Quote:
Originally Posted by RealJames
But more importantly, I do believe that that the severely unfashionable western middle-aged women do in fact very much care about their appearance, regardless of why it is, media or simply comparing themselves to an image they have of their own past. If dressing fashionably allows them to alleviate some of that then that's fine by me.
What I mean is that if I see a 50 year old western woman dressing like a teenager I assume she's a media-whore who's been brainwashed and has massive insecurity issues.
But if I see a 50 year old Japanese woman dressing like her friends and also her daughter, I certainly don't assume anything about her confidence or motives, it's a cultural difference.
A few of my students are older housewives who do dress cute and fashionably, I assure you they have no lack of confidence nor are they media-whores, but they just like they way they look in those clothes. Honestly they do look better dressed that way than in sweats or loose blue jeans etc.
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As one of those ~50 year old western women referred to, there is a factor that may impact us more than our Japanese counterparts.
Western women, especially in the U.S., tend to grow in all proportions considerably more than Asian women between their teens and later years. And western clothing manufacturers become worse and worse (almost daily) at catering to anyone over the age of about 16 these days. If you look at what is sold in even the more trendy department stores for women of my age, we have little or no choice but to wear downdy, frumpy, ill-fitting things that are humiliating to anyone with a sense of fashion. Unless you are extremely rich and can afford a private tailor, you eventually tire of the fight and wear the best you can abide being seen in. And if you are also over a size 12, you might as well just forget looking attractive in 90% of what is in the stores. The buyers seem to think we should all wear cheap looking t-shirts, baggy slacks, sweat suits. Half of what is on the racks do not even meet my companies definition as Business Casual.
The other factor is that after a certain age, one's budget for high fashion clothing tends to be re-apportioned for more substantial things like home furnishings, cars, medical insurance/expenses, etc. Being the fashion plate to seem attractive to others is less important than other needs of a family and home.