Well, for me, pigtails. Of course, my hair is way too short for pigtails. But if my hair were longer, pigtails would be too young!

Aging: dress pants that are a little too short.

Very aging: knit pants that are a little too short. (Not talking about a trendy crop here, but a pant intended to be full length that doesn't quite touch the shoe.)

I'm sure we all have elderly relatives whom we adore who wear these sorts of pants all the time, and I'm even more sure it's because they were on sale.

I'm not picking on these ladies. I'm merely noting that this pant length adds years.

Maybe instead of "aging" I should have said, "maturing"?

I think a full classic Chanel suit shows the woman is of a certain age. When younger women wear them, even if they are 80s supermodels, it looks wrong and overly ironic to me. I wore am Esprit knockoff to a wedding when I was in college and looked older, and not in a good way.

I have to agree about the Chanel-style suit. Man, I even remember the Debutante's Guide to Life talking about that. Maybe one day this will no longer be true, but for now...

For the most part, I don't think any specific item of clothing can be pinpointed as aging or age-inappropriate. It's more a combination of the clothing and the individual wearer. Something in the chemistry between person and garment. Maybe, tho, there are some styles that get along with more people than others.

I mean, the only person I know who looks hot in St. John is Angelina Jolie, and I really don't know how she does it. I'd seriously like to know.

And yesterday I saw this woman in 7-11 dressed like Tia Maria Torres (from Pit Bulls & Parolees on t.v.). I think she may have been of similar age to Tia, but whereas Tia looks natural... I must confess, I hope not unkindly, to experiencing cognitive dissonance with the 7-11 lady on the matter of her age v. her clothing. It's on my mind because I realised at the time that I wouldn't have blinked twice if she had been Tia...

p.s. I had to come back and say I used to love Old Pueblo Traders catalog (purveyor of Alfred Dunner) in my 20s. I miss getting the catalog. I felt I'd found out a secret, about where all these clothes come from.

I think it all depends on what you like (or don't like) and on whether you can pull the look together or not.
There are times when it's good to dress a little older and you feel good about it, for me there are times when I like to dress like my mother or my grandmother did and that can be comforting.
I think the question is more about being able to be comfortable in a look and own it rather than about the age that the look may imply.
Everything is relative with fashion, it's a large gray zone.

Angie: wait until you start getting hot flashes -- you may change your mind about the shiny face! I was with you on that one until this past year or two, frequent hot flashes leave my face TOO shiny and in pics I often just looked greasy and gross, rather than glowing and dewy. So now I'm carrying around face powder -- used with a very very light touch, as needed....

You know, I disagree that everything is subjective in fashion. I think there are definitely things that say young, and things that say more mature, just as there are things that say expensive (or not) or fit properly (or not). Our eye adjusts as fashion shifts, but that doesn't mean it's without a baseline. For example, I think if we saw a 60-year-old in tight, neon clothes with Pippi braids, we might admire her true-to-herself style, but also recognize that part of her look was about being young. Same with a 17-year-old wearing a below-knee power suit to a bar mitzvah or other event, with her hair poufed and sprayed like Dolly Parton. The girl might be absolutely comfortable with what she is wearing, and feel fabulous, but she is recognizably trying to age herself.

I think there's the idea that bodycon=youth, and agining = frumpiness, but I imagine there must be more cues than just these?

Things that can be "too young" for some (I won't make a universal statement, since as other posters have said, a lot depends on body type here) are shorts, usually denim ones, cut really high in the back, and miniskirts that are really short and made out of thin, clingy fabric such that little is left to the imagination.

Things that read "older" to me are polyester seventies-type tops (usually pullovers that are silky, with big floral prints in bright colors), certain styles of "comfort" shoes (the really shapeless, chunky ones—I'm not talking of all comfort shoes here), and nylons that are too dark for your natural skin color. Velcro shoes also I think are aging.

This has been an interesting read for me. I have been assumed to be 12 years old when I was actually 20, in a dr office with my mother, and on the same day, assumed to be the mother of my younger siblings. Lol. Now that I am a mother, I think I gravitate toward things that are aging. For my first four years of being a mother I gravitated toward wearing black pants with a jewel toned top or wearing twinsets with black pants, or a long flowy shirt with a tank and black pants. Those combos can look smashing with the right items, but I was wearing slightly frumpy, slightly too short, versions and that was very aging I think. I was trying to hide my figure. Still thinking about what I want to wear as 30 yr. mom of two and not look frumpy and ancient.

ETA that Rachylou's comment about Old Pueblo's made me laugh

I think you can do almost anything, if it possibly flatters your body type, if it's not all that one too-old / too young look at once, and if your hair and makeup are truly cutting edge. For example, I have heard of people having Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. They are probably people from Portlandia.

IK, all you're doing is generalizing subjective style opinions, which is my point. That baseline is subjective - although most people may agree with that baseline.

Shiny, I will WELCOME the hot flashes.

Lol Ummlila that is so true. We do have ugly Xmas sweater parties. I found a sweatshirt with a bobsledding cat and blingly snowflakes on it on the Macy's sale rack and had to show it to a sales assistant. He said it needed more 'flare' and that he had one at home that he added to every year for the Xmas sweater party - he'd even figured out how to do blinking lights.

It's difficult to make such lists for me - I feel that it's more about silhouettes, fit and how the mix of elements is done. I love both hoodies AND suits, particularly together As long as there is a modern element somewhere in the outfit, mixed with some classics, I think anyone at any age can look fresh, and not too young or old for their age.

I think you're very right, Ingunn.

Angie, I'm totally trying to generalize subjective opinions. That's why I asked. :). And I think when people say "oh it's all relative" or "anyone can look stylish" that's not a real answer! Yes of course it's all relative, and probably cultural, and of course (!!!) everyone can look stylish! But c'mon, surely everyone also has specific answers... This question wasn't meant to slam anyone's tastes, but to see what people think, knowing it is all subjective. One person thanks hoodies are young. Interesting! Perhaps when I wear a hoodie to exercise, I am subconsciously trying to gain vigor and youth from my clothing. Or maybe not! In fact, in order to get my growing-out hair away from my face these days, I must resort to pigtails. Very ironc pigtails. So with my hoodie and pigtails, I'm totally channeling youth, which is a strange thought for me.

It really is all hot air, but it's fun hot air... Let's have fun with it!

Yes, IK. There is a baseline. AND there are definitely subjective generalizations that can be made - heck I just made them about make-up and the colour black. I'll do the same for my three poison eyes. By all means continue to determine a subjective baseline. I do that each day in my blog posts. If anything goes all the time for everyone - the concept of style would not exist.

Hmm, judging by some of the comments, I consistently wear items that are too young for me. And guess what, I really don't care.
I've spent far too much time worrying about how others judge me. It didn't help me then.

I do think classic khaki pants with a sweatshirt and running shoes that a mother in the homeschooling bowling group wears like a mom uniform. We are similar in age but she comes across as much older. Haven't mentioned my blog or YLF but will definitely try to wiggle it as part of my own journey to self care.....

Angie, please help me. I'm oily, especially my forehead, even now. That's not what you mean by shiny, is it? I swear makeup baffles me. I have no dea what to do except periodically blot. But hey, at least I look young!

Ah. IK, I think there is a difference between very oil skin and shiny skin. But a little oil is excellent - lucky you. (I put oil on my skin to make it shiny). Perhaps all you need is a little forehead blotting - but that's all. I don't think you should be able to see the powder if you know what I mean. Like I said - I love shiny skin.

Oh no worries, Angie, my skin eats powder for breakfast... Here's to bangs!

I have another one. Cat ears on hoodie hoods. Totally cute on a 24 year old I worked with. I love kitties, but it would be ridiculous on middle aged me.

What an interesting discussion!

Well, I'm not going to make a list, but I did find it interesting that on my "why I won't wear mom jeans again" thread, someone commented that I look younger now than in that photo from 20 years ago.

Similarly, not too long ago, I ran into a parent I knew from the school I worked at around that same time, in the early 90s. I dressed conservatively for the environment -- midi length dresses, sensible pumps, tailored long jackets -- typical office-y 80s/90s attire. The parent remarked that I looked younger in my 40s than I did when I was at work in my 20s. Which actually makes a lot of sense because I was the youngest person working there for quite a while (I was hired at 22), and I wanted to be taken seriously.

So clearly there was something "aging" about my style when I was 20 years younger than I am now. Mom jeans and all.

I am off this weekend to prove that wolf sweaters can be stylish. I hate them too, but it feels like an experiment!

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me,
And I shall spend my pension
on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals,
and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells,
And run my stick along the public railings,
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens,
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go,
Or only bread and pickle for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats
and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children.
We will have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me
are not too shocked and surprised,
When suddenly I am old
and start to wear purple!

I have very oily skin, and it is awful trying to find the proper balance between an oil slick and overly drying powders.

As for aging items, teacher sweaters top the list. And I say that with affection, as my mum was a teacher and wore (and still wears) teacher sweaters and sweatshirts. She likes them and always has, but they don't do her (or anyone else) any favours! And I love the term "aggressively comfortable shoes"! I definitely understand the necessity of wearing comfortable shoes or orthopedic inserts, but there are still attractive options. The old-fashioned nurse shoes with the slight wedge and big seam around the top that lace up are an example of "aggressively comfortable shoes".

Too young is a little bit dicier to me. Most of the things that I find too young are things that are unflattering to my eye regardless of age, and most of them fit into the "too ..." department - too short, too tight, too low cut, etc. Often women who are desperate to appear "sexy" are described as dressing "too young" when in fact the things they wear wouldn't look very good on anyone at all. But I don't find casual style in general to be overly young looking. While I wouldn't wear it, there are a number of women my age who wear yoga pants and hoodies. While I find something like that too casual for most situations, I don't necessarily think it is "too young".

I agree, retailgirl, to me a shirt worn open over a tank is aging. Yet I fight against wearing this look all the time because it solves so many problems for me!

Angie, could there be a disconnect about powder between extremely dry-skinned you and some of us oily fabbers? I can imagine that powder doesn't do the very dry-skinned any favors. What I do is press on a fine-milled translucent powder over my makeup (T-zone only) and then brush brush brush to blend and remove excess. In two hours or less I'm visibly oily. Many days I don't have time to think of retouching and when I look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day I really don't like how the oiliness looks. Also, my skin bears the marks of a 40-year battle with acne and a bit of powder really softens those traces--thick foundation, which I refuse to wear, would be aging too! Just my thoughts about powder. But maybe you meant heavy powder, or unnaturally tinted powder.

As for too young--not sure. I guess I'm biased against the look of an extremely slender woman who's nearing 40 or past it, who is obviously wearing juniors sizes. Combination of too tight, too bare, too trendy, too cheap looking. But that sounds bad to say because I could never do it! I know lots of 40+, 50+, 60+ women who rock current trends and who have fun with fashion. But there's a sort of lack of seriousness in the looks of those that I might view as dressed too young.

Definitely this completely absurd frog hat. Entirely too youthful. I must be an older person just desperately trying to look like a young tween. I'm sure my petite frame combined with this hat will fool everyone into thinking I really am only 13.

...or maybe I just have a blast & laugh whenever I put it on (and my ears are warm). That could be it, too.

Crap. I just realized I'm also wearing a hoodie and a moto jacket from my youth in this photo. Yup. Looking pretty desperate to be young (or warm and dry in crappy Seattle weather).

</end sarcasm>

when it comes to fashion and what's youthful/aging --it's all subjective, imho

Dressing too young also depends on the culture. Dressing with slim-somewhat skinny jeans may be OK where I live but would not look appropriate in another country since it may be considered dressing too young, depending on which country of course. Clothing choices and how they look to you and others also depend on the environment.

Too youthful: very long hair, bright and colourful make-up, frills and bows.
Too aging: very dark hair if you have fair skin, skirt suits where the suit jacket is longish (hip-length) and the skirt is midi-length.