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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be put off wearing clothes if I know women >60 years old are wearing the same items too?

57 replies

ilikeyoursleeves · 08/09/2009 22:12

Ok I am probably being very ageist but I just got my second ever Boden purchase this morning and decided it nearly all looks worse in RL than it does in the catalogue. There are 2 things I'd like to keep but when I looked at the reviews of them on the website I have been put off keeping one of the tops because some reviewers who love & wear it are pensioners! I just feel weird and old now! (I am 'only' 33). I also don't like to shop in shops that older ladies are in like Wallis and the likes, I like some of their stuff but AIBU to be put off, am I the only one who feels like this? Maybe I am in denial of growing older myself...

No offence to anyone who is >60 or shops in Wallis!

....should I keep the top?

OP posts:
random · 09/09/2009 20:14

I'm 50 ...never have and never will wear Boden

southeastastra · 09/09/2009 20:24

oh no i got you this for your birthday random.

random · 09/09/2009 21:12

LOl thanks Sea ...Thats a school run hat if ever I saw one

Pikelit · 10/09/2009 01:20

Lawks! I'm another old baggage who clearly hasn't grasped the facts of crinkly life. Starting by knowing that I should immediately order a lifetime supply of hideous striped tops from Boden and parsnip shaped trousers from M&S.

(Oddly enough, I've passed for almost normal outside too...)

deaddei · 10/09/2009 09:12

Never heard Wallis described as for us more mature ladies...I would say its target audience is women in 30's.
Anyway, as I am 49 I shall go and pull on my elasticated trews and fleece with pictures of sheep on it- just hope I don't smell of wee.

preggersplayspop · 10/09/2009 09:18

I have a boden cardie (I am mid thirties) and the lady across the road (a grandmother) has the same one. I don't care though, she is stylish and looks lovely. My boden cardie is admittedly not the most 'edgy' piece in my wardrobe, but I have a mix of fashionable/comfortable/sedate outfits. The boden cardie definitely comes in the sedate category.

That jumper is not good though....

seeker · 10/09/2009 11:02

I am over 50, so have no more right to walk on God's green earth than a weasel.

LissyGlitter · 10/09/2009 11:10

I am 24 and a good proportion of my clothes are hand-me-downs from my mum (admittedly only in her 40's), my MIL (60-odd) and my nana (80). A lot of the rest probably originally belonged to older people as I buy them second hand. People often comment on how unique and interesting my clothes are, so I am quite proud of my "granny clothes!"

I probably don't wear them in the same way as the original owners, but isn't that the point of clothes anyway? (apart from obviously keeping you warm and not showing your bits!)

fircone · 10/09/2009 11:11

I am over 40, but I don't want to look 60. So when I see a reasonable top etc in M&S, have my hand on it, and then see Glenda parading in front of Barry and Barry saying "Very nice, dear" I throw the garment down and flee. Probably if I saw Honor Blackman (over 80) in something I was considering buying, I would be proud to look 100th as stylish, but I don't aspire to dress like your average pensioner thank you.

I was talking with dh's teenage niece. She was listing "old people shops". No, not Bon Marche or Country Casuals, but White Stuff and Fat Face. Apparently (well, I could have guessed as much) the hunting grounds of "sad mums" according to a 15-year-old.

EyeballsintheSky · 10/09/2009 11:16

I generally don't give a toss how old people are or where they buy their clothes but I did have to grit my teeth when DH's 96yo grandmother asked me if I wanted a top she had been given that wasn't her colour It really was a little old lady top with embroidery round the neck.

I gave it to my mum

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 10/09/2009 11:18

Wouldn't bother me actually my mum is 60 this year and in the recent past has bought some fantastic clothes that I have pinched never to be returned borrowed.

MoonTheLoon · 10/09/2009 11:20

Please stop slagging per una, I quite like it and I'm under 40 (ok, just). I never buy ANYTHING from catalogues, I have to be able to look at it properly, feel it and try it on before I buy.

Good clue though is if it looks crap on a model it certainly wont look better on me

PlumpRumpSoggyBaps · 10/09/2009 11:37

I don't see what's wrong with the jumper, actually.

It's got that lovely handy pocket pouch thingy. You can put your hanky in there, your specs AND a spare TenaLady.

What more could you need?

Just make sure you wear a vest under it though.

flowerybeanbag · 10/09/2009 11:38

I never set foot in Marks and Spencer, because if I were to buy anything in there, the chances are either my MIL would have already purchased it, or she would see me in it, like it, and go out and get herself one.

llareggub · 10/09/2009 11:41

Well, I have that jumper in navy and I like it. So there.

ScaredOfCows · 10/09/2009 12:14

Love the 'parsnip shaped trousers' comment!

seeker · 10/09/2009 13:04

To go with the cornish pasty shaped shoes!

curiositykilled · 10/09/2009 13:10

Pensioners buy all the expensive clothes because they are normally the main group that can actually afford them. Younger people are normally more driven to buy cheaper clothes. I'm not sure I'd be bothered knowing my 80 year old gran and I (25) had the same jumper if I liked it. So, yes, YABU and ageist if this is the reason you dislike the jumper.

NorkilyChallenged · 10/09/2009 13:11

In theory, it doesn't matter of course.

But I did feel a bit odd as I was elbowed out of the way by two women in their 70s eager to get a closer look at the dress on the rail that I had just picked up with an aim to buying....

On the plus side, they were commenting on how versatile it would be, you could wear it right through autumn into winter and just change the little jacket as it got cooler.

andirobobo · 10/09/2009 13:15

Oh I laughed when I saw this title - I bought a tshirt from Asda - grey with a foil pattern on the front for the summer - and was devastated when I saw an 'older woman' wearing it when we went on our holidays! She was at leat 60!! I have never really felt the same about that top since! Very silly, but even so - at least I want wearing it at the same time!!

Carrotfly · 10/09/2009 13:15

I have to be honest and add YANBU.

I have had the same thoughts and quite often if I'm debating over buying something think ... would so and so wear this. If the answer is yes I invariably dont buy it.

Shallow and ageist. Perhaps.

Lucifera · 10/09/2009 13:29

So happy to see all that Political Correctness nonsense hasn't stopped us deriding old people yet!

bodeniites · 10/09/2009 13:32

YABU have to laugh at this thread here is a reality check to a 15 year old girl ( the real trendsetters ) at 33 YOU are ancient they probably would keel over if they thought they were dressing the same as you

BalloonSlayer · 10/09/2009 13:33

Bloody hell ilikeyoursleeves even my DH wouldn't have bought me that jumper!

For my birthday he bought me a top in ear-infection green, with applique on it and a high round neck. He asked the sales assistant: "It's not too old-ladyish is it?" as he knows I worry. Unsurprisingly she said "Oooh no! Not at all."

Luckily he wasn't too upset when I tactfully suggested the sales assistant had lied. I pointed out the top was by "Betty Jackson" - when did someone called Betty ever design anything for people under seventy? And it had her initials on it, which is another reason why it's going back.

MorrisZapp · 10/09/2009 13:36

I have that jumper in the green striped version, and I love it!

I don't get what is old about it tbh - I've never seen an old person wearing one, but with jumpers it's a bit hard to say which are for old folks and which are for use 30-something youngsters!

Surely what old people wear (going by my gran and her pals) are things like v neck cardigans in lavender, with polyester blouses underneath, scone shoes, brown nylons and beige carcoats?

If in fact some older people wear Boden etc then fair play to them. There's a lady in my office who wears absolutely superb clothes and she's in her late 60's. I dream of dressing as well as her.

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