Aging and what makes women look older than they are

[DontMentionChorizo]

Uhmmm.. I have been exercising and eating better lately, which has considerably improved my skin and this got me thinking about things that make you look older than you are.

BTW I am 37 so no spring chicken meself . I would say for me these stand out:

Being overweight
Dressing frumpily
Smoking
Having loooong unkept hair

What do you think? and on the other hand what makes women look younger?

Lighthearted thread, btw

Riven, no I will stick with the bucket, could paint different faces on each day. Save a fortune on hair dye and make up, not to mention wasted hours when I should be eating breakfast and could be drinking coffee and smoking ciggies.

I think it's better not to follow current fashions too ridgidly. Although that is better than dressing head to foot in clothes from another era.

We have a lady at DS's school who is clearly fixated with the 80's. She has faithfully recreated the whole look! leg warmers, poodle perm, blue eyelashes its very scarey. She was in her twenties when I was still at school, to give you all a better idea of how strange she looks.(and I'm old)

I think it's a good idea to reappraise when you get older and to realise that the bits of you that were your good/best points that you highlighted when you were younger might no longer be so.

I wear much shorter skirts and dresses than I did when I was younger, but always with opaques and high heels. I think my legs are one of my (relatively) better features at 44, whereas when I was 25 I was more likely to cover up my legs and wear a teeny-tiny backless top (which I no longer do).

See I do notice what seems to age people but I would never judge them for it. I don't choose my friends because of how old or young they are or appear to be.

And you are right OrmRenewed smiling takes years off people. Nothing more aging than a miserable person (man or woman)

I also think that the current high-fashion Rock Chick look is really, really difficult to combine with grey hair/wrinkles.

I agree that you have to reapraise as you get older, your right Bonsoir. For me it was my legs, I had fab legs, now I have skinny legs, my father laughed at them just the other day and said he'd seen better dangling over the side of a birds nest. (he is senile though and wears lots of grey cardigans)so should be ignored.

I have had a fringe cut into my hair, just as pavlov says it seems to make quite a difference.

mini legwarmers are coming back into fashion actually, the 80's in general seem to be so the lady at school will soon be back in fashion!

Coming back? Coming back? When did they leave?! You mean I have been slightly out of fashion in my puff ball skirt, string vest and leg warmers! Damn

god i had a puff ball skirt when I was like 10!

riven i kid you not. My friend has just bought some she is 34. She got them purely because she gets cold in the winter though, of course

I still love ckone and I have a friend who loves Eternity. A while ago we met up and asked each other, what's that scent it's lovely? and then we were laughing at each other for our 90s scents. Equivalent of my aunts wearing a bee-hive in 1977 I think. (but very handsome they looked I think),.

Being married to a younger, or younger looking man. Everyone thinks DH is younger than me, he is 5 years older!!!!!!!

So what SHOULD you wear if you are, oh lets just hypothetically say, a slimmish 46 year old with a face like a dropped pie?

Are you allowed to wear jeans? Or is this too muttony?

< waits eagerly for advice >

I haven't seen anyone in illuminous socks yet. I used to wear one yellow and one pink with my Frankie T-shirt and puffball skirt.

Actually I think in retrospect, all you lovely people on here have made me realise I might be improving as I get older.

I went through the whole goth thing (art school has that effect) Black eyes, red lips, a huge crucifix that I sourced from a catholic shop in Brighton, round my neck and purple stripey tights. So yeh, I think I might be getting better as I age.

i had purple leg warmers last winter - i am ahead of trend

There's a gaping chasm on this thread between people who think 50 is old and those of us who have arrived in that region!

I am not wrinkly! I do not have grey hair! I do not dress in lilac anoraks...

But I also remember thinking 50 was impossibly geriatric when I was in my 30s...

I remember starting work at 23 and saying to a 33 year old they were um 'old'

I just tell everyone I am 60 and they tell me how wonderful I look for my age - I am fifty next week.

Somebody I used to work with wrote 'congratulations, that's a good innings' on a 60th birthday card. Poor man!

Any age can present a youthful vibe I thinkk.

Mind you, I think I had better go and the the unkempt shaggy dog hairdo sorted...

How old is old, maybe we should have a consensus.

I think I shall hang up my mini skirts and sequins when I am, say....75, When will you start shopping by mail order out of the Daily Mail or adopt the, these trousers don't need ironing and anorak look?

Oh I have just thought of something I think is very ageing. Very pink blusher and too much face powder.

mini no luminous socks, bu have seen luminous laces on trainers. I was like this .

I also used to wear one pink and one yellow luminous sock! and also did goth/grunge, wore kneehigh dms and purple/black/red/white/purple thigh high socks, black make up the lot!

Ok, wish I hadn't opened and read this thread now.

I am 40, overweight - but not huge, am crap at buying clothes so live in jeans and tops, have dark hair, with a fair bit of grey (although it is currently confined to the underside of the back of my head) and I have to wear flat shoes.

I would dearly love to do something with my hair, but can't afford to have it done and dyed/lighted once, let alone all the regular upkeep that would be required. I never wear it down, because it has no style (all one length other than my fringe) and that means my grey hairs are on on display for all the world to judge see.

I have no confidence in my looks or what I should wear (probably due to being acutely aware of the opinions such as the ones on here about what I 'should' or 'shouldn't be wearing).

I can rarely afford to buy clothes - new clothes for me have to be cheap or even my Mum's cast-offs (although to be fair she does have very good taste and her clothes are generally bnwt and really good quality - no beige or cardigans).

Finally, I am having to stick to flat shoes for 12 months while I recover from an ankle injury and currently can't get my bad foot into anything other than an old pair of dune boots (and we are talking 3 months since the injury here).

Shall I just give up and put a paper bag over my head?

I find myself standing in the playground at pick-up time worrying about what I look like and if my kids will get teased because their mum looks like a granny.

old is about 25 years old than whatever age I happen to be!

Katisha

I had to smile at your post. I am a young looking 51 year old. My daughter is only 10 so people always assume I am younger anyway. Most of my friends are younger than me - in their 30s and 40s, so other people think I am the same age.

I think it isn't fashion, but style that ages a person. If I wore all the latest fashions I would look ridiculous, so I wear what suits me. I am slim and wear jeans most of the time. My next door neighbour is one of the most stylish people I know and she looks fabulous in jeans - she is in her late 60s. My hero is Gok Wan, I just want to take him shopping with me.