https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 11 Apr 2026 14:17:24 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684573 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 23:46:39 +0000 Angie 684573@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Crutcher, thanks! Nice to see you back on the forum :)</p> <p>Is my head under a rock? I have never heard of descriptions like "kittenish" or "hen party". </p> <p>You can wear the latest trends till you are 100 - it's HOW YOU WEAR THEM that makes all the difference. </p> <p>I like Jonesy's comment about "looking modern". I will always strive to look modern, and that coming from a gal who loves her classics is a bold statement. I love MODERN mixed with CLASSIC. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684502 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:39:52 +0000 crutcher 684502@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Angie, I love your reply to this...You should use those two paragraphs as the theme of one of your blogs...Your comments are priceless...Thanks so much... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684401 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:08:31 +0000 JR 684401@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>KikiG, I know what you mean. I've seen a few horror stories myself. At a recent wedding I saw saw elderly or almost elderly women wearing styles that were designed to showcase young skin. Bare shoulders, plunging necklines displaying loose wrinkles just isn't a winning style. Very bright makeup also plays up the vibrancy of young skin, and makes you look twice as old if your skin is no longer up to the task.</p> <p>On the other hand I saw a picture recently of Gloria Stewart (sp? the old lady in Titanic) sporting feather earrings at age 100 and looking lovely. Mind you, she was following your very useful rule of not trying too many youthful things at once. I thought I was too old for feather earrings, but I'm rethinking that. I still don't know if I want to wear them, but now I know that it can work if I do it right. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684378 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:30:07 +0000 CocoLion 684378@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>When I turned 40 I thought, now I need to mature my style. I focused on two brands which defined my then-style: J Jill and Citron. (Everyone knows the former, but if unfamiliar with the later, below are pictured.) After a few years, I realized I was dressing too old and it was aging me! Yes, people thought I was older than I was. Now I dress much "younger" if loving trends (yes I wear coated jeans) is younger. I don't care what age people think I am anymore. It's really none of my business what others think of me. I want to look and feel good. That means, there might be a trend I fall in love with and try very hard to make "me," but ultimately does not work (hello neon yellow skinnies) because somehow I just don't feel good in the look. While other trends I can make work for me. But you never know until you experiment! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684357 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:16:50 +0000 KikiG 684357@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I struggle with this. I don't want to dress like a granny or a frump, but I don't want to look pathetic and delusional either. </p> <p>When I think someone is very age inappropriate, it is usually due to there being an eye jarring and attention grabbing contrast. I once saw a woman in her 70s (judged by wrinkles and loose skin, on abundant display) wearing clothing and bleached blonde long hair in an high, I Dream of Jeannie pony tail, and makeup (outrageous false eyelashes and incredible amounts of black eyeliner) that would have registered "street walker" on a 20 year old. That was just very, very sad. She was getting plenty of attention all right, but it was horror, not attraction. </p> <p>I know a woman who dresses appropriately for her age (although she looks rather older than her age, because she smokes) but not so much her body shape. Plus, she walks like her feet hurt, which is very aging. Not an extreme case, by any means, but I tend to do a bit of mental making over when I see her. </p> <p>I think that virtually any trend can be styled in an age-appropriate way. I think the biggest red flag is too much skin on display, and sporting multiple trends at once. Let's see: cold shoulder top, extreme platform shoes, tiny white short-shorts AND a hot pink hair extension with feather earrings--on a 50 year old--no--that would flunk my mutton as lamb test. But, with the exception of the shorts which wouldn't look nice on my body, I could probably age-appropriately handle and style any ONE of those trendy items. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684352 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:13:28 +0000 Jonesy 684352@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I hate "mutton dressed as a lamb," "kittenish," and "hen party" (essentially any descriptors for women that are animal-based :).</p> <p>I agree with so much of what has been said. I never really understand how dressing stylishly and going with designer trends (vs. kiddie trends like friendship bracelets or Crocs or something) could be considered age-inappropriate. To me it just looks modern. Most of the women who are followed on streetstyle blogs are involved in the fashion industry and represent lots of different ages. They are firmly in adult territory, sometimes even in--gasp!--middle or late adulthood territory, and they are icons.</p> <p>Dana, you will look fab in some coated denim jeans! Go for it!</p> <p>Also wanted to say welcome to Henley!! Let's see a pic of you in some new BF jeans :)! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684343 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:51:36 +0000 Jem 684343@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think you should wear whatever you want to! You definitely aren't "too" old and I agree with everyone else that you have too much style to look too old for these things! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684340 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:49:20 +0000 Freckles 684340@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>IK I agree with everyone and say. you have so much style you would rock these two things </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684224 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:25:12 +0000 Parsley 684224@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>JR, You're too kind! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684111 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:08:45 +0000 rute 684111@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That funny! When I made 42 I bought my first pair and love it! Go for it! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb/page/2#post-684009 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:33:11 +0000 JR 684009@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Parsley? Nearly 60? No way! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683719 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:49:41 +0000 Anonymous 683719@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ah, this is something I deal with constantly (I'm 47). I don't know of any single item on it's own that would be inappropriate on it's own. I think it's not so much the item of clothing as much as how it's worn. If it fits and it flatters your figure, it should be fine. If your style is already sophisticated and well-defined, I can't image that coated pants would automatically put you over the top when worn in your style with your other clothes.</p> <p>I don't know how that no long hair rule stays alive. I have waist length dreadlocks. I wouldn't cut them for anything. I pull them back in a pony tail, because when they're loose, they are (delightfully) wild. But that's the conservative part of my style balancing things out.</p> <p>I have a had many revelations after discovering this blog a couple of weeks ago. But one is that I've not been trying different styles because of my age…and that includes boyfriend jeans (they just sound like they're for young people) and as a result I have a wardrobe that is completely safe, mature and BORING!! I'm rectifying that now…starting with the boyfriend jeans. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683701 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:35:44 +0000 Anonymous 683701@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well said, Parsley! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683677 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:10:00 +0000 Parsley 683677@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I hate that expression!<br /> I think Angie said it perfectly: the important thing is to dress like an adult, not a kid.<br /> Even I would wear coated jeans, and I'm nearly 60, and not a skinny little thing! But I wouldn't wear skin-tight ones, and the rest of my outfit would be simple.</p> <p>Of course you can wear those things, and have your hair long, too, if you want.<br /> I have no doubt that you will do so with good taste, and look great! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683672 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:05:41 +0000 JR 683672@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Youthful is good. Juvenile is not. And where the line is varies from person to person. It has to match your body and your personality if you don't want to look like you're putting on a Halloween costume. And that is not so much an age thing as an awareness thing. As a general rule, I think the older you are, the better you know yourself, and the less likely you are to make mistakes in this area.</p> <p>For instance, I will wear a flat men's wool cap and feel great in it. I won't wear a newsboy cap, because it adds a cutesy, perky vibe that doesn't go with my personality. But I bet there are 80-year-olds who could pull it off because it does fit who they are. On the other hand, the whole suburban granny look scares me stiff, despite the fact that I am a suburban grandmother. But that's not who I am, if you get my meaning. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683667 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:55:37 +0000 Echo 683667@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree that it is almost entirely in HOW something is worn and rarely in the item itself. I tend to agree that the flip-side to worrying about looking too young is forcing yourself into your own stereotype of what a certain age looks like. We all have a picture in our head of "what 40 looks like", and almost no one actually looks that way. I am 40 and I don't look like that picture in my head, so why do I still have that notion? I don't know, but it's hard to dispel.</p> <p>I think if we all focused on being who we are as opposed to trying to look a certain age or way we would all be a lot better off. I see so many women, young and older, who must have planned an outfit with the intent to look "sexy" and instead they come off all wrong. If they had dressed as themselves (appropriate to the occasion), they would have looked so much better. So be true to you, and not your inner pictures of what certain ages or types look like. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683633 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:21:01 +0000 Anonymous 683633@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>You know what? Many 20-year-old French girls are wearing the same basic clothes as women in their sixties. It is the way they style and accessorise them that makes the difference. You are younger than Carla Bruni, for goodness sake (and I can't imagine her chopping off her long hair!). Once again, I think this is truly a cultural thing that we find hard to understand: the American tendency to be obsessed with either keeping their youthful looks or dressing 'age appropriate' and ending up looking like Barbara Bush clones. There is a sensuality that develops with age, and believe me, Latin men appreciate it!! You all know by now that one of my style heroines is Inès de la Fressange. Many would argue that at 54 she looks better than she did at the height of her cat-walk career in the early 80s. And do you see HER casting off her innate sense of quirky style panache because she's over fifty?? I certainly don't!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683600 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:44:35 +0000 catgirl 683600@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm 46, IK, but it has zero bearing on how I dress so far. Maybe that's not a good thing. But i've always dressed somewhat modestly and also for myself, and I don't want to change that. If you find yourself treated differently because you are perceived as young due to how you dress, that's a consideration. But otherwise my attitude is that age, like size, is just a number.</p> <p>A favorite song of mine since I was in my 20s...</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nb_KJyMHgw" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nb_KJyMHgw</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683595 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:39:05 +0000 Isis 683595@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>IK---</p> <p>Never heard of something called "kittenish".....I can imagine what that means, though, and I think you are 180 degrees from kittenish....</p> <p>I sorta like "hen party"....but then I have a thing for chickens!</p> <p>Kinda funny what quirky things grate for each of us! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683589 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:34:35 +0000 Suz 683589@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I'm over 50 and bought a pair of coated jeans and intend to wear them. </p> <p>And I also wore my hair long after 40. Only reason I cut it was that it wasn't flattering me as much as shorter hair did and does. But that was not really a function of age. It has been true at every age. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683516 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:14:58 +0000 DonnaF 683516@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>IK: Did you EVER dress as what I would call lamb -- like the teenyboppers I see on the street? I always think of your style as way sophisticated and completely timeless, and longer hair and waxed pants on you would carry the same vibe.</p> <p>A *lamb* look that I hope I never see on anyone over the age of 25: That Japanese super frilly Little Bo Peep look. It's not a look that can be made age appropriate. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683468 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:19:33 +0000 ironkurtin 683468@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Isis - You know what phrases I REALLY hate?</p> <p>- kittenish (as in, "Is this too kittenish?")</p> <p>and</p> <p>- hen party (as in, an all-female party)</p> <p>Both of these my grandmother uses. They make my teeth itch. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683449 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:51:29 +0000 HelenInCanada 683449@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I say wear what you love, and what you feel good in. Sometimes it's just practicalities that changes our style as we grow older (I'll be turning 41 in October), rather than any 'rules'...for example, I had long hair for most of my 30s but after my youngest was born, I got sick of de-tangling and using a myriad of styling products daily to keep it looking healthy, so I chopped it to shoulder length, then nape length. Much quicker in the mornings with a toddler now! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683424 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:29:29 +0000 rachylou 683424@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It occurs to me that decrepitude, as opposed to simply age, has a lot to do with things. For example, when I was little - in my father's third-world homeland, country people at 40 were toothless, wizened, and bent. You look like this and a mini skirt looks more like an adult diaper than anything else from afar. </p> <p>Sunscreen and polypeptides have seriously changed things. Maybe not always for the better, leading folks like Al Gore to call 30 the new 20 and 40 the new 30, etc. That is waaaaaay too long to wait to get your you-know-what together.</p> <p>But for fashion, it's opened the field. I think hemlines, for example, are no longer the way to judge what's age appropriate. I think it's more to do with the <em>trends</em> for your <em>age tribe.</em> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683418 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:27:02 +0000 Jaime 683418@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Agree with all of the above. If you look and feel good with long hair or leather jeans then they are age appropriate. I am older than you and have friends my age and much older with every length hair wearing all sorts of things and it really depends on the person and not their age whether it works. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683413 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:22:15 +0000 cciele 683413@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree, no worries IK! You have a great sense of style and no reason to throttle it because of age. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683385 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:01:04 +0000 rae 683385@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What Isis said... with your preferred color schemes and edgy/artsy aesthetic, I don't think you have to worry much. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683380 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:57:23 +0000 Janet 683380@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I was just coming back to this to add the very word Angie introduced to the conversation: sophistication. I think as long as we keep this in mind as we age, we're unlikely to go very wrong. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683369 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:51:30 +0000 Isis 683369@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The better alternative is Mutton dressed as mutton?</p> <p>Never liked this expression....</p> <p>Seriously, I cannot imagine you in age-inappropriate territory. Your taste is naturally and inately sophisticated...... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mutton-dressed-as-lamb#post-683347 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:35:31 +0000 K. Period. 683347@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm a 1970 baby too, and I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn't do either of those things. I totally, utterly, without reservation agree with Angie on this. Things of themselves aren't age inappropriate, it is how they are paired and the subtleties of the cut that make or break them. My dearest friend is almost 50, just shy of 6 ft tall and model thin with long, light blond hair. She wears leather pants all the time (she must have 10 pairs of them, seriously). She looks gorgeous in them and completely appropriate because she wears them with sophisticated tops and shoes and nothing about her says that she's trying to pretend to be younger than she is. </p> <p>Mutton dressed as lamb, to me, is all about looks that pair clothes with only teeny-bopper sophistication with childish attitudes about sexuality and sexual availability. Sexuality that is just overt, not intriguing. That's a hard concept to get down in writing and I don't think that what I've written conveys it very well. If your look suggests that the only thing interesting or valuable about you is your sexuality, that's a problem, no matter how old you are and that's what is at the bottom of mutton dressed as lamb to me. </p> <p>You have such a sophisticated style, IK, that you will always come across as stylish, sexy, interesting and grown up. You'll never be mutton dressed as lamb. You can't un-do sophistication by just throwing on something trendy. </p>