Sociologist, Julia Twigg’s new book does not bode well for older women dressing fashionably.
JULIA TWIGG IS A SOCIOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KENT IN ENGLAND. HER BOOK IS BASED UPON INTERVIEWS WITH 20 OLDER WOMEN, INCLUDING: THE DESIGN DIRECTOR OF MARKS AND SPENCER, ASADA, JAEGER, THE EDITOR OF VOGUE, ALEXANDRA SHULMAN, THREE OTHER FASHION EDITORS, AND INDIVIDUAL STORIES OF WOMEN IN THEIR LATER LIFE.
One of Twgg’s premises is that women in their 40’s to 60’s are self-styling, but that women in their 70’s and 80’s are still concerned about looking age-appropriate. The younger women who are more stylish, also have more disposable income than the older women who have less money. I don’t agree with this. I think that there are many older women who have LOTS of money, but there is no one out there designing for them. Other than: Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, Chico’s, and Eileen Fisher!!
Another general thesis is that as we age, we become more alienated from the fashion world wearing more somber colors with less ornamentation. This I would agree with. Her research discussed below helps explain why this is so.
Astonishingly, Twigg found who companies that make a lot of money from older shoppers, and, in fact are designing garments specifically to fit older women, didn’t want them labelled or targeted at this market – or even using older women as models – because they are stigma!!. THAT HAS GOT TO CHANGE!!! I have noticed this when looking at Chico’s or Eileen Fisher Ads, that they TOO are now using younger models. At a conference at the Royal College of Art in October, 2013, it was revealed that a leading clothes manufacturer, which had participated eagerly in a project designing comfortable, attractive clothes for older people, refused to be publicly associated with the project. (THE NERVE!!)
I think most of us would agree that fashion offers all of us the opportunity to create a better version of ourselves; maybe richer, definitely slimmer, and invariably younger. At the same time, there are moral rules governing the clothes we wear, especially as we age. Short skirts, low necks and sometimes even sleeveless dresses are taboo, presumably on the grounds that the older female body is not beautiful and that it should be kept under wraps.
Basically, women are in a double bind according to Twigg and me. “They must avoid trying to look too young, however, they must also not look too old. One interviewee suggested that society does not want to look at older women as exemplars of fashion and beauty. It’s really true….but I hope things area changing. In the meantime, Vogue may talk about older women, but it doesn’t show them. “Older” for Vogue means over 30. THAT definitely has to change!!
Fashion and Age: Dress, the Body and Later Life
By Julia Twigg
Bloomsbury, 184pp, £65.00 and £19.99
ISBN 9781847886965 and 6958
Published 4 July 2013
Bloomsbury, 184pp, £65.00 and £19.99
ISBN 9781847886965 and 6958
Published 4 July 2013
