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.
I probably should mention that I am a guy, for those who don’t know.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I honestly didn’t know you were a guy. Sorry!
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.
All I can think of are nonogerian women who still insist on dressing like flappers. Eccentric, probably senile in a cute sort of way.
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.
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).
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 …
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 
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.
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.
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. 
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.
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.