Ah yes the what you should and shouldn’t do when you are a certain age thing!I notice that most of these articles are written by Women fir women,no such articles for men then.Just saying…..
l also note that the British are much more shall we say prudish about the human body than the Europeans and l feel more judgemental about the ageing female body.Maybe the two go together.lWhenyou go to Europe in Summer all ages are wearing bikinis on the beach and sleeveless tops with no self consciousness or comment which is of course the way it should be.
I think l shall follow the French in believing that every age has its own beauty and try and be happy in my own skin.wrinkly or not!

Possible off-topic warning, but I read somewhere that women dressing "provocatively" is akin to men groping and cat-calling. The former of course not as severe and directly traumatizing, but it is either way a form of displaying [unwanted] sexual attention. I think I read it somewhere following the whole "should catholic mothers allow their teenage daughters to wear yoga pants to church" discussion some years ago. I found it interesting because I am from a secular nation, our parental generation was basically Scandinavian nudist (70s children) and it all sounded so foreign to me.

Synne, now we aren’t just “asking for” catcalls, we’re being aggressive? Lol.
The last two times a random guy has approached me on the street, I was wearing my funky blue pants and red puffy carrying groceries home after dark (“can you tell me where there’s a restaurant around here?”) and my pinstriped jeans in sunshine (said “boo!” as he passed me (walking) on his bike & then, when I caught up to where he was locking it “did I scare you?”). Actual catcalls are not a very Berliner thing to do, so that’s the best data I have. Hate to think how traumatized the poor guys would’ve been if I’d, say, roll the cuffs to expose some ankle.

Cat-calling is non-existent here too. Only time I have come close was when I visited Spain and was referred to by a stranger as "Rubia" (blondie), many moons ago. But revealing clothing and "suggestively" dressing is the norm, and I often am oblivious too it. Up until recently, as I mentioned in another post (someone wearing very body-con clothing in a professional/academic setting). I find it interesting, as I am learning more about how style and appearances is communication.

Thanks to this thread, I’ve restarted my search for tights for a skirt I bought in the 90s but have never worn. It’s part of that J Petermann close out cache I’ve been enjoying for the past year.

The skirt is just a smidge shorter than I’m comfortable wearing with bare legs, for all the “air conditioning” reasons so colorfully described in the article. It has two rows of buttons, so kind of a sailor style, and is a great, cool red. I’d love to wear it with a square-necked shirt and patterned tights.

I don’t know what pattern I want for the tights though. Monochrome would make a more sophisticated look than I think works for the playful skirt, but I don’t want the forced “playfulness” that striped or polka dots often have. Argyle (love the ones Joy wore a couple months ago) could work, but most of the plaids I’ve seen are straight. Might work, but I’m not sure. Floral, similar to this but different colors, or something swirly, could be good.

@Stag Thanks for the compliment - yours is fun too

Yes, she's seen plenty of stylish 'covered' people but she complains about even *those* to me because my parents are *very* conservative - moreso than you might expect. E.g. a long sleeved top worn with straight jeans would probably be seen as modest by most? Wrong! Here's why:
- Showing the seat of your pants is a sin! (not even cameltoe, but just that there's no tunic covering your loins)
- Showing the shape of your boobs is an even bigger sin! (Even with a smock, there must be a scarf draped over the bosom)

There are of course many more 'rules' than this, but those 2 in particular took me a while to feel OK to break - even now! So whilst it might not seem like it, I actually have *much* more experience with stodgy old what not to wear 'advice' than my age may suggest

Z, no, I wouldn’t expect the jeans & top outfit you described to appeal to your mom, from what you’ve said, unless you had a wrapper for outside the house. I was thinking more of trends like long over lean (as long as the “long” is really long), wide-legged pants, and architectural looks. Not saying all of that is you, and I know it’s easy for you to feel swamped in oversized things, especially, but I’d be surprised if there weren’t a few things you enjoy wearing that you could take along to enjoy a peaceful visit with your mom for a couple days. My mom, hilariously, has done an about-face. Whereas she preferred to buy me clothes into my 30s because she thought I couldn’t do it myself (note: the Esprit, Moda International & J. Petermann caches are all things I bought myself at that age) and looked askance at my short skirts, she has now, in her 80s, decided I’m glamorous, bordering on going too far with the looks. Lol. Gotta be ourselves, moms do & think what they will.