There was a piece in The Guardian a few months back: “‘I went from basic to flamboyant overnight!’ The people who transformed their style – in their 50s, 60s and 70s”.
It's subheaded: “Growing older can mean getting bolder – so why shouldn’t this be reflected in our clothes? Meet four people who refuse to blend into the background”. I don't know about “getting bolder”. I think it's more an increasing feeling of “I really couldn't give a shit”.
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.
The person with the style I most like there is Arlinda McIntosh (64, New Jersey): “The clothes I wanted to wear didn’t exist, so I started making these big celebratory skirts, some with trains, so I could bring joy to my appearance.” Right. Especially as the cross-dresser's "traditional" short skirt has never done it for me. I prefer to be covered up. And big celebratory skirts seem just the way. Skirts with a lot of material. Skirts that flounce. Skirts that swish and swirl. Mmm, yes.
Style-wise anyway. Word-wise I'm with Phil Grosset (51, York), who now identifies as non-binary: “I choose things that I think look nice and make me feel good without worrying about what gender they’re marketed at. Clothes that are marketed to women have so much more choice in their patterns, colours and fabrics – it’s made me addicted to colour.” Patterns, colours, fabrics. Mmm, yes.
Maybe I should turn this into a fashion blog.
On which note, I note that McIntosh runs her own label, Sofistafunk, where “the voluminous Skirt reins Supreme and all else is an accessory to It”. The ‘A Long Gathering’ skirts are my favourites, if a bit out of my price range. Then again, if I can spend £900 on a great bass recorder...
