A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.
—Coco Chanel
I did a lot of research on today’s topic. And, by research, I mean I asked all my friends and put this question out to the social media universe. The internet knows all, don’t you know?
“What shouldn’t women wear after a certain age?”
I had no idea women had such strong opinions on this topic. Aren’t men supposed to be the ones looking at what we are wearing?
Who am I trying to kid, every woman checks out other women—hair, shoes, nails, purse. You name it, we are looking at it and we may just be jealous as hell (or not!).
The Real Housewives of Miami's Cristy Rice flaunts it in an itty-bitty mini dress
The census of my “What is age-appropriate fashion?” poll seems to have concluded that while you’re in your 20s you can wear just about anything. So long as the venue and your attire are appropriate for each other, meaning you should not wear track pants with “Juicy” writen on your derrière to a job interview. Unless said job requires words being written on said derrière.
It is not so cut and dry moving into your 3os. It seems that 35 is the magic number. If only I had only known this when I was 34 I would have grocery shopped in my bikini! After 35, word on the runway is no more: mini skirts, tube tops, lycra, neon, hot pants, bra less, belly shirts, anything from your daughters closet, T-Shirts with sayings on them, leggings, ripped jeans and generally anything you can’t bend over in. I FIRMLY agree with all of these. HOWEVER, I am guilty here, I love my “Saying’ed” T-shirts and I do have slightly ripped jeans. Although, in my defense, that is merely because I hate shopping for new jeans (this is right up there with my hatred of shopping for bathing suits).
When I researched fashion over 40m the question “Stuck in a rut?” was a repeat offender. Why, if we are over 40, do we have to be stuck in a rut? By the by, I am over 40 and I am no where near a rut. In this age bracket you read a lot about things like how “your body is changing” and how the right bag or shoe can help this. Umm… I am not sure if you know who Courtney Love is, but she falls in this age category and there is not a bag nor a shoe on the planet to help this fashion hawt mess. I don’t care how faboosh it is, if your outfit isn’t working, adding a good bag or fab shoe is like putting lipstick on a pig.
Overall, with any age there are a few guidelines: never dress too young, never too baggy, and trendy doesn’t mean pretty. Just because you can wear the latest trend, doesn’t mean you should.
This quote I received from my ever-so-extensive research just about sums it up:
“I think a good policy is.. If you were there for the premier you have to sit out for the rerun!” —Laureen R.
CHEERS!
I personally feel a woman of any age should never have anything written on her behind.
Thoughts? Do you break the rules? Do you care about said fashion rules?
Dee Brun is the award-winning author of Libations of Life: A Girl’s Guide to Life One Cocktail at a Time, a cocktail chef and stylist, TV personality, home entertaining guru, writer, humorist, wife, mother of 4, TV Junkie, shoe-aholic, and borderline George Clooney stalker. Read her column, Isn’t it Deelightful, every Friday on Slice.ca.
