Do you have (clothes related) 'if only I were 20 years younger' moments . . .

[Sadik]

Mine's just been set off by this t-shirt. (Though when I was young enough to have worn it, I couldn't have afforded it )
I'm trying to convince myself I could get away with this one. DH is tactfully sitting on me . . .

I don't want to wear the current crop tops because I don't like the shape.

The mid-2010s crops tops are different to the late-1990s crop tops.

The bit of skin on show is above the belly button and below the bra.

In the 90s the visible bit of skin was centred on the bellybutton.

Christina Aguilera being a great example.

I prefer the 90s shape. But of course I would, I was taught to like it while I was at a more impressionable age.

Whats wrong with bardot tops? I was planning on trying on a few. I didn't think there was an age association witih them.

I was thinking of those '90s crop-tops, Trills.

Come to think of it, the current 2010s crops are probably more wearable to the less-than-perfectly-toned if worn with high-waisted bottoms. But they wouldn't be what I thought of with "crop tops" - showing my age!

Oh yes, oh yes. DD got me to try on the most amazing confection of velvet and lace in a gothy shop in Glastonbury. 17yo me would have saved up for it for months. 36yo me no longer has the legs for anything that's wider than it is long.

Oh all the time - and I love the t-shirts, as would my DD1 who is 14.

We went holiday shopping on Sunday, just the two of us and there was so much that I thought 'I used to wear that' or 'I wish I could wear that'. It was quite depressing for met really.

It's sad that so many of us didn't have the confidence to wear what we wanted then and pine for it now. DD1 doesn't have a huge amount of confidence but I'm trying to encourage her to try new clothes.

I do for a moment then I cure it with...

www.advanced.style/
www.instagram.com/baddiewinkle/?hl=en
vintagevixon.blogspot.co.uk/ -this lady closer to me in age than the above.

And I'm like hell, I'll buy it anyway. "Fuck your ageing standards, society".

More wearable if you think they look nice. I don't. So it doesn't matter whether they are more forgiving of a less-toned belly. I don't like them.

...I bought some high waisted 'mum jeans' and some 50s high waisted tops, when I wear them with crops there's like a 2cm flash of skin, no one can see my ruined tummy. Works fine.

Sorry to drip feed. The unicorn one is epic and I might even buy it myself.

I don't see the problem with bardot tops either. Shoulders and collar bone normally stand up to age pretty well. Plus they hide upper arms - what's not to like?

I wish I'd worn teeny tiny skirts every day but I don't want to any more because I know there's no way I can get them to suit me. That T though - I bet you could play around with it and make it look grown up and cool e.g with trousers and a smart jacket. Just get it if you like it - we're all going to be dead soon.

Agree 'mutton' is vile. Don't understand why women talk about each other like that. 'It doesn't suit me any more,' is perfectly adequate.

"It doesn't suit me any more" is a good one

"That was never nice, we were just young and foolish" is useful too.

Yes, all the time. I'm 48 now and relatively slim but I wish I'd worn some lovely things when I was 24, size 8 and lovely even though I had no confidence and used to cover up most of the time because arse of a boyfriend always told me I was 'on the big side' and 'the biggest I'd go out with to be honest.' fucker. I was as tall as him and he had a complex.

I gaze at Bardot tops too and think they look lovely but on me they'd be all kinds of wrong - too 'innocent' looking for my mature appearance and they'd highlight my broad shoulders too. Still ...

I also look longingly at playsuits and mini-dresses.

I see things like this on Pinterest all the time and wish I was 20 again!

I had washboard abs and a belly button piercing but never showed them off. < demure >

Trills though in the 90s a lot of crop tops were so high that if you lifted your arms the bottom of your bra could be seen. So they included the current area of focus and the belly button.

I prefer the 90s type too, however I am still to my shame building up my confidence with my wrinkly tiger-stripe tummy after losing baby weight too fast due to thyroid and BF! Then I will unleash the 90s child within... until then it's the high waist 10s/retro styles for me.

I think I have the opposite problem to some of you. I used to wear totally ridiculous things when I was in my late teens/early 20s (not daft but fashionable, just daft), but I'm not quite sure it's such a great idea at 46. It's not really 'mutton', more 'commonsense filter intruding'.

Mind you, I have even more 'if only' moments about the clothes that I gave away (Katharine Hamnett parachute silk combat dungarees - insanely too big, but I wore them endlessly anyway - given to someone 6" taller . . . velvet 50s handmade dress with fur trim given away in a mad vegetarian moment . . . even worse given to a girl who then dumped my best friend ).

And I'm like hell, I'll buy it anyway. "Fuck your ageing standards, society".
This.

I love seeing people wearing things that are different to the 'norm'. It's only a piece of fabric and if it makes YOU happy then who cares.

Love this poem:
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me,
And I shall spend my pension
on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals,
and say we've no money for butter.

And fully intend to never stop wearing whatever I want in the first place :-)

there is a great video of a bunch of older women in new york who really are fashion icons, they wear such outrageous clothes its great, I got a real boost watching it and decided then and there that I would wear whatever I liked. I know I have a few things that are very young styles and I expect some people judge but I really don't care. If I like it I wear it.

trailer here I started watching a bit incredulous at some of the whacky outfits but by the end of the DVD I was like 'respect'

Stepaway I follow a couple of them on instagram too, love the whole ethos of the film.

The idea of growing old gracefully is loaded with sexism too. Men are allowed to continue to be 'them' (e.g. ageing rock stars) but women aren't.

The only context I want a blue rinse in is if this pastel goth fashion comes back when I'm grey!

I covered myself up and wore very gender neutral clothes to hide behind. I just wish to have my confidence now, but my body then. It's when I pick up a top, and it will only cover one breast.

I feel like that all the time, particularly when I see short skirts. I'm a 44 year old chartered accountant so it would be a bit unseemly.

However, I wore the hell out of that stuff when I was younger so I don't feel too deprived.

Fuck unseemly, if I was 44 and still had the legs I would absolutely be wearing short skirts.

I used to wear black sweatshirts, leggings and army boots 24/7 when I was younger; now at 42 I'm happy to wear little dresses and sparkly heels. But not all the time.

FWIW, I don't think the unicorn t-shirt is particularly age-specific. But it's not that nice. The other one is nice though - go for it!

I am way more stylish than i ever was in my twenties. I do look at stuff and sometimes i think i am too old for it but its not that often. I suppose some of the stuff that is for younger women doesn't appeal to me now. Unless its short or revealing, i don't think about age when i buy it.

Oh I was WAY more stylish in my 20s. Had time and head space to think about clothes and (though I didn't know or appreciate it then) could carry off basically anything. I don't mean I would wear any of it again now, but I looked awesome then.

Never been a stunning beauty but I was genuinely 'stylish' in the sense of I knew what was current and fashionable because I read all the mags, went out constantly and looked at what other people wore.. but I also wanted to do my own thing with clothes so I did and really enjoyed being a bit different as well.

Now I suppose I have my own 'style' which is about being quick and easy to get dressed and I have a safe comfort zone within which I know what kind of works on my body/colouring (which MN has helped me think about- thank you SBers) and I only very occasionally try new things/styles when I feel I need to update a bit. I'm definitely not 'stylish' in any way now that my 20s self would recognise, I just try to keep not so far outside what is current that I look oddly old fashioned.