Mutton dressed as lamb. This is a phrase that I have heard since I was a little girl and I think it’s as outdated as it is old. To me it suggests that the older person in the scenario is past it but being older these days does not mean that you are past anything, far from it. In fact, being older brings the gift of wisdom and experience, a self-assurance that is often not afforded to the young, and confidence in who we are…. doesn’t it?
Actually, it’s often the case that self confidence goes awry as we mature and self-doubt creeps in, but this does not mean that you are past it, it just means that we have to learn to tell those intrusive negative feelings to fuck off! We are not ‘over the hill’ we are fierce, intelligent, fabulous women with real and valid thoughts and feelings and how we dress should reflect this. Although we might be made to feel invisible, we are not. Young people are not told that they can’t wear certain items because of their age so why do we need to be?
It is true that our bodies do not look the same as they did 20 years ago but not the same doesn’t mean ‘not as good’, and we can cover the areas that we don’t like – which is the same at any age. For example, if you don’t like your knees don’t stop wearing short skirts, wear thick tights instead, if you are bothered by your tummy wear fabrics that skim rather than cling or if your bottom brings you down wear something interesting on your top half to draw your eye upwards. Simple fixes!
It is also true that perhaps we don’t want to look like a 20-year-old, because, well, we’ve been there, done that. So where do we shop without it costing the earth? Also, I don’t feel the need to follow trends anymore, but I do like to be up to date so I take elements of a trend and incorporate it into something that suits my style and shape. For instance, cargo trousers are everywhere at the moment and instead of wearing them with a crop top and an oversize hoodie like my daughter, I team them with a fitted top and blazer, or opt for the smarter, ‘evening’ version. This allows us to still shop in stores that we might have felt were ‘too young’.
The upshot is that nothing is out of bounds, it’s only ourselves that prevent us from wearing what we want to wear. Life is short, wear what makes you happy.
