# Stop wearing 'youthful' clothes just b/c you're older, or b/c your body changes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292 "2004-03-14T21:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/21 "2004-03-15T11:48:52Z")
> [@Shoshana](#): > > I was describing an outfit to my student as part of a case vignette. When I got to the fact that the person was wearing Levi’s, they rolled their eyes and said, " Oh, that’s so 80’s!" I guess that’s right, though. It seems that 1990 was just about the time when normal-fit Levi’s went out the window for college and high-school guys. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/22 "2004-03-15T11:59:45Z")
I probably should mention that I am a guy, for those who don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/23 "2004-03-15T12:06:22Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > Quote from \*\*Spectre of PithecanthropusCould \*\* the mom you saw pull it off, or was she overweight? > > . I only brought up weight because most people, I think, tend to get heavier as they get older, and I think it’s one of the driving factors, i.e., as someone gets heavier. It’s not so much a question of how big you are now, but how you change as you age. ---
**Author:** ![zephyrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/35a633/32.png) [@zephyrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyrine)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/24 "2004-03-15T12:44:57Z")
My 16 year old daughter and I have clothes that we share, and clothes that the other would never dream of wearing. As she grows taller than me, I quite often inherit her jeans. My T shirts aren’t as tight andskimpy as hers, but if I had a beautiful flat brown tummy I don’t know if age would deter me from showing it off. I don’t think my style of dressing is going to change much over the next twenty years or so, to tell the truth: the main difference is that I’ve decided that I’m too old to do very short skirts any more. I guess tight jeans will be the next thing to go, but I’m not ready for that yet. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/25 "2004-03-15T13:25:34Z")
Scribbles, you should write an advice column. You’re good. But you left out one thing; most ‘stylish’ clothing made for young women is really poorly made. Which I guess is fine if you want to wear whatever is hot for that one season. Once one realizes what colors and styles really suit one’s body and personality, one is willing to shell out three times as much money for something that will last ten times as long. Spectre, I respect you, but at 46 you can’t wear jeans to work anymore, unless you are a tradesman. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/26 "2004-03-15T13:36:55Z")
> [@j66](#): > > Spectre, I respect you, but at 46 you can’t wear jeans to work anymore, unless you are a tradesman. But that’s exactly what many of us do–black jeans during the week, and then blue ones on Friday. Of course, this is in a large IT department, in Southern California, so our standards are pretty lax, probably, compared to what you’re used to. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/27 "2004-03-15T13:41:31Z")
> [@bump](#): > > To weigh in here with a man’s opinion about his own gender… > > I think there’s a certain point (late '20s, early 30’s) where men have to stop dressing and having hair cuts like a college kid, or else they’ll be considered somewhat ridiculous in the US adult world. > . But that doesn’t mean we have to dress like our dads, or, god forbid, like the male half of the “Prilosec” couple on those commercials. ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/28 "2004-03-15T13:52:11Z")
I honestly didn’t know you were a guy. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/29 "2004-03-15T13:54:01Z")
I’d like to think that when I’m in my 70s I’ll still be walking around in the summer in a pair of shorts and a tank top. I won’t be showing off my legs for the benefit of the other 70-somethings, and I won’t be displaying my arms for the benefit of Old John the Town Drunk - I’ll be showing them off because it’s COOLER. I understand we’re not talking about clothes as utility, but as decoration. But at the same time…if I think I look hot when I’m 70, I’ll dress like I’m hot. Maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe people will think I look repulsive. Considering what my attitudes are already, I’m pretty sure I won’t care. I’ll probably giggle. “Heh…there’s a kid who’ll have stories to tell his buds…'I saw an OLD LADY wearing the STUPIDEST CLOTHES! It’s like she thought she was YOUNG and still allowed to wear ANYTHING!” Imagine that. **Allowed** to wear anything I wanted. You’d almost think I was a grown-up. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/30 "2004-03-15T14:08:57Z")
All I can think of are nonogerian women who still insist on dressing like flappers. Eccentric, probably senile in a cute sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/31 "2004-03-15T14:30:09Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > But that’s exactly what many of us do–black jeans during the week, and then blue ones on Friday. Of course, this is in a large IT department, in Southern California, so our standards are pretty lax, probably, compared to what you’re used to. I wonder why you would think that? Well, you dress for your job and its culture, of course, not for me. I just think that grown-up professionals should dress like grown-up professionals; not a wool suit and tie necessarily, but non-wrinkled (I don’t even go as far as ironed) non denim non flannel clothes. At least cotton slacks and a matching button down shirt. But of course, every work-place has its own culture. And nothing is more detrimental to productivity than a dress code in most office jobs. But of course, I am in the one non-trade profession I can think of to which jeans are appropriate, even recommended. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/32 "2004-03-15T14:32:47Z")
Ya know, lately I’m back to my mid-20s weight, so I could wear what I wore in 1986, physically speaking. Like the OP, when just hanging out at home or going to the corner shop to get milk and eggs, or to Home Depot to get light fixtures, I still wear jeans and sneakers (or more likely, boat shoes) and T-shirts or pullovers. Now, the jeans and t-shirts and pullovers are now nicer and better quality than those worn then. I guess I’m lucky I was a conservative, even slightly nerdy, dresser even as a young man. As to the thread-title question, yes, some fashions only good look on certain body types and no longer “work” if you gain/lose much weight or gravity drags things down. OTOH, if you can pull it off physically, then the decision is whether in the current context it’ll look out of place regardless of age (e.g. 1980s hair). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/33 "2004-03-15T14:42:11Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I wonder why you would think that? Because I think standards of dress in L.A. and environs are more casual than just about anywhere else in the country, if not the world. This is partly due, I think, to the fact that it’s too warm, for most of the year, to comfortably wear a suit and tie. Point is, people do wear jeans to work around these parts. > [@](#): > > Well, you dress for your job and its culture, of course, not for me. > > I just think that grown-up professionals should dress like grown-up professionals; not a wool suit and tie necessarily, but non-wrinkled (I don’t even go as far as ironed) non denim non flannel clothes. At least cotton slacks and a matching button down shirt. > > But of course, every work-place has its own culture. And nothing is more detrimental to productivity than a dress code in most office jobs. I actually disagree with you on this one. I think dress codes have a place, but they should be liberally construed. We do have one at my office, but as long as you conform to the spirit, if not necessarily the letter of it. Broadly speaking, the dress code is “business casual”. Which seems to translate to: Just dress neatly. OTOH, really nitpicky codes are bad for morale, so I agree with you to that extent. > [@](#): > > But of course, I am in the one non-trade profession I can think of to which jeans are appropriate, even recommended. You must tell us more about this. So you think that all adult professionals should “dress like adults”–except for you and your colleagues. What is this one profession of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/34 "2004-03-15T14:57:09Z")
I’m in mid-20s, and I dress much more conservatively now than I did in college. I look younger than I am, so it’s especially important for me to project a professional image. Because I have a limited clothing budget, I’m much more likely to buy work clothes that I can wear 5 days a week as opposed to fun clothes that I can only wear on the weekends. My struggle is finding clothing that makes me look professional, but not 80 years old. Can a 40 year old woman be just as sexy as a 20 year old? Absolutely. But the clothing that looks sexy on a 40 year old is very different from clothing that looks sexy on a younger woman. A woman wearing clothing “too young” for her, e.g., mid-riff baring top, low-rise jeans, only accentuates her age. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **lookninjas!** > > _Is anyone else bothered by women who overdose on clothing featuring cartoon characters? Especially Winnie the Pooh? I don’t know why I don’t like it, but I just don’t. No idea why._ It bugs me, too. I know it’s petty of me, but I have a very difficult time taking seriously anyone over the age of 12 who wears clothes with cartoon characters on them. Ditto for hairbows. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/35 "2004-03-15T15:22:33Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Because I think standards of dress in L.A. and environs are more casual than just about anywhere else in the country, if not the world. This is partly due, I think, to the fact that it’s too warm, for most of the year, to comfortably wear a suit and tie. Point is, people do wear jeans to work around these parts. I’ve alway heard that, but when I lived in L.A., I noticed a lot a really sharp dressers, and panty-hose or ties. We seem to agree on dress-codes in general, although in my profession (I forgot to mention) strict dress codes are essential. They also should always disallow skirts, ties, a lot a synthetic materials, high-heels, most jewlery, and, in some cases, perfume and cosmetics, as well as sandals, shorts, and short-sleeved or belly-shirts (open to negotiation). I love my work. > [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > You must tell us more about this. So you think that all adult professionals should “dress like adults”–except for you and your colleagues. What is this one profession of which you speak? I’m a lab rat. Lots of nasty chemicals, and jeans really offer the best protection. Lab coats are sufficient protection 99% of the time, but who wants to be in that 1% exception? Oh, I forgot in the list above; no tight-fitting clothes, either. If you get splashed with something really nasty you have to be able to get out of the clothes _fast_. I do wear better clothes for meeting, for visitors, that kind of thing. When I have a job … ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/36 "2004-03-15T15:49:39Z")
I just turned 39, but I’m in the best shape of my life, and it’s been hard won. I don’t think I’m ready to hit the knee length shorts and skirts just yet, not when I’ve only had one lousy summer of looking kick-ass in them. I’m just not ready to let go. I don’t wear belly shirts and subject the world at large to my C-section scar, so you’ll have to indulge me on the legs 😃 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/37 "2004-03-15T16:01:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Spectre, I respect you, but at 46 you can’t wear jeans to work anymore, unless you are a tradesman. > [@](#): > > But of course, I am in the one non-trade profession I can think of to which jeans are appropriate, even recommended. Im curious J66, where do you live? And what profession are you in(If you don’t mind me asking)? Jeans are pretty much the standard where I live (Colorado). I’m in IT, and we can pretty much wear anything we want as long as its clean. I work for the Gov. And It’s pretty much the same for every department (about 400 employees). In fact, the only time I’ve seen people ‘dress up’ would be the X-mas party. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/38 "2004-03-15T16:24:58Z")
Somewhat related sidenote comment: I was at an EBM/Industrial concert last night (meaning very goth- all black and leather and chains), and I noticed that more than half of the extremly got-up women there were over thirty. Most of them looked pretty good, but it occurred to me that I felt there was something dissonant about a forty-year-old wearing fishnets and vinyl. I know it might be closeminded and smug of me, but I agree with other posters that that kind of rebellious clothing belongs to an age group still seeking to define itself, rather than to adults. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/39 "2004-03-15T16:36:40Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > And Scribble, your post was beautifully written, so I will second what you said. > [@j66](#): > > Scribbles, you should write an advice column. You’re good. Why, thank you. Your words of appreciation are very gratifying. But if you’d like to _really_ make me feel all warm and fuzzy, you could send me a token of your esteem through Paypal. 😉 > [@](#): > > But you left out one thing; most ‘stylish’ clothing made for young women is really poorly made. Which I guess is fine if you want to wear whatever is hot for that one season. Yeah, I did leave that out, didn’t I. Too many clothing manufacturers assume that we’re fickle, spendthrift creatures who aren’t going to wear anything for more than 6 months. If you’re going to buy new duds all the time, what would be the point of making any article of clothing to last? I live in men’s jeans, T-shirts, and sweatshirts. They’re cheap, I know exactly what’s going to fit when I go shopping for jeans, and they’re never so out of style that they’d be embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292/40 "2004-03-15T16:55:22Z")
It’s official; IT is a trade. If I had more time, I would really run with this. Let it suffice to say, that you all fix very important and useful things, and that you are grossly under-appreciated. (BTW, I think very highly of trades people.) Actually, IT people could show up for work in their pajamas WITH teddy-bears in most places and no one would care; most people are perfectly happy treating their computers as some weird kind of magic, so the IT wizards are kind of untouchable. Scribbles, as you get older your body might kinda _shift_ a bit; Calvin Klein actually makes some pretty good women’s jeans. And you should branch out, little sister; try some flannel shirts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-wearing-youthful-clothes-just-b-c-youre-older-or-b-c-your-body-changes/234292.md?page=3)