Talkin’ ’bout my generation: Where’s the great style for women my age?
Why should retailers care about the 78.2 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964? Boomers, on the whole, have $2.1 trillion in annual buying power — more than seven times Generation X and Generation Y combined. A large portion of Boomers’ disposable income goes toward apparel (along with health care and groceries). Boomer households spend 13 percent more than the national household average on women’s apparel, and 11 percent more on men’s. So who’s designing for us?
Born at the height of the Baby Boom generation, I’ve lived long enough to know what I want. But like many women my age, I feel somewhat out of the loop when it comes to fashion. In fact, I feel completely ignored by the fashion industry. What’s up with that?
I’m smart, capable, and successful at what I do. I’m a grown up woman: seasoned, confident, and professional. I enjoy my life – I eat well, get plenty of exercise, and I take time to be with my family and my good friends. I love music, art, literature, and travel, and I spend my disposable income on these things.
I’m not a runway model. In fact, I’m closer to the average American woman, who is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds (the average fashion model is 5’11″ and 117 pounds.) Like most of my teenage friends, I naturally “filled out” once I stopped getting taller. And although I always wished I could carry off great looking styles worn by television and movie actresses and fashion models, I just didn’t look right or feel comfortable – and I still don’t! It was not much later, while in my late teens and early twenties, I began to ask: why is it that all those fun, edgy, creative styles I see in fashion magazines look good only on models who are thinner than 98% of American women?
In the places where models have straight lines and angles, I have actual curves. Off-the-rack clothing never quite fits me. And I bet you’ve had the same experience: the waist is always too narrow or too long, the sleeves too tight, the hemline unflattering, pant legs are four inches too long…on and on.
And now that I’ve reached midlife, what I’m looking for seems like the impossible dream! Like most of my Boomer generation girlfriends, my body has changed – that is, matured. Still, I’m considered attractive (at least, that’s what my friends tell me) – I’ve been athletic all my life, and I eat sensibly. I have a few body issues, but that shouldn’t stop me from finding great looking clothes. Yet stylish clothing seems as elusive as the perfect haircut (that’s another story).
So back to my initial question. Four out of five American women say they’re dissatisfied with the way they look. What’s the fashion industry doing about that? Could the fashion industry throw us a bone – or better, offer us styles that rescue us from this state of discontent? What if we grown up women could find stylish, beautiful clothes that make us feel good and look terrific?
SOURCES
http://retailtrafficmag.com/development/retail_sixty_something/
I create stuff. My work life is about creative communication. My career has been about "translating" science and engineering concepts on behalf of university researchers for lay audiences. The work has offered unique opportunities to collaborate with all kinds of people, including museum curators and exhibit developers, artists, designers, entrepreneurs, teachers, government workers and public officials, filmmakers, and media reporters and writers. Recently, I decided to move to freelance work that includes writing and editing paper- and web-based content for a range of clients, including entrepreneurs in fashion, art and science. When not working for hire, I create stuff with paint and fabric.
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