Older men splash out
WOMEN who are ageing can feel averse to certain clothes and colours in their wardrobe as being “too young” for them, but men have no such qualms, finds a study.
It showed that men who aged remained comfortable in the outfits they had worn earlier in their lives, and some even wanted to expand their wardrobes and add more colour and variety.
Those from “creative” industries continued to dress in a stylish, fashionable manner while others had a smart-casual style, mixing blazers with trousers and ties.
“It is clear men have a different relationship to dress from women and the research shows this continues in later life,” said Julia Twigg, Professor at the University of Kent.
However, they were repulsed by clothes such as hoodies, trainers and tight jeans as “too young” for them, called it “silly” and viewed it with contempt. They also had a strong negative reaction to pants with elastic waistbands.
They thought these would mark a clear end to masculinity and the onset of a decline of life. This loss of masculinity in clothing choices was also related to the idea of wearing dirty or unkempt clothing, the researchers said.
Though “there is less in the way of age anxiety in their choices, there are clearly issues that affect how they dress and how this changes as they get
older,” she noted.
For the research, published in the journal Ageing and Society, the team examined how men aged between 58 and 85 responded to fashion and clothing choices as they aged.
Despite being confident in their dress choices, several men admitted that changes in body size with old age impacted their ability to dress as they wished. – IANS