Under 20? your opinion on over 30s/40s fashion

Mrs. Delany

Just mulling something over here. I'm in my late 30s and have just been chatting with a friend about how, particularly as teens and early 20s, we used to be uber critical of how "older" women dressed. Just wondering, what do the under 20s (ish) think looks really wrong on women over 30/40/50? Or is this even a consideration for you?

phasers

I would never really go out of my way to criticize women, but I have noticed that a lot of women in their 40s and up are sort of in no man's land when it comes to fashion. A lot of them dress either like teenagers or like grannies!

Léan

Yeah i'd be similar to Phasers, I wouldn't go out of my way to criticize. But one thing that drives me mad and i'l never understand is why the majority of women 40+ cut their hair short in that horrible Irish mammy haircut?! WHY? It's horrible and very few women can actually pull it off.

window_licker

Léan wrote: »

Yeah i'd be similar to Phasers, I wouldn't go out of my way to criticize. But one thing that drives me mad and i'l never understand is why the majority of women 40+ cut their hair short in that horrible Irish mammy haircut?! WHY? It's horrible and very few women can actually pull it off.

+1

Novella

I am twenty and I honestly have never really thought about how older women in general dress. What other people wear doesn't bother me; if they're happy, that's great.

My mam is slightly older than in her thirties, (I won't reveal her age on the interwebzz ), but I see her as very stylish. She knows how to dress for her shape and I think that's all any of us can do at the end of the day.

simu

When I was a teenager, I just did not care about this... why would anyone?

Jesus Wept

Léan wrote: »

Yeah i'd be similar to Phasers, I wouldn't go out of my way to criticize. But one thing that drives me mad and i'l never understand is why the majority of women 40+ cut their hair short in that horrible Irish mammy haircut?! WHY? It's horrible and very few women can actually pull it off.

Because they don't give a sh1t anymore and have given up trying to.

simu

^^^
I'd imagine that those same women dressed badly when they were younger too tbh.

Jesus Wept

I'd bet most had longer hair when they were younger though.
Longer hair takes more maintenance.
They don't care about their appearance enough to bother, it's a peril of marriage.

Konata

I think a lot of women in their 30s/40s/50s etc. look very stylish. Dressing for your shape and knowing what suits you goes along way in looking well.

I don't like it when women dress 'younger' than their age. That's not saying that each age period is confined to certain clothing, but most women in their 40s don't look good in a teeny tiny mini-skirt and even if they do, it comes across as being uncomfortable in one's self - desperate to be young rather than aging gracefully and beautifully. So being comfortable and confident in what you're wearing is essential for all ages!

Stella777

What exactly does the Irish Mammy haircut that everyone keeps mentioning look like?

Faith

I believe it's similar to this:

Dudess

If something looks good on you, wear it. Who gives a sh1t what age you are? Plenty of women in their 40s and 50s have great legs/overall figures... the idea that they shouldn't wear something because others think it doesn't suit their age is just ludicrous. Maybe the younger people who have a problem with it (and really, what a strange thing to have a problem with) should wait and see how they feel when they reach their 40s/50s?

And e.g. a teeny-tiny leopard-print, cleavage-exposing dress looks OTT on a woman of any age.

I hate this assumption that a middle-aged woman wearing a short skirt (which looks good on her) is "clinging to her youth", "unable to grow old gracefully" etc. Maybe she's just wearing it because she likes to?

I think it's a lot worse for a middle-aged (or younger) woman with a great figure, to cover up in dowdy, frumpy clothes because she's afraid others might think she looks like mutton dressed as lamb (horrible phrase by the way).

stovelid

A lot of people under 20 have such a surfeit of judgemental anger, it's hard to contain the overspill to people of their own age so the whole population gets it.