Style choices that age women in their 40s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize how much disdain there is for capris! What are options when it’s super super hot out and jeans are not comfortable, and skirts are not practical (eg sitting on a picnic blanket with little kids)?

Same! I just bought 3 pairs of these chinos for summer travel. Have I just outed myself as an out-of-touch old person?

https://www.frankandeileen.com/products/wicklow-black-italian-chino?variant=39366478725194

Those are not capris.

People are assuming "capri" means any cropped pant. No! This is a capri pant:

https://www.titlenine.com/p/indestructible-womens-hiking-capris/112010.html

They are very unflattering because they cut the leg in half and often hit at the widest part of your calf. It's very much a "middle aged mom" look (I am a middle aged mom). Those Frank and Eileen pants are just an ankle pant, which is very on trend and look cute.

It’s sad that you can look at a picture of a badass woman getting into her kayak and fixate on her pants length. Seriously.

+1. Meanwhile no-one feels sorry for the iv drug user with rolled up sleeves, ripped frayed shirt and beige flip-flops by the trashed backyard shed with gravel and overgrown weeds, because her ankle baggy pants are $270 and 'Italian'.

Heroin chic was a thing in the 90s- not a good thing, but a thing…

[Anonymous]

After 40, you should be wearing whatever style jeans are most flattering on your body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only things I think of as universally aging are beauty/grooming choices. I think women start looking a lot older with no makeup once we hit the late 30s/early 40s. A totally bare face makes you look older at this age, light/neutral makeup makes you look younger. If you’re avoiding light foundation because it “settles in your fine lines,” as a lot of people say, you’re either applying it wrong, not using the right kind of skin care/prep/moisturizers, or you’re using the wrong type of foundation.

Too short hair is prematurely aging. So is being visibly gray. Yes, some people can pull off the “full head of gray hair” look, and I think at a certain age it becomes kind of ageless in a way, but that age is certainly not newly 40.

Unfortunately, carrying weight in your chest/bust seems prematurely aging. Especially if you’re short you can get a dowdy/mumsy look and then it’s made worse by the fact that you generally buy clothes to fit your chest and then they’re too big in the waist/hips, so you look like you’re wearing your clothes too loose and that can make you look heavier as a result.

Interesting - I am turning 40 and I look soooo much younger when I wear no makeup. I use makeup to make myself look older. Otherwise I look like a 20 year old (this is not a good thing in my mind). I am Asian so that might be why. Most of the time I am afraid people think I am my kids nanny.

40 may not be the cut off point for you but at some point it will happen. At 49, I have definitely crossed the rubicon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wear capris length leggings all the time in the summer for my athleisure because I don't like shorts on me and I want to be comfortable--is that bad?

also, what jeans should we be wearing? I wear jeans so infrequently but when I do I can't seem to part with my skinny jeans. what are we supposed to wear? bootcut? flare? flare cropped? I'm confused. lol

If, instead of capri leggings, you wore leggings that hit like just above your ankle, will you really be that much warmer? You are already in leggings...does a few inches of exposed calf really keep you cool? Meanwhile, what it is doing is making you look shorter and drawing attention to the widest part of your calf....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize how much disdain there is for capris! What are options when it’s super super hot out and jeans are not comfortable, and skirts are not practical (eg sitting on a picnic blanket with little kids)?

Same! I just bought 3 pairs of these chinos for summer travel. Have I just outed myself as an out-of-touch old person?

https://www.frankandeileen.com/products/wicklow-black-italian-chino?variant=39366478725194

Those are not capris.

People are assuming "capri" means any cropped pant. No! This is a capri pant:

https://www.titlenine.com/p/indestructible-womens-hiking-capris/112010.html

They are very unflattering because they cut the leg in half and often hit at the widest part of your calf. It's very much a "middle aged mom" look (I am a middle aged mom). Those Frank and Eileen pants are just an ankle pant, which is very on trend and look cute.

It’s sad that you can look at a picture of a badass woman getting into her kayak and fixate on her pants length. Seriously.

+1. Meanwhile no-one feels sorry for the iv drug user with rolled up sleeves, ripped frayed shirt and beige flip-flops by the trashed backyard shed with gravel and overgrown weeds, because her ankle baggy pants are $270 and 'Italian'.

Heroin chic was a thing in the 90s- not a good thing, but a thing…

I think it is supposed to give rustic Tuscan farmhouse vibes- won’t be the first or the last retailer to use peasant signifiers for all that is purportedly artisanal. We see it from sheets to olive oil.

[Anonymous]

Find the jeans that would have most horrified you in 2005. Those are the jeans we’re supposed to wear right now.

[Anonymous]

Lilly Pulitzer. No matter your age, it is a terrible style choice but older women wearing hot pink and yellow smock dresses look absolutely ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

3 quarter length sleeve shirts, abstract patterns, any kind of bedazzling, capris, hip length tops, large statement jewelry, denim in odd washes, ill fitting bras

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wear capris length leggings all the time in the summer for my athleisure because I don't like shorts on me and I want to be comfortable--is that bad?

also, what jeans should we be wearing? I wear jeans so infrequently but when I do I can't seem to part with my skinny jeans. what are we supposed to wear? bootcut? flare? flare cropped? I'm confused. lol

I think capri leggings are unflattering, yes. The same reason as capri pants -- they are going to cut you off at the widest part of your calf. I would either go for a 7/8 legging (very flattering length, and you can get them in very thin, lightweight fabric that will be breathable in summer) or a bike short that comes to the knee. I don't generally like how my legs look and avoid shorts a lot, but the longer bike shorts have been making a come back and I'm going to try a pair this summer to wear on very casual days. I think it can look cute with a baggy tee and sneakers. It's very 80s, which is in.

As for jeans, if you like skinnies, stick with a slim straight cut. I think the skintight skinny jeans that are cut like leggings look bad -- a straighter leg will create a longer line. But you don't need to go wide leg or flare if that's not what you're used to or like. One of the main things about updating jeans from a generation ago is that you need a higher rise. Not like super high rise if that's not what you like or it doesn't look good on you, but you want jeans to sit at your natural waist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only things I think of as universally aging are beauty/grooming choices. I think women start looking a lot older with no makeup once we hit the late 30s/early 40s. A totally bare face makes you look older at this age, light/neutral makeup makes you look younger. If you’re avoiding light foundation because it “settles in your fine lines,” as a lot of people say, you’re either applying it wrong, not using the right kind of skin care/prep/moisturizers, or you’re using the wrong type of foundation.

Too short hair is prematurely aging. So is being visibly gray. Yes, some people can pull off the “full head of gray hair” look, and I think at a certain age it becomes kind of ageless in a way, but that age is certainly not newly 40.

Unfortunately, carrying weight in your chest/bust seems prematurely aging. Especially if you’re short you can get a dowdy/mumsy look and then it’s made worse by the fact that you generally buy clothes to fit your chest and then they’re too big in the waist/hips, so you look like you’re wearing your clothes too loose and that can make you look heavier as a result.

Interesting - I am turning 40 and I look soooo much younger when I wear no makeup. I use makeup to make myself look older. Otherwise I look like a 20 year old (this is not a good thing in my mind). I am Asian so that might be why. Most of the time I am afraid people think I am my kids nanny.

40 may not be the cut off point for you but at some point it will happen. At 49, I have definitely crossed the rubicon.

We lose color in our face as we age. For me at 39, I’m a white woman with mostly Eastern European and southern European heritage, I look better, more awake and refreshed, with light makeup and some blush on my cheeks. Again doesn’t have to be anything crazy and you can definitely use a tinted moisturizer or light coverage foundation, blush, and fill in brows in 5 minutes or less every morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wear capris length leggings all the time in the summer for my athleisure because I don't like shorts on me and I want to be comfortable--is that bad?

also, what jeans should we be wearing? I wear jeans so infrequently but when I do I can't seem to part with my skinny jeans. what are we supposed to wear? bootcut? flare? flare cropped? I'm confused. lol

I think capri leggings are unflattering, yes. The same reason as capri pants -- they are going to cut you off at the widest part of your calf. I would either go for a 7/8 legging (very flattering length, and you can get them in very thin, lightweight fabric that will be breathable in summer) or a bike short that comes to the knee. I don't generally like how my legs look and avoid shorts a lot, but the longer bike shorts have been making a come back and I'm going to try a pair this summer to wear on very casual days. I think it can look cute with a baggy tee and sneakers. It's very 80s, which is in.

As for jeans, if you like skinnies, stick with a slim straight cut. I think the skintight skinny jeans that are cut like leggings look bad -- a straighter leg will create a longer line. But you don't need to go wide leg or flare if that's not what you're used to or like. One of the main things about updating jeans from a generation ago is that you need a higher rise. Not like super high rise if that's not what you like or it doesn't look good on you, but you want jeans to sit at your natural waist.

Ok never thought about this for my capris leggings bc my calf is muscular and I have thin ankles so I thought it looked fine! But I’ll check out the 7/8 length. I think I have some but wear them in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wear capris length leggings all the time in the summer for my athleisure because I don't like shorts on me and I want to be comfortable--is that bad?

also, what jeans should we be wearing? I wear jeans so infrequently but when I do I can't seem to part with my skinny jeans. what are we supposed to wear? bootcut? flare? flare cropped? I'm confused. lol

If, instead of capri leggings, you wore leggings that hit like just above your ankle, will you really be that much warmer? You are already in leggings...does a few inches of exposed calf really keep you cool? Meanwhile, what it is doing is making you look shorter and drawing attention to the widest part of your calf....

This. This is what the capri-defenders can't explain. Who walks around thinking "gosh if only my pants were 6 inches shorter, I'd be so much more comfortable." You need to focus on the fabric, not the length. You want something lightweight and breathable.

And if it's truly too hot for pants, then as skirt of any length, or a pair of short, will offer more relief than a pair of capri pants.

[Anonymous]

Skinny jeans and boot cut jeans. Not the boot cut or low rise styles that are back, but the ones that they still have from 2007. Basically anything that was super trendy and now is not - peplum tops, cold shoulder tops. Right now all the summer dresses have cutouts. Fine for now and likely next year - but wearing one in 5-8 years will age you.

Besides clothes, having crepey skin or sunspots on your hands and chest. I always use sunscreen there and have spf hand cream.

Cracked, yellow teeth or brittle damaged hair is aging.

[Anonymous]

Just watch old episodes of any Housewives franchise on Peacock and throw out anything in your closet that is similar to what they wore pre-2021 season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize how much disdain there is for capris! What are options when it’s super super hot out and jeans are not comfortable, and skirts are not practical (eg sitting on a picnic blanket with little kids)?

Same! I just bought 3 pairs of these chinos for summer travel. Have I just outed myself as an out-of-touch old person?

https://www.frankandeileen.com/products/wicklow-black-italian-chino?variant=39366478725194

Those are not capris.

People are assuming "capri" means any cropped pant. No! This is a capri pant:

https://www.titlenine.com/p/indestructible-womens-hiking-capris/112010.html

They are very unflattering because they cut the leg in half and often hit at the widest part of your calf. It's very much a "middle aged mom" look (I am a middle aged mom). Those Frank and Eileen pants are just an ankle pant, which is very on trend and look cute.

It’s sad that you can look at a picture of a badass woman getting into her kayak and fixate on her pants length. Seriously.

Lol at badass woman in kayak