#In the books that guide us on how to age gracefully, the DON’Ts are much more like the fancy than the SHOULDs. No leather pants! No cleavage! No man buns and ponytails! No skateboards! The list of items allegedly off-limits to people over 50 is endless. Do you feel like life is setting you up for a trap – one wrong move and the world will laugh at you! And that’s enough to make your hair turn gray prematurely… Come on! Wait a minute….
Instead of being self-absorbed and locked in drab clothes just to look your age, let’s talk about how to dress appropriately, not how to Not Him you are doing wrong!
The list of over 50 style icons grows longer every year as they literally trample over the aforementioned “NO” rulebook one by one (except for skateboards, sorry)!
Iris Apfel, the White House interior designer turned fashion icon and influencer, recently presented a capsule collection for H&M that features purple jacquard fringed miniskirts and frog crystal earrings. The entire 0+ extravaganza sold out in hours. Apfel turns 101 this year.
What does a capsule collection mean – a series created by famous designers especially for her, as a fashion icon.
“Before you can dress for your age, you must first dress,” Apfel once said. He believes the trick is to recognize that the two actions are impossible to accomplish without each other.
Dress for the person you are right now!
There’s no reason to cosplay as an imaginary version of yourself, but you also don’t need to dress up as the person you were 15 years ago. We have no doubt that you’re still super fun at parties, but let’s admit – just for the sake of argument – that now you’re more into getting up early on a Saturday to walk the dog before the park comes alive. That’s you now, and that person might find a pair of comfy corduroys more practical than leather pants.
As strange as it sounds, aging requires clothes that make a statement!
Dress up, not down
When you’re 22, jeans and a black T-shirt look casual and slightly mysterious, but 30 years later, the same outfit can make you invisible. That’s why, as counterintuitive as it sounds, getting older calls for clothes that make a little more of a statement. Get 10% more stylish every 10 years over 40. There are different ways you can organize your wardrobe. You can make it more elegant and more formal – replace t-shirts with collared shirts, wide cardigans with stylish coats …
You can keep it casual and casual, but add color and texture to be glamorously casual rather than sloppily casual.
There comes a point in every 50-something’s life when you realize that in order to be a main character, the younger generation of you must continue to gravitate around you. You have to work a little harder to keep up.
But don’t change too much
My mother, who is very chic at 67, says her secret is to wear what she’s always worn.
“I’ve always loved dresses and still do. The hems are a meter longer than they were 40 years ago, but that’s about it.”
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Liy Radzvil
Photo: Getty Images
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At the moment when you pass half a century of life, a radical change in style direction is inadvisable. If you’ve gone through your first half-century in jeans and sneakers, your complete Monica Bellucci makeover is sure to be an expensive mistake.
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Monica Bellucci is aging beautifully
Photo: Getty Images
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Start by swapping out that thin zip-up fleece for an unstructured blazer. If you’ve always been a fan of fashion designer Phoebe Philo with her signature navy polo collar, you don’t have to start wearing purple and fun brooches to show that you still appreciate fashion.
Channel your Lee Radzwill and keep it sophisticated and demure with some strategic jewelry.
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Lee Radzwill with Jackie Kennedy
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Gray is the new black…
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64-year-old Andie McDowell is a fashion icon on the red carpet
Photo: Getty Images
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Gray the silver fox is the new blonde! Silver foxes (and foxes in general) have a LOT more fun. Andy McDowell (64) is an icon on the Cannes red carpet with his gray hair; Kristen McMenamy (57) appeared on the cover of British Vogue with long silver locks a few months ago.
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Kristen McMenamy (57) appeared on the cover of British Vogue with long silver locks a few months ago.
Photo: Getty Images
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Idris Elba (49) has a beard the color of salt and pepper these days. Even Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby was gray at the temples by the end of Peaky Blinders.
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Idris Elba is aging beautifully
Photo: Getty Images
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The convention that once dictated women cut their hair in middle age if they wanted to avoid the “mutton dressed as lamb” effect is no longer valid because it’s the 20th century equivalent of the Witch Hunt, which has thankfully disappeared . In full force, however, the rule that it’s important to look good as you age still applies. This applies to both men and women.
If we’re acting like hell and rock ‘n’ roll sleazy at 25, the same behavior can get you to the point where you look like you’re falling apart at the seams.
Leather pants: wear, but with caution!
At 58 Brad Pitt is one year older than Boris Johnson. I’m sharing this fact with you to illustrate that there are no rules about what you can avoid as over 50 clothing and what you can’t.
There’s no doubt that Brad Pitt can pull off a pair of leather pants and still look hot, but as for Johnson – I can only apologize if I conjured up that image in your imagination!
What else to watch out for: ripped jeans, overzealous unbuttoning of shirts (men’s and women’s), band tees, anything with a skull motif.
In The Office: If you’re a half-century man, then you’re of the age when a shirt worn under a crewneck or v-neck sweater was a stylish, casual look for most of your working life. But there may come a day when you look in the mirror and realize that your shirt (probably pale blue) under a sweater (charcoal gray, I think) looks less like you’re about to wow a Silicon Valley boardroom and more -rather like a person who will settle down at any moment in his favorite armchair with a hardback historical biography in his hands.
Try wearing a jacket over a casual shirt instead, without a tie.
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Viola Davis and in a suit…
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For women, pants are great for all ages (just look at Viola Davis). Of course, the best option is not to reach for ready-to-wear, but for Prada… But not for Miuccia Prada’s Prada, who puts on the catwalk what she herself wears: neat fit or flashy extravagance!
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Miuccia Prada can afford this extravagance
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Now that your 40s birthday parties seem more like an all-night rave party, your 50s and above may be the first time you have to wear grown-up evening wear. The puzzle over the question: “What should I wear?” is almost as stressful as anticipating the hangover, which has now lasted at least three days.
For men, the party t-shirt is still a safe choice, but no flashy, no Hawaiian flowers, and whatever happens, don’t take it off on the dance floor.
For women, if déshabillé (neglige) is your signature, take a cue from Carine Roitfeld, who demonstrated how slightly smudged black eyeliner and leather skirts still work at 67 when worn with a simple silk blouse and black sandals.
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Carine Roitfeld, who demonstrates how slightly smudged black eyeliner and leather skirts still work at 67 when worn with a simple silk blouse and black sandals.
Photo: Getty Images
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Experiment with floor length: a long dress, like a kaftan, is a nice and gorgeous combination with flat shoes.
Oprah Winfrey in a floor-length shirt dress is your key reference here, not Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire!
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Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Getty Images
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For the weekends
Packing three identical holiday dresses in your 25s is a great British tradition, and it’s sustainable. But the denim mini skirt you bought in the shopping center when Tony Blair was in Downing Street gets a red light. The same goes for the kaftan you bought on Benirrás Beach in Ibiza because Sienna Miller wore one in her 20s. But as a general rule of thumb, if you now have to take your reading glasses out to dinner and/or use your phone’s flashlight feature to look at menus, be suspicious of see-through, lace-like fabrics, embroidery, and plunging necklines.
Loose boho style is ok, but saggy is not the line we want to emphasize at this point.
Men, mirrored sunglasses will make you look like a grizzled LAPD cop. Men: classic sunglasses only in black or tortoiseshell.
White jeans are always a good idea.
Okay, there are a few things you shouldn’t touch! I can’t lie, everything has its limits.
For women: sweatshirts or fabric tote bags with whimsical slogans that include the words “prosecco” or “yoga.”
For men: cycling gear if you’re bulky and lime green.
I admit I’m not really qualified to judge cycling gear considering I only ride my bike in the park a maximum of three times a year, but is it really necessary to dress up as a ninja turtle to pedal in South Park on Sofia?
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