Style advice for older lady

[Thomasina79]

Hi, I have gone from a size 22 to 12/14. I am 68. What do you younger ladies think someone of my age should wear. I am very far from being the sort of Granma figure sitting knitting in a chair! I swim four times a week and try to keep busy. I don’t want to look ‘mutton dressed as lamb’.

Who cares apart from you? Sorry that seems a bit brusque but you don't need to worry about what you wear. I'm 60 and wear what I want. Today's outfit will be black cargo pants, a corpse bride t-shirt and a blue and yellow hoodie.

I've also lost weight and whilst it is a transition it's nothing to do with age.

You should wear what make you feel good.
My DM is 10 years older than you and dresses in an All Saints-ish way. Long slip dresses with a slouchy jumper over the top and clumpy boots. She isn't tall or slim, she looks great and enjoys what she wears.
What sort of styles do you like?

It would be handy to know what you like and what sort of shape you are now but if you want some nice basics, MandS Harper jeans are good and I like the Hush Mimi Tshirt with some trainers or chunky shoes.

There is no such thing as mutton dressed as lamb. Really.
What's your budget, style, lifestyle like? You do say you swim 4 times a week so you probably need simple things to get on and off.

That’s a wonderful weight loss, well done! I am a similar age and lost some weight a few years ago, nothing as impressive, but am around the same size.
What sort of style do you like? I found my choices changed after I stopped working. What do you do apart from swimming? I go out for coffee and lunches with friends around the same age. I occasionally have to run after grandchildren.

For swimming I would just buy some nice leggings and tops (good move at Marks can be nice) obviously this depends on your budget. I don’t like spending more on excercise clothes. Makes getting changed easier, it’s easy to pull together with a little hooded jacket - If you walk to the venue. A nice pair of trainers.

Otherwise what do you like? Do you see yourself in trousers or dresses? I think I probably dress slightly more edgy than my friends. I can’t knit either ! I am very fond of Toast clothing am fortunate to be able to spend money on clothes currently.
Don’t forget shoes? The wrong pair can age an outfit.

You might like this blog https://thatsnotmyage.com/category/style-at-any-age/

I’m your age and size. Currently wearing grey ankle grazer trousers and a long sleeved white t shirt from Mint Velvet with a black jeans jacket and trainers.

I’m very hit and miss but I never dress ‘old’. So avoid mum styles and mum shops. Shop in aforesaid Mint Velvet, Hush, M and S (I know that can be mum but the jeans are great), Next, H and M, occasionally Zara.

Personally I love a charity shop ~ I try on all sorts that I’d never do if it were full price and have some fab pieces. I don’t expect them to be cheap though.

You’ve done incredibly well ~ have fun and celebrate it.

Your OP reads really oddly to me, @Thomasina79.

There are plenty of women in their 60s posting on MN - I am one and others have already posted. I’m curious to know why you only want responses from younger ladies?

And why you feel any suggestions should reference clothing ‘for’ a particular age group.

I am not a grandmother, but I imagine some posters in their 60s might be. I think it’s highly unlikely that many of them do nothing other than sitting in a chair knitting - and it’s disappointing that you should have such a disparaging attitude to other women of your own age. It’s quite surprising in a MN poster.

As is the reference to the ‘mutton’ phrase. Hard to believe anyone on this board is still using that …

I wish you joy in your swimming and shopping - but, honestly, I’d prefer to engage with posters who view women in their 60s with more respect!

I'm afraid I agree with The original French.
Well done on the weight loss.

I'm not a grandmother but will be 65 in a month's time. I'm currently pondering whether I can justify getting this jacket as a birthday present to myself.

I wish I could knit. It's an excellent skill and a highly valuable craft.

What a woman of 65 wears

I met a woman in her 70s yesterday at a lunch. She looked great for any age. She was wearing a navy and green checked shirt dress similar to this.Women's Gingham Shirt Dress in Apple & Carbon | Dresses | Brora (broraonline.com) I like unfussy cotton shirt dresses myself, and have a couple from Brora that have lasted well.

I also swim and this time of the year going into summer, I wear a tshirt dress as it's easy to pull on in a crowded changing room, plus doesn't get crumpled in my locker. Mine are from Uniqlo or Zara.

I am in my 50s, a 12, and I don't think age makes that much of a difference to me. I don't bare my midriff, but then I didn't do that even in my twenties.

I didn’t mean to sound disrespectful and I apologise if I came across thus. I wear jeans and tops, it is a sheer joy to get into size 12 jeans. I like the look of retro dresses, but never seem to end up wearing them. Thanks for your replies

Now is the time to wear the dresses OP 😃

I like Palava as they base their dresses on 1950s shapes but put their own spin on patterns and design rather than just being facsimiles which many retro brands are.

Palava dresses

I empathise OP! It's really a question of asking yourself:

• what you like (and hate) wearing
• what fits (and doesn't fit) your lifestyle
• what your budget is (it doesn't have to be in the hundreds of pounds, though there's this assumption that older women have tons of money to invest in clothes rather than a pension!).

As someone who preferred David Bowie and Velvet Underground to David Cassidy and Donny Osmond - yet is by nature a more conservative dresser than that would imply - I tread a 'mildly edgy classic' line.

For me that means, say, wide-leg trousers and trainers with a trendyish top. Oliver Bonas is good for quirk that doesn't scare the horses.

Jackets and tailoring look better on me than t-shirts and leggings, but then I'd be the only person in the garden centre/coffee shop/local high street to look so high-falutin'. So my middle ground is classics in natural fibres. Cords and arran jumpers in winter, jeans and cargo pants with cotton tops in summer. And I favour a chunky shoe, boot or sandal.

Your own style is probably totally different of course. To find out what it is, you could try the Three Word method.

Congratulations on your weight loss. Great achievement.

Wear clothes to suit your shape and colouring and you’ll look great.

The other thing is to start wearing those dresses! Don’t leave them in the wardrobe gathering dust. Don’t ‘save them for best’ either (apart from wedding level). Once you’ve taken the plunge, you’ll gain confidence and compliments.

Whilst probably not for a teenager that dress could be worn by anyone from early 20s to whatever. One of the PAs was wearing a very similar dress today. She's early 20s

Grahamst.fashion on Instagram/ blog is a Mum & her daughter. Her Mum is maybe 70ish? Her daughter's a stylist & dresses her Mum & herself beautifully with lots of texture & colour. Lots of Plumo, Brora & Toast. Do have a look - they both look so happy & stylish. I would love to grow up to be her Mum.
I'm 60 so I haven't got long 😉
Don't know why you've got such a telling off!

It sounds like you have a similar taste to me - can I ask where you go for trendy tops?

I find myself saving my wide leg trousers for work, because I can’t find ‘going out’ tops to go with them, and a white shirt looks a bit ‘worky’ for the pub. I’d love to be able to wear them more.

Have a look at grece grenham Instagram, she looks great!

I think vintage looks best if you weren't old enough to wear it first time round.
I think at 68, a wardrobe of classic clothes in colours that suit you and in cuts that work for your body shape is best. Ruth Langsford sells good clothes. Other good places for your age bracket:

Seasalt
M&S
Arket
Sezane
Zara
Tu
John Lewis
Woolovers
Poetry
Cos
Thought

I don't recommend Shein, RiverIsland, Pretty Little thing, Asos... you can find something anywhere if you have an eye for it and confident in your style but since this is a new body for you and you're still figuring out your style it's a safet bet to stick to quality clothes in classics.

Smart casual for everyday is a good aim.

Take a look at Nanna-M on YouTube.
She's 67, a size 12, and does fashion videos. She puts really nice outfits together. She doesn't have a huge following yet, but she's great.

It's tricky isn't it. I get the white shirt problem. Maybe try it buttoned up under a tank top, for a dark academia look? Love a tank top, you can wear them over pretty much anything and they create a neat silhouette, esp with widelegs.

As for tops - recently I got one from Oliver Bonas, with exaggerated puff sleeves that should be all wrong for my shape (tall, quite busty, broad shouldered), yet it looks fabulous IMO! Looking forward to wearing it with widelegs when it's warmer.

I also have a fair few tops from Boden. They've always been more robust than most high street clothes, hope they hang on to that. I tend to go for woven tops with some interest around sleeve or neckline, in white (hah! it's always bloody ivory) and navy.

Other haunts are M&S (their cords are perfect for winter), Uniqlo (though not so much these days), and Seasalt for countryish things (that can also be styled to look more edgy). Mixed in with ME+EM and other expensive brands on sale. And I've had great things from H&M, Zara and New Look.

I vaguely aim to mix posh with casual. So a smartish jacket with a tshirt and jeans. A hoodie with tailored trousers. A combat jacket with a tea dress. But nothing too exaggerated - the hoodie will be trying to look expensive rather than street, and the combat jacket will be well made😁Yes I'm a midlife cliche! But it's popular because it works, it's comfortable, and doesn't make you feel over- or under-dressed. Hope this helps!