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Kathryn, I know you can pull off capris! I've seen your picture, and you're also tall and thin. I wanna look like you when I'm 50! I'm talking about the boxy-shaped 50-plus women who are 5'5" or shorter and wear capris.
The chico's model in those pictures is thin, youthful-looking and fashionable. But I think the necklaces would look like overkill for the "typical" 50s and 60s woman.
Ummm....there's a reason for the stretch waistband---like another poster mentioned--
You reach a point where your waist is bigger than your hips. If you buy zip up pants that are big enough for your gut, your pant legs are flapping in the breeze! the only way I can avoid looking like I'm dressed in a tent is by using the elastic waist pants!
But why do they make them in such garish colors---grannies in lemon-yellow, orange-orange, we're not a bunch of fruit loops!
Oh, but I think I look might keen in my holiday sweater with the kittens and puppies! Hey, isn't that the thing---along with elastic waist pants, velcro shoes, tortise shell glasses...and don't forget the cat-dangle earrings!
This thread makes me wish… Well, almost wish… But I was going to be around about 40 years from now. Thankfully, at my age (ah, that dirty word) another 20 years might even be a stretch. But if I could outlast the probability it would be kind of fun to look at today's 20-30-somethings when they are in their 60s and 70s. With all the comments they made about "old ladies," primarily related to their styles and attire, I can just see them now. Not only will they likely be clad in today's clothing, or at least nothing more recent than 20 years, but their bodies will have changed, their tattoos stretched and faded and many will not gracefully accept the alterations which for most of us are inevitable. I think it's called get-back!
And a lot higher percentage of them will be morbidly obese too. Don't leave that out! Those muffin tops they're already sporting are going to balloon up - they have no idea what they're in for!
My father has always been a very stylish dresser and is a very good looking man - always has been. He is now 74 and can still put on the dog and look like a million bucks. But a few years ago he called me and said, "Hey, listen to what I just wore to the store," and proceeded to tell me about some shorts, a Willie Nelson t shirt, gray socks and some sort of loafers - I mean, the man KNEW it looked bad! I was cracking up laughing, even trying to imagine him in this getup -with his scrawny white legs which are now hairless.
He told me, "Well, it's hot and I was out working in the yard and needed something. And it suddenly occurred to me that ask myself why I was considering changing when I need to come right back and finish the job - and I realized that most of the time, I'm dressing to impress OTHERS. I realized that I don't give a DAMN what anyone else thinks about my clothes. I'll go out in public in anything that's comfortable to me and if someone wants to call me an old man, well what do I care? I AM an old man!"
I think I love you. =) Wonderful post, Padgett2! I had no idea you were in your 80s!
Great insight on the matter at hand!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Padgett2
I hope that this post comes back to haunt a lot of you when you age.
I'm in my 80s and I wear all those clothes from years ago because Social Security goes only so far and those old out-dated clothes in my closet are paid for. The shoes are the ones that fit regardless of how swollen my feet are or how achy from arthritis my toes are.
The hair will stay gray because I also have seen how ridiculous some of those dye jobs turn out with the wrinkles and such.
Those slacks and jeans fit badly because no one makes pants that are larger in the waist than they are around the butt. Mother Nature will see to it than your belly gets bigger. She's a b****.
And those terrible looking LOUD shirts? you can almost bet than they were cheap gifts from kin. For some reason, they think we like loud colors. We wear them because we have them and we don't want to hurt someone's feelings by using them for dust rags.
Seriously, I saw a display of "stylish" clothes for the elderly on the Internet. They gave me a laugh. I think the elderly models had been recruited from a local dementia ward. The "Style" was dreadful. Loud. Tons of scarfs, etc. and enough doo-dads and gee-gaw accessories to sink a battleship. I suspect that those that lived their lives trying to be the height of fashion would think it was a great show.
KathrynAragon - I agree with you on Chico's & I've got half a dozen years on ya! It really is all in how you wear it.
TracySam - I mostly agree with you. Where we part company is on animal prints - I think a touch of one can look classic (think scarf, bag, shoes). Ditto on metallics. I hate to say it, but I do agree on capri's - just wish I didn't have to lol! I can't imagine anyone would disagree on your comment on magenta eyeshadow!
Kathryn, I know you can pull off capris! I've seen your picture, and you're also tall and thin. I wanna look like you when I'm 50! I'm talking about the boxy-shaped 50-plus women who are 5'5" or shorter and wear capris.
The chico's model in those pictures is thin, youthful-looking and fashionable. But I think the necklaces would look like overkill for the "typical" 50s and 60s woman.
LOL thanks!
As for the necklaces though - here's my thought on them:
I have always loved vintage jewelry and jewelry in general. I was into brooches and pearls and all manner of fun bling (not the cheap stuff - good stuff) when I was 20 - and 30 - and 40 - and now 50. I won't STOP wearing all that fun just because I'm fifty now! I have earrings and brooches and even necklaces that date back to the turn of the twentieth century. My husband has even hinted that he's buying me a civil war era brooch for Christmas. Of course, I wear these on my lapel, not at the neck - even I have to admit that look is pretty dated!
I just bought the COOLEST shoe clips from the 1930s that look almost identical to the top middle photo in this collage (all of stuff I LOVE, by the way!). Actually, the ones I bought are better looking than these because they are classic Art Deco. WOOHOOO!
People have always complimented me profusely on my accessories, which have always included vintage scarves, pins, even hats (which few women wear very often). I guess the fact that I'm tall DOES help a lot.
But my point is really this - is there something wrong with looking like a fifty year old woman? Or a sixty year old, or seventy, or eighty? What's shameful about that? I think it's a LOT worse for an older woman to try to look twenty years younger. It's pathetic actually.
It's just about as bad as some young woman wearing what WE used to call "hip huggers" (low rise jeans) and apparently not realizing that her muffin top is, well, gross. Ladies, if you have an OUNCE of fat around your middle (and most do) this style is not for you.
When hip huggers were in style in the 1970s, we didn't have an obesity epidemic, so in general the style was more becoming. With all the bellies going on these days with younger women, it's not a good fashion trend.
Maybe it's just here in the Northeast, where some mature women like to wear their animal prints with lots of bling-bling jewelry, or combine their animal prints with metallics and shimmer. Or they like to wear several animal printed items all at once. Hint: a zebra striped shirt does not call for zebra striped shoes and a zebra striped bag.
....I love old ladies and gentlemen. I don't care what they are wearing or doing. Spending time with them and seeing things through their eyes is an absolute marvelous thing to do. Nothing I like more than their stories of yesteryear...
As for the necklaces though - here's my thought on them:
I have always loved vintage jewelry and jewelry in general. I was into brooches and pearls and all manner of fun bling (not the cheap stuff - good stuff) when I was 20 - and 30 - and 40 - and now 50. I won't STOP wearing all that fun just because I'm fifty now!
People have always complimented me profusely on my accessories, which have always included scarves, pins, even hats (which few women wear very often). I guess the fact that I'm tall DOES help a lot. But my point is really this - is there something wrong with looking like a fifty year old woman? Or a sixty year old, or seventy, or eighty?
What's shameful about that? I think it's a LOT worse for an older woman to try to look twenty years younger. It's pathetic actually.
Cool vintage jewelry and good pieces like your describe can look really good. But to just buy costume pieces from Chico's (like in the 2 bottom Chico's pics) or any other clothing store, just to wrap 6 or 7 around one's neck just doesn't say "class" to me.
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