Age Cannot Wither Her...

Women always try to tame themselves as they get older, but the ones who look best are often a little wilder. Thinking about age all the time is the biggest prison women can make for themselves.- Miuccia Prada

I've procrastinated about writing on the subject of 'dressing for your age' for a while, because I think I'm the last person to offer any nuggets of wisdom. While I have a sense of my own personal style, there's been a nagging feeling lately that much of what I choose to wear is inappropriate for someone heading into middle age, that I should tone it down a bit.

But the dominant, irreverent voice in my head (the part that selects these 'inappropriate' garments!) gets cross and says 'But you love these clothes, they express who you are. Why should you compromise on that and who cares what anyone else thinks, Godammit!?'.  I bet I'm not the only woman who has this conversation with herself.

Have you ever looked at those features in magazines in which you are advised how to dress in each decade of your adult life? As the years roll on you see a parade of women in beiges and neutrals. Now this is fine if beiges and neutrals suit you and you like them, but I'm sure that if I wore them, I would simply disappear. I genuinely question whether many of the clothes sold as appropriate for older women were actually designed with the intention of making sure they vanish altogether.

Think about it - women in their 40's, 50's and 60's were the first to wear mini skirts, tie-dyed hippy t-shirts, thigh-high boots, platform shoes, bondage trousers, pixie boots, boilersuits, mohican hair-do's, black nail varnish and dresses made from bin liners (it was the 1980's, what can I say?). Unlike our mothers or grandmothers we did not spend our youth in grown-up clothes - no smart chignons or tastefully applied maquillage for us. Yes we got older and dressing with abandon inevitably gave way to clothes that we can wear to work, but the styles of our youth are still a part of us. And then we're told to wear beige.

My research for this blog has made it abundantly clear to me that there are no easy answers to our dilemma. What's 'old' to one person will be absolutely appropriate for another so I won't even attempt to hand out trite top tips - as you'll know if you've read my previous blogs I tend to avoid Fashion 'rules', preferring to mix it up a bit and have some fun.  The best advice I've seen comes from older women themselves:

• Never stop having fun
• Learn from what other women wear and how they wear it
• Don't say 'I can't wear that because of my age' - it's all about how you feel.
• Wear what you think makes you look good. The advantage of being older is having a good understanding of the colours and shapes that suit you.

There are so many fantastic blogs out there on this subject - here's a small selection that might provide inspiration.

Stylecrone

Stunning 69 year old reveals her life and style secrets.

The Invisible Woman

Writing for the Guardian, this blogger tells it like it is for the older woman who wants to look her best. 

Fabulous After 40

If it's advice and tips you're after this might be the site for you.

Advanced Style

Blogger Ari Seth Cohen's mission is to seek out and photograph older women who still manage to look extraordinary.

  

Fashion For Nerds

This gal has fun mixing up clothes and accessories to pull together outfits that are unexpected and inspiring.

Not Dressed As Lamb

Unpretentious but very stylish 'English bird' entering her forties shares her look.

Writing and researching this blog has convinced me to listen more to my 'irreverent' voice. As I get older I hope I will 'not go gentle into that good night', and MAKE's going to help me in my mission! 

The One About MAKE

It's a sign of the times that I'm writing this for people who don't know anything about MAKE. Once upon a time we were a local shop for local people but now, thanks to technology, we're selling stuff to people all over the place. So we thought you might like to know more about us.

MAKE's been trading on Gloucester Road in Bristol for eight years. We're just one of a diverse and eclectic selection of independently run shops (reputedly the largest number on one street in the UK). And as you might expect of such a lively retail environment, we are not the only purveyors of fashion here. There are lots of vintage clothing shops and boutiques - two more have opened just this year - making Gloucester Road a vibrant shopping destination for Bristol residents and visitors.

Which gives MAKE a bit of a challenge. From being the sole boutique on the street to just one of some fantastic clothes shops, we have to adapt to survive. How? Well, our website which launched last year and our presence on social media certainly form part of that survival strategy. We can now reach out and communicate better than ever before with our customers, as well as drumming up business that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. But ultimately I'm finding it's a return to core values - both ours as a business and those of our customers - that's ensuring our place as an established Gloucester Road stalwart.

All our stock decisions are made with our customers in mind (of course!) and we serve a mixed bunch: schoolgirls, students, mums, ladies in their prime, but actually I find them pretty consistent in terms of taste and values. Like most Bristolians our customers are a laid-back bunch, friendly, relaxed and easy-going. They're not slaves to any trend and like standing out from the crowd in clothes that don't look like they're from the High Street. They love originality, and something a bit different.

So with all that in mind, here's what I think we do best!

 

Fashion that's fun and doesn't take itself too seriously

Colour and Print

Stuff that's different from the mainstream 

Value for Money (this shrug's only £9.99!)

But at a fundamental level what's important to us is that everyone leaves happy.

Now this might mean coming away with a fabulous dress that you can't imagine finding anywhere else, or having a relaxing 5 minute browse after work, or receiving a parcel from us sooner than you expected, or enjoying a nice piece of music playing in the shop, or bagging a great sale bargain, or having a good chinwag with the person behind the till, or getting advice on matching accessories to an outfit, or having a laugh at what I'm wearing that day - I could go on. I just know that making visitors to our shop and website happy is something we strive to achieve every day.

Why We Love Amari

We've stocked Amari ever since their inception in 2007. It’s a label that epitomises our own fashion values: colour, vibrant prints, great value and above all, FUN! As the local boutique for lots of our customers, we try to keep the stock turning over fast so there’s always something new to see. But Amari bucks this trend - they consistently produce the easy-to-wear, different-from-the-chains look that our customers love, and at very decent prices. This means that Amari tends to have a longer shelf life than a lot of our other lines.

We often hear people comparing Amari clothes to brands like White Stuff and Boden. However, as many MAKE customers can tell you, Amari’s massive competitive advantage over these well known high street names is price, with no compromise on quality.

So how to define Amari style? And why is it so popular with our customers? Well for a start you could describe the look as unpretentious. Amari make clothes for women who have a life to lead, so the fabrics are always easy to look after, and easy to wear - they’re often stretchy, while maintaining their shape. There’s not a zip or fastener to be found in the current collection we’re stocking which means you can sling it on and go, knowing you look great.

Zoe Dress

This Zoe Dress for example is stunning - you just know you'll stand out from the crowd in this, with its textured crochet fabric. And yet it's so comfortable - even the lining is stretchy, making it one of those garments you almost forget you're wearing.


You’ll often hear us talking about the ‘classic’ Amari dress, or how their shapes are cut to flatter. Take the Bethany and Lauren dresses for example. 

Lauren dress

Bethany Dress

Over the years Amari have created lots of dresses to this basic shape; a v neck, coming in just under the bust with a tie back or bow at the front, and the trademark frill at the bottom. It’s the classic empire line - great for pear shapes who want to disguise the stomach area while the v neck minimises a larger bust. The frill at the bottom also draws the eye away from bits you might want to disguise and helps the elongating effect this shape has.

And then there’s the prints. As you’ll know if you’ve visited MAKE our stock in trade is colour and print, so it’s no wonder MAKE and Amari are a marriage made in heaven! There are so many we’d point to right now (why not take a look at what we stock at our website), but we really adore the paisley print on this little top - classic, pretty and fabulous colours to boot.

Another great reason to check out Amari is the sheer versatility of the garments they produce. They’re not only great value in terms of price, but because you’ll find so many opportunities to wear them. We’ve already shown you the Zoe Dress which would look great at work or even a wedding, but take the Georgia dress pictured here.

Georgia Dress

Now the model wearing it has been styled to look quite ‘officey’ to my mind. But I think the pocket detail at the front means this dress can also be worn in a much more casual manner, perhaps with leggings underneath, some flat shoes or a nice cardi layered over it. You can’t tell from the photo but there’s a fair amount of stretch to this fabric so again it’s very easy to wear.

This versatility of style reminds me of something I wrote on our Facebook page last year about an Amari summer dress. I commented that it would be equally appropriate to wear it while out shopping for veg, or to a Summer wedding, depending on what you wore with it or how it was accessorised. I think the same holds true for many of Amari’s dresses this year too. And that’s the reason Amari is still one of our most popular brands.

Size - Does It Matter?

When I'm buying for the shop I have to ask myself - which sizes are going to sell fastest? Which should I buy most of? It's not at all easy trying to second-guess which shapes and cuts will work best for which sizes and I often get it wrong, meaning we'll sell out too quickly of one particular size and get stuck with too many of another.

As a rule we run out of smaller sizes first (surprising, huh?) - is that because we have small customers or could it be that shoppers' psychology dictates always going for the smaller size?  Actually, I think MAKE's customers are really savvy - they have a good understanding of their bodyshape and what suits them, and while I'm really happy to offer advice I'm rarely asked for it!

Our customers understand that wearing something too small actually has the effect of making you look bigger. And while you may feel uncomfortable about the label reading a size larger than you'd rather be - well - who's going to know but you? Cut it off if you like.

And here's another crumb of comfort. We stock lots of different brands from all over the world, and inevitably there's just no consistency in the sizes.  I consider myself to be an average, medium-type size but I guarantee you I have items in my wardrobe ranging from Small to XL that all fit!

My advice? If you're in the shop, take 2 sizes of the garment you like to the changing rooms - or just ask! We know our stock really well and we can always advise where we think the cut is small or generous. If you're buying from us online you'll see the dimensions of each size we stock, and we've got a Size Matters page for a little more help. Or give us a ring. At the end of the day MAKE staff understand that we're all just people who want clothes that fit and make us look good.