Am I too old for a parka?

[Lambzig]

My tedious search for a winter coat continues (I expect I will find the perfect one in April). Having thought I look a bit of a knob in a parka, I tried on the Barbour winter force wax one and it really suits me (not too long, not too fluffy etc).

DH, not exactly a style guru, thinks I will look a bit MDL and that they are for teens and twentysomethings and those of us in their mid forties should stay clear.

Am I too old for a parka?

I think the clue lies in the phrase

" DH , not exactly a style guru"

Of course it is entirely your fault for consulting him. Learn from this mistake .

I didn't exactly consult DH, I said that I was buying a really nice parka I had tried on and he made his comment about it coming with a whiff of mint sauce on me.

Now I have lost 1.5 stone, I no longer think I will look fat, but do fear the MDL thing.

How can you be too old for a parka? They are warm, dry, practical and cover up all the body parts that are deemed offensive by the youthnazis. I can't wait to find out.

I have that coat and I am 40. It is quite a utalitarian coat so definitely not MDL!

I am 43 and wear a parka, a ted baker one at that, I must be mdl!

I've got an oasis one, which I love, but I have been glared at by teenage girls in parkas. A wax Barbour one would have been better I think.

49 and last year bought a down hooded coat with a fur trimmed hood from Tk maxx, which has been mistaken for a parka.But it is toasty and I love it!

Parkas, as I recall, first became a Thing in boho dressing around 2000(?) So it's quite possible your DH just hasn't updated his thinking on the appropriate age group since then.

In fact, I feel a bit ancient in mine, if there's one coat I rarely see the under-20s wearing, it's a parka.

Mscnile, are you me? I too am 43 and wear a Ted Baker parka!

Maybe some styles and colours may be considered more for da yewth innit but on the whole I think parkas are ageless.

My DH helped me choose mine.

I think parkas look wicked on 'older' ladies (no idea how old you are, but who cares?). You'll look great.

I bought a lovely blue parka from M&S Autograph. It comes in aubergine too. I think it might just be the perfect parka! And no, you aren't too old!

Definitely NOT too old! Parkas can look stylish on any age

I am 49 and wear an arctic parka and look cool as fuck...so ner

If they are seeking them in M&s autograph then they can't possibly be fashionable . So you are quite safe

Selling them

I buy clothes because they look nice - not judging where they come from:)

I love a good parka and think they suit people of all ages. Saw an older woman, 70ish, wearing one and she looked amazing.

I had a parka with furry hood in the 70s
A blazer in the 80s
A biker jacket in the 90s

I bought a parka last week, I still wear a biker jacket though I've yet to hark back to a blazer (came close with a YSL tuxedo jacket though)

I'm 42 and have just bought a lovely navy Vero Moda parka from Asos (£35!) and I don't look a knob in it! So pleased to have finally found my perfect parka.

I'm 54 with a Top Shop parka with a detachable furry lining. Gone past caring if I'm mutton or not..

I love a parka but at 47 I'm scared of looking a bit Feargal Sharkey in it.
Maybe the colour is the main key. Black or navy rather than olive?

Madbuslady, laughed out loud at the idea that DH would have been aware of the boho look in 2000. That man hasn't bought a garment for himself since 1999 (yes I know "wife work", but it's to my advantage, trust me). He just has a bit of a thing about unladylike clothing.

Thank you for the views, I have ordered it and will wear it with the other things that DH thinks are MDL such as skinny jeans, my All Saints ankle boots and stripy jumpers.

DH gave me a parka for Christmas, and I'm 47 next month.

It's olive too! But it has a satin finish to it, and isn't distressed-looking (from Zara).

I think the pitfall for the 40-something parka-wearer is wearing something too distressed/crumpled/studenty.

(see also ripped jeans).

How can you be too old for a parka? A practical, waterproof coat.
They first became popular not in 2000 but in the sixties when mods wore them on their scooters as opposed to rockers like my DH who wore leather biker jackets & rode big beast motorbikes.

Parkas are ageless.