town to the big city.” • Mary Anne said she demands both comfort and style from her clothes, particularly when looking for outfits that will take her from meetings to dinner. • Phyllis said, “Jeans are not for me. The only thing I wear that is denim is a gold lame’ pantsuit. Comfort is first, then style. With good taste, style will always follow.” • Anne—”I look for both!” • Bertha never wore jeans to church until recently. “I looked around the church when I was there for meetings and realized that people were dressing in a more relaxed fashion, so I started to also,” she said. • “Denim can be made to work for all ages and body types without having the ‘mommy jeans’ look associated with the over-50 set,” said Cynthia. “I recently outfitted a woman who said, ‘I’m 85 but I don’t want to dress 85; I want to be stylish.’ The jeans we chose gave her the look she was trying to accomplish without looking dated.”
knees and then decide what your skirt length should be. Then again, if you wear opaque tights you can probably get away with going shorter.
Even if you have the body of a 30-year-old, at what age should you no longer wear short skirts? The group agreed that hem length was not a decision to be made solely based on age, but on knees. As we get older our knees tend to get wrinkly. So the advice here was to look at your
How important are accessories to your look? • Toni—”Accessories are very important for me, especially this year. A long scarf knotted at the neck, a wide belt cinched at the waist over a long top or jacket, they both immediately add a fashion look. This past winter, fur was everywhere. A fox fur collar on a coat or jacket was very in and I really liked this look. It added a bit of glamour. Accessories add style without breaking the bank.” • Anne—”I do like jewelry. Most of it is not good jewelry, although I have a few nice pieces given to me over the years. I always look in the mirror and usually edit by taking something off!” • Bertha—”I love my jewelry and I feel that I’m not fully dressed until I’m properly accessorized. The wearing of a scarf is crucial for me. I wear scarves or some facsimile thereof all the time; I have boxes of them! My neck must be covered with a scarf, turtleneck, dickey or closefitting high collar.” • Phyllis—”One of the things I find is that as I’ve gotten larger, and my clothes simpler, it is my
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What about footwear? There was no real agreement on comfort vs. style in footwear. The group ranged from “requiring total comfort all the time,” to “wearing ‘not-that-comfortable’ really great shoes but just wearing them for a short time to a special event,” to “only reluctantly giving up my 4-1/2 inch spikes.” On a cautionary note, Anne related: “Last year I fell wearing what I now call my ‘stupid shoes’—great summer black, very high, platform wedges. I loved them but I fractured my 5th metatarsal and sported a big black boot for weeks. I still look longingly at my wedges but haven’t put them back on—yet! I am also working on my balance.” But like Anne, most everyone still kept shoes they loved even though they can’t wear them anymore; they just visit them in the closet.
accessories that make my outfits. They are what add the statement to my canvas.” • Cynthia—”Once you know your clothing personality, you will know how to accessorize yourself. For example, if you are a sporty-natural, you will feel most comfortable in minimal jewelry, a smaller handbag or wristlet and with post-type earrings or hoops. I tend to go with all matching accessories for my look.” What has been your biggest fashion coup? • Mary Anne—”Some great coats over the years because in this climate, who ever sees your outfit?” • For Toni it was “the courage to wear a hat with an evening gown and feel comfortable doing it.” • Phyllis—”I would say diamonds. Diamonds make everything else look expensive.” How long do you hold on to your mistakes or styles no longer in fashion? The answers to this ranged from “about 20 minutes” to “forever.” The forever people felt that at this age they’ve seen styles come around again and felt comfortable in their ability to modify them to look up-to-date. The “dump it and move on crowd” felt that if it never worked, it wouldn’t improve with age. • Phyllis—”The only thing I regret getting rid of were some clutch handbags. Who knew they were coming back?” • Anne—”Not holding onto clothes is easier now that I have moved to an apartment. I am much more organized as I do not have a lot of room to store things I never wear or are outdated.” • Bertha—”I am definitely one of ‘the forever people’. At my age I’ve seen it all come and go and with a little tweaking I can make whatever I wear fit into the current trends.” There was a great discussion about shoulder pads and the group agreed to disagree. Those who had broad shoulders hated them and those without great shoulders loved them. • Bertha—”I tend to stay away from shoulder pads because I have very broad shoulders but I have Continued on page 46