Is it just me or have you noticed that people of similar age have similar fashion misconceptions? Such as:
- the 60-something who thinks she needs to carry a brown purse because she’s wearing a green outfit
- the 40-something who pairs her bright top with any bottom, as long as it’s black
Here’s the deal, IMHO: if you wear something because you LIKE it – like, say, you really LIKE mules – by all means, wear it. The fact that I actively dislike it doesn’t signify. HOWEVER, if you wear it because you are obeying some outdated rule: FLY, BE FREE!
From what fashion fallacy would you like to set someone free?
Matching shoes and handbags. My mom can’t let go of that one. 🙂
Well, I’m 60-something and don’t have a brown purse.
I often wear bright tops with black jeans —
does that mean I’m FREE ….. or forty :-))
Black will not make you look dramatically thinner if you are large– you look like a large person dressed in black.
Just because you’re wearing jeans doesn’t mean you look cute or current.
If you are over 40-45, wearing juniorish clothes will not make you look younger.
A $50 Target LBD does not look like a high-end LBD just because it’s black.
Nothing is so “classic” it does not look out of date in five or six years.
‘Gold toned’ jewelry does not look like gold.
A handbag is not “good” just because it is made of leather.
It makes me sad when someone says they can’t wear an entire color, such as “Oh, I can’t wear pink”, without considering that there is an entire spectrum of that color ranging from fuchsia to baby pink to coral to muted rose, and some of those shades are going to be wearable for people while others can’t.
I am also slowly winning the battle to convince some key friends & loved ones that if a pair of pants or jeans is perfect except for being a few inches too long, it is STILL perfect because hemming the length is the easiest alteration ever.
Duchesse: Undoubtedly you are correct. However, the moral of your list seems to be “if you can’t wear expensive and real then don’t wear anything.”
Which would be unfortunate for those of us who must settle for the Target dress and gold-toned jewelry or do just that!
I’m in my 60’s and I used to be bewildered in jr. high
in Southern California when my classmates wore any
color top with black skirts because black goes with
anything. Being California, you can imagine all the pastel
candy colored tops, many prints, with the heavy looking black skirts.
Otherwise, though, not one thing anyone else wears bothers me.
I beg to differ re: “Nothing is so classic…”. I got a black wool, double breasted peacoat in a mid-thigh length in grade 9, cared for it meticulously, and wore it all through college. (total lifespan: ~7 years) I got compliments on it to the very end.
no, I lied.
I used to be appalled when one of the local board of ed members used
to attend public meetings in bright colored wool sheath dresses with
huge keyhole necklines and she was extra well endowed.
In a different category from the above, I don’t like the routine showing of
cleavage, no matter that it is just a “modest” amount. I don’t like camisoles
that look like lingerie items. And, sorry, I’m still stuck in my own generation
thinking that fishnets are trashy.
Mom – I think it means that’s what you have that fits. 😉
Duchesse – I had forgotten about the thinking that jeans are automatically “cool”, just because they are jeans. lol But I have not forgotten what a stir it caused the first time a teacher wore jeans to my school, back when I was in fifth grade.
Along with that, I’d love to get rid of the thinking that because one is wearing jeans, it’s automatically okay to wear a t-shirt. And what a “t-shirt” means to some. Ugh! I’m getting a headache thinking about it.
Kari – you are wise and kind and your friends do well to listen to you. 🙂
cindykay – I can vouch for Duchesse that she is understanding about being on a budget and has been very gracious and complimentary about some of the things I’ve thrifted.
Vildy – I am so with you about the cleavage, and the fishnets too.
Emily – thankfully, coats seem to have a “shelf life” much longer than most other garments!