Ladies,
I was recently working with a client who hired me to go shopping with her to find appropriate holiday outfits that would be trendy for her age. Remember there’s nothing worse than looking like you are trying to hard.
We went shopping and the things she had in mind would have been appropriate but would also, in my eyes, be screaming, BORING. Most women would take the traditional no brainer approach of going “safe” in fear of standing out too much, but remember that most women think the same.

Whether they blame not having enough time to prepare for an event, the lack of knowledge or the fact they they have lost sight of who they are- they don’t have a clue of what works for their body style any more and the women over 45 are sill stuck in what “used to” work for them. They too take the no brainer approach and play it safe.

If it worked for you 10 or  20 years ago it must work now. Right?
Wrong. Your body is not the same even if you weight the same. The styles have changed and even if you wore it when it was in style, doesn’t necessarily mean you should be wearing it again, (as you blow off the dust and cross your fingers that it could work). Why fight the inevitable. Your body changes with age, whether you are in your twenties going into your thirties or you’re in your forties approaching your fifties, etc.
And ladies, it doesn’t stop there, many women over 60 have made the effort and have sought alternatives to fight the aging process. According to the NPD Group, a leading market research firm, women over 65 spent $14.7 billion on apparel in 1999, almost the identical amount spent by the 25-to-34-year-old women the industry is fixated on. More significant, spending by the older women leapt 12 percent from the previous year, compared with a minuscule tenth of a percent rise in spending by the younger women. ”Older women see themselves as generally about 10 years younger than their chronological age,” said David Demko, a gerontologist in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the publisher of Age Venture News, a Web site for retirees. What is more, he said, ”they tend to use fashion as a personality cosmetic, telling themselves, ‘I’m going to go out and dress in a way that represents they way I feel.’ It’s not just about anti-aging serums. It’s about what you are wearing and what you are saying internally and expressing externally. What you are wearing when you are saying something is more important than what you are saying.

I told my sister Christine once that it wasn’t what you are saying it was more about how you are saying what you are saying. Well what’s more important than that is what you are wearing. People see you before you speak and  they assess your personality in just 7 seconds. Yes in only 7 seconds they have already formed an opinion of you based on what you are wearing and how you are caring yourself.
The opinion they form is what sticks for the duration of the time they know you. It sticks for an ENTIRE life time.

Tags: Appropriate outfits, Boring yet safe, Impressions, No-brainer, Wear what you say, What you wear, Women over 60

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm under General, Making a Good Impression, Over Sixty. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.