Sometimes, as women get older, they tend to be more individual in their dress. They wear brighter colours and prefer patterned fabrics over plain. Some women, like the inimitable Lee Lin Chin, become noted for their exotic clothes.
My question is, why do we wait so long to wear what we like?
Most of us have experienced falling in love with a dress that’s just a bit daring, or strikingly different. Sometimes we even buy it, but it often remains in our wardrobe. And eventually ends up in the thrift shop.
Why? Because we lack the courage to stand out from the crowd. We’re happy to look under-dressed in our active wear, because everyone else is, but we’re afraid to look beautiful in a scarlet silk blouse on our own.
Older women seem to have more confidence, and dare to be different. Some of them even voice the following mantra, “I’m too old to care what people think anymore. I’ll wear what I like.”
A few years ago I bought a fantastic skirt in a second-hand shop. It’s made of small pieces of silk, pink, cream, blue and latte-coloured, sewn in rows on an underskirt so that they flutter in the breeze. The previous owner had obviously never worn it. The original price tag was still attached to the skirt. It cost me just five dollars, and I wore it to work the next day with joy.
One of my colleagues told me I looked like Big Bird (a larger-than-life character from a children’s show). There. That’s the reaction that we’re anticipating, and that terrifies us. I looked him straight in the eye, smiled my sweetest, and said, ‘You’ve got that all wrong, Rob. Big bird is yellow. But if you’re just saying I look like a bird, with pink and brown feathers, then I’m taking that as a compliment. Birds are beautiful. Thank you so much.’ And in my head, I added, ‘As though I care what you think. You fashion guru you, in your grey pants that don’t fit, and shirt that used to be white once.’
Chanel said, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” So this month, get out that item you bought but haven’t been brave enough to wear and don it with pride. You won’t be alone.
