Or, is the whole “50 year old women wearing clothing designed for teenagers” thing a recent development, or has it been around for a lot longer than I recall?
I’ve noticed over the past few years an increase in the number of women in their 40s and 50s wearing the same clothes that places like Supre sell to 14-18yos, and I’m wondering if it’s a recent trend, or if it’s been going on for longer (say, since the '60s).
I’m not about to tell people what they should and shouldn’t wear, but it’s a rather, shall we say, obvious trend…
There are degrees of “youthful” clothing. I won’t wear certain things, but I still look pretty good in a not-too-mini mini-skirt, so I definitely wear them.
The problem is, there aren’t too many designers who design for the midrange women. The money is in the “under-40” and teen fashions. The other money is in large-sized clothing. When you still have your figure at 50, you don’t want to cover it up in dowdy clothing but you don’t want to be traipsing around in a belly shirt, either. It’s a delicate balance.
That’s a joke. It illustrates the point that some people blame everything on some political party. The actual use of Republicans in this specific context is appropriate to the current leadership of the government of the United States, though the concept of jokingly blaming the President, Queen or Prime Minister is (more or less) universal, with the possible exception of the few square feet directly in front of your computer. I’d also like to point out that once one has to explain a joke, it becomes even less funny, and since that joke didn’t start out all that funny to begin with, the overall funnyness for my posts thus far this morning can be expressed as a negative integer.
It can be really hard to find age-appropriate clothes in your thirties and forties. If I had a dime for every time I walked into a department store looking for a dress and thought “I’d like something that falls somewhere *between * junior prom and mother-of-the-bride, thanks.”
I guess I don’t understand this statement. I’m a very conservative dresser. The clothing I wear is not dowdy, but would be perfectly appropriate on any age. (My grandmother, mother and I often trade clothes, in fact.) It covers what should be covered and while has a bit of style, is not ultra-fashionable. I can almost always find suitable, conservative, yet moderately-stylish clothing for any occasion.
There’s a lot to be said for going with one’s strong suit (pardon the pun).
If you’re 50 and still have the legs… show them off (tastefully). Nice shoulders and arms because you stay in shape? Wear a halter. Good midriff and sexy hips and bust? Wear flattering fitted clothes.
I don’t think many 40 and 50 year olds can pull off Abercrombie & Finch but some can. Just don’t make that your full wardrobe and dress according to the venue/occasion.
Then again, most people fall into categories of being either a helpless fashion victim or hopeless fashion luddite. A personal sense of style and ability to dress to accentuate and flatter your best features requires a bit of effort and personal interest in that arena.
I’ve bitched about this before. All the women’s clothing I can find is either appropriate for nineteen year olds or ninety year olds. Unfortunately, I’m 35.
I’m still as small as I ever was, but I don’t want to expose my belly or my butt crack, or have sequins or words on all my clothing. I’m not about to put on the double-knit polyester elastic waistband slacks either. Fuck that. If it weren’t for Goodwill, I’d be running around nekkid.
It is tough, particularly if you don’t want to spend a ton on your clothes (the more upscale you go, the easier it is to find well-made clothes that fit). The retailers have been slow to address this issue and is part of the reason Chico’s (shudder, I personally think Chico’s looks matronly) is so popular with middle-aged set: no one else has been designing for the mature woman. The Gap has a new chain called Towne&Forth which attempts to cater to this group but reviews are mixed.
Now that I’m over 35 and have finally accepted that my days of shopping at Hot Topic are over, I wind up having to do a lot of mixing and mathcing from places like J.Crew, The Gap, Banana Republic, etc. And that’s for work clothes, I’m still having trouble figuring out what to wear casually as a fairly hip, single, not surburban 38 year old that doesn’t look like I’m trying to look 20.
I’m a size 12 or 14, so that’s not the problem. I suppose it could be that our definition of dowdy differs. I’m *not * a conservative dresser in terms of style, though I am in terms of coverage. Where are you shopping?
Like tremorviolet, I have no desire to dress like a twenty year old, but that doesn’t mean that I’m ready for double knit, either. I usually manage to find what I need, but I work harder for it than I think I should have to. I mean, come on! 30 - 50 year old women seems like a dream market to me. We’ve got the desire, we’ve got the money, and I’m not dressing like Maude, dammit!
Words on the BUTT, especially. When I see someone wearing pants with a word emblazoned on the backside, I point it out to the kids: “Hey, that girl’s butt is a princess!”
Just about everywhere. I hate buying clothes, because I’d rather spend that money on books, so most of my clothing purchases come off of clearance racks. I shop at department stores, little boutiques, Wal-Mart, etc-- anywhere I spot a good deal.
Right now, I’m wearing a pair of bell-bottomed jeans from American Eagle and a purple faux twin set* blouse. I don’t wear shorts, ever. I have pants to match almost all of my blouses-- kakhi cargo pants which are great for work because of all the pockets, black loose-leg slacks that have tiny, cute pockets in the front, etc.
For shirts, I have some of the new “vintage” look peasant-blouses, regular pull-overs in various colors, and chennile sweaters. I don’t have anything with sparkles, though. (It may be in style, but I think sequins look stupid.) None of my blouses show my belly, or are cut lower than three inches below my collarbone. None of my clothes are baggy, but I prefer a loose fit for comfort. I prefer darker colors and earth tones because I look best in them, but I have a lot of clothes in bright colors, too.
“Dowdy” to me, means baggy, dreary, noticibly out-of-style, like a faded muumuu or one of those gawd-awful, boxy “power-suits” from the 1980s.
*The ones which look like two shirts, but are actually just one.
I’m 48 and I try to dress so that I feel good. Some clothing marketed to younger women looks great on me - some others don’t. I’ve developed an eye for what’s the most flattering for me based on my height and weight, and I pretty much wear what I like. I don’t care if some people think an outfit is too young for me. I pretty much live to please myself these days. (I find myself saying this to myself: You are tall, you are slim, you are graceful - works for me - I’m feeling especially cute today!)
I don’t wear midriff-baring shirts since I don’t like the look of my stretchmarks. That’s the only reason.
I’d say it applies to men too, being substantially guilty of this behavior myself. OK, well, I don’t dress like a teenager, but I’m definitely not spending my leisure time in Dockers and golf shirts either.
But to answer this question, I think it mainly came out the late 1960s and 1970s, when jeans became popular as adult wear. I’d say the focal point is jeans, since they are the defining article of youth fashion.
