Your opinion on "age-appropriate" dressing??

[ducklite]

More important is being comfortable with yourself and your body image. After I lost weight it took me a long time to get to that point. I was a 4 and still saw myself as fat for a year or more. Be realistic about what you really look like and dress to take advantage of your body type. Don't be concerned about current trends. If you like it, think it looks good on you, and feel comfortable in it, wear it!

But it's not just body image. I have "the body" to wear this dress, but at the age of 46, I'd look ridiculous in it! (and I think anyone past their early to maybe mid-20's would as well)

However it would look adorable on my son's 18 year old girl friend.

Anne

 

[JunieJay]

But it's not just body image. I have "the body" to wear this dress, but at the age of 46, I'd look ridiculous in it! (and I think anyone past their early to maybe mid-20's would as well)

However it would look adorable on my son's 18 year old girl friend.

Anne

Gotta agree with you there. Just because it fits doesn't mean you should wear it. Which for me is a real bummer because there are so many cute fashions that come out every year that I would love to wear but I don't because its a trend designed for not just one but several generations after me.

That said, I do think there are plenty of styles to choose from at 44 and still look good. What I dread is getting a lot older, like in my 60s and 70s....OMG, the old lady clothes, even in fine department stores, its just horrid. No way am I ever wearing polyester elastic waist pants!

 

[CCIntrigue]

Sorry, but I think that particular dress would look ridiculous on anyone past the age of 10!

 

[darlak]

I read somewhere a few years ago that fat contains estrogen and that as our ovaries produce less estrogen, our body begins to store fat in the area around our ovaries. I have absolutely no idea if this is true, but I like the theory that we can't help it, since our ovaries are "fat-seeking".

 

[Buckalew11]

But it's not just body image. I have "the body" to wear this dress, but at the age of 46, I'd look ridiculous in it! (and I think anyone past their early to maybe mid-20's would as well)

However it would look adorable on my son's 18 year old girl friend.

Anne

Totally agree. I don't like the dress so I probably wouldn't like it on anyone but just because it fits does not mean one should wear it!

Kristinbelle, I PMed you!

 

[stargrazer]

Not everyone needs a dress like that to look ridiculous. They manage just fine on their own.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Not everyone needs a dress like that to look ridiculous. They manage just fine on their own.

We were over at Downtown Disney last night when a woman clearly in her late 60's was wearing 4 inch platform shoes that she could barely walk in and skin tight pants with a shirt that showed her peirced belly button.
(She was not fat but not a skinny thing either)
She had big hoopy earrings and long hair halfway down her back,.


Clearly someone having a late mid life crisis.

 

[mellowmood]

Since all I wear to work is scrubs, when I am home I like to wear jeans or capris. I like to wear the tees with the sayings. My favorite "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people". I just love that shirt.

 

[RitaZ.]

Not everyone needs a dress like that to look ridiculous. They manage just fine on their own.

I saw a young woman in her 20's at Town Center in Boca Raton... She was wearing a tube top like shirt and a mini-skirt with high heel pumps. Her tummy was showing, which protruded between the tube top and the mini-skirt. It was definitely WAY out there. Her getup was so distracting that I couldn't tell you anything else about the girl. DH was with me and he said, "What the heck was that about?"

IMO, an outfit shouldn't define who we are. We don't want our outfit to be the only thing that others remember about us.

 

[Aidensmom]

This is an issue I struggle with. While I really don't get too hung up on the impression I am making outside of work, I really don't want to look like I'm struggling to hang onto my youth either. I will be 40 in December.

I am very small, 5'1" and a size 0-2. I wear skirts right above my knee and shorts a lot, I live in Florida. I don't wear real short shorts, but I do wear them with about a 4" inseam. It is really HARD to find them in my size that aren't shorter than that! I know this sounds weird, and maybe it is a Florida thing, but I feel too dressy or matronly sometimes in shorts that are down to my knees. I also wear "skinny" jeans.

I do dress conservatively though, always have. I think one of the things that makes an outfit look too young is its tightness and skimpiness. A tight miniskirt and skintight lingerie-look camisole is a whole different look than a denim miniskirt right above the knee and a fitted knit top.

 

[Green Tea]

In your areas, do women exercise, either run or go to the gym, in sports bra-tops. The things are are bras but are shown in ads with the women in an exercise class? Would people think, "that lady is outside in her underwear!" or would they think nothing except, "that lady is outside running in 100 temps?"

 

[KirstenB]

In your areas, do women exercise, either run or go to the gym, in sports bra-tops. The things are are bras but are shown in ads with the women in an exercise class? Would people think, "that lady is outside in her underwear!" or would they think nothing except, "that lady is outside running in 100 temps?"

I used to be very into running. Every race in the summertime had dozens/hundreds of women wearing a jogbra for a top. Jogbras cover a lot of your torso, so it never seemed like we were running in our underwear. Unfortunately after 2 pregnancies (one a c section) my belly has no elasticity, so I stay covered up in t shirts when I work out now.

 

[Mkrop]

Also moms need to realize if they still have kids that need picking up not too wear things too short in the top or too low in the pants. A lady in front of me in church looked very nice in her outfit standing straight up but the minute she bent down to pick up her kid it was all hanging out in back. I think I nice tank top or camisole under this jacket could have solved her problems but she probably didnt even think about bending like that when she purchased her outfit.

 

[KirstenB]

Also moms need to realize if they still have kids that need picking up not too wear things too short in the top or too low in the pants. A lady in front of me in church looked very nice in her outfit standing straight up but the minute she bent down to pick up her kid it was all hanging out in back. I think I nice tank top or camisole under this jacket could have solved her problems but she probably didnt even think about bending like that when she purchased her outfit.

You're exactly right. I chose a high neck swimsuit this year after I realized my old top wasn't cutting it when I bent over to pick up dd2 in the baby pool at the Y!

 

[arminnie]

My other pet peeve is "old cleavage". I dont know what the cutoff should be but there comes a time when lowcut or certain v neck shirts should not be worn bc your cleavage is umm not sexy any more

I totally agree - I was in New Orleans recently,and there was a small parade down Bourbon. We were on the second floor of a building on a balcony overlooking a car with an older woman in a low cut outfit. The view from above was pretty gross.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

That said, I do think there are plenty of styles to choose from at 44 and still look good. What I dread is getting a lot older, like in my 60s and 70s....OMG, the old lady clothes, even in fine department stores, its just horrid. No way am I ever wearing polyester elastic waist pants!

I'm convinced no one of our generation will wear these--our generation's version will probably be yoga pants --so the polyester elastic-waist pants will disappear from the racks!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I'm convinced no one of our generation will wear these--our generation's version will probably be yoga pants --so the polyester elastic-waist pants will disappear from the racks!

Just yesterday my oldest daughter and I were sitting in the car, waiting for my youngest to finish up inside the orthodontist's office.

This lady - I presume in her 70's, walked in front of the car, wearing pumpkin-colored jeans, pumpkin-colored leather loafers, and a multi-colored stripped shirt, that had the same pumpkin color in it.

I wondered out loud how on Earth she managed to find something that actually went with those jeans, and my oldest told me it was through an internal homing device that all grandmothers have.

 

[arminnie]

I am 60, and it is a really big problem. My contemporaries and I grew up in the 60s wearing mini-skirts and yes even "hot pants". We do NOT want to wear elastic waist polyester pants either!

I love some of the cute dresses and skirts that are out there, but quite frankly most of them look ridiculous on a 60 year old - even one with a great body - which not too many have at 60 anyway.

Think about it - do you want to see Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi (all fairly well-preserved older women) in a little mini-sundress? Okay stop laughing at the thought.

I think that's why I see so many women my age wearing suits. My problem is that something with a jacket is just unbearable in the heat and humidity during the summer.

 

[JunieJay]

I am 60, and it is a really big problem. My contemporaries and I grew up in the 60s wearing mini-skirts and yes even "hot pants". We do NOT want to wear elastic waist polyester pants either!

I love some of the cute dresses and skirts that are out there, but quite frankly most of them look ridiculous on a 60 year old - even one with a great body - which not too many have at 60 anyway.

Think about it - do you want to see Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi (all fairly well-preserved older women) in a little mini-sundress? Okay stop laughing at the thought.

I think that's why I see so many women my age wearing suits. My problem is that something with a jacket is just unbearable in the heat and humidity during the summer.

Do you have a Chicos near you? They have a lot of nice things for women in your age bracket. Nothing too old ladyish but their clothes are not geared to young women either.

 

[arminnie]

Do you have a Chicos near you? They have a lot of nice things for women in your age bracket. Nothing too old ladyish but their clothes are not geared to young women either.

I discovered Chico's a couple of years ago. I do find somethings there - but so does everyone else my age. We all end up wearing the same clothes!

Many women my age wear St. John knits all of the time. They are too hot (wool) and too expensive ($1400 for a jacket) for me.