Fashion trends are volatile but good style is timeless. Today, the transformative power of dressing cannot be ignored as fashion helps project a certain image. One’s taste and style evolves with age and experience but, sometimes, we ignore and sport trends that we outgrow. Paying a little attention and re-examining one’s sense of style from time to time can help refine looks and appear age-appropriate too.
Scherezade Shroff, a famous YouTuber, blogger and model feels the biggest fashion mistake women make is that they assume dressing younger means looking younger. “Fashion is for you to enjoy and explore, try new things and appreciate style. Dressing up to hide age will only take the fun out of it,” shares Payal Jaggi, an experienced fashion stylist and founder of Kinche.com.
Fashion Designer Archana Rao, founder of label Frou Frou, feels every woman must work at building her personal style. “If following seasonal trends is your thing, then try to modify it to suit your personality, lifestyle and body structure.” She advocates investing in classic and smart ‘separates’, which can easily be styled to look age-appropriate. “I am comfortable designing separates because I don’t want to dictate how the piece is meant to be worn. I want the consumers to bring in a little bit of their personality into the look by styling it the way they see comfortable. When you invest in separates it can be carried from one decade to the next as it can be styled in versatile ways.”
20s
“Ah, Dress up like you feel; this is the best time to experiment,” says voices Scherezade. She adds a bit of caution — avoid overdoing the look with too many accessories or clashing colours or prints. Payal seconds Scherezad belief that this age group can pretty much get away with everything. “Don’t be shy to try different styles of clothing and new trends. Don’t be in a rush to look old and mature and to be taken seriously. Too much make-up and over-dressing should be avoided. I think the need to look different and to stand out in a crowd at this age can make us try too hard. We all have been guilty of it.”
30s:
‘Dress effortlessly for maximum impact,’ is sort of the mantra of women in their thirties with all their juggling acts. Scherezade recommends: “Work with styles and shapes that flatter your body type. And play with brighter colours and fun prints if you want to experiment. Short hemlines can be avoided unless you have Beyoncé’s legs.” Payal’s fashion tip for 30-something women is to invest in comfortable and high-quality shoes and handbags, which deliver maximum aesthetic satisfaction. “Shun overdoing accessories and accentuate one or two key pieces. With a heavy lehenga, salwar suit, a dress or a sari, wear one key piece of jewellery and don’t wear jewellery which screams ‘statement’.
40s
When women enter the big four, elegance becomes a way of self-expression and they opt for quality over quantity. “A woman, by 40, is confident and knows where she stands. She knows her style by now and is pretty sure about it. She dresses to please herself and actually enjoys the pieces collected over years. Flaunt them,” declares Payal. Scherezade believes women this age already have a signature style and that it is best to if stick with that. “Comfortable chic is the look I'd go for with some statement pieces like a nice handbag, shades or shoes.”
