The waist has left me. The arms will never meet another sleeveless blouse. But the changes in my body don’t deter me from still being interested in fashion. I dress conservatively in monotones, but I want to step outside my comfort zone and add some flair and – gasp! – color. So, I looked around and this is what I saw on some San Francisco women over 60. Do I dare to follow their lead?
Terri Wong, 66, fiber artist, elevates her 5-foot frame with hats and small heels, and accessorizes with Sally Bass jewelry. Her outfits are all vintage Chinese. “Every day I also wear at least one item that is something I made,” she said.
Her friend, Pattie Gerrie, 69, a cosmetologist, artist and fashion maven said, “Don’t wait for a special occasion to have fun with your fashion. I wear my gold shoes with pom poms whenever the spirit moves me.”
Gerrie said she made her own clothing in junior high and high school because she couldn’t find what she liked in stores. Today, she loves to mix clothing from different time periods and cultures. She focuses on color, texture, and creating layers. “There are no rules, or rhyme or reason for my combinations. It can be a ski sweater with a Mexican blouse.”
She gets stopped on the street a lot by people wanting to take her picture. “People ask me to teach them how to be daring in their dress,” she said.
I’m not surprised that the men in Wong’s and Gerrie’s life also make fashion statements. Ken Vermes, 73, Wong’s partner, a musician, enlisted friend and designer Suzi Click to add a Frida Kahlo motif to his vintage Levi jacket. “My jacket creates a lot of excitement in bookstores,” he said. “When I walk in, they want to sell me the new $200 Frida picture book.”
Gerrie’s husband, John, 81, a psychotherapist, writer and minister, regularly wears Hawaiian shirts and during the holiday season, hats from the 1940s that look like Christmas trees.
Advice from a fashion consultant on the “Sixty and Me” website emphasizes keeping our fashion options expanding as we age and enjoying fashion just as much as always.
Wong and Gerrie oftentimes look to the past to enhance their wardrobe. Clothes from decades ago rotate back into style. “I take women shopping in vintage stores,” Gerrie said.
I was thrilled when my beloved Arizona Birkenstock sandals from the 1970s became the most searched for shoe on the shopping app Lyst in early 2020 as written up in “Vogue” magazine. Birkenstocks are the most comfortable shoes ever, and now I can wear them without anyone throwing me shade. But will I ever manifest Wong and Gerrie’s chutzpah?
One woman with chutzpah galore is Iris Apfel, American businesswoman, interior designer and fashion icon. I admire her fashion individuality and her fabulous jewelry. She is inspirational. And she’s still got it going on at 100!
What is your fashion flavor?
