Should older people "dress their age"?

Question

I'm in my early 50s. I dress very informally for work and social events, usually an Aloha shirt, Dockers, and flip-flops. On weekends I wear shorts, a T-shirt or "wife-beater" shirt, flip-flops, and a visor or safari hat. Often an old dress shirt over it for sun protection, or a ragged sweatshirt if it's cold.

I can act very responsible and adult-like when the situation calls for it, but usually I just don't really give a sh!t whether people think I'm an affluent white guy or a bum.

Friends my age talk about how society is going down the toilet, with young people who don't have any regard for rules or authority figures. I myself have noticed that it's harder to take a cop seriously when he's wearing shorts and riding a bicycle, like they do at the beach.

Look at old movies from the '30s thru '60s, all the men in suits and the women in dresses. Do you think that people, especially middle-aged people, should dress up more?

Answer 1

We should dress for the occasion. If we need to be taken seriously on the job, or show respect to someone at a social function, then we should dress accordingly. But out in the yard, or to the grocery, who cares? Wear what you want. We are who we are. Aging hippie, matron with grandkids, busy grandma taking care of the grandkids, retired grandpa with time on his hands, doesn't matter.
My rule is to make sure any body parts that don't look 30 years old anymore should be covered up, and kept covered up, LOL.

Answer 2

Love the Maggie Sotero dress, don't much care for the David's bridal dresses.... At any rate, I think the best thing you can do is to go to a few bridal stores and just try on a variety of dresses until you find "the one." You should be able to find something close to what you described. I think that the way you present yourself is how people think of you as far as age goes. I have been to weddings, and seen some of tv, where the bride was well past 30 and acted like a 19 year old with all her bridezilla-ness. So as long as you look and act classy, no one is going to think you are 21!

Answer 3

I think you should dress as you see fit. No matter what your age.
I prefer to dress practical. When it's hot, shorts & tank top, cold- pants and a sweater.
Dress shoes are uncomfortable and serve no purpose other than pleasing the eye's of others. Well I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna kill my feet so that someone might think my shoes look nice.
I prefer fabrics that will withstand several washes in the washing machine before wearing thin. I dont have the money or the time to be fussing with dry cleaning. I also dont have the time to fuss over what I wear so most of my pants can be worn with most of my tops. I dont have to say "Where's the top that goes with this outfit?"
Comfort is very important. If you're not comfortable, you're just gonna fidget all day long. And for what?
Dresses look nice & all but I always end up worrying that if I'm not carefull, I'll show too much.. bending over etc. Why not just throw on something you can move freely in without any worries?
If Hollywood stuck to fancy dresses and suits through these years, wouldn't there be more people who feel their lives are lesser than they actually are? Wouldn't people find it harder to take note of and find joy in the simple things in life? I have seen many movies with commonly dressed actors and strong meaningful story lines. It's not the clothing that has brought us down.

Answer 4

I think that it would probably be beneficial for people in general to dress up more often. I'm not advocating dressing like someone from a '30s movie. But the sad truth is that people judge you based on your appearance. It takes time and effort to get to know someone before you can judge them on their personality. Until that time, all you have is the image they present; this is first their appearance, then their way of speaking (grammar and such), and finally their actions.

While someone may not care what other people think about him, or their opinions of how much money he has, or what his politics are, &c., the truth is that everyone you meet will treat you differently based on how you are dressed. If you are dressed like a biker, for example, people will be intimidated and not as friendly. If you dress in old, dirty sweatpants, people will assume that you are lazy. If you dress in a nice suit, people will assume you are smart and competent.

This isn't to say that you should always be dressed in tails so that people have the best opinion possible. If you over-dress, they may see you as being stuck-up, pretentious, arrogant, or a snob.

Teenagers, I think, are able to get away with more than any other age group. Middle-aged people should definitely take more care with their appearance, as other adults will judge them more harshly than they would judge a teen.

The bottom line is that taking some time with your clothes & grooming may change the way strangers perceive you.

Answer 5

This is 2007 not 1957. I'm 67 and dress down most of the time and dress up depending on the occasion, have a long pony tail and Gauged ear piercings. I don't worry about what other people think. A far as the police in shorts and bicycles. I don't care what he's wearing as long as he can help in time of need..respect the badge

Answer 6

I don't think there's anything wrong with dressing down so long as it's somewhat age-appropriate. Most of us would be lying if we said we weren't seriously confused when older women shop in the junior's section (honestly would you have wanted to see your older female relatives wearing some of the stuff made for teens these days?). But so as you are comfortable with yourself and aren't trying to fit in with a crowd of 15 year olds, who cares what other people think? More power to you.

Answer 7

I think you should do what you want and what makes you feel comfortable.

I'd like to dress a little nicer, I always look like some college aged hippie bum, which technically is what I am.. but I do think that nice (not just fashionable, but also really well fitting (not too tight people) and ironed & stuff) clothes really demand attention.

Answer 8

I rarely (never, actually) see men who don't dress appropriately. I happen to think Dockers and Hawaiian shirts are cool on older guys. It's almost like they're supposed to wear them. :)

What bothers me is when middle-aged women try to wear the latest fashions (things, I think, that should be reserved for older teens/younger women) (i.e. low rise pants, midriff bearing shirts, push up bras--or anything else young and trendy.) I'm not saying 40 year old women should buy nothing but polyester culottes from Blair http://www.blair.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=BlairCorp&pcats=99999%2C100259&catalogId=10001&categoryId=100259&productId=29084&prnbr=43554&cmCategoryId=Keyword+Search&langId=-1&storeId=10001&ddkey=PCNSearch All I'm saying is they need to realize that yes, people DO get old; they DO get gray hair and wrinkles; and by dying your hair some garish shade that's obviously a dye job, wearing clothes that do NOT look good on your 45 year old body, you're not fooling anyone. I (and most of my friends) feel very sorry for women like this. They never look normal to us...it's like they're trying to hold on to that one last *shred* of youth they have by acting and dressing half their age, and it's very, very sad. I feel embarrased for these women.

Answer 9

I've thought about this as well, when we were young, the dress was pretty casual and natural things were emphasized like in the 70's , now it's different, it would probably be good to dress up more, but i don't think i'd ever do it.

Answer 10

I'm in my mid 60s. I wear jeans or other pants, tee shirts or sweats. Athletic shoes or loafers.

I do wear nice slacks and shirts or dresses to church, or other places where it's nice to "neaten up".

Think it's perfectly okay. Don't like to see jeans riding too low and revealing stuff, nor shirts that plunge and reveal stuff.