Hi dears!!! Today we’ll talk about a very new-fangled topic i.e. what 10 things women after the age of 40 should not wear.
Black leather pants or jackets should be circumvented after the age of forty.
Jackets that are of mid-thigh length should be avoided.
Creased trousers should be evaded.
Fluorescent colors should also be shunned.
3/4th length trousers should not be worn.
Low rise jeans.
Plunge V necklines should not be worn.
Mini skirts should be avoided.
Wearing bikinis means violating this ninth rule.
Wearing sleeveless clothes may reveal your skin aging.
I am 54 years old and I love to wear sexy and revealing clothes plus black leather. Those rules are as antiquated as the Roman Catholic church. Older women look younger today due to more liberal attitudes. Old is in the attitude. Older women looked dowdy in the 1940s-1960s. Older women no longer have to dress dowdy. We are sexual beings.
whoever wrote this must have been very young not only in age but in mentality. They have no clue as to how older woman feel. At 57 we need color and a little style maybe even a lot of style. I agree that swim suites and tiny short skirts and perhaps leather pants should be items that should no longer be an active part of our attire. However, there is nothing wrong with a mid thigh long jacket if worn with the correct pants – nor an elegant dress that allow us to show that we are still sexy and feel good about who we are..
I believe you need to re-evaluate your colum as it is clearly beyond antiquated or perhaps never really existed. After all, you are aware we are still amoung the living and taking center stage in our lives — why should we not dress the part.
I agree that leather pants, mini skirts, low rise jeans and plunge V should be out. Not too sure about fluorescent colors either. But sleeveless – I mean, what’s wrong with wearing sleeveless clothes, I am 42 years old and shun the plunge necklines and mini skirts, but the only luxury I allow myself if wearing sleeveless tops and jeans. I don’t see anything wrong with us ‘older’ women wearing mid thigh jackets either.
I am 45 and I have leather pants, low rise jeans, and plunging V necks. Nothing wrong with a little cleavage unless your boobs are shot. It’s about body type and whether your face is youthful enough to “sell” the clothes you’re wearing. I’m a slender size 8 with a lineless face and I wear whatever I feel comfortable wearing with less thought about my age, and an awarness of what suits me as an individual. I can’t wear a mini with my cellulite pocked thighs, but I wear the hell out of a pencil skirt and some capris.
If you have great legs and your knees aren’t wrinkled or sagging go ahead and wear a miniskirt over 40. It’s Okay no matter what Tim Gunn says. Of course you’re not going to wear the mini in the same way a 20 year old would! You will class it up. Sleeveless tops, if when you stop waving and your upper arms don’t you might want to skip sleeveless. But if you’re relatively firm – you don’t have to be perfect – go ahead. A good role model for over 40 dressing is the first lady, btw. Check out her look when she’s just hanging out with Sasha and Malia.
The problem with these rules is that they are using age instead of body type. We can all agree that just because you’re a certain age doesn’t mean you have the same body issues as someone else of the same age. We’re individuals.
women over 40 can wear what ever they want, i’v seen many womenin in there 40’s who just look stunning, if you have why not show it off, and at the end of the day it’s up to them to make up there mind what they want to wearday or night.
The thing is it’s not how old you are but what your body is like. I wear low rise jeans, but not low Britney Spears rise. Low rise is good if you don’t have a lot of belly fat and a muffin top. Do all older women have the same body type? No. So how in the world would these “rules” apply according to age? It’s a stereotype. Like people have been saying it’s about you and not your age.
How about the young woman who are over weight wearing low rise jeans? I guess that will be ok.
You guys don’t get it do you? Yes, fat young girls get the green light to wear low rise jeans, mini skirts, whatever. Precisely because they are young. The implication is those types of styles are made for young women. That’s why you’ll hear the fashionistas say “just because you look good in the miniskirt doesn’t mean you should wear it”
Seems to me if you look good in it you should wear it! But somehow that advice doesn’t apply if you’re over a certain age. Why? Because older women, according to society are not supposed to be sexy! They are supposed to be beyond the age of such trivial concerns. Secondly, men on the whole don’t desire the older women as much as the younger ones, so by decorating yourself you are being foolish. Who wants you?! Thirdly, the very idea of a sexy, sensual older woman is anathema to young people. It grosses them out. You are mutton dressing as lamb. It’s embarrassing. You should accept your age, move aside, and let the young ones have the spotlight.
So, I hope you see that the rules and “age-appropriate” dressing has nothing to do with an older woman looking good or better than younger women in certain styles. It has to do with societal attitudes toward older women and older women’s sexuality. That’s what it’s REALLY about! And that’s why it’s okay for pudgy youngsters to run around in clothes you may actually look better in.
You will “get it” in a few years when you ….GASP age! We ALL age! I will feel sorry for you when you’re old.
I want to know why we can not wear capri pants if over forty. My legs look better than most of the teenagers I have seen lately.
i love capris they are sexier than short shorts. Look great dressed with heels or casually with little sandals. I also continue to wear sleevless and mid thigh jackets. I’m 45 fit and still funky and young at heart. Don’t get me wrong i dress stylishly and not as though i’m still in my 20’s… but hey give us a break what do you want us to do, start wearing crimpolene and have a blue rinse. Boo to your fashion suggestions i say.
Being older can free us from the bonds of having to be in style and fashionable. We don’t have to care anymore what everybody else thinks of us. Wear the colors you prefer, the fabrics that feel good, and the styles that make you happy… but most important, be confident and enjoy life. And be glad not to have to fuss over keeping up with the latest trends unless you happen to like them.
I wish I new how to copy and paste, because I sure would copy and paste my photos of me in a tiny bikini and I am 51 soon to be 52 on Thanksgiving 2009.
People are blown over when I tell them my age. I have no wrinkles on my face and don’t wear any makeup but a little color on my lips. I don’t have any sagging, drooping or cottage cheese because I have always taken care of myself. I exercise, bellydance, ice skate and rollerblade with my 11 year old son.
I’m not skinny and have no desire to be. I’m a very curvy, hourglass size 10 and I eat.
My mother is 72 and even though she ruined her health with smoking, she also looks very good for her age. So I suppose my youthfulness has to do with genes. And my dad looks good for 73 also.
I don’t give a damn what any one says. If I feel comfortable wearing something that is considered not age appropiate, I will. Why waste my youthful looks on some dowdy matriarch moo moo.
The majority of people compliment me with the exception of a few jealous women my age who only wish they could Rock a Bikini like I still can. ;-p
I’m one of the jealous ones! You keep on rockin’ it until the wheels fall off. : )
I plan to!!
To anyone out there shunning the fact that the over 40 crowd can still turn heads, I feel sorry for you! I am 44 and repeatedly get mistaken for being in my 30’s and on occasion still get ID’d for a drink! There are more women than I care to state who are younger than me that wear holiday sweaters, sweatpants and horrible haircuts who wouldn’t know fashion if it came up and bit them, so I say, to each his own! If you’ve got it, flaunt it!
You go Gayle. I’m 49 years old and still can rock a bikini and wear low rise jeans too. I also take care of my skin and have no wrinkles on my face.I have three children and two grand kids. Alot of women our age let their body go to pot and just look awful and look their age and they do tend to get jealous of other women that are their age and look better. Alot of women just don’t age well as others. I see alot of women my age and even younger that don’t look good at all. I excercise and take care of myself also. It’s all in the genes.
OK, I don’t get the mid length coat being off limits, or black leather. What if you’re over 40 but weight less than 120, are taller than average and very fit? What could I wear then?
I understand women over 40 should not wear mini skirts but low rise jeans what are we meant to wear?
I know may women over 40 who look good in all the above. Who ever wrote this nonsense when you get to 40 you will realise what a load of rubbish this is.
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If you are fit and 20, 30, 40, 0r 50 then wear it! I am 51 and wear most of my blouses without sleeves because I take very good care of my arms and have no giggle, no dimples, and look to the first lady for fashion trends for women my age. I thank her for helping those of us who are fit and beautiful in mid-life from living the cover it all up prescription suggested by out of shape women who need to cover up. My husband told me yeaterday that my body was in much better shape then most women in their 30;s and 40’s and he is 42!
I am 40. For the most part, I agree with the “don’ts”. And I am amazed by the people who defended wearing these clothes by calling some younger women fat. I think its great to have a good self image, but class and maturity have nothing to do with how many wrinkles or how hot your body is. I saw my 2 nieces become visibly embarrassed when their mom (49) showed up at a school function with a jean mini and low cut shirt. People know your chronological age, and I’ve heard more than once, “that women should dress appropriately for her age”. Looking sexy and attractive are not dependent on revealing clothes. Just because I feel this way does not mean I wear sweatpants and look frumpy.
Finally, there are clothing that don’t work for the young, the overweight and lots of other differences. I don’t think the list implied that if you are under 40 anything goes.
How much of those clothes are revealing? And how much are they revealing? A sleeveless shirt? A bikini? Personally, I don’t think any woman of any age she wear clothes in public that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. But that’s not what these rules are referencing. Leather pants? Capris?
If you have the body and attitude for such items why not wear them? Sure, don’t go to the PTA meeting in your jean skirt mini. That’s common sense. But what about a casual weekend out with the girls or at the beach? Sure, don’t wear the racy leather pants and cleavage revealing V-neck to work, but what’s wrong with anniversary dinner out with hubby? Or happy hour with the girls? A mature woman knows when, where, and if she can sport her bikini. Of course there will always be the clueless.
Just because you’re past a certain age doesn’t automatically mean you have to hang up your va-va-woom. More and more women are not just allowing themselves to age out of looking attractive. Those are the women these rules are aimed at. You don’t automatically turn into a troll at 40 or 50. But if you don’t do the upkeep it can happen quicker than it would if you were 20 or 30.