In an article about marketing non-dowager clothes to middle aged women, Wall Street Journal fashion writer Teri Agins reviews Bloomingdales' foray into the boomer market, called "Quotation," a line that wants to "appeal to mature women as well as 20-year-olds." This alone is unremarkable, but what did catch my eye was what Agins ended up buying at her local Westchester Bloomies: "What finally convinced me to try on a blue print nylon mesh baby doll top — a teen trend I had already rejected — was a knowledgeable sales woman, who acted more like a personal shopper than a cashier. I was thrilled the top showed that I had a waistline." Really? it showed that you have a waistline? Because usually "baby doll" tops — the gauzy, billowy things that they are — make women look at least four months up the stick. Anyone with boobs to speak of looks vaguely pregnant in the nursery-inspired looks that are clogging up the racks at most department stores and are you not OVER IT?
Seriously though. We thought the fitted/preppy look was in for this fall, but ladies are still wearing all of this beribboned, shapeless bullshit. Maybe women in their 40s are trying to look younger, but isn't it time to just start dressing like a grown up... Or at least not like a cabbage patch doll?
Boomer Balancing Act [Wall Street Journal]