It is a fact sad but all too true that women of a certain age have for a long time been invisible to fashion designers. Lately however there has been a change of emphasis and they have now begun to realise that there is an army of women over a certain age and over a certain dress size who have money to spend on clothes and no where to go to buy them. Am I cheering, no I am not!
There has in recent times been a proliferation of fashion catalogues aimed at the older woman, you will have seen the commercials, My Style, Fifty Plus, Marisotta and Isme to name but a few. These catalogues trumpet their desire to cater for the older “more discerning” woman, shall I tell you what this discerning woman has observed, most of these catalogues are owned by the same company and quite often the clothes are the same.
Of course there are also quite a few different items but the basics are identical and unfortunately follow the same pattern as the catalogues for younger and presumably less discerning women. The clothes look great on the slim models and not so great on the more portly ones.
Some cater for the woman who still wants to look sexy and outshine her daughter, to her I say hang up your guns dear and give the youngsters a chance. Remember the tarty old hag who used to strut about in a mini skirt when you were younger,you know the one you all used to giggle at.......that could be you!
There are others who cater for the ex hippy types,in to which bracket I admit to belonging. The pages of this catalogue are full of flared skirts, maxi dresses. Gypsy blouses and ponchos. To this woman I say , when your hippy poncho is the size of the tent you used to sleep in at festivals it is time to take the flowers out of your hair and get the regulation perm!
Then there are the ones...and these are the sneakiest of the lot...which claim to cater for “The Real Woman”. They tell us that wearing their stuff will give us the confidence we lack, If I had as much front as Linda Bellingham that would be fine...I don't..
We are now in the realms of the fashion advisor’s, don’t wear block colours they make you look enormous, don’t wear disty prints they make you look enormous, don’t wear large prints they make you look enormous.....they all tell a different tale …...lets face it dear the truth is you are enormous.....this you will not hear!
I detest the clothes which women of my age are supposed to wear and I always shudder as I turn the page to find the mature woman section....Oh My Granny!... I cannot and will not associate my self with these dreadful garments. The fashions of today are lovely, they are almost identical to the type of clothes I wore as a teenager in the seventies, the only difference being that we wore our see through blouses with nothing underneath, today they cover there boobs with a camisole........where is the panache in that.
These days it would take more than a camisole to disguise that fact that gravity has taken its toll on my once svelte figure. I am a realist but that does not mean that I wish to look like my own grandmother.
I do quite a lot of my clothes shopping on line these days, I favour kaftans, kurtas and abyas in the summer time and I can pick up some lovely examples of these for between eight and twenty pounds. Try matching that in the high street or in the catalogues which charge exorbitant amounts of interest if you have an account.
In the winter time I admit to wearing capes, cloaks and ponchos, these too I buy on line and often for ridiculously low prices compared to normal shops. My most recent purchase was a beautiful embroidered crushed velvet kaftan which cost me the princely sum of eight pounds, you could not buy the material for that price.
So many women are bullied by fashion pundits in to buying in to a look which does nothing for them what so ever.,take the classic (mother of the bride ) out fit. My God I have seen some monstrous garments at weddings I have attended, catastrophic failures on the part of those advising the poor soul combined with the fact that the poor souls self image is about twenty years behind the times. These appalling ensembles are made even more pitiful by the addition of...A HAT!
This is in these time an item of clothing seldom worn except at Royal garden parties Royal Ascot or weddings and there is a fact which many women are unaware of and it is this, either you look good in a hat or you don't, not just a particular hat, any hat. I for example always look ridiculous in a hat, result I do not wear hats, with the exception of a fur monstrosity which keeps my ears warm in the winter. Eschew the fascinater,these are best left to characters in Agatha Christie novels.
So what is the point of this rant , firstly beyond a certain age it may be better to be unobtrusive, and as one gets really ancient neat and clean is perhaps the best thing to aim for. I prefere clean and exentric myself.
The real point however is this, once you realise that you are ever so slightly over the hill there comes a feeling of liberation. OK so you don't get wolf whistles any longer but you do not have to agonise about weather your hand bag matches your shoes or if any one will notice that you are wearing last years boots...you are free from the chains that bind younger women who still must compete for the fickle attentions of some man or other, that is a wonderful feeling.
Enjoy being who you are NOW, wear what the hell you like, the chances are that no one is looking at you anyway!!!!!!
News bulletin
My son is thankfully no longer in so much pain, he slept for thirteen hours ate a little scrambled egg for breakfast and then went back to bed, he has slept for most of the day only waking when the painkillers begin to wear off. I believe that he is suffering from exhaustion, I recognise the signs...he has all of them!
No comments:
Post a Comment