Street Style Inspiration for Women Over 50

40 Comments

1. What a fun video. The styles are a bit over the top for me but I admired the women they featured for their creativity and confidence. I thought the younger woman doing the interview looked like she was trying too hard to be fashionable but the mature women really carried it off with aplomb. The only thrift shop in my small town is Goodwill that is dirty and smelly. I’ve heard that there are some good thrift shops in Asheville and further away in Hendersonville but I’ve never looked for them. I guess I’m not really a shopper. But I love art shows and have a few very cool art-to-wear items that are made from repurposed garments. My favorite is a long vest made from kantha quilts. Pam, you would love it. Your outfit today is fun. I love navy with that toast color. Navy is not one of my better colors but when I pair it with toast it looks fine. Happy Wednesday.

2. What a great video! To my eye, these ladies looked over accessorized, but they all looked wonderful, and their joy in actually being interviewed for fashion was lovely to see. Your own street style was also great … I love that navy and toast combo. I often wear navy and beige or camel together, but I’ve lately been experimenting with deeper shades of brown with darker blues, because both navy and brown are thick in my closet these days. I love navy and amber, and navy and luggage tan, but I’m still on the fence about navy and chocolate together. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, and I’m slightly puzzled why not. In theory it should, because blue and orange are right with color theory, and brown is basically orange.

3. Thanks for starting us off today, Kathie. I thought these ladies were fun!

4. I think it should work…I like to wear navy & brown. I thought the navy and toasty brown was a great combination and I am glad I found it at JJill. I wish it was still available.

5. I recently found a Chico’s Zenergy jacket at a resale shop that I can wear thru Summer as it’s so light weight. Otherwise I’d never have purchased it but at 1/3 the cost and in excellent condition I got it!
   I love to thrift. It can be frustrating as you don’t always find anything but when you do it’s so worth it.

6. I don’t mind walking away without a find, because I know more treasure awaits! For me, the hunt is part of the fun! Enjoy your Zenergy jacket!

7. I am a fan of thrifting in store and online. The video was interesting. I admire women of any age who wear what they like. The current trends don’t matter when you understand your own style.

8. I agree…that is why I am an advocate of my style adjectives…they help me be me…no matter what is going on around me.

9. I’d love the video! Very inspiring. By the way I bought the sweater vest from JL and green and I wear it with my navy and white striped tops. I do love the changes you have made to your blog.

10. Great to vintage shop! A few years back I found a St John Santana knit sweater in navy, perfect shape, with all the nice gold buttons. I paid 7 dollars for it, it retailed for about 700 I believe. I still have it and wear it, a good basic sweater. From my aunt, I’ve also gotten passed along Burberry trench, a Chanel silk blouse, and purses and belts. I wish I could wear her shoes!! Shopping vintage stores is so much fun.

11. The video was so much fun! I loved the woman I’m purple. She used vintage, thrifted, fast fashion and crafted items and pulled them all together. I admired her for her natural color gray hair too! She fashionably expressed herself, look at me! I am who I am and I love me!

12. It is Susan…and what great finds you have made!

13. Thanks Kathy…it really helps me to hear that.

14. I know I loved her as well…and I really loved her necklace and that fabulous purple top!

15. What a fun video and what creative older ladies! I know you have found items before at your SA Goodwill which appear to be well organized and well stocked. I had a little time recently so went looking in our local Goodwill where I found a maroon LLBean sweater for $6.77. I have friends who often visit the Goodwills in our area where they have found many lovely items, some they keep and some they sell on Poshmark. I recently bought a blue Talbot cashmere sweater on Poshmark for $40. I’ve become aware of a local consignment shop which advertises on Facebook where I want to shop when I can drive again. I think it’s smart to buy preowned items if nothing else but saving water that’s needed in manufacturing new items as well as keeping items out of the landfills.

16. Great video! These are strong and joyful women. Very inspiring. You look fabulous in your navy and toast. I’m in love with that crepe boxwood blazer. What colors do you all think would go with it? Maybe purple (the color of misunderstood women, haha). I have so many thrift finds. A Ralph Lauren sweater in hot pink for $4 might be my favorite. Thanks for a wonderful post. Pam.

17. Thanks for sharing, Celia. You and I both are scheduled for a lot of fun after recovery!

18. I am actually featuring purple and green together tomorrow…one of my favorite color combos…maybe that is why so many misunderstand me?? Thanks for being here Marcia.

19. My favorite thrifted item was one purchased for my daughter about 15 years ago. A friend that I was visiting in Nj brought me to a thrift shop. Everything was half price that day. I found a vintage navy knee length coat with frog closures. It was $2! My daughter spent about 30$ having it fitted. She still wears it! That was the beginning of my buying vintage coats for myself. The hunt is fun. Thank you for a lovely blog today. I am loving the new format.

20. Love the street style videos. I particularly liked the woman with white hair dressed in purple. She looked so self assured and comfortable. I like your navy and toast combo as well.

21. Thanks Deborah…I have really found the best discoveries for my daughter…I found her a jacket by THEORY years ago for about $8 and it looked like new. My best two finds were also jackets…a DVF and Ralph Lauren with tags still on.

22. Thanks Cheryll. As I age, I will think of that woman often…I found her to be very inspiring.

23. That video was great! I loved especially how very creatively dressed some of these women were. Yes that woman in purple and her necklace! Wow!

24. Great short video. These women seem to always have had their fingers on fashion. To find some outfits, you’d have to be in the correct city. I did love the white coat, with black trim. Also what I loved, and this woman wasn’t interviewed was the black Chanel style jacket with black pants. I’d wear that outfit in a heartbeat. Actually the other day at my local TJ Maxx I saw something similar, probably a 4th generation knock-off, but I might go back and re-evaluate. But all were vibrant, the East Coast has always been a bit more fashion forward first , before the West Coast. I did read the other ladies comments, no one seemed over- accessorized………..love the video’s…..

25. It made me smile as well…so glad everyone is enjoying it.

26. Thanks Nancy…you should go back and try it on, if not just for the fun of it. In Texas, Dallas is the best place to shop thrift. Many ladies there are very fashion forward and move along to thrift some amazing pieces.

27. I loved the street style video. I hope to continue to love fashion when I am their age. I love color. I have worn medium toned warm and bright colors my entire life (I am 69.) I’d stay the great majority of my wardrobe is from thrift stores and online resale sites such as ThredUp and Poshmark. You asked us to share some of our thrift store treasures. I will just share a couple of things I’ve found at Goodwill in the past few weeks. I acquired a Banana Republic brown, wool tweed “safari” blazer that I just love. It looks brand new. It is a shorter length, which I prefer, and has wide belt loops at the waist. It was missing its belt, but I just pulled a leather one in a dark brown shade from my wardrobe. I also recently found a coral-pink wool tweed shorter blazer by L.L. Bean. It too looks unworn. I have acquired several lovely cashmere sweaters in recent years from Goodwill. They were all in perfect condition. I actually do not own any cashmere that did not come 2nd hand. I really love thrift shopping and have been amazed at what one can find. I only wish I had discovered thrift shopping when I was in my 20s and 30s. I was late to the party!

28. But…you are here now, Kathy!! Have fun with it.

29. Loved the confidence of the woman in purple! I love your toast and navy. I wear navy but not browns. That combination would work for both of us with very different coloring. I appreciate your advice on fashion and on colors as you expand my more cool neutral palette.

30. Big thrifting fan ! Fortunate to live in a town with two fabulous thrift stores where regularly i find like new or new brand name ….,chicos , jjill ,talbot ,ralph lauren ,loft and more . I never fail to find a great buy and often find great coats , scarves , belts , purses and even found new leather brand name boots . Recently discovered “thred up “online thrifting where you can shop by brand and size very good to new condition .lots of chicos .
    Also you ,who live in Texas , have the bloggers “too cheap blondes “who are on fb telling you about where thrift great buys are in texas .
    Thrifting is a great way to add fun to your new or wardrobe basics without breaking the bank and also you are recyclimg !

31. Glad you found her confidence inspiring as I did!

32. I have followed two cheap blondes for a long time. There are many great resources including eBay shops.
    Thanks Susan!

33. Great post. The ladies in the video seemed both self-assured and enthusiastic. I love to thrift. Over the years I have found wonderful items as others have mentioned. A coral cashmere sweater in one of the many resale shops in Palm Springs. A very high-end gray cashmere cardigan that had some wear on the elbow. I invested in leather patches and solved the problem. One thing I am always careful about is to either wash and dryer dry, or dry clean anything from a thrift store. Some resale shops won’t accept things that have not been dry cleaned, but one needs to be careful about lice, moths etc from the thrift stores. I also often find fabric for $1 which I can turn into doll clothes. I also found a lovely American Girl doll in perfect condition $18.00 at a Goodwill. She serves as my fit model for the doll clothes I make for charity. Patronizing Goodwill also provides jobs for people. Of course, so does patronizing retail stores.

34. I always clean thrift items before wearing. Thanks for mentioning that Mary!

35. I loved the repost about the fiber artist. There are not many, if any thrift shops where I live. When I lived closer to Seattle, there were many to visit. I still have the Eileen Fisher felted jacket (maroon) that I bought 20 years ago in a thrift shop. Still love and wear it.

36. That is a find, Kathy! There is an association of fiber artists here and their work fascinates me.

37. Really enjoyed the video, especially the focus on confident women “of a certain age.” Although the only outfit shown that I would wear was the Chanel-style black and white outfit, it was inspiring to hear the comments of these women. Nothing “invisible” about any of them! Over the years I’ve done a lot of thrift shopping, but every time I purged my closet I noticed many of my discards were thrifted, so I’ve cut back a lot. I tended to buy things because they were a good deal or were in my colors, not because they filled a wardrobe need, fit well or went with anything else I owned. For example, I found a Ralph Lauren tan blazer with the carved horse-head buttons that was in perfect condition for $20. On paper it made sense, but in reality I never found anything that looked right with it and didn’t wear it even once before reselling it. But visiting a resale shop with a friend I ran across a classic charcoal grey sweater dress with a cowl neck that I bought for $9. I have worn it dressed up or down for work, dinners out, dates, funerals and business travel. It became a closet workhorse, and I still love it. If you aren’t a compulsive buyer who will overbuy the wrong things just because they are such a bargain you can save a lot of money thrifting. I also use eBay a lot to replace favorite items that get ruined or have been discontinued. At least a third of my clothing purchases in the past five years have been through eBay. Buying only from sellers who accept returns has helped cut down on my eBay mistakes. I need to look up the “Cheap Blondes” site and find some new thrift shops, as my favorite consignment store is going out of business in March. Thanks for the tip!

38. I have thrifted for many years and pay attention to special sale days for seniors. Some still have tags on! In regular retail, I always head to the clearance rack first before any other. Especially important if looking for a certain item to go with an outfit and don’t want to spend lot. I do like the navy and brown color combination.

39. All of the looks in the video were great! I’d wear them all (with some tweaks) except for the Chanel suit – looks polished on her but it would age me. I was most struck by how none of the ladies were afraid of colour – saffron yellow with brown, red with black & white, head-to-toe purple… even the interviewer’s green blouse was refreshing! (Someone else mentioned that she looked too ‘try hard’, but that’s how I about the Chanel suit lady yet others didn’t – our perceptions truly are subjective!)

40. So glad you enjoyed it!

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