Is dressing in a super feminine way middle aged?

[GreyOwls]

I've just been on another thread and someone posted something really interesting.

They said that dressing in a super feminine way is very middle aged, unless that is you manage to do it in a fresh way.

Is this true?

I'm not super feminine as I'm more natural / athletic in appearance and wear jeans and trainers generally (but can glam up at night when necessary) but am interested in how others see women who dress in a super feminine way. When I hear someone say 'dressed in a feminine way' I think of someone like Michelle Moane, as opposed to say, Pink or Victoria Beckham.

I don't think loads of cleavage looks good on anyone of any age.

I think there's some truth in the femininity thing in that I would usually judge jeans and trainers as a 'young' thing to wear. But to be honest it all depends on individuals and how they style things.

I think it is more modern to look a bit more unisex. Eg out with the heels, in with the trainers etc.

AuntieStella love your link.

I think feminine would be more like how Tess Daly dresses and edgy more Claudia Winkleman.

In my early 50s so I suppose I am ‘middle aged’. I agree that if I were to wear a floral midi dress or a pink twin set and pearls- which are both ‘feminine’ outfits I would come across as looking more middle aged, or older than my age than if I wore jeans/ biker jacket for example. I dare say someone intheir 20s could get away with wearing the floral midi dress though.

I’m an hourglass and sometimes wear fitted styles but probably wouldn’t combine with cleavage and or too short
I don’t suit the 50s look despite having the right shape - I think it’s about mixing the right elements for you

Forgot to say feminine to me means a Per una look which I don’t suit at all - however I have friends of a similar age who do!
I’m more of a plain colours classic shapes dresser - throw a touch of edgy in occasionally

For example today I’m wearing a black sweater dress with cowl neck patterned black lacy tights and ankle boots
The dress shows off my figure but I don’t think it’s too frou frou, the edge is added by the tights (which 3 people asked me where they were from)
And the boots which are definitely not mum boots
The tights were from tkmaxx btw

Bloody hell I'm going to have to chuck all my florals, I am not in my 20's. But what the fuck do I wear? I'm straight up and down/apple shaped (there's a stone between those definitions) and the skater dresses suit me. Or so I thought.

I've just turned 50. My 20's were all about grunge. And I've stated fairly relaxed about dressing up.

I think it's women in their 30's to mid 40's that I view as dressing super "feminine". Dressing up is taken seriously by them and It all seems to be about heels, accessories, hair do's, nails, full face etc. Not to mention all the fakery many find appealing - tans, hair, nails etc

I agree that "wear whatever the fuck You want" is a good motto.

Also, it's ok as a 50 yo to look like a 50 yo

That has to take the biscuit as the worst ageist stereotype I've seen for quite some time. And that's without going in to definitions of femininity!
Yes indeed and there has been stiff competition lately.

Op, I wouldn't take any advice from anyone who equates being either curvy or middle aged with being unstylish (yes, I am assuming that is the subtext here). They are clearly not very observant.

“"acres of cleavage on display", and if so, yes, I think that's quite dated, and something you generally only see on older women”

Clearly you don’t know any teenage girls then. DD (17) doesn’t dress like that as she doesn’t have acres of cleavage, but most of her peers do, especially on a night out.

my mum is 70 and has never worn jeans in her life, she wears trousers occasionally but in the main dresses in a feminine way. Skirts, blouses, pearls. Lots of Jacques beer and country casuals. Classic I guess, certainly not fashionable. I don’t want to say aging as I don’t think that’s what I mean really but this look is certainly not current or fashionable. In my early forties, I wear lots of jeans trainers etc but I love a floral midi dress of which there are loads about over the last couple of seasons. I wear them
A lot. I also wear floral pencil skirts with shirts or jumpers and heels, very much of the style of holly willoughby. Very feminine but also fashionable so that particularly style of femInine is def not dated or aging.

Who cares. Dress for yourself. What you have in your wardrobe, what you fancy putting on that day, what's still on the floor from last week ! Anyway what is fashion ? For me it means what is currently on the hangers in the shop - individuality is much more interesting.

I have acres of cleavage. Always covered up to be professional for work. I want to wear a dress to go out this weekend with more cleavage on show (I’m middle aged) as it’s a nice dress.

I can’t ‘dress simply’ if what we mean is tracksuits, leisure wear of any description, or trainers as I basically look like Waynetta Slob.

I’m basically a much fatter Nigella Lawson and I can see from the horrible photos the press print of her that she has the same issues as me. Anything not fitted and she looks much rounder and older even though she’s extremely lovely looking.

Laurie, I'm the same. If I dressed like Jennifer Aniston I'd look ridiculous - same too for Zoe Ball etc. Instead of rock chic I'd look crap. I'm short with curves and 44. My options are more limited.

For work I wear a dress with boots (have ditched sky scraper heels) but work with women in 40s 50s and 60s who go full on glam.

Other times I still want to rock my classic 20s indie look. I don't really care if this looks stupid. I'd rather that that cut out shoulders and silly sheepish trends.

I view super feminine as Nigella, Kirsty Allsopp, Karen Brady, Carol Vorderman (though she has a lot of the Michelle Mones about her)
These are women in their 40s/50s. Not sure we can bring the likes as Blake Lively as comparators!

When I was in my early twenties, the fifties look was in fashion and it suited my (then slim) hourglass figure and just my whole look perfectly. I carried on wearing it for a few years after it was fashionable, then post-baby, having gone up two sizes in my twenties and turning 30, I decided I needed to refresh my style. I tried on some of the fifties-style clothes I used to love and I felt either frumpy or like I was in fancy dress.

I wonder whether if it became fashionable again and was worn by today's twenty year olds I would feel differently? I'm not normally massively swayed by fashion but "young people" and my trendier friends are wearing an androgynous grungy/sporty/nineties look with multi-coloured hair, piercings etc. In comparison, with my preference for natural looking hair and makeup, in a knee length circle skirt and cardigan I would just look really dated. I now wear much plainer, modern looking but not particularly trendy clothes and even though it's not necessarily the most flattering style for my figure, I feel younger than I do in more feminine styles at the moment.

Not sure acres of cleavage is feminine and neither is a skirt that shows your Brazilian or fishnets. If you choose to wear them, fine but for me feminine has a gentler, softer look. Thinking Darcy Bussell, the Duchesse of Cambridge and Fiona Bruce. All very polished, elegant and very feminine.
Are their dress styles ageing? Maybe for the very young but they are fairly timeless and the duchess is younger but not frumpy. Does a cheaper, more obviously ‘sexy’ look age you? It’s generally referred to as mutton, isn’t it? Linen and cashmere are feminine. Bodycon isnt.

That has to take the biscuit as the worst ageist stereotype I've seen for quite some time. And that's without going in to definitions of femininity!

I agree with @AuntyStella

I've never heard of Michelle Mones, and it's clear that "super feminine" means different things to different people.

Is being middle aged, really that bad?

I think "super feminine" would be light coloured florals and lace. Look great on teens. early 20s and could look elegant on a much older lady of a certain style but would not look good on me aged 53. I need fitted (but not too tight) and understated clothes in colours that suit and flatter me.

The majority of Kate Middleton's clothes are awful and would be equally awful if she was 65. Fucking belted twinsets like she's Bridget Jones's mum. "Feminine" perhaps but completely sexless and devoid of style. In jeans and a normal top she looks ridiculously beautiful and you could never accuse her of looking unfeminine.

I googled feminine dressing out of curiosity and got everything from flared skirts and floaty scarves to loose trousers and linen tops.

I think the thing that looks aging is not accepting that you change as time goes on. I dress in far more dresses and skirts than I did in my 20s as I can’t wear the low slung jeans and skinny tops as I did then. I don’t wear the pale lipsticks I did in my teens as my skin is much older and I’d look half dead.

Wear what suits you at your current stage- whatever that style is.