No matter your age, we all want to feel great in our clothes. Fashion is ageless and whatever your personal style may be, you shouldn’t have to adapt your fashion due to your age. We are led to believe that fashion should be ‘age appropriate’.
Some may say the fashion industry is failing the older generation of consumers. Clothing advertisements predominantly feature younger looking models showing a latest collection. This can in avertedly put consumers off shopping at a particular brand.
Especially when customers have shopped with a brand before, but their use of younger models in campaigns can end up scaring away those who had previously been loyal. After a certain age, we see shops such as M&S and Next catering more for those who feel their age defines their fashion style.
Who can we follow?
Following an influencer on social media who is a similar age can be beneficial to gaining style inspo. Trinny Woodall, demonstrates on her YouTube channel how women should still dress how they want no matter their age.
She films herself or with her followers browsing a Highstreet store such as Zara and inspires her audience by showing them how they should wear clothes to feel comfortable yet trendy. She also features a segment on her channel called ‘Friday twinning’. This is where Trinny and a member of her team, Chloe, wear the same outfit but demonstrate to the audience how it can be worn on two different ages and two different body types.
Trinny also features a segment on her YouTube channel called ‘The Trinny Takeover’. This allows her follows to get in touch to receive a clothes, hair and makeup transformation. It is beneficial for those searching for inspiration on what clothes suit their age range. Trinny features different women who are of many ages and body types.
Social media has impacted how we look at fashion. Glamour magazine released an article highlighting the fashion influencers who are over 50 that we all should be following. Rather than looking at the current campaigns, following everyday women who snap their daily outfits can build confidence to those who feel age is more than just a number.
Another example of someone to follow is Ruth Langsford. The This Morning presenter is ages 60 with her own range of clothing with QVC. Ruth posts her daily looks on her Instagram to give her followers an idea of what to wear at a similar age, and an occasion to wear them.
How can we look at age differently?
In our current society, we are led to believe that growing old is not fashionable and you can get overlooked. We all want to know the secret to anti-aging, whether it’s sleeping with a silk pillowcase or using retinol in skincare. This should be channelled into celebrating age, and how it’s a privilege to grow older. We admire fashion icons of the past and maintain certain trends that have evolved.
Fashion is seen as an evolving circle that comes back around. One example would be the Dior saddle bag. The iconic, monogrammed mini bag came out in the year 2000 on the runway for Spring Summer in John Galliano’s collection.
Almost 20 years later, the brand has bought the same iconic bag back to life with a modern twist. The original bag came in one size and had one shoulder strap. Whereas the modern version has multiple colour ways, many strap alternatives and added Dior branding to make the bag stand out. This shows the basic idea of a monogrammed saddle shape bag is a constant in fashion no matter the age or year it is seen on the runway.
Fashion is all about both expression and feeling comfortable. Trends evolve and items that are popular come back on the runway and are soon seen in Zara. Age allows us as consumers to share our own fashion sense from different perspectives.
With age comes experience, and Fashion is centred around creating something we know is popular but with a modern twist.
Trends will evolve and circulate but the basics of fashion that feels confident and comfortable will always be ageless.