age-appropriate clothing

[davestlouis]

Something struck me the other day at work...we have a young man who is a new employee, and he always looks like he borrowed his daddy's clothes. He tries to pull off a very severe, CEO type look, and I think he isn't old and decrepit enough to make the look work. He needs graying temples to have enough gravitas...

At the other end of the spectrum, senior citizens in dungarees always make me cringe.

What clothing items do you have to be a certain age before you can make it "work"?

 

[Geesie]

The "wearing daddy's clothes" look is always from fit and attitude. If your clothes don't fit you or if you're conscious of them rather than being natural in them, you look wrong in them.

Regardless of age.

That said, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to pull off a bowler or homburg until I'm older.

 

[davestlouis]

I wouldn't have imagined wearing a hawaiian shirt or any type of wild pattern until I turned 40, now I own a few. I still can't bring myself to wear hats of any sort. I don't want to look like I'm in costume.

 

[Shangas]

Not exactly an article of clothing, but a person shouldn't use a walking-stick (either as a mobility aid or as a fashion-accessory) until they're at least in their 30s. Exceptions might be made for those below thirty with wonky legs.

 

[Talbot]

Even if it contains booze or a sabre?

 

[Burton]

I started wearing safari style clothing as a kid in the midwest who had seen nothing and had never been anywhere. Years, many travels and scars later I have refined the look which includes hats, canes and other items and think I can carry it off. I don't feel I am in costume and have confidence that I didn't deserve to have as a younger man. I hadn't earned it. Safari clothing is a bit different as it's somewhat timeless and is designed to be functional.

I don't see many younger people dressing too old but see a LOT of older folks dressing too young.

 

[Shangas]

Burton, most regrettably, my father falls into that latter category.

It is a most nauseating sight, I assure you.

I'm quite comfortable in a suit. I wish I had more than just one.

 

[Geesie]

I wouldn't have imagined wearing a hawaiian shirt or any type of wild pattern until I turned 40, now I own a few. I still can't bring myself to wear hats of any sort. I don't want to look like I'm in costume.

I started wearing aloha shirts in high school, but as I approach 30 I wear them less, since I don't want to be mistaken for "the middle aged guy in the hawaiian shirt".

 

[davestlouis]

The closer I get to 50, the more I'm BECOMING that middle aged guy in the wild shirt. My eldest son told me last night he has been going to strip clubs...now I really feel old!

Back to the subject at hand. My father is in his 70s, and wears blue jeans, which would be OK, except he wears them at his navel, which looks attrocious.

 

[1*Cool*Kitten]

age approprate clothing

lol Funny that this would be the topic I see first at log in tonight! Reason being..............I JUST BOUGHT A MUMU at Edwards AFB today!lol
However, mine is not for any other wear other than a beach cover up when I go to florida in june! or a cover from bedroom to shower & back again!
in a area where people think it's attractive or "dressed up" to wear pajama bottems with a "slept-in"tee shirt & bedroom slippers out to oooh DENNYS! :rage: I think me being a ripe old age of 53 I can feasibly wear saidn MU-MU in the privacy of my own home or not!I might throw on a gold necklace with some bangles & hoop earrings along with my strappy brown wedge sandles from last year to go to the local Starter Brothers (for the easterners:Staters is kinda like a Winn Dixie or a Krogers)

But still, I will at least "dress it up a bit" & put on under garments!holy smokes!you wouldn't believe the train wreck tragidies out here!

 

[Warbaby]

Even if it contains booze or a sabre?

Only if they are used frequently.

 

[Tomasso]

I still can't bring myself to wear hats of any sort.

WTH!

 

[Foofoogal]

http://fashionvoice.blogspot.com/2007/03/muumuu-musings.html

kudos to Mrs. Roper. 1*Cool*Kitten

Designed it says to let it all "air" out. lol

 

[LaMedicine]

A somewhat similar theme albeit the other way around from the OP.
Do ladies really have to dress old & frumpy after a certain age...?
Started by PADDY, even lol

 

[Lillemor]

The "wearing daddy's clothes" look is always from fit and attitude. If your clothes don't fit you or if you're conscious of them rather than being natural in them, you look wrong in them.

Regardless of age.

That said, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to pull off a bowler or homburg until I'm older.

I agree. One odd thing I remember about a short 36 hrs. stay in London was a younger man in a very neat brown suit who was running next to a middle aged man in a very neat grey suit. The younger one looked like he was in costume because the suit didn't fit like it was his (or some retailer had poorly adviced him) and the way he looked up to the middle aged man the whole time I was walking behind them, he just didn't look confident enough for the look.

Don't get me started on all the seniors in jogging suits in none sporty settings or 60+ who thinks that wearing the same styles as their grandchildren makes them look trendy. I hope they're just trying to achieve a trendy look because they don't fool anyone or at least not me into perceiving them as younger.

My mother's 63 and some women her age dress like their granddaughters, others the way their mothers dressed at that age. I think my mother has finally find the right balance with casual classics and lux-boheme elements. It's a very soft, informal, yet elegant look.

My dad's 66 and wears dockers, slacks, and polo shirts most of the time which I think taking into consideration that he lives in the SJ valley, NorCal and is retired and does outdoorsy stuff most of the time, is a very appropriate look. In photos I've seen of him in shorts, it's the longer kind that reaches to about the knees but I always remember him changing out of shorts and in to long pants when going in to town, even to the grocery store. Of course he insists on wearing black socks with sandals and he even did that in the snow in December here in Denmark when he visited me and just a windbreaker over his polo t-shirt, sooo.....

 

[kamikat]

Regarding seniors in jeans: remember that we're getting to the point where hippies are now seniors. My parents are now seniors and I've never seen them wear anything besides jeans on the weekends, even as a little child. The only exception to jeans on the weekends was when mom wore long, maxi, granny dresses. You can't expect hippies, who have given up the suit because it represents "The Man" to suddenly dress better just because they're older. I'm not saying it's an excuse, but rather that is were the "seniors in jeans" came from.

 

[JimWagner]

It kind of cracks me up to see all the anti bluejeans posts all over this forum. This from people who are in a 40's time warp

But, back to age appropriateness.

I can see where a young person might come off as an Alex P. Keaton in a suit, especially if it doesn't fit right, the haircut is all wrong for the look and the posture says slouch. It does take a certain amount of dignity to look good in a suit and for most it is acquired over time. Everyone starts somewhere, though.

Kids in the 13-16 age group are trying out different fashions for the first time and are trying hard to get away from the clothing that Mommy and Daddy picked out for them earlier. This often leads to some very bizarre (to an adult's eyes) combinations of colors and mismatched articles. Or too large clothing defying gravity.

To me it's when someone over the age of about 22 is still looking like a 14 year old that they are truly dressing age inappropriate. I can't even imagine why someone would do that. Surely they neither want to remain 14 years old or believe that someone would possibly mistake them for 14 years old.

As far as 60+ senior citizens go, and I'm one, there may be a few who think they are hiding their age by dressing like they are 25, but unless we are all struck suddenly blind it doesn't work. Some may actually be in denial of their age as they realize they have lost the perceived invulnerability of youth.

Most have just reached the stage of their lives where comfort and utility is more important than fashion. Especially after retirement when you no longer have to dress for a job nor have a ton of money to spend on clothing. Or particularly care what someone half your age still in the rat race thinks about what you are wearing.

Come to think of it, can't say that I care what anyone else is wearing now. Except for the amusement.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

It kind of cracks me up to see all the anti bluejeans posts all over this forum. This from people who are in a 40's time warp


Come to think of it, can't say that I care what anyone else is wearing now.

Yep ... I say live and let live.....[huh]

 

[Spitfire]

I find it much more "mature" if young people try to look older - and dress "older" - than mid-aged adpeople (And I work among them) trying to look forever young in baggypants and hoodsweaters.:eusa_doh:
Who are they kidding?[huh]

 

[davestlouis]

tomasso, sorry about the non-hat-wearing thing...I have an enormous head(wide enough that I have trouble getting eyeglasses that don't dig into the side of my head) and I'm afraid that a hat will just make me look like a cartoon character with a giant melon. That, and the giant head would force me into custom headgear...a normal baseball hat just perches on my head like a beanie, not a good look, and I would have to imagine that normal size dress hats would do the same thing.