Fashion maven Sherrie Mathieson, who serves the style-starved boomer population with her books and consulting practice, says you need look no further than your local grocery store for proof that there is, indeed, serious “style slippage” afoot. You will see boomer women who have all but given up, throwing on oversized t-shirts over elastic-waist pants, and cutting their grey hair to the nubs.

Not all boomers who have left the style train make these particular anti-fashion statements. In our next blog, we’ll talk about four boomer fashion archetypes, three of which could use some guidance.

Apart from the efforts of the niche concentration of fashionable boomers who populate the upper echelons of certain urban centers and circles, where did boomer fashion go wrong?

Let’s start with the list of challenges and poor solutions fashion designers and retailers have when designing for the boomer body and ethos.

1. Too much freedom.
When it comes to fashion, there were eras distinct from one another: the uniformity of the 50’s, the eclectic creativity of the 60’s , the “dress for success” rules for the workplace confused by the “anything goes” off-work hours of the glam 70’s. Along the way, something important was lost. Good fabrics, simple but tasteful styling and attention to detail—all elements that become even more critical, as the woman’s body ages—gave way to fashion that ran the gamut from gauche to sloppy. When it came to fashion, boomers suffering from too much freedom split into camps (the archetypes we will address tomorrow.) Rather than guiding boomers back to good taste, fashion designers and retailers either tended towards one pole or another of bad taste, or tried to embrace them all, simply complicating the matter. Even when there were quality fashions in the mix, an effort like The Gap’s Fourth and Towne fell short by trying to be too many things to too many women, and confusing them all. Recognizing that boomer taste and style had bi- or actually quad-forcated, the boutique was arranged in four separate fashion style areas. One was for traditionalists looking for classic clothes in which to go to work; another was for women who lived active lives, but didn’t want to ever put anything on their bodies more structured than pajamas, and so on. The boomer woman faced with so many choices had an identity crisis on her way to the racks, and the ambitious (and under-advertised) venture spectacularly failed.

2. Aging bodies present fashion hurdles.
Again, according to Mathieson, this is nothing that a talented fashion designer can’t handle. Geoffrey Beane did it in the 90’s, going for simple elegance well done. Lauren and Eileen Fisher are doing it today. Why aren’t there more who care to dress the older woman well? Look no further than ageism and sexism. And anybody who has watched Project Runway when the young designers are given the challenge of dressing each others’ mothers knows, the stereotypes of older women—particularly when it comes to fashion—are unfortunately very much present and accounted for.

3. Youthfulness confused with juvenalizing.
Even those designers and retail chains that have devoted themselves to dressing the boomer woman, and who have succeeded at selling more to her than most, have frequently missed the mark. Mathieson points to Chico’s and J. Jill as examples of boutiques that have drawn from mall-adapted youth-oriented fashion to keep their older customers feeling trendy. (Even Chico’s and J. Jill get it right sometimes, however. And no boutique can take all the blame for women who buy too much of the wrong things.) That said, where teenagers look cute in t-shirts covered with slogans (another one of those fashion trends that boomers actually invented in their own youth) the look does not translate well to women at midlife and beyond. Where the names of rock bands and edgy art meaningful to the boomer generation culturally once strode across proud chests, one now sees teddy bears and pictures of their grandchildren, which Mathieson tags “sentimental, sappy, silly and hoakey.” And while a 13-year-old girl can be excused for throwing an oversized t-shirt or sweater over her jeans, the effect on older woman serves to give her the very look of invisibility which boomers claim they most resent.

4. Making her visible for the wrong things.
While we’re on the subject, boomer women justifiably equate invisibility with marginalization: not being heard, seen, respected or taken seriously. The handful of mall and online fashion chains who cater to the boomer market understand the boomer woman’s fear of becoming invisible, but many go about the remedy in such an ill-conceived way as to cause even further damage. Mathieson points to the replacement of good taste and style with bling, layers and layers of tiny gold things, and eye-stopping (as deer in the headlight) individual pieces of clothing. The difference is that when a woman is dressed tastefully and with style, she will receive the compliment “you look great.” If she’s got on an over-designed blouse or too big piece of jewelry, she will hear “great blouse” or “that’s quite a necklace”, whether the compliment is sincerely meant or not. Just because this woman is no longer invisible, does not mean she’s not still marginalized.

5. Thinking she won’t spend the money.
Underlying all of the above is the concern that boomers won’t spend serious money on expensive clothes, making an investment in design and retail unwise. The truth is that boomers spend 2.1 trillion/year on consumer goods and services, the largest of any generational cohort. And according to Mathieson, they spend more then their fair share on clothing—but the measure of their intent to look good tends to be by quantity rather than quality. Mathieson says the boomer closet is bursting to the seams: doors and drawers can barely shut. They buy massive amounts—but of mostly the wrong things. QVC has plenty of repeat offenders, for example: women who get swept up in the excitement of the pitch, and end up with suitcases of bling, glitter and shine under their beds. And faux everything—Native American Indian jewelry made in China, for instance-- Mathieson would have them trade it all for one real anything.

In our next blog in this series, The four archetypes of boomer fashion.

Carol Orsborn