Age, Trends and Fads

Similar Outfit: Older (Katie) Vs Stylish (Miranda)...
Let me know what you think?

I remembered some years back when Trinny and Susannah’s style makeover show was on Australian television, where they do wardrobe and style transformations for the poor unsuspected ‘fashion victims’ that were nominated by either their family and or friends. Basically what these ‘fashion victims’ have agreed to do, when they have chosen to continued with the program, were to disposed of all garments that were considered by Trinny and Susannah to be absolutely wrong for them and  start anew clothes and wardrobe with Trinny and Susannah’s help and guidance. The two style gurus were brutally honest and it was interesting to see that some of us still have very old, out dated and ill-fitted clothes. Don’t get me wrong I love vintage clothing, but we are not talking about old vintage piece of clothing, but styles that were unflattering and seemed to be stuck in some sort of a time warp.



Images from Shop Til You Drop
October 2008, pages 96 & 97  

Anyways, I remembered this one episode with this lady, she was a horse riding instructor or as such, and she was really stuck in her teens with miniskirts, tight t-shirts and jeans. What makes this disastrous was that she was in her late thirties, or was it early-mid forties, but she was definitely not seventeen. Trinny and Susannah did a wonderful job with her transformation and dressed her in a style more appropriate to her age, but in the end she went back to her initial style. She felt it was more her and was happy with it, and good for her but honestly, and in my opinion, she looks kind of tacky and why was she still trying so hard..?!

 

Dressing appropriately for your age these days, however are somewhat fuzzy when you have celebrity such as 44 year old Elle Macpherson who still looks good in skinny-leg jeans. You want to be stylish and fashionable, but trends come and go so quickly, it is sometimes difficult not to get left behind or worse trying to keep up.  Clothes can make you look older than you are or a “mutton dressed as lamb”, which also makes you look older, and “to slavishly follow trends is instantly ageing” (Markezic Oct 2008, 96).

The secret to staying stylish according to most stylists and designers is invest in clothing that flatters your body shape, emphasise on your positives and hide the negatives. Not all trends are bad especially the ones that suits and complements your body and personal style. However, the right trends for you might come in rarely it is ideal to be conscious of the general trends and “buy only those pieces that work for you, your shape, your age, your lifestyle” (Markezic Oct 2008, 96).   

To be continued...