A few months back, the interwebs were all abuzz about Taraji P. Henson seen out and about rocking what seemed to be her natural hair. When this photo of Taraji started circulating, it wasn’t her hair that caught my attention.
Now, we all know that there is a fine line between hot and hot mess and in my opinion this outfit is closer to the latter. My biggest issue with the outfit was the double exposure. A low cut top or short shorts worn separately are not really a problem, but worn together? Girl…*side eye*
Then I got to thinking, Taraji is 43 and has a teenage son. Now before y’all go in… I fully believe that we can look great well into our 40’s, 50’s and beyond; Taraji is a perfect example of the never ending supply of fly-ness that is black women. But the fact is, we live in a youth obsessed culture where women are encouraged to lift, tuck and pluck until we’re barely recognizable. We’re expected to look and feel young rather than age gracefully. Dressing too young for your age is not always as cute as you might think. And in certain settings, like work, dressing too young could actually hurt your credibility. This lead me to ask: when it comes to women of a certain age…
Should we hang up certain looks as we get older or should we flaunt what we’ve got as long as we’ve got it?
In this post, I mentioned that I have my own struggles regarding wearing certain things because as a wife, mother and 30-something I feel some things are just inappropriate. I know it’s my prerogative to shop wherever I want and wear whatever makes me feel good. But I still feel some kind of way whenever I see the clothes at stores like F21 or Charlotte Russe. This unease is not because I can’t fit the clothes, but when you walk into a store, look at something and think “is that a dress or a top?” or “are these shorts or underwear?” it can make you think twice about shopping there.
I know that we all want to feel youthful and beautiful, so in the spirit of sisterhood, here are 5 tips for looking fly AND age appropriate:
- As I’m sure you’ve already discovered while shopping different stores, all sizes are not equal. A size 6 from one brand or designer can vary (sometimes a full size) from that of another. My advice to you is, ignore the sizes and check the measurements. Knowing your hip, waist and bust measurements can save you lots of wardrobe related heartache.
- Clothes should be fitted not tight
- Juniors clothes are generally more trendy and designed for youngsters. The best way to avoid looking like them is to avoid shopping in the juniors section altogether. If you’re not ready to go cold turkey, you can also mix & match. Pick up an age appropriate top, dress or bottom from juniors and pair it with something a little more grown.
- If in doubt, remember this: juniors sizes are generally odd (5,7,9 etc) where women’s clothes come in even numbers
- Avoid over-exposure! Showing too much skin can make you look like you’re trying too hard…it’s all about balance. If you’re bearing your legs, wear a full coverage top. If you’re rocking a low cut top, cover up on the bottom
BMWK – What say you? What did you think of Taraji’s look? Do you think that as a woman matures, her style should mature as well? Comment below!