Clothes for "older" people.

I’ve just looked at the 2 brands you mention. Just my sort of thing. Thank you.

Iris Apfel has money and her clothes are expensive, but you do not need money to dress like that, just imagination, access to lots of charity shops and a sewing machine.

Why criticise her? She is a wonderful example of not letting your age or other people's criticsm dictate how you dress. It doesn't matter what your age is, just dress the way you like and to hell with anyone trying to dictate to you how you 'ought' to dress.

If I, or anyone else, decides they want to dress like a catwalk model or a bag lady, that is entirely up to us.

Every time I see Iris I can’t help but think ‘Barry Cryer’! Sorry………..

Can’t imagine that lady in Aldi! I think “ordinary” people dress for life as in, practically. We have to. We don’t have the funds, time, lifestyle to dress in that way.

Riverwalk

Midi/maxi tiered prairie dresses, they've been around for a few years and are everywhere - too flouncy, and as I'm short of leg wouldn't be a good look on me. Also I think they're for younger women, dare I say that!

I saw two taller women around my age out together wearing said dresses and IMO it wasn't a good look... very old granny looking. To wear a granny-look well you need not to be a granny!

On Newsnight recently Kirsty Wark was wearing the most dreadful long brown 70s curtain-patterned dress

That’s a really good point To wear a granny look well you need not to be a granny
I am noticing lots of trousers for instance on the fashion pages with the front crease stitched or piped, very much like M&S used to do in their Classic “granny” range I hate it and can’t see past the association.
Let’s face I though, if you’re young and not massively fat (am I allowed to say that? But it’s true) you can look good in a bin bag. Whereas I just look as if I am wearing a bin bag!

Midi/maxi tiered prairie dresses, they've been around for a few years and are everywhere - too flouncy, and as I'm short of leg wouldn't be a good look on me. Also I think they're for younger women, dare I say that!

I saw two taller women around my age out together wearing said dresses and IMO it wasn't a good look... very old granny looking. To wear a granny-look well you need not to be a granny!

On Newsnight recently Kirsty Wark was wearing the most dreadful long brown 70s curtain-patterned dress

Monica thanks for the link.

I came across this video by accident on You Tube. There are lots of them.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=P8phrtnH8_s

Grannygravy, we have similar taste, but I'm sure you look more more stylish than this wee, vertically challenged and rounded Glaswegian! ?

My style hasn’t really changed more adaptable as I got older. I like next M&S sometimes and use on line catalogues to get my style right. Older but still a bit bo ho!

I think Iris Apfel looks grotesque. Vivienne Westwood ridiculous. The clothes wear them. They make a living looking like that but don't know how.
As you get older you develop your own style, I don't believe in clothes for older women, you wear what suits you. Obviously I wouldn't wear a skimpy bikini now, it would frighten people, torn jeans and muffin tops are out, but would have been out at 20 for me as don't like scruffy. I just have one stand out item on, whether it a piece of jewellry,dress, top, bag or scarf. Agree with Big Bertha.

Understated, not fussy, conservative dressing I love. When I was a child, my very glam and smart grandmother was a women’s wear buyer at a big Cardiff store. I liked getting dressed up smartly in our home down and then going into town for a cuppa.
Funnily enough, I love modern art, am left of centre but loved understated clothes from a young age. I buy from - mostly dresses at this time of year;
Seasalt
Live U.K. (John Lewis)
AND/OR
Hush
M&S (smart cotton joggers, they look like trousers)
House of Bruar
Woolovers for jumpers and cardis.
Peter Hahn.
Hotter

I struggle with deciding what to wear nowadays as I’m a size 22/24 and the choice is more limited. My poor mobility means I can only shop online which again limits my choice. Another problem is that I have psoriasis and fabrics such as wool irritate my arms so have to wear cotton sweat shirt type fabrics or fleeces.

I favour a casual look, trousers with a loose tunic top, but this year many such tops seem to be made of linen which as I hate ironing, is a no no for me! I like Cotton Traders and buy a lot of their t shirts and polo shirts for around the house.

I eventually manage to get suitable casual clothes but dread having a formal occasion when I need something a bit dressier, like a wedding! I think I need a personal dresser to help me!

Hello my name is DerbyshireLass and I'm a clothesaholic. ?

I love love love clothes. I love experimenting and I love dressing up. My family think it's hilarious. My son once joked I had so many clothes I should open a shop. So I did.

I now buy and sell vintage clothing, problem is I often find it hard to part with my treasures. My DIL doesn't help me, for my recent birthday she bought me yet another fabulous handbag.

I shall leave all my bags to her in my will. ......

The great Hollywood costume designer Edith Head once said "you can be anything you want in life, you just have to dress the part".

So true. Clothes play a big part in our"roles" in life, we can convey any image we want. It's also true that The better I dress, the better I get treated, better service in shops, restaurants etc.

And it's not about money. You don't need to be rich to look good. If you are hard up, then hit the charity shops.

In fact I tend to find that these days very often the clothing you can find Charity shops is far better quality than you tend to find on the high street. I have coats and bags that are 30 or 40 years old and which are immaculate.

Loved the article. Brad Pitt - v - Boris Johnson. Lol. And the image conjured up of Boris in leather trousers, ???.

Now that I'm retired from corporate life I have got rid of all my office wear. I can now wear exactly what I like when I like.

Now .......if I could just lose a couple of stones I would be buying some faux leather trousers like a shot.

Oddly enough my sister recently reminded me that on my 30th birthday (41 years ago) I treated myself to some faux leather trousers. I always wore them with a silk shirt. My sister said I looked like Chrissie Hynd.

Apparently I now resemble Helen Mirren, ??.

If I like it, and it doesn`t look stupid, I wear it.

I like gentle impact. Colourful but always coordinated.

Happy to look like a bag lady. Happy to be invisible.

I can look good when I need to, although thanks to COVID, I almost never need to these days.

Just been shopping with DM for clothes. At 87 I've noticed she looks better in a dress - & yes, Lovebeigecardigan she does look like Mrs Brown if left to her own devices. She seems less able to put suitable items together and can't be bothered with jewellery any more. (Part of a bigger problem were investigating).

I've never been a follower of fashion. It just doesn't suit me.
I wear pretty much what I've always worn. Casual clothes, mostly trousers and tops. I do actually own 3 or 4 dresses and that's it. Also I'm dictated by my budget and just can't afford to be fashionable. I'm just an old countrywoman at heart.

Esmay

I love the looks created by Iris Apfel and Vivienne Westwood .
If I were thinner and richer ...

Esme ( GBSB) is that you with a slightly altered nom de plume?
? we love your necklaces.

I make all my own clothes these days, I am short and everything I make fits me, bearing in mind the pattern adjustments that we need to allow for age ie rounded upper back, forward shoulder so that garments don`t strangle the front of the neck. Ha, re dressing older, no thanks, the next garment on my list is a a stylish set of dungarees, my last garment was a linen trapeze dress and the one before was a shackett

I don`t rate woolovers at all, their lambswool jumpers bobble very easily. It is about fibre length (spinner here) and lambswool fibres are very short as is merino. Bfl is a good fibre to look for but my spinning stash consists of jumper weights of blends such as bfl, silk and cashmere. I think they cost me around £30 at the time, all vac packed safely, away from moths

No twinsets and pearls for me and the only real way to be unique is to make your own

The traditional way to dress when older was like the comic character Mrs Brown (of Mrs Brown's Boys) and who wants to look dowdy like that? Iris Arpel is at the other end of the spectrum.

I think most of us are somewhere in the middle.

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Caleo

WoolOvers is my latest favourite. Prices about the same as M and S for good quality jumpers and cardies. Their online sizing system is quite good, and the customer reviews are sometimes helpful about sizing.

I have gone off M and S because of their high rise trousers.

Couldn't agree more. A good friend who is a peerless knitter, so with exacting standards, was bemoaning the boring colours and lack of natural fibres in Australian stores and I put her on to Woolovers. She rated their quality, range of colours and price highly.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202206/medium-83425-bb2ddd69-9465-4c1b-83e7-538cf9946479.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202206/medium-64737-e54606cc-56bb-4408-98f1-253d6195aa37.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202206/medium-794936-532958a6-3f23-45bc-a4cf-13d9394dd0fc.jpeg

Just been browsing on Instagram and came across this older woman, from Germany. Her style is pretty cool, flamboyant but not as outrageous as Iris Apfel’s.

M0nica

*Casdon*, I think you are right, and you only have to look through the colour supplements and weekend papers to see all the adverts for just the clothes you describe.

Indeed I have a very dear friend who is a walking advert for Country Casuals, the sweaters, skirts and shoes. I had a grandmother, a professional dressmaker who always looked stylish, in my childhood, people would comment to me about how stylish my mother was ( mainly, I think, because they wondered how she had ended up with me!), my style is more hit and miss, and bohemian, but my 15 year old DGD is following in the family line and has an incredibly good eye and asked for a subscription to Vogue as a birthday present.

Good for your DGD Monica, she’s got the eye by the sounds of it. I think one of the problems for many older women is the lack of choice, which is probably what leads to the identikit look - most of the brands specialising in whole ranges which work are dull, and you have to be interested enough in clothes to sift through rails or search online and be prepared to return things which don’t work from other ranges which are mainly geared at younger body shapes. It’s a lot of effort for people who aren’t that interested in clothes anyway.

WoolOvers is my latest favourite. Prices about the same as M and S for good quality jumpers and cardies. Their online sizing system is quite good, and the customer reviews are sometimes helpful about sizing.

I have gone off M and S because of their high rise trousers.