Despite how women may convince themselves that 60 is the new 40 and 50 is the new thirty, it just isn’t true. If you dress in outdated looks, you will just look…. well, frankly old.
Many women have closets full of fashions that should have been thrown out years ago, and also practice hair and skin routines that frankly are so 1940s. If you do not want to appear to look like a grandma in your 30s even, avoid these fashion faux pas.
If you do not want to appear to look like a grandma in your 30s even, avoid these fashion faux pas. Most of them are quite easily fixable, and if you apply yourself, you’ll be amazed at the positive results.
1. Big, clunky, old-lady handbags
Nothing dates you and makes you look older than a handbag big enough to rent out for storage space when not in use. Big, clunky, old-lady handbags are out.
You’ll rarely see a woman in her 20s and early 30s touting any type of handbag except for one that is small, easy to tote, and elegant. It’s a generational thing, and a small clutch beats a huge duffel bag-sized purse any day of the week.
Not only are these purses much easier to carry, but large purses tend to age and date a woman significantly. And aging is not what you are going for. old-lady handbags are out.
2. Wearing tan pantyhose
For some reason, pantyhose and manufacturers decided that the perfect look for many women is a few shades darker than their natural skin tone Why, oh why?. In fact, Mary Ward, writing for Stuff Magazine, suggests that tan stockings represent a corporate fashion’s digital divide.
And the plain fact is, More and more women are going without pantyhose entirely, with generations of women using fake tanning supplies to keep their legs looking great. But if you are going to wear pantyhose, a simple nude tone is the preferred tone. Tan is just otherworldly and can make your legs resemble a sausage.
3. Avoiding short sleeves
No matter how hot the weather is, many women refuse to wear short sleeves for fear they will show the dreaded flabby arms syndrome. In actuality, by insisting on wearing long sleeves, women more often call attention to their lack of fashion sense. In the Age of Lizzo and post-thin Kelly LeBrock or Kirstie Alley, nobody cares much any more about a little bit of arm flab.
Be as comfortable as possible regardless of the weather is the current go-to fashion advice. Wear 3/4 length sleeves rather than a full sleeve and wear shoulder-baring necklines rather than concentrate on hiding your arms.
4. Burn your mini-skirts
The older you get, the less you are suited for a mini skirt. Even if you are a dead ringer for Sharon Stone, trust us, a woman past 40 shouldn’t wear anything much above knee-length. It’s just not a look you want to cultivate.
Mini-skirts look cute on young girls. But for older women, they will simply give the appearance you are trying too hard. In fact, in a Daily Mall survey of 2,000 women, the cutoff age for wearing a mini dress was aged 35.
Dressing for your age is actually a sign that you are dressing appropriately, not getting older.
5. Look, grandma, I’m wearing the underwear you bought me.
Nothing, and we mean nothing, will date a woman more than undergarment lines. This doesn’t mean you have to go commando underneath, but undergarment lines, even if you are in a designer dress on the red carpet like Faye Dunaway is wearing. Bra and panty lines are designed to be just between you, not shared with the rest of the world.
There are plenty of ways to go out without your undergarments showing including wearing thick or textured fabrics, using camouflage, and wearing g-strings, thongs, or even a slip.
And FYI, you should never wear anything so light it shows clearly through.
6. Powder, powder and more powder
Women over 40 may have been taught, powder, powder, and more powder is the secret to looking beautiful. But the plain fact is with modern liquid foundations, the use of powder is often not necessary. And messy powders is another thing that separates older women from their younger peers. Many older women feel they cannot live without it.
If you are in your 40s and older and want to use powder, be sure you are buying the latest powders which are lighter, and do a better job of covering blemishes and look more natural. And to top it off, powder tends to be expensive.
7. Different decade, same old hairdo.
Most women buy their high school yearbooks and look at them for 1 or 2 years, and then do all but bury them. The reason of course is they are aghast at their hairdos. But if you look the same now as 20 years ago, it’s time to definitely hit the beauty salon.
Women need to update their looks from time to time and if they don’t their friends and relatives pigeonhole your appearance, never seeing a fresh, new you. This is particularly dangerous for working women angling for a promotion.
A new hairdo can make many women look 20 years younger.
Most women buy their high school yearbooks and look at them for 1 or 2 years, and then do all but bury them. The reason of course is they are aghast at their hairdos. But if you look the same now as 20 years ago, it’s time to definitely hit the beauty salon.
8. Wearing jersey fabrics
Some women love them, but jersey fabrics tend to make women look like a bag of bones. They highlight the absolute worst parts of a woman, and while 20 something supermodels might get away with it, a woman in her 40s, 50s, and 60s sure can’t.
While Coco Chanel made jersey fabrics famous around 1916, and a few designers can do jersey well, the overall impression is that most jersey fabric dresses look like they came straight from your drapes. We’ve rarely seen a jersey fabric that looks flattering on an older woman, or a younger woman to boot.
Leave the 1916’s behind.
9. Pairing your lipstick with your dress
Women used to spend hours trying to pair their lipstick with their dress, and generally, it is a complete failure. The closer your lipstick matches your dress the more formal looking is your appearance. And for many older women, formal looks aged and staged.
First, you’ll never get the right shade, so why try? Second, generally, women look better and more youthful with a vibrant, darker shade of lipstick.
The darker shade draws attention to your mouth which tends to age significantly less than the other parts of your face. Experiment and see for yourself that a contrasting shade of lipstick is best.
10. The baggy clothes look
Many women, shy of their figures, cultivate the baggy clothes look. However, the Annie Hall look went out quite a few years ago. The baggy clothes look was never a fashion trend that suited most women and if you wear them now be prepared for strangers approaching you and offering you spare change.
Like a middle-aged man going to a nightclub in a disco outfit, this alternative looks simply dates women who are older. Find the appropriate compromises. You neither want your clothes too tight nor too loose.
If you wear oversize clothing, wear a belt to emphasize your waist and layer your clothing.
11. The plucking and tweezing sin
What a brilliant concept? Pluck and tweeze the heck out of your eyebrows, then fill in your eyebrows with heavy eyeliner. As far back as the 1500s, Elizabethan women were doing it in order to make their foreheads look bigger, creating the illusions of nobility.
Plucking fell out of style for a while but then came back into style with early film stars like Marlene Dietrich leading the charge. Then when Elizabeth Taylor reigned the box office, the bushy look took hold again and never looked back. Thank God, Plucked eyebrows look terrible. The only thing worse is a permanent eyeliner tattoo.
12. Story fashion pieces
Women love to wear pieces or elements of a story that bring back fond memories of a time, probably way long ago, where they remember pieces of themselves. Unfortunately, story fashion pieces almost universally date a woman. For example, if you wear a replica of a Jacki Kennedy’s pillbox hat, most people will think you are stuck in the Twilight Zone of the 60s.
By all means, get yourself a chest and stock it with your favorite items of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, but for heavens, sakes don’t wear them. Wearing period clothing is just another way to look unfashionable.
13. Quirky Sunglasses
It seems odd that sunglasses should come in so many styles, so much so that we are in favor of having a national limit, 5 styles at the most. But although sunglasses have a vital purpose in protecting our eyes from the harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, there are thousands of quirky sunglass shapes that not only do little to protect your eyes but for women older women in particular, give the impression they are trying way too hard to be hip and young-looking.
It rarely has offered the great look you think it does. Pick a sensible pair that fits your face and is age-appropriate.
14. Age as you are skincare routines
Many women in their 20s and early 30s have no skincare routine at all. They just look in the mirror, see that youthful-looking face and assume it will just stay that way? Wrong. And if you want evidence of that, all you need to do is to go to YouTube and see the many before and after photos of women who were drop-dead gorgeous in their 20s who had aged significantly, even in their 40s.
In fact, most dermatologists report that skin damage in your 20s shows up in your early 30s. The sooner you nip lines and wrinkles in the bud, the better.
15. Really dark lipsticks
We’re unsure how this trend started, possibly with the goth look, but it’s a part of the culture now that many women wear really dark, and even sometimes black shades of lipstick. How ugly.
Women over 35 (and usually before then) should avoid this trend like a plague. Dark lipsticks accentuate every line and crag in a woman’s face. So if you want to look twice your age, go ahead, buy the darkest shades possible.
Not only will dark lipstick accentuate your age, but it will pretty well guarantee you will rarely be kissed. And we are assuming most women prefer kissable lips.
16. High waist jeans
We’re not sure which pot-smoking designer first came up with high water jeans, but there ought to be a hefty bounty out there with the fashion police. Wear these clunky jeans, and you instantly add 15 years to your biological age.
Unless you have a prized sock collection, avoid high waters like the plague. Yes, if you are 20 years old and have a tight waist you might get away with them, but certainly not in these anti-style jeans,
The real sin here are the ankles. Wear these and you look like an aging hippie. Sorry, but Haight Ashbury is dead.
17. Horrendous color choices
Let’s face it, although technically not so optically, some women are color-blind when it comes to choosing clothes. Different colors look great or alternatively awful, depending on your skin tones. To choose the right colors for your skin tone you should choose appropriate colors for your skin tone, your hair tone, and your eye color.
Does your skin have a pinkish hue? Wear cool colors. If you have a yellowish skin, wear bright colors. Do you have black skin, wear vibrant colors. And by all means have a trusted friend along to help you avoid mistakes. Choosing the wrong colors can also age a woman.
18. Avoid matching tops and bottoms together
You’ve seen plenty of these mixy-matchy photos. And guess what, almost all of them were taken over a decade ago. While mixy-matchy outfits look cute, the plain fact is they look too carefully put together.
Even if think you look so cute in these styles, the plain fact is they more resemble something you would see Flo wear on Mel’s Diner. Carefully crafted mixy-match photos are akin to wearing a work uniform, and we have yet to see a uniform that looks flattering.
And poodle skirts? ” Tcha…ya know what…Uhh uh!” Not happening. We suggest you give all such outfits to Goodwill.
19. Hiding your neck
Many people love the turtleneck look as they believe it hides their wrinkles. They don’t. For one thing, while your neck is covered, the emphasis is even more on your face, rather than having a balance between your face and your neck. Consequently, wearing turtle-necks can age a woman.
You can try a turtleneck, but most women will be more comfortable with a V-neck or a scoop. And if you wear a collared skirt with a V-neck or Scoop, that’s just one more layer of complexity to soothe the eye away from a beeline towards your wrinkles, plus it’s more comfortable.
20. The All Black look
The all-black look may simply your wardrobe choices, but it hardly does justice to your wardrobe. Particularly if you are over 30, choosing all black, just doesn’t cut it. People will think you are either training to be a nun or alternatively, have joined a coven of witches.
By all means, vary your wardrobe extensively if you do not want people to be talking about you behind your back. Your job, your friends, and your romantic life will depend upon it.
In addition, black is not a very flattering color with wrinkles. Not that you can’t ever wear black, but restrict its use.
21. Avoid Tweed
Avoid tweed at all costs. Tweed can add 20 years or more to even a 10-year-old. In addition, tweed has a number of other unflattering characteristics. For one, it has a tendency to make you look fat, and if you are already on the heavy side, people may confuse you with a beached whale.
In addition, tweed is notoriously difficult and costly to dry clean. And you do not want to get any stains on it.
If you absolutely have to experiment, go for tweed with pinstripes instead. It’s a little more fashionable, but in general, leave the tweeds to the British nobility.
22. The trouble with denim
Denim is a hard fabric to tackle. The first thing you should know is that as a woman of 40 or more, never go for the ripped jeans effect. Again, this is a look for younger women only, and you appear to be trying way too hard to look youthful and will fail miserably,
Not that you can’t wear jeans with tennis for a picnic, but the fancier the occasion, the more difficult it is to find the right look.
Also, a woman over 40 should never be caught in a jean jacket. The age of heavy metal has long gone.
23. Clunky jewelry
Big clunky, chunky necklaces are out of style. Even when they were in style, they were on their way out. Big pieces of jewelry scream, “look at me, look at me.” And possibly you can get away with it when you are 20, but when women around 50 wear these same pieces, all anyone can think about is, “I wonder how many cats she has at her house?”
The rule is that unless you can afford a massive diamond around your neck to really wow the crowd, go for petite and delicate jewelry. Wear a big, clunky necklace in your 50s, and it will draw attention to your neck.
24. How to handle stretchy jeans
We’ll admit, stretchy jeans can be comfortable, but the more they stretch, the lumpier stretchy jeans can get. So buy the best quality, with no more than two or three percent elastic fiber. Avoid at all costs jeans that will stretch across several sizes.
This means paying more for your jeans, but they are worth it. Buy the best brands, not those for $15 or less from China. And regardless of the photo, if you are over 40, don’t buy jeans with the ripped knee effect. They just age you more.
And FYI, looser, baggier jeans are in style these days.
25. Baggy clothes in general
Baggy clothes are not a good look for anyone, from 15 to 80. But the older you get, the worse you look. While your clothes don’t have to be so tight that you need to cover your body in vaseline just to fit into them, fitted clothes are ideal for all ages.
And if you have a weight problem, well there is no covering it up by wearing a circus tent around your waist. Leave this look for the Roseanne Barrs of the world.
Do yourself a favor and go to a women’s shop that can really advise you what looks best.
26. Really Chunky Sneakers and shoes
Not only do really chunky sneakers and shoes make you look significantly heavier, but they are not age-appropriate. A 50-year-old woman wearing chunky sneakers looks like she is caught in a time warp of the disco era.
Yes, you do see stars and Instagram influencers wearing them, but practically everyone is no older than 22 and weighs 115 lbs or less. For the average woman, chunky shoes also make their legs look chunky too.
The chunkier the shoes and the older you are, the more ridiculous you look. Shoes with kitten heels and ankle strap flats are the way to go.
27. Wearing clothes that are too trendy
Maybe clothes that are available at Poshmark and other high-class second-hand stores are available for a reason. While clothes such as classic leathers and maybe a plaid or two are almost always in style, fashion is like the weather. Wait 5 minutes and it changes again.
If you buy clothes that are too trendy, and they go out of style, people who follow fashion will remember. And this is particularly dangerous for older women. Not only is it dangerous, but it can be costly, chasing fashion trends.
Buy your clothes for the long term that will last you several years.
28. Wrapping your jacket around your waist
An intricate part of the grunge look that took the fashion world by storm courtesy of Seattle grunge in the 1980s and which spread like wildfire by the early 2000s, tying your jacket around your waist was quite popular…. 20 years ago.
First, hardly anybody does this today. Seriously. Like nobody. Secondly, even when it was popular, women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s couldn’t pull it off.
Tying your jacket around your waist just makes your hips look bigger, which is hardly a look that most women aspire for. In addition, do you really want to be a woman in her 50s cultivating grunge?
29. Tanning beds
Tanning beds were possibly the worst invention of the 20th century. In an attempt to have year-round tans, women baked and cooked themselves in tanning beds that were often unsafe and ignored the long-term consequences on their skin to boot.
There are so many bad things about a tanning bed that we wouldn’t have the space to put it all. But the worst part of tanning beds is that they age the skin of women and turn them into leathery wrinkles.
Even natural tanning can be dangerous, but tanning beds are a nightmare. Studies have linked tanning beds to increases of skin cancer.
30. Those flowery prints
Flowery prints were all the heyday in the 60s, but earth to women, the 60s are gone, baby. Dead and gone.
Flowery prints of course still are here, and can be worn occasionally to brighten things up, but nothing says old like a flowery print blouse or dress. on an older woman. They look too much like grandma.
Of course, today’s flower print dress is short and sassy. Perfect for an 18 to 20-year-old. But we’ve yet to see one that didn’t significantly age a middle-aged woman. Our advice is to let the younger generation have their way and find something else.
31. Split end blues
Split ends can make any woman, even one 20 years old, look older. So if you want to keep a youthful appearance, go to the salon often. Split ends can’t be repaired. You need to have them cut out, which should take place around every 6 weeks or so.
There are things you can do to avoid split ends though. One is to not wash your hair every day or to wash it only with conditioner. Another is to buy only the best natural shampoo products. Also, limit hair coloring and chemical straightening which weaken hair and cause split ends to appear.
32. Limit the blush
Applying too much blush makes a woman appear like their 80-year-old grandma. And ask most men and they will question why blush is a thing at all. Not necessary they say.
Blush has actually been applied as far back as the Egyptian times, and most theorize that blush at those times signified high class. Certainly, the average woman did not wear it.
Now, with class being pretty well forgotten in society, blush really isn’t necessary. True, if applied properly, it can give a hint of a rosy glow, but most women nowadays skip it. Plus, if applied poorly, it looks terrible.
33. Living in flats
True, most doctors and chiropractors recommend that women abandon high heels, but nothing says elderly like a woman who always wears flats. And in point of fact, many flats look more like bedroom slippers than they resemble something you would wear to the office.
Go ahead, wear your flats, but mix them up occasionally with some heels, even if they are low-height heels. You’ll gain more appreciation from the office, and many people will ask if you’ve lost weight or are on a special diet. You’ll look better in their eyes and younger too.
At a minimum, wear heels once a week at work.
34. Becoming Logo Woman
Nothing says tacky like becoming logo woman, a walking billboard for Gucci, Calvin Klein, Coach, Louis Vitton, and more. Sadly, many of those wearing such logos can’t really afford the products they are advertising, but quite frankly the trend is getting quite annoying. And they are not fooling anyone
Do a search for logo shirts on Amazon and you get over 40,000 results. And the worst part is that many of these logo shirts are fake, not even officially licensed by the company.
Logo shirts and clothing do not impress anyone and are nothing but a pain in the butt.
35. Really long skirts
While older women have long gone past the age where they can wear a mini skirt, that doesn’t mean your dresses should slump down around your ankles. The long skirt frumpy look is really only a thing for women trying to imitate Sarah Jessica Parker out on the street.
We’ve come a long way from mini skirts to ankle-length frumpy?
And women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s should avoid this look at all costs because it greatly accelerates their age. You might as well wear a shower curtain as wear these ugly skirts. Plus wearing super long skirts just do not flatter your figure.
36. The rules of slouchy
Personally, we don’t like the slouchy look at all and believe that women in their 40s and above should never go for this look, but if you are younger, being slouchy has its rules.
If you are wearing a slouchy pair of pants then the top should be tight. While the reverse is also true, wear tight pants and the top should be loose and breezy.
You can see why most women in their 40s and above never go for this look because frankly, it has the hint of a beatnik look, Why women would even consider these outfits is beyond us.
37. The no show waist
We don’t know where this look came from but for most older women it’s an absolute no-no. The waist is the dividing line between a woman’s bust and her hips, and frankly, only younger, thinner women can pull it off. Women in their 40s, 50s and 60s need to highlight their waist.
Fortunately, most women in their 40s and above are more sensible and not only like to show their waist but like to accentuate it with a belt.
Many young women trying to pull this off look more like orderlies in a hospital than they do as fashion icons.
38. Very heavy black eyeliner
Women who wear thick heavy black eyeliner like to believe they are highlighting their beautiful eyes. In actuality, they are really calling attention to the wrinkles on the rest of their face. Not a good approach for any woman, but In particular a fashion do not for any woman in their 40s and above.
Of course, women in their 20s and early 30s can get away with it, but by the time they have hit the proverbial wall of time, this is definitely not a good look.
Go for lighter shades and much less eyeliner if you want your eyes to sparkle.
39. Failure to have your clothes tailored
This is possibly the biggest foe pas of all. Clothes rarely come off the rack and fit a woman’s body well. If you don’t buy your clothes from a high-end store that offers customer tailoring, then, by all means, take them to a local dry cleaning shop.
Yes, you may spend up to $35 dollars or so to have a jacket tailored to your body, but they will help you look like a million bucks. And the fit is essential for any woman, but particularly so for those who are older.
You really want your clothes to blend with your body. Tailoring is the way.
40. Poofy hair
Did you see the Seinfeld episode where Kramer was the only one to comment on the female chiropractor’s poofy hairdo? Well, it’s true. Poofy hair doesn’t exactly make you look young and fashionable. And all that extra styling is not exactly good for your tresses either.
You know that poofy hair is not exactly fashionable when there is a Wikipedia article on big hair.
Having too much volume in your hair tends to date you rather than to flatter you. You resemble those high school yearbook photos of the 70s that you refuse to let anybody see and wish were never taken.