mall and tell myself, “Man! You’d look tuff in that!”, but then I back off, thinking people would look at me funny. An old guy trying to look young.

I know: “Don’t WORRY about it, Quasi!”, right?

I would also like to hear from any Doper males my age who may or may not be having she same problem.

Thanks

Q

2

I think that you should wear the bottoms of your trousers rolled…

or, maybe not. :stuck_out_tongue:

3

Or sandals with socks? :slight_smile:

NOT!!!

And neither will I wear those huge sunglasses which cover up one’s regular glasses!!!:slight_smile:

Thanks

Q

4

Here ya’ go! :smiley:

Seriously, I think much of it depends on your lifestyle, your subculture, and so on, just as if you’re younger. Around here, the wardrobes of 60 year old Italian-American men seem straight off the Sopranos, while 60 year old middle-class WASPS tend to have their own version of the preppy look (Cutter & Buck, Orvis, etc).

I see a lot of 60-something men around here that wear golf clothes all the time. About a third of the men’s clothing at the nearby Stein Mart are golf shirts and pants. I’m not a fan of that look.

5

Wear what you want to wear, except for those occasions that require a particular set of duds.

I’ve been wearing “Hawaiian” shirts for the last 38 years. This started when I was in my early 30’s as a science teacher, and pretty much got my students a bit off balanced when they came into my room on the second day of class. First day was tie, coat and so forth. But I had labs on the second day, and since I covered a lot of ground my students had to keep busy to stay with the class. I became the crazy science teacher who flew around the room in a blur of color; it worked very well for me.

When I retired, the floral shirts remained. I wear them almost daily, and where I exercise I am complimented for my shirt choices. Not just because the ladies like the pink flamingos romping in the hibiscus and palm fronds…sometimes they add that they like to see a man wear what he likes. I think they recognize that I’m having fun and enjoying myself without being afraid of being seen as “different”

That’s about all I’ve got.

6

Watch Rubicon. Specifically watch what Kale wears. Not so much the suits that dominate the Google image searches; his casual and day-to-day work clothes are much better.

The actor (Arliss Howard) is in his mid-50s, I believe. In the show he always has kind of a cool, faintly-euro casual wardrobe. Looks great. I hope to look that cool when I’m in my mid-50s.

7

My dad is turning 60 in two weeks, and he still wears exactly what he has been wearing at least for the past 31 years (I suspect he dressed differently as a youngin’!)

Jeans (cheap), pocket t-shirt (cheap) and once it gets cold enough, a flannel shirt - two pockets please! (one for cigs, one for glasses)

Seriously, this is all he’s ever worn.

While I was growing up he always always wore steel toed boots. Not lace-up workboots, more like cowboy boots. But not like something an actual cowboy would wear. I suspect they were just the boots he could get from Ford and he liked them.

I’m not sure when but at some point he ditched the boots when he discovered $10 velcro sneakers at Wal Mart and splurges on a new pair every couple years. This is pretty much the dorkiest thing about my dad.

8

Well, kale looks good for his age, but I have issues with that bow-tie looking thing, GameHat. He looks like a clown priest! :slight_smile:

Shit, Elmwood, I wouldn’t wear that crap even if I were on the streets! :slight_smile:

sunstone: After my own heart! I have half my closet dedicated to my Hawaiian shirts, but you know what? I read somewhere that women think that guys who wear them do so to cover up a short dick. Man! We have GOT to change that! :slight_smile:

Zip: I think your dad must be a very comfortable guy!

Thanks!

Quasi

9

I’m 50 and dress pretty much like ZipperJJ’s dad.

Jeans or cargo shorts(not too long/above the knee), race/event t-shirt, flannel shirt or polo, running shoes.

Mix and match for weather.
I’ve dressed like this all my life, why change?

10

Wear what makes YOU happy , I am 56 and I dont give a rats ass about fashion

11

I told you, ignore the google image searches! :smiley:

In the actual show, he wears much more casual clothes. I still hope and plan to dress that natty when I’m in my 50s and 60s.

12

Lederhosen.

13

No. Pleated. Pants. Please.

14

My dad’s 62, and like other here, he just wear what he’s always worn: jeans, T-shirts, hoodie sweatshirts, stuff like that (of course, he’s still a lawyer, so you can actually catch him in a suit on occasion). He has an extensive collection of dress shirts in bizarre cuts and patterns, almost all worn outside the pants; conversely, when it’s hot you can usually find him in his favorite summer uniform of sandals, cargo pants and a Yale T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. The Yale thing also means that he is perfectly capable of pulling off the preppy look on occasion, although I suspect he does it ironically.

15

An ill fitting zoot suit should fit the bill just fine. Yes, with fedora and dame attached.

16

I’m with you…I’m a 1940’s kind of guy myself-I favor double breasted pinstripe suites, with fedoras and loud ties.
If only I could buy a car with running boards!

17

Hijacking my own thread a little here:

I find it VERY uncomfortable to call guys way younger than me (in their 20’s for example), “son” or young ladies “young lady”.

So I don’t do it.

Regarding the zoot suit answer: I have a 45 year old trench coat that once belonged to ny dad, which I cannot WAIT to wear in the Fall.

Thanks

Q

18

“Kid” works well for both.

Look, old people sound old because the speak, dress and act like they did when they were young. You were young in the 60’s - it would be perfectly normal for you to address people as “man” or “sister”. Believe me, nobody will think you’re trying to act “young”.

19

An onion on the belt goes with everything.

20

But that was the style AT THE TIME.