Age appropriate?

I'm coming up to 60 this year, wear size 12/14 And wouldn't entertain the idea of looking at any clothes specifically aimed at the over 50s e.g.Fifty Plus! Why would I? I wear what I like & what I feel good in. Some days I look smart & my clothes are perhaps from the higher end of the market with some cheaper accessories & some days it's casual from Matalan or Primark with perhaps a more expensive scarf or bag. I like White Stuff and Joules but I use a local boutique with lots of makes including Out of Xile, Sandwich & Masai, all of which feel like they're my style & could be worn by anyone from 16 to 100. As for books, I'm a devotee of crime fiction & I'm quite sure these are aimed at anyone. I can't imagine what sort of book targets the older person but, as far as magazines are concerned, does the Peoples' Friend still exist?!

Aruna - I've sent a request to join the older readers FB page. I belong to other FB groups for readers so that sounds just right for me.

I have developed my own style.... I love the layering style...lagenlook. I suits my age (66). I wear linen and cotton. Love 'statement' necklaces...usually bought in charity shops... So develop your own style...take no notice of trends and fashion...simple

I can’t afford age appropriate things on my pension so I mix and match with New Look jeans and pearls.

Age appropriate doesn't have a price tag, it is a state of mind.

Granmma the People's Friend definitely still exists because my Mum who is a stylish 77 gets little piles of it passed on from her 90 year old friend, who gets it passed on to her from a neighbour! My Mum doesn't want to offend her by saying it's too old fashioned for her, so she keeps them in the downstairs loo for a while and then recycles them (I like flicking through it)! The weird thing is the friend isn't at all old fashioned in other ways and loves keeping up with her daughters and granddaughters!

Theoddbird I love layers that, but when I'm tried lagenlook I was reminded of that Joyce Grenfell song

As Stately as a Galleon!

I will try it again though if I ever lose enough weight!

I'm 69 and I go for an outdoorsy hiking sort of look with t shirts and merino tops etc. Still love Joanna Troloppe books. Don't like new fiction much. Waiting for another Bill Bryson. Hope he hasn't stopped writing them!

I think its not your age but your figure and shape that should influence your choice. I have a friend who is 70 who must be a size 8 or 10 who can wear clothes like a dress designer, whereas I, because I have eaten for comfort have to be much more careful. I am tall but feel like a cart horse beside her. But cart horses can be very useful.......

I'm 86 and love bright colours. I have a scarlet jacket, bright turquoise top,orange tunic,and I have found they have all been admired,even had people stop me in Kew gardens (turquoise top) to be told I have brightened her day I don't get that in grey or brown.

@Amma54 - yes, just so, thank-you!

How odd that this has turned into another thread about clothes (wear what the heck you like, is my only comment on that).

As for reading matter, I’ve never really noticed a bias against older people, but perhaps it’s down to what I read. I don’t buy umagazines, so wouldn’t know about them. But Ann Tyler and Kate Atkinson are my favourite authors, and they feature plenty of older characters, with different, er, characters too so never stereotypical. I wouldn’t want something targeted directly at me, without a natural mix of ages though. One of the GN book club choices was set in a care home, and even though it was supposed to be funny, it was a depressing read!

As for the rest of the media, I think we’re fairly well represented. There are plenty of interesting older characters in Corrie, for example, and in newish series such as McMafia and Girlfriends. The older generation are prominent in The Archers as well. I’d say we’re pretty well catered for.

As far as clothes go, I find it annoying that it is very difficult to find dresses or skirts that are not designed for young women in their teenage years or twenties. I don't want to wear mini-skirts or clothes with sequins all over them. I would welcome a range of skirts and dresses knee-length or mid-calf suitable for everyday wear, as I do not want to wear jeans all the time.

Older people and women who do not look a if they have an eating disorder are being used increasingly in advertisements, and there are authors like Mary Wellesly writing about women in their sixties and seventies.

Thanks for your comments, Carol, I'm sure you are right and clothes are not that important to me anyway. Like you, I'd rather spend money on outings, holidays etc. I was just feeling a bit jealous last night, reading about some people spending hundreds of pounds on clothes, and it made me a bit grumpy. Only a year to go until I get my pension and bus pass, then I can go into town and treat myself to some new clothes!

In my view, choices about what to wear after 50 or 60 comes down to finding something that fits. My shopping experiences are often very frustrating. I'm a size 16, of average height and evenly proportioned, yet a size L or even XL if often unattractively snug and or even downright too small. To illustrate, I own three (pullover) sweaters sized Medium, Large and XX Large respectively. Despite what it says on the labels, all three sweaters are the same size and should have been classified 'Large'.

To your point Monica...I like the French brochure you describe. Too often, older people are stereotyped as being technologically challenged or impaired in any number of ways. E.g. The old lady needing help to cross the street, 'old grandpa' scenarios where there's always trouble recalling, old person who drives badly, lady who falls and can't get up....too many negative stereotypes to list here.

We may have to start a campaign of our own by posting more positive images on social media. Some of us out there are still dancing, running, ice skating, playing sports. One of my good female friends aged 71, just ran in the NY Marathon (completed sixteen miles out of a twenty six mile marathon). I've seen more than a few seniors racing cars, sky diving, zip lining etc. ...We've also had quite a few prodigious musicians, mathematicians, scientists, writers, senior Nobel prize winners and some financial wizards, all in their eighties or nineties......you get the gist!

Apparently, we are all now ‘age fluid’ - aren’t you glad to know that! In case it’s not obvious, it means we can pick and mix what we wear from all age ranges rather than sticking to stuff aimed at us.

My late mothers comment on clothes was" if it suits the wearer b...er the starer"Totally live by that.

"HillyN I've never spent a fortune on clothes, even when I had a decent salary and it doesn't really bother me that people do. Their choice to spend their money that way but I think I can look good (enough!) in sales bargains & high st purchases then, like you, spend on living my life. Another six years at least to my pension & bus pass so won't be on any shopping sprees for quite a while! mollie think I've always been 'age fluid' in that case.....why wouldn't we be?

Dh and I were in m&s earlier and watched a woman about our age helping her husband/partner choose shoes. She looked brilliant in skinny jeans, short boots but it all went wrong above waist! She had a big, hand-knitted jumper, an anorak and a granny perm. It was very peculiar looking.

Obviously, I know what I'm talking about!

Maybe there something like age seemly or something rather than age Appropriate!

I don't think age comes into it at all. It is a question of size, shape and personal preference.

Steam punk like the sound of that too. Must google it.

I like novels by Hilary Boyd as she writes about people who have lived a bit and not in the first flush of youth. Just wish she published more than one a year.

ajanela I stopped colouring my hair in August mainly because it has thinned due to underactive thyroid problems. As I have it shortish it is now virtually white all over instead of golden blonde. My DH didnt want me to stop colouring it and still would prefer that I did continue.