What do you need to be older to pull off?

[CultureAlienationBoredomandDespair]

Inspired by the mob wife thread and various ageist comments I was hoping that we could have a nice thread where we talk about looks or trends that seem to look better as you get older.

I said on the other thread that when I was in my teens and early 20’s I always wanted to wear bombshell style clothes and makeup but I’d always end up wiping the red lipstick off before leaving the house as I just looked like a kid playing dress up in my mum’s clothes. Now I’m in my late 30s red lipstick suits me well and gives me a glamorous, put together look- especially if I’m wearing something casual.

I think tailoring and especially oversized blazers look better as you get older. In teens it can look like your mum’s brought your uniform “with room for you to grow.”

COCO by Chanel, doesn’t seem to work on the younger woman.

I absolutely agree about tailoring and blazers. I remember wearing them at the start of my career and feeling like a little girl playing dress up but now I throw a blazer (as nobody really wears suits) over almost all my outfits.

I am tall and in theory should always have looked good in longer length skirts and coats. However it wasn’t until my early 40s (now!) that I actually felt able to pull them off. Somehow they looked frumpy before, like I was trying to grow up too fast. Now I think they look great. Can’t explain it!

I love long skirts, and classic clothes. They used to feel silly. All my life though Ive looked forward to dressing like Miss Marple when I got old. Tweed and hats with feathers and sturdy shoes. But no one wears thatstuff anymore, apart from Princess Ann. I’d look ridiculous. Shame.

Anything ostentatious.

I'm considerably older than late 30s but that's my personal experience.

In fact the best thing I've discovered is that, as face and body start to crumple, you stop worrying about pulling off or whether something shows off your figure or whether it's suitable for a wedding, and you go back to treating your wardrobe as a dressing up box and your clothes as playthings.

It does help if you don't succumb to Kondo Fever in your 40s or 50s.

😔I thought this was going to be a thread about what looked good on women pushing 60, but it turns out the OP is still a bairn.

Lots of things I’m looking forward to wearing- a gilet, a fitted tweed jacket, a less fitted tweedy field coat sort of thing, country boots.

TBH I think this is less that I think that I need to be old to wear them than that I’m planning a more rural retirement than my current lifestyle.

I’m looking forward to that!

I’m not saying I’m older, as such but hopefully one day I will be and I just wanted this to be a nice positive thread of things to look forward to!

My examples were just things I’ve noticed,so far, to kick the thread off.

I’m looking forward to be being able to wear lots of jewellery. I still look a bit like I’ve raided the dressing up box but my mum looks fab with lots of rings.

Gallery owner style - oversized linen everything, flat shoes, hammered silver earrings, messy hair pulled back in some kind of loose twist, or very short hair with extremely short fringe.

I think boho style can look good on all ages but particularly chic on a woman who looks like she’s developed an eclectic style after years of seeing the world.

Leopard print. It looks awkward on the young ones but looks good on once you're past your 30s.

A quiff! See so many women with pure silver quiffs in London, a la Annie Lennox. Looks great.

Yes totally agree about the pearls and red lipstick! Looks too try-hard on the young but somehow ok on older women.

Ditto for oversized floppy sunhats - think Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings…

Also cropped sleeve tweed jackets (Chanel style)

Silk scarves tied at the neck

Totally agree about pearls and silk scarves around the neck.

I'll also add:

Long wool coats/ trench coats
Knitted midi dresses
Linen shirts/dresses

Oh yes! I’ve tried this a few times and it never looks right.

i must have seen an older woman wear this once. the only way to describe it is traveller chic. Exotic intrepid expensive traveller chic.

it involves sandy coloured linens, paired with expensive thinnish silk knits. Or cashmere if it’s cold. Pure fabrics of the highest quality. This will be finished off with beautiful unusual jewellery, perhaps hammered silver, or something eclectic that you picked up from somewhere unusual.

Not that you can’t wear when young, but more that you probably can’t afford and you might prefer to be more fashion forward rather than chic. Also, even though I’m in my 50s, I’m just way too messy and sloppy and I’d be bound to drop coffee on my sand coloured cashmere, and I hate the way linen creases. (Plus, the one colour I don’t suit is sand. So you see, it’s my older woman fantasy, but it probably wont ever be me… unless I really grow up a bit, and maybe when my hair goes grey.) But if you are blonde, or the actress Kristin Scott-Thomas, this will be brilliant on you.

Blimey, I got a string of pearls from a very wealthy boyfriend when I was 23. We split up when I was 24. I loved those pearls and wore them almost daily. Fat neck now means they're consigned to jewellery box. (Could get them turned into a bracelet maybe?)

I got my first Hermès scarf when I was early 30s. I did some work for a client based in France and he sent me a Hermès scarf and a bottle of 24 Faubourg. I love that scarf, still have it and around a dozen more.

I agree about anything flamboyant. Flamboyance started around 40 and has continued.

What age are you talking about? 3 of those items I've worn since mid 20s and the others since early 30s.

I'm 65 but still love the 70s hippy look l grew up with.
Some things still suit me.. but l also love the 80s alternative look like black/ lace etc.
Depends where I'm going and on the weather.. because l love my big coat and boots in winter.
No make up in house but definitely when going out.. no matter where I'm going.

A Bismarck chain in gold.

Bohemian art teacher vibe, with velvets and chunky jewellery. I’m in my early forties and looking forward to being able to pull this look off soon.

I do see everyone in the 20s and 30s wearing them but I think they look much more elegant, or perhaps more sophisticated on 40+ women.