for want of a bettere xpression "mutton dressed as lamb"

[headinclouds101]

Can I say I really hate that expression -connotations of women as meat. If anyone uses it in front of me I feel like slapping them.
However there is no doubt that after a certain age there are probably things you should steer clear of. Just curious to know what you wise women think are the worse possible mistakes.
Me, I can?t think of any hard and fast rules. But I?m sure there must be some. Oh guide us to that happy place between dressing too young and looking (whispers) mumsy.

Sorry - meant better expression. Sorry strange typos - not sure where all the ? in this post came from...

I would steer clear of dressing like Shirley from Eastenders!

Cropped tops are the worst.
I personally don't even like them on 18 year olds but for anyone older than 25 (and I don't care how toned and slim they are) it's just wrong.
Am happy that they went out of fashion.

Agree on the crop tops!

Is it just enough to steer clear of things clearly meant for the teen and early twenties market - or is it more complex than that? I fear there is a minefield out there..
Confidence slightly skaken by the thread "mumsy" but don't want to end up on the flipside!

I think it is more complicated.

If you are slim with a relatively youthful face, then tbh it is easier to wear all sorts of things. That is because there is not a contrast between the outfit and the person we 'expect' to see in that outfit. Like it or not, we do associate certain clothes with certain ages, that doesn't mean that only people of an exact age can wear them....it just means being aware of how well you are ageing and what works for you.

There are items of clothing that get harder to wear as you get older - short skirts/small shorts/really low tops/'directional' fashion. I think you need a good mirror and some honest friends/DP to help! (And be aware that many clothes shops have mirrors purposely designed to make you look slimmer!!)

Jeans with loads of detailing/studs - v.teenage and trying too hard.
Truly massive heels - old enough to know better, and too old for clubbing.
Acrylic fur
Tattoos on aging skin - yuk.

I agree with tattoos, also hair which is dyed a very harsh colour or has a very severe style. Just think it can be too harsh for the face.

I tend to not think of them as 'mutton dressed as lamb' because I don't particularly like young women in those clothes either. I think a tacky outfit is always going to look tacky, no matter how old you are. My previous next door neighbour was in her late forties and had an incredibly good figure despite living a very unhealthy lifestyle. Her body look like the body of a twenty year old while her face looked more than twice as old. She used to wear things like denim hotpants with shirts which she'd tied up into a bow at the bottom, to show off her stomach. I just thought it looked cheap.

Headinclouds 101 I hate that expression too - it seems to get flung around as yet another aspect of a woman's personal appearance to worry about. A lot of women equate the desire to look a bit sexy after say 28, 'muttony'. But why the hell should we shear off our sexuality and give in to a sensible beige combo with american tan tights?

Maybe it's about revealing too much flesh. The general rule of either tits or legs, not both, apply. I've got good legs but I'm in my forties so I'd wear a mini but would wear it with thick tights and flat shoes. And I'd never wear hot pants or crop tops.

I remember seeing Carol Vordeman in a very tight, short dress at a do and while she's got a fantastic figure she's not a teenager and the whole tottering heeled tight dressed combo looked tacky. But Helen Mirren is older than CV and amazingly sexy. It's not about flashing flesh.

I agree re the showing too much flesh. There's a point where you realise less is more. Not avoiding what suits you (be it short skirts, or cleavage or whatever) but regardless of your figure, there comes a point where letting it all hang out stops being a good thing. :(

Disagree though on the massive heels. If you can walk in them without looking like you're going to fall over, they're fair game!

bleached white hair, dark mahogany tan, pale pink pearly lippy

crepey décolletage on display
good pins last much longer and can be clad in opaques when the skin goes

Actually, my partner's mother is in her early 50s, incredibly stylish and never, ever looks muttony, despite being an absolute slave to fashion.

But then, she always loooks incredibly glamorous and well looked after. She also runs marathons and recently took part in a triathlon. I am in my early twenties and she is much fitter than I am. It's very intimidating! She can easily get away with a mini skirt because she has perfect legs.

Anything short and tight and shiny
leather trousers unless old worn rocker type
Over styled and coloured hair
Matching jewellery
Coloured eyeshadow

avoid jane norman - not that i have every been inside this shop but the skinny, pal,e fake fur hooded creatures i see clutching jane norman bags give me the sense i should avoid. a sort of 6th sense if you will.

Have never been in there either.I am going to go in though when next in town and have a look!

heh noddy, doesn't your berghaus have a fake fur hood! you should wear it when you go

I certainly will.Have just had a look on teh website I like a couple of things esp the fairisle cardigan

that is really nice!

If you don't like that expression, here's an alternative for you:

"Whitney dressed as Britney"

Love that one....

too much bronzer is v ageing

agree frosted lipstick is vile

anything else goes

You see I quite like a bit of mutton - I tend to think 'well at least they've made an effort and haven't given up yet'.

Its what you feel comfortable in though really - and also of course we now feel so much younger for longer. Am sure when my mother was my age (38) she would not have dreamed of wearing denim mini skirts etc which I still wear all the time.

oh gosh yy tracy, my mother now wears 'younger' clothes than when I was a teenager

part of it I'm sure is that back in the day (compounded by living in the sticks) there just weren't clothes shops carrying 'fashion' like there are today

One just bought clothes for function IYSWIM

this was back in the 70's

Of course now loads of folk will rock up and say but but but Biba, and Carnaby St etc

Not available in deepest darkest yokel land where a trip to Gloucester involved crampons, a davy lamp, synchronised watches and a map wallet