Back to the 50s
Looking put together and attractive is not difficult for men or for women.
It’s true that it’s harder for women to buy clothes because designers change them constantly and try to force women into whatever is on trend that week. Still, it can be done.
If you want to look good, always smart, never out of style, take your cues from the 1950s. Americans never looked better. I’m not saying you have to go out and buy vintage clothes (though some do).
Wear clothes that are classic and conservative. Nice trousers and button up shirts for men, sometimes a sports jacket.
50’s silhouette dresses flatter every woman who wears them, regardless of body type. No, don’t think “he means poodle skirts with puffed crinolines.” No, he doesn’t. He means grown-up real-woman wear for everyday.
Groom your hair in a modified 50s style. Not “rockabilly,” but “going out to do do business or marketing for the day.” Neat, simple, well combed. Keep it short, gentlemen. A shoulder-length bob and well-placed bobbie pins always looks nice, ladies.
Women—take the drag makeup off your faces. All of it. Stop contouring. Stop wearing pancake. A bit of lipstick and mascara and neatly groomed eyebrows are all you need.
Neatly groomed, ladies, does not mean “caterpillar thick penciled brows” or “brows plucked into a thin and severe arch.” Stop doing all of that. Nothing makes women look more ridiculous and enslaved to The Current Thing than the constant eyebrow identity crisis.
Men—take the jewelry off. Take out those ridiculous earrings and piercings. All of them. Including “just this one diamond stud.” No. It doesn’t make you look intriguing, it makes you look louche.
That’s what I say.
I love your concept here, Josh. Not sure that one needs to go back to the 1950s, though. I was born in the early 1950s, so I am more than familiar with how fashion morphed every decade or so for the past 70 years! In fact, my teen years, the second half of the 60s, was the era of miniskirts and psychedelic. Then my college years from 1968 to 1972 saw bell bottoms and eventually midi skirts! Perhaps my taste in clothes was always some sort of mix between classic and boho, and I’m glad to say that even at 71 I get unsolicited compliments on my “style”. From 20-something young women, to older gay men who happen to be Black. Seriously. A couple of weeks ago I was in Florida for a leadership workshop and get together for an organization I am very active with. Coming back to NYC on Jet Blue I was wearing a pair of soft loose slacks with a linen tunic with hand embroidery and a floppy straw hat (I must wear brimmed hats outdoors because my eyes are overly sensitive to sun and bright lights), with a pretty silk scarf around the base. As I walked down the aisle to exit at JFK, one of the flight attendants, who was herself a rather beautiful tall red headed woman (yes an actual woman) who was standing at the plane door wishing passengers a good day, smile at me and said, “I really love your style!”. Yes, that felt really good. I happen to live not that far from JFK on a major bus line and it just so happens that many airline people who are stationed in NYC live in my neighborhood. As I was wheeling my bag down endless corridors toward where I pick up the bus, the flight attendants from my flight actually caught up with me. The same elegant attendant who complimented my style called out to me “Hi, again! I so love your style”. Two weeks later I’m still smiling at the memory.
Aside from trotting my own horn, which I don’t do a lot, my point is that there are many ways to looks put together and stylish at any age and for any body type (me, petite but womanly). Does not have to be a cinch-waisted 1950s dress (for a woman) but something that expresses who you are without being extreme or trashy. Or mousy and drab, either. You might even be 71 and get compliments that are completely freely given. What a treat!
Final observation: we all clothe and adorn ourselves in ways to say: here I am, or I want to fade into the woodwork and not be noticed. Anyone who denies that doesn’t understand human nature and the biological art of “signaling”. Prof. Gad Saad probably has a lot to say about this.
Agreed! We raised all of our kids with this classic sense of style. It’s so important and so very freeing!