The Age Issue

Why wont women stop dressing like their daughters?

In New York City,hookers dress like that, scoffed a Manhattan-returned friend to me at Queenie Singhs party for Paris Hilton. He was referring to the bottle-blonde party girl,who just came over and greeted me in a black-white cellophane-wrap Herve Leger,with her cups running over. Rubbish, I defended. What do you New Yorkers know? You think Calvin Klein is fashion.

Then I did a quick check of the room. The uniform of tight dresses thrusting cleavage and showing leg was everywhere. Paris Hilton has an excuse: shes just 30,an international celebrity (never mind the flop TV shows),a hotel heiress and a famous airhead. Moreover,shes tall and super-skinny. But most of the guests at Queenie Singhs party for Paris had none.

Ive always believed that the number one rule of fashion is that there are no rules. Fashion is for everyone. Regardless of age and economic status,everyone has a right to express themselves through what they wear. I also believe beautiful women come in all sizes,and a very curvaceous one like Nigella Lawson,Monica Bellucci or our very own cutesy Avantika Malik can be dizzying head-turners.

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Thats exactly why I am confused about a great bunch of ladies,many of whom I count as friends,dressing up distastefully. Its almost as if fashion exists only in dresses. The frock cant be snug enough. There is no such thing as too short. And excessive makeup can make you look younger.

Interestingly,fashion isnt as rigid as it was a couple of decades ago,when different age groups wore different shapes and shopped different labels. Topshop was only for teenagers,Christian Dior for young ladies and Chanel for older ones. Now,the high street is for everyone and high-end labels arent as unattainable. H&M collaborates with Karl Lagerfeld and Target with Missoni. Likewise,teenage bloggers share the front row along with golden girls Anna Wintour and Hilary Alexander. An American First Lady gets by with fake pearls and a Britains new princess wears Jigsaw.

Forty-two-year-old Haseena Jethmalanis frame is tinier than her teenage daughters,Rita Dhody shares clothes with her 20-something daughters and the throwaway-fashion-loathing

Sangita Kathiawad,on the right side of 50,makes it to a new best-dressed list with each advancing year. Flaunting flesh has less to do with age and more to do with fitness. Who wants to see the silver-haired Monica Vazirali in anything but a cocktail dress? Certainly not me.

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Dressing your age does not mean being dull and dowdy,but neither should it mean being stuck in a style rut. Being fashionable post your 30s is not just keeping up-to-date with the trends of the day but also staying in-step with the changes in your body and your life. Whether you have a mothers kangaroo pouch or Pilates-toned abs,you can wear free-flowing silhouette. Being sexy is in showing off your taste,not just your boob-job.

Flatter the woman you are right now,not the girl you think you still can be.(namratanow@gmail.com)

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The Age Issue

Why wont women stop dressing like their daughters?

Why wont women stop dressing like their daughters?