The Rise of the Over-50 Fashion Mentors (Published 2022)

Right now the most valuable currency in the aspiration economy is newness, novelty and youth. Marketing and advertising, especially across fashion, is all about selling a lifestyle and image for your current self. Future chronological chapters of your life are deemed irrelevant. But these partnerships challenge that assumption. They sell the idea t... See more

TikTok has become a place for middle-aged and older women to share their aging journeys joyfully. Amelia Crook (@misplacedstyle) has launched a startup after reclaiming her style (and gray hair). @StyleLikeU, a platform dedicated to the self-acceptance revolution, ran a campaign on Defying Ageism. They interviewed beloved style icon Stacy London (y... See more

There’s a modern phenomenon whereby personal style—on the body, in the home—is understood as a separate track of identity. It’s a mode of expression we’re meant to perfect through mimetic desire and buying the right stuff. I’m thinking, for instance, of dressing like a “coastal grandma,” without otherwise inhabiting the relevant lifestyle choices. ... See more

Some people say 30 is the new 20. But, if you’re the business of selling clothes to dudes, you’re likely thinking that 50, 60, or even 70 is the new 20 given the spate of famous elderly pitchmen being tapped to rep luxury clothing brands and streetwear labels.⁠

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Boomers and Gen-X-ers, clad in their comfy walking shoes, quietly strode to the forefron... See more

So the fevered search for the next ever-more-niche revival could be seen as a way for Gen Z to carve out a IYKYK (“if you know, you know”) point of difference and ring-fence a specific look, community or interest. For a limited time, anyway.

Beyond simply copying her outfit, which isn’t the point, it speaks to a broader shift in consumer behavior: We want to hear from people, not corporations.

In short, with democratized access, the web became more saturated than ever before, and as consumers, we began to spend more and more time trying to sort through it all. In a state of analysis paralysis, how do we disaggregate signal from noise?

This problem of overabundance is why I wrote my piece last year. As consumption of digital media increas... See more