What age is Seasalt aimed at?

[ChampagneWorries]

I went shopping for a coat today and the lady is my local boutique was trying to convince me that most school mums wear Seasalt coats and Seasalt is great for my needs (warm, stylish, waterproof).

She seemed abit put out when I mentioned I felt Seasalt were too old for me and I felt their target market is late 40s plus.

What age would you say Seasalt is aimed at?

I agree with @CrispyCold. I don’t want to wear the same clothes as my mil (who always looks well turned out btw). I think they’d make me look older than my years. Likewise I also do not want to wear the clothes I was wearing at 19. I wouldn’t expect the teenagers I teach to want to dress like me. I don’t take offence at that at all. They’re 25 years younger than me. Just like I don’t want to dress the same as someone 25+ years older than me.

Absolutely agree with @nordica this is all aimed at women isn't it

@AmanitaRubescens

I wonder what people mean when they say their style is edgy

Has someone said “edgy”? I just knew that word would appear on here at some point (along with “sexy”, natch)

I’d also like to see some examples of what someone with a self professed edgy style would wear during a downpour, or walking the kids to school in the suburbs, or going sightseeing in a UK town, or walking the dog - that kind or normal, everyday activity.

And we wonder why women are judged on their appearance - because it ain’t men doing the judging.

I always think edgy means non-pleasing, non-flattering, deliberately-unsexy, all in a cool FU-way

You'd have to have an edgy dog to match your edgy dogwalking clothes though, @SirChenjins - I've got a golden retriever so he'd be cramping my style all the time, the bastard.

@NotresDames

The perpetually offended on this thread are laughable!

Frumpy is a valid word. It's not ageist. It refers to style- or rather lack of it.

In real life I have never met a single person who would take offence at an outfit being called 'frumpy'. Yet on MN, WW3 breaks out at the mention of the very word.

I think if you can't cope with reading the word frumpy, and get all in a tizzy over it, you don't read the S&B posts.

I wasn't the first or only poster to use it BTW! It crops up in around 50% of the comments here.

On another note, if you want a waterproof jacket, look at some of the outdoor suppliers, like HellyHansen, North Face, even Rab etc.

I wasn't offended at the word frumpy. I was offended at your blatant ageism.

@PuppyMonkey 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Not wild about Sea Salt or similar brands like White Stuff and Joules. All a bit too much like something Miss Hoolie would wear on Balamory.

I do agree with others that clothes don't have an age (although brands definitely target certain age ranges). A coat that suits your shape and colouring, styled in a way you enjoy, should look good on you whether you are 25, 45 or 65. It's more about how you wear it.

@Geamhradh Not sure what you mean. Considering I am old myself, I doubt I am ageist. What I did say was that IME the women I see who wear SS are my Mum's friends who are in their 80s (some 70s, some 90s!)

Equally, my DD has a SS raincoat.

That's not being ageist, it's stating something I see.

in general, I'm not keen on the styles. I like some of the slightly 'retro' 50s-style summer dresses, but it's very rare that there is a dress I like that comes in the colours I wear, or a pattern that appeals. I don't like ditsy prints, or yellow and mustard, or wideleg cut off trousers.

I shop in whistles, jigsaw, sezane, the kooples, sandro, COS etc

Unlike a lot of mumsnetters I don't like clothes shopping online. I like to see and feel clothes and try them on before I buy them.

I have a Whistles I can go to, Jigsaw is nowhere near and out of my price range, I am hundreds of miles away from Sezane and it is out of my price range, never heard of the Kooples before and again eye wateringly high prices, Sandro even more eye wateringly high prices, Cos is also nowhere near me.

I shall just remain frumpy and stick to M & S, supermarkets and the rare purchase from Seasalt and White Stuff

I don't like ditsy prints, or yellow and mustard, or wideleg cut off trousers.

Neither do I, nor browns, olive greens, tans, beiges or other dull colours, but I don't write off a whole store because occasionally I do find the odd gem, like the emerald green jumper I posted upthread (well, I thought it was a gem anyway ).

@NalPolishRemover

Wow this thread makes fairly grim reading, I'm 50 & work in a creative sector. I've always had a keen interest in style & fashion & it makes me incredibly sad to think I am written off by so many simply because of my age, not even by how good an item or style looks on me. I could look incredible but the mere fact that i am 50 & wearing it could cause a younger woman to discard the same item.

I agree with some PPs that I have more money now than i did in my 20s & 30s to spend on clothes & accessories. I worked out my style v early on & really have not deviated from it hugely over the years. I know exactly what works for my shape & colouring.

I'm 5ft 9" size 12 & have been pretty much a 12 for the past 20 years. I buy things I love & I wear them for years. I update things with nods to trends as opposed to full on immersing in a trend.

I don't wear seasalt myself but I'm not drawn to the colours & patterns. Similarly I'm not drawn to joules, fat face, white stuff etc. They're too patterned & bright

I shop in whistles, jigsaw, sezane, the kooples, sandro, COS etc

Having said that I have a friend who is a bit older than me & she has a boutique selling lots of lovely brands inc seasalt & while her style is totally different to me she always looks absolutely amazing. She just knows how to put things together in a way that is absolutely her

I hace an aunt in her 80s now who was the most stylish person I knew growing up. She never had much money at all & shopped in v run of the mill places but she had an eye for fabric & cut & she had a certain flair for putting things together & adding the perfect accessory etc. My own dm on the other hand utterly lacked this skill & even when she went to expensive shops she struggled to know what suited her.

None of it has anything to do with age

I love your comment

@RampantIvy

I don't like ditsy prints, or yellow and mustard, or wideleg cut off trousers.

Neither do I, nor browns, olive greens, tans, beiges or other dull colours, but I don't write off a whole store because occasionally I do find the odd gem, like the emerald green jumper I posted upthread (well, I thought it was a gem anyway ).

Neither do I.

I did say upthread that I had 1 dress and a cardi from SS.
But for 99% of the time there is nothing I like, so I rarely bother to look and therefore I am quite entitled to write it off as not my go-to place for clothes.

If that's ok with you?

@RampantIvy I have no issue with you shopping anywhere you like, the point being that you like the clothes there & don't avoid them because some random older woman shops there!

I only mentioned where I shop because I think women of all ages shop there. And because at 50 I like to shop there & feel sad that someone younger would avoid it simply because I was seen wearing something from there.

Fabric & cut are important to me too - I think we're on the same page really. I don't shop in seasalt as there's none near me & it doesn't spring to mind when I'm looking for something but I would if I saw something there that I liked the look of & thar suited me.

Style is not about age or budget. That's the essence of what I'm saying

I am 66 and wear whatever I want to. I am not a follower of fashion but I enjoy seeing a woman who is really well dressed and 'put together'.

It is a confidence thing that some women have and others do not. That is what fashion is for - to help you make the right choice without having to think too hard about it !

Some brands such as 'Seasalt' seem to be good for covering up curves, whether those curves be in the right places or not.
Boden and Toast leave me cold. However I would not discount everything they sell if there was something that suited me, but I somehow doubt it.

They target a market which is far reaching.. it is nothing to do with age at all !

I'd hazard a guess you would not go on a girls night out in any of these brands though..................

[quote NalPolishRemover]@RampantIvy I have no issue with you shopping anywhere you like, the point being that you like the clothes there & don't avoid them because some random older woman shops there!

I only mentioned where I shop because I think women of all ages shop there. And because at 50 I like to shop there & feel sad that someone younger would avoid it simply because I was seen wearing something from there.

Fabric & cut are important to me too - I think we're on the same page really. I don't shop in seasalt as there's none near me & it doesn't spring to mind when I'm looking for something but I would if I saw something there that I liked the look of & thar suited me.

Style is not about age or budget. That's the essence of what I'm saying[/quote]
I think we both more or less said the same thing but differently :)

@NalPolishRemover I agree with your posts. I also think that people get confused about what is style and what is fashion.

I want to look stylish, and wear what suits me colourwise and in fit. I enjoy mooching around clothes shops, so I don't think "Oh, I won't go into Seasalt because all their clothes make me look 85". I just go for a mooch, and 99% of the time don't buy anything.

Interestingly this dress gets me loads of compliments.

It's from Morrisons!

Seasalt have a maternity range now. Most pregnant people aren't over 50!

I guess the potent question is, and I am sure many of us think we are feminists:

Why does it put you off wearing clothing if you have seen a much older woman wearing it?
And would it put you off if you saw a younger woman wearing it, likewise?

As women, perhaps we really ought to stop shitting on our own doorsteps, you know?

Good point @Sleepyhoglet!

@RampantIvy with regard to price as I said I'm 50 now & in a senior position work wise so I have a decent income. Having said that I still opt for quality rather than quantity every time & always did even when I was far far less well off. I buy in sales & watch out for outlets etc & I wear things over years. As i don't follow trends as such I can add a couple of new things each season & they'll blend in with what I already have.

@PuppyMonkey

You'd have to have an edgy dog to match your edgy dogwalking clothes though, *@SirChenjins* - I've got a golden retriever so he'd be cramping my style all the time, the bastard.

The dog has to go @PuppyMonkey - you need to sack it off immediately for an edgier one

@lolliwillowes - absolutely agree

God so much of this is deeply depressing to a 63 year old. We don't shrivel up and stop caring about fashion you know. I buy what I like from where I like. Sometimes I make mistakes and I sell it on, sometimes I get bored and I sell it on.

Edgy is as meaningless as frumpy and mumsy. I have a bright floral Seasalt dress. I sometimes wear it with bovver boots and a leather jacket. I’m a mum. So maybe that particular outfit could be frumpy, edgy and mumsy simultaneously. Or maybe it’s just an outfit that I like and that I think suits me.

Good the ageism in some of these posts is depressing. I’m 40s, not fashionable. I just bought tops from Sea salt for for first time yesterday. it was the first time I passed their shop and I liked them.

How do we get men and children to hear older women’s voices as just as important as older men if women denigrate they way they (? We don’t know where old starts) look? The idea that older women are past it/unfashionable influences board rooms, workplaces and media.

to be safe presume you need one off designer pieces or tailor made/make your own clothes so no one too old wears/the wrong sort wears the same.