While I was writing my post, 10 Wardrobe Swaps You Need to Make to Instantly Look Younger, I checked out a few similar articles on the web. I wanted to see what advice other people were giving and make sure my information wasn't too repetitive. In general, I agreed with most of what I read.
Except one person said I needed to give up my Ugg boots! In fact, they were rather harsh about it. Humph. I disagree. I disagree quite strongly, you Wardrobe Nazi. Who are you to tell me what I can and can't wear?
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Are you laughing at the hypocrisy? You should be. If you read my post and thought, "I'll stop wearing my Bedazzled T-Shirts on the day I die!," I hope you went out and bought ten more bedazzled t-shirts to show me who's boss.
The point of the post was not to make you give up clothing you love to wear or outfits that makes you feel pretty, but rather to point out areas where you might be blindly wearing fashions that were in style years ago and missing opportunities to update your look.
If you love something, wear it! And if you need a little inspiration to dress to the beat of your own drummer, follow these icons of ageless style on Instagram. All of these women are over 40. Some are quite a bit over 40! But no matter how old they are, all of these women inspire us every day by wearing whatever they like and showing us how awesome they look.
Jump to:
@Seniorstylebible
Dorrie Jacobson is 85 years old? No way. She looks amazing in everything she wears. In addition to her Instagram, her blog is a total delight. Will I have the courage to be naked in public at 85? Probably not, but I enjoy considering it.
@iconaccidental
I almost didn't include the Accidental Icon, the ex-Fordham Professor who started a fashion blog in her 60s because she's really famous at this point, but if you're not familiar with her, you should be. She doesn't wear outlandish clothes, she simply had the gall to want to wear stylish designer outfits while in her 60s. Then, she had the audacity to look fabulous doing so and the rest is history.
@idiosyncraticfashionistas
Jean and Vaerie, the idiosyncratic fashinionistas, are setting a bad example for older women everywhere. I have never seen women with a better ability to wear hats. My hat is off to these women's ability to wear hats.
@stylecrone
Judith of Style Crone lives in a world of style and elegance, even if the rest of us do not. Her outfits are always perfectly tailored and her mood is always joyous and she is never, ever, without a hat.
@beatrixost
Beatrix is an artist and dresses as an artist should. I love her feed because she shares slices of her New York life, which seems to be everything I believe a New York life to be.
@saramaijewels
I love the many different looks of Sara Jane Adams. She doesn't have one signature style; instead she rotates between a series of different looks such as colorful dresses and jeans with an Adidas jacket. She looks like a badass in all her outfits and inspires me to not play things quite so safe all the time.
@bagandaberet
Mel Kobayashi is a strikingly beautiful artist and her outfits are art themselves. Be sure and check out her blog for even more art and her entertaining musings. (I also believed we'd be living in the future by the year 2000.)
@theellediariesnyc
I love Elle's Instagram feed because her style isn't quite as out there as some of the other women I'm featuring but she's still not letting anyone else tell her what a 60-year old woman should wear.
@raspberryberet_style
Lesley Leech's Instagram is pretty new so there aren't a lot of posts yet, but I love what I see so far. This is a woman with her own style and it's beautiful.
@yesimademydress_
Wow! So much style. So much creativity. I'm in awe. As you might guess from her Instagram handle, ChiChi's feed features clothing she's made herself shot in a variety of beautiful locations. Check out her blog for more details about the clothes she's made.
@co_ri_nn
Remember when I said to get rid of all your pants with pleats? This lady knows not to listen to me. She also looks great in Mom jeans, red leather leggings, and zebra print bras, though, so...
@jencrzycurls
Jen's embracing her curls and her own personal style and she looks amazing in both.
@nikkiredcliffe
Nikki Redcliffe is the ultimate midlife reinventor. I was so fascinated by her Instagram account, I did a little research to find out her story and came upon this interview in The Dressed Aesthetic on how she found her vintage style.
Finally, around the age of 50 I found my girls were becoming more independent and I had some time to spend on myself. I looked around to see what fashion had to offer me and found …. nothing! It was the era of low rise skinny jeans and I don't even think they looked good on Kate Moss. There was nothing 'age appropriate' (hate that phrase but you know what I mean) that was flattering, womanly, elegant and stylish. Basically fashion didn't want to know about me as a 50 plus woman. My choice was to dress like a teenager or pop on a beige cardigan and forget all about it.
I'd always been drawn to 40s and 50s fashions so my dearest friend Biddy @biddystanford took me vintage shopping and that was it. I was hooked. It was such a delight to find beautifully made garments that were totally individual. The shopping was such fun - like a treasure hunt - and produced a unique style that allowed me to express myself in a way that mainstream fashion didn't cater for."
The Dressed Aesthetic
@lindaandwinks
So, I absolutely love the women who dress in turbans and wild, mixed print fashions, but I have to confess that if I could grow up to dress like anyone it would be Linda of lindaandwinks. Linda really seems to pick her wardrobe with a "Here's what the cool kids are wearing, I am a cool kid, Therefore, I will also wear this," attitude that honestly kind of gives me chills.
@greceghanem
Yeah, she wears what she likes. You got a problem with that?
Carla says
I am off to follow. I rock many many things. I do not rock the style :-)
Katy says
It's definitely to look even if you can't pull it off. (I can't. )
Lisa says
Ooooooo! A few I don't follow to add to my list! I intend to be wearing satellite dishes as hats once I near 80, so these hat ladies are great inspo for me. Off to snoop around your blog since I just discovered it... xx
Katy says
Thanks Lisa! I love these women so much. I'm definitely going to be wearing a lot of cool hats when I get older. Maybe I should start now!