Okay. So, I know this sounds weird. I know. But…I’m sick of fashion. Like—really sick of it. And yet, I love clothing. I love the change up from seasonal clothing. I love how casual clothing puts me in a laid-back mood; and I am as comfortable as a larva in a cocoon when I put my toasty pajamas on during the winter when arriving home from work.
And speaking of the change up in seasonal clothing, it’ll soon be textured sweater and leggings time. But I’ve already started on the toasty sweatshirt and Old Navy Pajama bottoms as at-home-clothing. Fashionable? Not really. Comfortable? You bet your bippie it is!
When I’m wearing a lightweight maxi dress in the summer, it always astounds me at how cool I feel.
I seriously do love a maxi during the summer months. And that tan is natural by the way. I had one for a week! Then it faded.
Pants in summer? No. Not for me. The warm and hot weather affect me to the point that I really don’t like wearing a lot of clothing. Dresses always rule during those hot months.
On the right is a typical summer dress look. I am a huge fan of the Lilly Pulitzer shift dress. On the left, an outfit for transitioning to fall.
But when the temperature cools down, I feel remarkably cozy and pleasant the second a pair of pants covers my unshaven winter legs.
A typical winter pants look. And no socks!
With the cool-to-cold months, I love my kilts worn with tights. Actually, tights are the only phase of leg covering (excluding pants) that I truly like to wear. I refuse to wear panty hose because my lady parts are not a petri dish for yeast infections! And socks? Nope! Not even in January. Although I am prone to wearing them when I wear boots!
We all know what a kilt fanatic I am. Actually this one is in the dry cleaner getting pressed! And I wear tights too!
Don’t we all feel like beautiful princesses when we have that special occasion to dress up—whether black tie formal or semi-formal. Those outfits can change our personalities and give us confidence!
Honestly, I did feel more like a queen as the Mother-of-the-Bride. My daughter was the princess that day. And I found a great gown too!
Clothing is a necessity. For the most part, it keeps us from getting arrested. But I digress from that statement to add that some clothing could be prone to having a person arrested.
Yeah. I’m not going to wear an ensemble like this. Unless I want to end up in a special cell!
It comes down to wearing what you absolutely love, feel comfortable in, and knowing what looks great on you. It’s also about being in charge of your style and how and when you wear the clothing.
Surprisingly, I love this outfit. It’s one of those ensembles where I’m in complete charge of it all. White shorts AFTER Labor Day. A Navy Blazer and a Breton striped shirt. This is a great Autumn look for me. You need to own your style!
That’s not to say that I haven’t made poor choices in clothes. When I was younger, I made quite a few mistakes. But as I’ve aged, I’ve learned to not be a fashion victim and have learned to be very committed to what I love.
It is befitting to say that my biggest “fashion” mistakes were during the early 1980’s before I became a stay-at-home mom. Those heavily padded blazers looked ridiculous on me–I’m broad shouldered and looked like a football player.
And that’s where fashion comes in. Fashion kind of dictates what we should wear. I’m over it.
I’m with Tim!
I’m tired of “Street” fashion. It’s not fashion at all. It is merely the way people on the street are dressed. Some look very nice and have great taste. Others look like they either stepped out of a five-and-dime store, a stripper club, or rolled out of bed.
Street fashion or street style. Nothing more than what people are wearing that day. Sorry not sorry but it just isn’t inspirational to me.
The older I advance in my years, the more I am beginning to shake my head in disgust at the fashion designers today. To be honest, there doesn’t seem to be any true creativity anymore. Elegance on the runway appears to be a thing of the past. Believe me, I’m certainly not a prude when it comes to being fashionable, but it’s just that there is something lacking in the fashion trends of present times. To be honest, it sickens me to see some of these clothes being showcased during fashion week. Who is buying this shit? Even if I were a millionheiress, I would stick to the more classic designers such as Courreges and Chanel. But I’m not so I have a picture in my mind of how I want to dress and I take it from there. Please don’t try to sway me with your trends.
From this year’s Miu Miu collection. Look. I LOVE a good mini but this is just pushing it too far. Your panties had better be spanking clean and without any marks of bodily function. How can you bend down? And seriously–the average woman, even young, has a softer more billowy tummy than our model. I love the shoes though!
I can’t even with this. And I’m quite surprised at Christian Siriano for designing these things. He can do much better!
Andre Leon Talley was right! Tone the fashion down..
Please!
Some trends do turn into classics though. Take the mini skirt and mini dress. Pre mini times, women of all ages, with the exception of little girls, wore dresses ranging anywhere from mid-knee down to mid-calf. Then came the “Swinging Sixties” and the dresses went shorter. Micro-mini’s notwithstanding, the shorter dresses are here to stay and I happen to be a fan.
The mini was a trend that ended up becoming a staple among women of all shapes and ages and is still going strong.
Most people believe that Chanel changed with way women dress. I, on the other hand, believe that Mary Quant changed the way we dress. I love this woman..
…and I loved this man, Andre Courreges. My favorite designer. I would wear all three of these dresses in the present day. Without pantyhose!
Proof that the mini is here to stay. This pic is from six years ago and about 20 pounds less. I still have the skirt. It still fits due to stretch. Its hanging in my closet. I’ll be wearing it as soon as the weather cools down!
Then in the Seventies we had the dawn of the maxi-dress. (Actually, the late sixties-into early seventies) Although a trend that came and went away, it returned with a vengeance and now maxi dressing is an everyday, boho look. I have quite a few and wear them only in summer-but that’s how I roll.
Colleen Corby!!! The greatest teen model of all time! Here in a 1960’s Maxi Dress-originally referred to as The Granny Gown!
A few years back leopard and animal printed clothes were the rage—and over time, those prints became the norm. In fact, leopard is now a neutral!
My favorite skirt. OMG. I wear it three seasons of the year and it is still going strong. I was “iffy” when I purchased it because I thought it was just a trend. Now it’s a neutral!
The post-pandemic trend today appears to be active wear, leggings and “joggers”. And I think this will be around for a while. We’re changing the way we dress. With so many people working from home these days, the “office” look of a blazer, skirt or pants and one of professional polish is seemingly taking a break. Even business meeting attire is becoming more relaxed. It’s the fashion!
Leggings as office wear. Yes. It has come to this. The key is to wear them so that they don’t LOOK like leggings!
My hypocrisy aside, I will admit that since my pandemic weight gain, my jeans no longer fit around my waist and I’m prone to run errands in activewear, but I’m still not quite comfortable with it. I also purchased a pair of “joggers” or what I deem “stylized sweat pants”. And while they are comfortable, I can’t see myself running on the streets of New York City to visit museums or to see the sights when I’m in Paris. I’ll continue to rely on my go-to outfit of black J. Crew Pixie Pants and a black shirt.
You know, being on Instagram as a part of the “over-60” demographic has been a mind-opener as to how many women our age approach clothing—some “get” it. And some, well, some make me cry. We all don’t dress in Chicos and we all don’t go for bright colors and mismatched patterns. Perhaps it’s just me — but a love of clothing means you put thought into what you wear. Just because you’ve reached a certain age doesn’t mean you have to get rid of any vestige of what you loved when you were younger. Just grow it up a bit.
It upsets me when I see retailers stereotyping the mature woman into ads like this. We don’t all dress this bland. We WANT style but this isn’t it!
What are your thoughts on fashion? Have they changed over the years? Do you tend to agree or disagree with what I’m writing? Let’s get the party started!