Where do you wish you could shop!?

I mostly buy my clothes in charity shops as I live in an affluent area where women discard hardly used clothes which is great for me.

However Rebekah here is my is my wish list.

Reasonably priced clothes
Lots of bright colours
Fleeces not just ordinary colours, some funky designs
Machine washable smart jackets with zip pockets
Comfy bras made of predominantly cotton and have a deep sides to stop any skin hanging over . No bows and I don't like my nipples showing through.
Full size pants but with hi legs
Velvet short scarves in a myriad of colours

I would like to buy these clothes online, otherwise M and Co.

How fab GK! Sounds like something from a pantomime...
I don't think I will go back to mid-thigh mini-skirts, voluminous maxi dresses, feather boas and bell-bottoms.
Though you never know.
Rebekah have you thought about studying the fashions worn by those of us who will be 65 this year, in a sociological context?
Restricted choice of styles and fabrics in the fifties; mini-skirts, political protest and revolution in the sixties; flowing maxi-dresses and the feminist movement in the seventies; shoulder-pads and power-dressing in the eighties..
Much more interesting.

One of my favourite outfits in my 20s was a pair of hotpants with braces (worn over a shirt and with knee high boots). So I wouldn't have a hope in Hades of wearing that now.

rebekah I'd second the sleeves thing. My arms need to be covered these days and it isn't always easy to find a dress with sleeves. Good luck, I'm glad you've had a good response to your question.

Goodness, you mean you never wore loon pants and mini-skirts or possessed an Afghan coat, hildajenni?

I certainly don't dress the same way I did in my twenties, and I'm sure those around me are grateful for it! I loved the fashion for midi-skirts in my late twenties as well - I suppose in that regard we've come full circle, yet again.

At 62 I dress exactly the same way as I did in my twenties. I shop in the same stores, the only thing different is my colour scheme. Since my hair went grey (I can't see the point of colouring it) I suit stronger, more vibrant colours. I love my jeans and cords, practically living in them. I do buy an occasional sweater from the supermarket, ( the last one was from Tesco) and my daughter coveted it, saying she had jumper envy! These days, being quite outdoorsy, I shop in Cotton Traders and Regatta, but I also love Monsoon and East. Nothing in M & S appealed to me the last time I was there, so I won't be going back for a long time.

I like Boden, Aldini, Next, Monsoon.....they all seem to cater for my preferences - and those of younger people too. Why this need to 'target' older people?
Body shapes are different whatever age you are as are people's tastes. All ages, I would venture to suggest, find it difficult to find that particular 'something' from time to time.
I'm sorry Rebekah I don't like to think of my age group being targeted at all because like you and your age group we all have our own preferences. Age is just a number!

Do I take it that your tutors are excluding men over 65? If so, that rather indicates a sexist attitude!

Having said that, I would be furious to find an over 65 section in a men's department.

Oh leave the lass alone! She'll do a grand job.

I'm still not sure you've got it Rebekah

I just want to point that I am in no way suggesting that women over 65 should be segregated but rather this task has been given to me to create a range that appeals to a market that might currently find it difficult to find something she likes on the high street due to the lack of garments with a specific fit or feel.
This market may on the whole be over 65 and are the people who will benefit from this range. This is not saying that any other age cannot shop in this range or that the over 65 cannot shop anywhere else on the high street.

I understand that segregation is definitely the wrong way to go about it and inclusion of a wider range of body shapes and peoples tastes that might belong to those of the age 65+ is the way.

But I do really appreciate the comments!

I think part of the problem is with a term as broad as "over 65". Given that people might reasonably be expected to live for thirty years after that, it becomes rather a broad range. Clothes for people from 0-30? 20-50?
I think well-made clothes in shapes and colours designed to look good, feel comfortable and at a reasonable price will be fine for most people. Nothing special about older people.
I am one of the rustic vegetable-growers, so for that I wear comfortable, low-cost skirts / leggings / jeans and t-shirts. I have a smaller number of more expensive clothes for going out, mostly from White Stuff, Joules and (selected not to be frumpy) Laura Ashley.

Rebekah, I think that is a brilliant phrase "create clothes that appeal rather than target". You can probably gather from these replies that we think being "over 65" is something we celebrate NOT endure.

rebekah please show this thread to whoever gave you this task so that they can see how hopelessly they are out are out of touch! Have they asked anyone to think of a range for the over 30s? I doubt it and you can no more put us in a box than any other age group.

I too would like a few more dresses with sleeves but don't think that has to do with my age. I am a size 12 so have no difficulty finding clothes to fit and I would run a mile from any shop or department selling clothes for my age. Sorry

Rebekah are you suggesting an ageist ghetto? Sounds like it to me

Me too I agree I don't want a 65+ ghetto shop. There is an advert on TV for Fifty plus and its dire!!! I think the best you can do for the brief you have been given is write an excoriating critique of it and the Gransnetters have given you a really good start here.

Rebekah show this thread to your tutors and tell them you have been set an impossible task.
We are all individuals, and dress to our own taste and style.
Apart from that, styling according to age is no longer the thing.
When we were children, we wore thgings for children - dresses with embroidered yokes, gathered skirts and puffed sleeves, that grown-up women wouldn't have worn.
It's not like that now - children's clothes are styled like adults and the lines are so blurred that there are no boundaries.
Tell your tutors they need to be more specific - for example, clothes for women with a certain lifestyle rather than age. A 65 year-old (I am one) who goes out a lot and plays sport will have different wardrobe requirements from someone who lives in a rural area and spends most of their time digging the vegetable patch.
<realises that most country dwellers do more than just tend the vegetable patch, before anyone gets offended>

Thanks for all your opinions ladies, they have really helped!
I agree, I really do have my work cut out!
So from what I understand, you still want to shop in all the high street stores and wish retailers would create clothes that appeal to you rather then target you?
You have made some very useful pointers about shapes, fabrics and quality that I will definitely take into consideration!
I can assure you that there will be beige or pastel cardigans in sight!

Shops on the high street aimed at the older lady categorise us into those that want to look ordinary and comfy.

What I would like to see is an "Elegance" range within a store. I love "The White Company" and "Phase Eight" totally timeless clothes that suit all ages.

Also not all over 65s are the same size. There is very little out there for us tiny ones. Tailored clothes in good fabrics would appeal to me. The modern fabrics that hold you in and cover up my scraggy necks and arms.

I certainly would avoid any range that indicated that once we reach 65 we have "special needs".

Hi Rebekah. good luck with your challenge. There are many good points above , but my main problem ( and I hope im not repeating anyone else's post), is the sleeve issue. last summer my daughter had a festival wedding , and I had great difficulty finding a dress with sleeves.,I don't think cap sleeves are any more flattering than sleeveless as it's the bingo wings that are the problem , not the shoulders. I sooo agree with the point made about natural fabrics too. I often buy tops in Monsoon as they do more silk ones. john Lewis is great for having shops like East and Hobbs, Joules etc. White Stuff have lovely things but the fabric is too clingy .

I suppose I'm saying that I wish I could shop more at M&S. I do like some of their styles, but then feel how thin the trousers are, how narrow the supposedly wider footglove shoes are, realise that the slinky fabrics are not flattering to older abdomens and as the younger generation get taller, the 3/4 length trousers are almost full length on me...

rebekah I and all my friends in my age group (65) find plenty on the high street - I've recently bought from H&M (tops and tunic), Topshop (chinos), and Florence & Fred (dress, gym clothes). My clothes purchasing strategy is see it, like it, buy it (if it's within my budget and given the above stores, ig usually is). I'm .

Definitely not the synthetic fabrics either - many women do not lose their hot flushes until many years past the menopause.

I also want sturdier bras in nice fabrics, not cheap satiny ones. It's fine if you are a young size ten, but we often need a bit more support and high street stores are scarce, there is the odd Rigby and Peller and anyone who could make bras as well as they do and open more shops would get my vote. The M&S stronger ones all have a ridiculously flimsy bit at the front centre that never lasts more than a year with me. I really wish they would produce nice bras and pants in cotton and silk that are smart rather than sexy. I don't want lace and bows sticking out through t-shirts and linen trousers, I end up having to cut them all off.

Yes, I too preferred it when all the clothes were grouped together rather than in ranges. I suppose we have franchising to blame for that, but it turned department stores into clothing markets rather than attractive shops. The occasional beautifully-dressed dummy was more than adequate for the odd idea of how to put clothes together. Now, in M&S for example, Instead of running from coats to trousers, I am running from Indigo to Per Una to Autograph. And strangely - never to Classics.

If M&S would do some of the lovely and flattering tops and dresses that Phase Eight do (but at half the price) I would be very happy. M&S's styles may have gone wayward, but the quality used to be excellent. I can buy sturdier t-shirt bras in Sainsbury's - and am, currently.

Well, that's all given the poor girl something to think about!!

Hi Rebekah, I agree with others and would steer very clear of any shop or outlet that claimed to target over 65s. I still feel affronted when the '50 plus' catalogue plops through my door although I'm 12 years past that milestone. 65, 75, 85 and onwards we are all individuals and still the people we have always been.

I understand that Evans have started a mini revolution in styling for larger women (sadly under Philip Green) and had the first plus size catwalk show at London Fashion Week this year. I think your challenge is similar - older women need to feel included in fashion but not in a separate category. This means using more older models and showing how fashion can be adapted to suit those of different ages, shapes and sizes.

No way!!! not know [shock