Age appropriate clothing

A post on FB got me to thinking tonight.  The poster was espousing her views on "modest" clothing and biblical stuff, yada, yada, yada.  While I believe there is a reasonable level of what is modest I'm not about to run around in Little House on the Prairie dresses, or swim in a suit that resembles the racing suits worn by Olympic swimmers (no way do I need to shave .001 seconds off my speed).  It did get me to thinking about what is age appropriate for girl's and women's clothing though.

I came of age in the late 80's early 90's and frankly we wore our clothes huge.  I don't remember buying T-shirts in anything but X-large in my late teens and early 20's and would often be seen sporting around in some old shirt stolen from a boyfriend or male acquaintance.  Styles change - thank goodness - and more fitted clothing came into style.  When it did, many people that hadn't seen me in a while thought I had lost weight, I hadn't, just simple turned in those giant t-shirts for something in a medium.

Now days, I'm in that limbo world of too old to wear the teenager/ 20 something styles and too young to graduate to the granny embroidered sweatshirts.  Makes shopping a witch.  The tougher time though is convincing Mom she no longer can pull off shorts that are above the knee and tank tops.  I realize some women that are 61 years old can rock the look, but my mother is not one of them and she should embrace the fact she is destined to capri pants, Bermuda shorts and shirts with at least a cap sleeve.  Difficult to convince her she no longer has the legs of a 20 or even 40 year old anymore.

Therefore I propose we set out to set some Universal Age Appropriate Guidelines for women's clothing.  Of course these are not hard and fast rules.  If you happen to age like Sophia Lauren or Jane Fonda you can sure break the rules a little.  Face it though the vast majority of us don't have the cash for all that plastic surgery.

Winnie's rules:

Age 0-10  Little girls should not wear shirts that proclaim how much they like boys.  Skirts should come to about the knee.  Bikini's should be banned - really what keeps those tops from sliding up when there are no boobs involved?  Never should anything provocative be printed on anything and shoes should have no more than a 1/2 inch heal.  No make up either.

Age 11-13, yeah getting into some tougher territory here as some girls look 11, some look 18 and that's the difficult part.  Skirts a little shorter, clothing a little more snug.  I still don't like girls this age in a bikini, seems kinda creepy yet.

Age 14-18, a toned down version of 20 something clothes.  Not too anything, tight, low cut, short, see-thru or too high a heal.

Age 18-30.  Here's where I say if you got it flaunt it as long as your in the appropriate setting.  Club wear is not appropriate at a funeral or your job.  If you ain't got it don't flaunt it though, because regardless of your age nobody really wants to see a 260 lb woman in a bikini.

Age 30 - 50.  You should be able to figure out what things flatter your body and dress to improve on your good points and camo your not so great aspects.  This is the art to dressing well at any age really.  Invest in staple wardrobe pieces, a good black skirt, slacks, a pair of classic pumps.  Buy good quality.

Age 50+.  Just because your getting to the senior set doesn't mean you have to start getting wet sets weekly and wearing "World's Greatest Grandma" sweatshirts everywhere.  You can still be fashionable but take a look at your changing body.  Menopause will likely have you spreading in the middle so ditch low riding pants and the high riding ones as well, go for a mid rise pant.  Take a good look at your legs and arms, chances are the skin isn't where it once was so go with a longer short and skirt same with your shirts/blouse sleeves.  Stay fashionable by following trends in colors and shapes and accessories.

Other general musings on women's fashions.

NEVER should you wear an item of clothing with a word printed across your behind regardless to age or how fantastic your rear end is.

Always invest in a good bra.  If the girls are sagging to your belly button, hoist 'em up there, you'll look 10 lbs thinner.

Do the bend over test when trying on pants.  If your undies show, or worse your butt crack those are not the pants for you (unless you plan on wearing some lower cut undies and you're sporting granny panties that day)

Where I may be old fashioned -and I probably am- unless you have wonderfully tan, smooth legs invest in some pantyhose.  There is a reason the queen requires them in court.

I make no claims to be a fashion expert.  Goodness if you saw the get-up I had on today you'd proclaim " Who the hell does she think she is giving fashion advice!"  What can I say, I spent the day doing yard work, picking up behind Hubby and some roofers and then tearing out a chimney, hardly a fashion plate day.