Quality dresses for older women.

[sunshineonmonday]

Hi, can anyone recommend somewhere I can buy dresses for an older woman please? Just everyday wear, good quality, natural fabric, simple but not old fashioned, maybe plain colours, maybe not, but nothing ditsy floral, flouncey or revealing. I'm well into middle age, have a nice figure, I need new clothes for Spring/Summer.

I don't live in London and even when I'm in London I rarely shop for clothes. I listed 15 brands I own. Only 2 were bought in a shop.

The Carved Wood one is very pretty.

Are you really saying colour isn't important and that people look equally good in any colour they just happen to like?

Yes. Tbh I think all is "true summer/ cool autumn/ warm spring" stuff is a lot of codswallop.

What do you mean by " look good"? For me it's the item of clothing I look at - I don't peer at people's faces.

If someone is wearing a dress I think is awful, it'll still be awful even if the wearer thinks it's perfect for her colours.

Max mara.
Stefanel.
Any Italian brands.

First, just to say that, as a numerically older woman, I don’t think I’m part of a discrete group, with special and exclusive needs. Some colours definitely suit me better than others, but not because of my age.

Looking at what I actually wear, Boden and Max Mara are favourites. Have some Seasalt which I like, but generally they’re far too ‘pretty-pretty flowery’ for me.

Would like to share enthusiasm for Unfolded because of their admirable principles, but (aside from inconvenience of having to order months ahead) usually find their dresses frumpy. That’s a word I don’t like to use because people associate it with ageist criticisms, but just can’t think of a more suitable one, except maybe‘unstylish’. The lengths of their dresses in particular, as shown on the website, I personally find very unflattering - neither proper maxis, which are good for drifting about in summer, nor stylish midis. Frumpsville personified for me (and this is purely subjective).
Some interesting suggestions without age limits here - thanks.!

God yes! I HATE those ads with young models with widely splayed legs. Gross.

So dumb too. Why on earth do clothing companies not insist on visuals that depict the clothing they are trying to sell attractively and so that it can actually be seen!

PS Forgot to say - have recently bought a few successful and very reasonable dresses from M and S. They do really seem to be upping their game at last.
The Seasalt dresses picked out above in plain colours are indeed better but they are linen and require ironing and I don’t do that. Very inelegant and I wouldn’t be a good French or Italian woman, I know, but I’m just too cack -handed and lazy, and always have been!

I am in my early 60's, so too old for some things (yes I know we can wear what we want, but still...) I look old in my face and crepey across my chest now but have a nice curvy size 12 figure. I don't feel old. I live in a ruraI but smart area. I love clothes but I haven't bought anything new for a few years and am out of touch with what is available. As for price, I am certainly not well off but quality over cost, always, I'm buying for the future, and can stretch the budget, but I have a busy, active and varied life and there comes a point when you feel a bit silly walking the dogs at lunchtime in a £400 dress! And I certainly don't think less expensive clothes are necessarily not very good, I'm fine with M&S and plain Seasalt ,they just have to be curated better.
I have an extensive collection of bags, jewellery, classic coats, jackets, and vintage pieces etc that has taken me a lifetime to acquire. Some good, plain clothes will be ideal.

Some really great suggestions here ladies so thank you, I'm following a few threads. And here's to us older women, still looking fabulous at 60 and beyond.

Probably not on your high street but the website has a good size guide
Women's Dresses, Skirts & Jumpsuits | UNIQLO UK

I'm the same re linen. I have an idea in my head of how I'll look when wearing it - cool & relaxed & elegant. And then there's the crumpled reality ...!!

Some lovely labels/collections - but almost all dresses are at the several hundred pound mark - or more. Aside from a few T-shirt dresses at £150. I know the OP didn't originally specify her budget, but I'd venture to say that these are beyond most women's budget for day/work dresses.

Very enjoyable to look at though ... & I now have new contenders for a) a wedding dress & b) 60th birthday frock ... in my dream life!

You may like the labels stocked here - it's a lovely shop in reality too. A couple of streets away from me, so very tempting at sale time! They have some Studio Nicholson in the sale right now.

https://www.epitomeofedinburgh.com/collections

A good take on those brands!

I've really liked a lot of stuff in & Other Stories lately - plus M&S Autograph. But on reflection it's been mostly knitwear, trousers etc - not dresses so much.

Agree on most of those, though I don't think Seasalt is all bad, & the quality of fabric at Whistles has deteriorated dreadfully. I hope it picks up again as I often like their shapes. I've not tried Nobody's Child as I haven't liked anything quite enough as yet.

Toast I do like a lot of - but I think their dresses tend to suit tall & larger women best. Oddly, one thing it has in common with Seasalt is pinafore dresses & dungarees (or is that two?) ... both anathema to me!

Some websites don't offer you the option to search by fabric, which is really annoying & often causes me to give up.

I've had really nice dresses from H&M too (including ones made from ... polyester!!! But I try to avoid it). Jigsaw is still really good I think - their fabrics I like in the main, though I'd like to see more silk. The fabric in Whistles clothes has, IMO, worsened more than at Jigsaw.

Not a natural fabric, but I still love what Jigsaw used to call the Crocus range (polyester imitation silk-satin). I have lots of separates & a couple of dresses in it - they withstand anything & still look as good as new.

I don't think she did assume that? Some of us do, some don't. But we all experience changes in our appearance to some extent, & in various ways, with age.

Agree that I can't imagine colour not being much of a factor when choosing clothes. But then there are certain colours that I love so much that if I see something in, say, the perfect shade of emerald green that I adore, that will initially overrule common sense regarding the fit or style suiting me - or the cost!

On the other hand, I'm currently reevaluating some of the brighter orange-reds in my wardrobe - as now that my hair has faded from red to strawberry blonde they suddenly look a bit brash on me.

I think dressing in colours that suit you is really important, obviously not life or death, but today I'm wearing a knit dress in berry red, I've already been complimented on it and told I look nice, I've been complimented on it on previous occasions too. I have the same dress in chocolate brown. Zero compliments. The brown one looks nice but doesn't suit my winter colouring as much, so it doesn't bring out the contrast in my colouring like the berry red. If I love the shape of something and they have a brown I'll buy it too but there's some colours I'd never wear, beige, mustard, acid brights, bright yellows, rust etc Some I'll wear but won't be my first choice like khaki, chocolate brown, black, ivory. I've learnt what suits me and know that colours that don't, generally never get taken out of the wardrobe.

I live in Sussex. I agree about location. I am fortunate to live a 40 minute train ride from London. However, I do buy a lot (the majority) on line, so I don’t think location is that important except when finding out which sizes fit from certain brands. I quite often order two sizes and send one back.

I find this really interesting - as I'm not sure that I can separate my liking for an outfit or piece of clothing on someone from whether I think the colour looks good on them or not.

You've made me think harder about this, @PhaedraWas - & Cate Blanchett in particular as an example of someone who I think often wears amazing dresses/outfits, & gets the colours/tones right most of the time. She has a luminosity (or glow if you like!) that certain colours (creamy whites/soft golden metallics/teal green/light greenish-blues) make even more noticeable. Like here ...

I get mine from TU, M&S, Joe Browns, Desigual, John Lewis, Sosandar, Baukjen, Next, Reiss and Whistles in the sales. For summer I just look for linen and 100% cotton and largely ignore polyester.

Sea Salt, Fat Face, White Stuff and that ilk I struggle to get anything that fits properly and I find their clothes rather shapeless at times.

Whereas here, she looks lovely (how can she not?) - but these colours do in my mind overpower her, or remove some of her luminosity? And it's not about the type of foundation she's wearing. She just looks sort of ... flattened?

Reds, yellowish-greens & greys don't suit her IMO.

Re the outfits themselves, I actually really like a couple of these - just not on her. Whereas I'm not that fond of a couple of the dresses above, but they're lovely on her because of the colour.

I would never want to feel restricted in clothes purchases by someone telling me what colours do and don't suit me.

@sunshineonmonday , I often look out for collaborations with designers whose clothes I like, as these are generally cheaper than their main lines. For instance, I like the look of this dress by Rejina Pyo for John Lewis (though it seems that the arms aren't a hit with most people from the reviews!) - as well as these separates.

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-x-rejina-pyo-satin-contrast-stitch-detail-volume-sleeve-midi-dress-olive-green/p113981434