Age appropriate?

I was looking through one of my wardrobes the other day and I found an old M&S coat from the days when they had top quality items. It is a wool trench coat style. full length. I must have had it 30 years. It still looks good so I am wearing it again!

I like Woman & Home magazine and find it has a lot of interesting articles. The fashion is not too outlandish and the models seem to be mixed ages. My Mum (mid-80s) likes to give me mags she says are aimed at my age such as Yours & Peoples Friend. I don't find much in them to interest me.

My mum eyed me suspiciously a couple of years ago, then asked: "Are you having a midlife crisis?"

Age appropriate to what? Your mental age or your physical age?

Why must we have a certain age range in clothing. I am fed up with adverts for clothes for those over a certain age. Catalogues for those over a certain age.

Why can't we just buy what we want. As long as we have style and look good why conform to what we are told we should. I wear vintage Laura Ashley, feel nice in it and don't care if I don't look like a woman over 60. I don't want to look like every other woman over 60. I want to look like me.

I'm 57 and still wear mini skirts, by which I mean mid-thigh length. I like them and think they suit me. Thankfully, I've never heard any snide or bitchy comments and have received compliments. I mostly read supermarket magazines these days and like the Waitrose and Sainsbury ones. As for books, Katie Fforde's have older heroines who always seem to have at least 2 men after them. They're my go to fluffy read, when I don't want to concentrate on anything too taxing.

I'd like to add my thanks for all the suggestions of clothing lines. There's one i like that hasn't been mentioned yet. The Lindy bop woman may know of them: Joanie Clothes. I found them when I was looking out for wiggle dresses as worn by the curvy lady on Mad Men.

I'm short and overweight. A couple of years ago I found a pair of jeggings which fitted me on M&S sale rail. The first time I wore them with a fairly long top I was complimented - by my 20 year old GS. He's very direct and comments when I don't look good too. I'm 77 and I wear what I like!
My favourite top is Joules, pale blue with peonies. Last summer I got a denim dress from Fatface on Euston station. A local charity shop provided a linen jacket from Lands End.

Thing is, what is 'age appropriate' anyway? I'm 63 and in many shops I look at what's on offer and sigh - with disgust. The latest fashions aren't for me (no way am I wearing jeans with holes in the knees and as for tops with 'cold shoulders' - do me a bloody favour) yet the styles in the 'classic' section are too dowdy for words. I despair.
Therefore it's back to the plain separates in the Damart catalogue.

Hi Saggi, I read almost exclusively fiction these days and certainly not Dawkins as I am not an atheist!

I love historical fiction, particularly fiction set in wartime -- WWI and II - because I admire so much the resilience of people who lived through these times. That's what I mean, really. with "mature" writing -- I do find often the concerns of younger people today, and the books about them, shallow.

As for clothes -- I was never a fashionista and never will be, and wear much the same as I always did. No make up, no hair dye, no high heels. Just comfort attire.

I am age 70 and a size 16 bottom and 18 top. I hated clothes shopping and couldn't find things I like until I found M & Co. Nearly everything I buy now comes from there. Good bargains to be had on line and free delivery to a shop near you.

Totally agree with you MOnica! Ikea here in the U.S. their ads tend to be marketing all age groups.
Personally I think advertisers in general are idiots when they do not address all walks of life in their ads. Besides fashion I think ads for homes here (the U.S.)are targeted to young families and the rest of us are just left out in the cold.
I guess they don't realize everyone needs or wants a home.

I feel very lucky to be retired and therefore able to wear whatever I want.
There are so many comfortable flattering styles around usually based on lovely Lycra/cotton jeggings (or leggings if you are brave) with lots of useful pockets for phone, keys etc. Long loose tunic tops/jumpers in a variety of colours/patterns. I notice many gransnetters mention this sort of look here.
When I've been on holiday in Italy I've been impressed with the linen dresses/tunics women wear there. I've tracked them down here now. "Lagenlook" (layered look) styles are great for larger figures but probably not so ideal if you're short.
I'm looking forward to wearing my Lagenlook linen tunics with cropped linen trousers in the summer, worn with sandals and bare feet (with painted toenails of course).
So free and comfortable compared with my mother's generation (perms, crimplene skirts, twinsets and stockings) and my grandmother's generation (aprons and full body corsets!!!).
How lucky we are!

It's not my age (74) which dictates what I wear, it's my size which fluctuates between a size 14 (occasionally) and an 18. Consequently I have a variety of styles in my wardrobe. I'm always happiest in jeans, boot cut or straight, and shirts. I don't usually wear leggings at my current (large) size but having read the posts here I think I might try jeggings for starters. M&S here in Cyprus don't have the best selection of clothes so I shop quite a bit on line and in charity shops but best of all is when I go to visit DS in Texas where they have great clothes in lots of sizes. Mind you, I often end up getting stuff in Walmart which is basically Asda!
Books: love detective fiction, historical fiction, stories set in China, Japan etc. I read mostly on my Kindle and download cheap/free books from Book Bub. Some are not brilliant but I have found new authors I've really liked and some old favourites at bargain prices.

I'm 68 this year and shortly going back to teaching, full-time, in a rather posh girls' school. The dress code is very smart. I'm too old for cashmere and pearls, so will wear my Boden Richmond 7/8 trousers ( x3, bought in the sale, and as if tailor-made for me), Boden/M&S tees, my extensive collection of linen scarves, everything in cotton or linen (it is high summer here). I'm tall, with long legs, and trousers suit me. I don't think I look a fright/unprofessional/MDAL, and more than anything, I'm cool and comfortable.

Confession alert!!! The clothes thing is dictated by whoever sells my size (22) and what’s available locally so I can check fabric etc. I’m not complaining (much) because my size is my fault (and no, I am not going to do anything before anyone offers me advice) but most of the bigger stuff on the High Street is just rubbish. Poor quality, dreadful fabric, awful design and don’t get me started about the colour combos and patterns. I’d love to wear White Stuff, East, etc but last time I looked they stopped at 20.

JulieSeizer44, going back to teaching full time at 68 is to be applauded - that’s what I’d like to hear about rather than some 40-something giving up her high paid job in PR to bake cupcakes and converting her garage to a kitchen to do it. (Apologies to anyone offended by my description)

I'm 71 and believe in individuality. We are different ages, different heights, different shapes with different intellects, different tastes etc. etc. I say go with whatever you like, whatever suits you, whatever you are comfortable in. I shop wherever I can find something I like. I wear different things depending on time of year, my mood and where I am going. No rules and regulations for me. I still have items from my late 20s/early 30s which I grew out of but have now grown back into and they still look good as my personal taste has tended to be fairly classic. Even my daughter in her mid 30s has complimented me on my clothing so I am obviously doing something right!!!

mollie DD is a size 20 and has always been on the large size. She has long relatively slim legs and lives mainly in leggings and slimfit trousers, with a wide variety of tops from T shirts, loose tops and layers, although she does wear skirts on occasion.

She buys a lot of her clothes from Sainsburies, because it is her local supermarket and their clothes are good, She ignores sizes and assesses by eye whether clothes will fit her and then tries them on, She also browses around any chain store that has larger sizes and is often surprised by the clothes that she can get into. Since the Raina Plaza fire she has taken to making a lot of her own clothes. A lot of dressing is accessories and handbags, scarves, shoes, jewellery are not size dependent.

She just buys what she likes when she sees it and always looks well dressed. She also, like you, is confident in her body and is not embarrassed by her size.

I bought a short dress last year which I wore just once with thick black leggings, but to be honest I felt a bit "mutton dressed as lamb" so I passed it on to one of my forty-something daughters.

I decided years ago that I was never going to turn into an old granny with a bubble perm, beige cardi and a pile of knitting. I wear my hair shoulder length and have a few brown foils in so that a bit of grey still shows through because I'm not trying to pretend I'm 30. I go to concerts, I dance at the pub disco nights, do Pilate's, am off to see The Band musical soon, been out for Italian lunch with wine then to the ballet this afternoon with my daughter. I've been involved with a few businesses since I retired early due to health problems. I have holidays with my hubby, my girlfriends and my daughter, sometimes abroad, sometimes in the UK. I wear swimsuits because I want to swim,
despite my veiny thighs. To summarise, I have a life. Is it age appropriate? I don't care!

They keep claiming that those in their 60s are the ones with the most disposable cash..yet they fail to accommodate us in the market place.....fools!

Not all women in their 60s have lots of disposable income, many of us have missed out on the pensions we expected at 60 and gave up work. I'm wearing the same clothes I wore in my 50's because I can't afford new ones, simple as that.

I think of myself as older than Madonna but younger than Twiggy. I’ve always loved clothes and try to stay size 12/14.
Helen Mirren and Joanna Lumley I think are my style icons and Judy Dench in her 80’s always look fabulous. I do think though that if you cruise the shopping malls it does appear to favour the youngsters. Catwalk models who are teenagers size 6 never fail to amaze. How many teenagers or young mums have that kind of money to spend on clothes?
I don’t know how M&S have got it so wrong with their clothes when Primark and H&M sell the same quality with better designs. Mutton dressed as lamb just looks funny, so should be avoided at all costs. Simple classic designs often work best with modern costume jewellery.

HillyN I'm also one of those that missed out on a pension at 60. I've had to become self employed to make enough to enjoy my life and just refuse let the pension thing get me down! As for clothes, I'm sure what looked good in your 50s still looks great now. I'd rather spend most of my disposable income on doing things these days.

Mollie I wrote something similar to you and I'm 22/24. One thing you might like to try is looking online for something you've seen in a shop that didn't go up to your size. Lots of high street shops don't offer the same size range as they offer online. Next is one example where I can't find my size in store, but it is available online. It's a weird situation, but I have noticed it quite a few times. I quite like the Yours shops, but I haven't shopped in Evans for as long as I can remember. Another thing to bear in mind is that shops have different sizes in different ranges and also change the range of sizes every now and then. That's why I like eBay so much because someone might be selling something from a shop I like that doesn't do much my size at the moment.

M0nica it is a lot about confidence. I understand my body shape and what suits it as well as what to avoid. It was important to me at work that my size didn't detract from my work, especially in predominantly male environment. Prejudice against fat people is a real thing.

Today, many women are still working well into their 60s, so the bulk of their wardrobe will be clothing appropriate to their job/profession. I was fortunate in being able to retire when my DH did back in 2004. At that time I had a wardrobe full of 'workwear', mainly trouser suits with light jumpers for winter and blouses for summer + a few 'dinner dance' type outfits and a suitcase with cheescloth tops and cotton/linen trousers for the summer holidays.

I kept my best 'business suit' and long black raincoat for funerals, etc. and took the rest to a charity shop, then built up a mix and match, smart casual wardrobe mainly from browsing in charity shops where I can afford quality clothes beyond my means in proper shops. Day to day it is skinny jeans and T shirts or jumpers depending on the weather for working around the house and in the garden.

DH has his Kilt with 3 different jackets to wear on formal occasions but insists on getting dressed, every day, in collar and tie, shirt, smart trousers and jacket - his idea of 'leisure wear' - having spent his working life in jeans or dungarees and padded check shirts.