<p>See how many of us would like to buy something stylish and comfortable and appropriate? It really boggles my mind that there is no one addressing this market. And I love all the agreement about the sleeveless dresses! I think this style is just ridiculous except on the very thin. Thanks a lot, Michelle O. </p>
<p>I have decided I don’t even like short sleeves any more. I have a couple of elbow-length summer tee-shirts and just ordered two more from L.L. Bean. I don’t want to see my upper arms or my knees at all any more. Just not the best bits these days.</p>
<p>ditto to all–I have started answering that “can I help you or are you browsing?” with “no, I consider this work”. it is not fun and the quality is awful and prices can be over the top. grrr and I hate when I have to go to a July wedding and D tells me that the pants that go with my lovely silk top are too wide and I should find more fitted ones and then there are only knits. Where did all of the nice silks (real silk) and satins go?</p>
<p>Re: sleeves…I have a ton of nice jackets…some short sleeved, some three quarter length and some long sleeved. I also have a few nice sweaters. Today I’m wearing a sleeveless garment with a very nice white 3/4 length sleeve jacket. It looks great. I know some folks don’t like to wear something over a dress and some dresses don’t lend themselves to this…but this is how <em>I</em> solved the “I NEED SLEEVES” issue.</p>
<p>I like to pick up few peices when my D. get rid of her clothes. I absolutely hate shopping. In addition, if I do have to shop, women clothes does not fit, Juniors are strange and not age appropriate styles, although they fit much better, so I am very lost also. Old D’s clothes is definitely my best bet. Also, recycling clothes is such an ordial, you have to take old stuff out of closet, put it into bags, take them to salvation army, I rather spend my time on something else. So, I have some very old clothes that I still wear and I do not care. We are not required to wear anythng fancy to work, just some slacks and whatever decent top, I wear skirts in a summer, pants are too hot.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention Cabi. I hate the whole party/consultant concept but I can order from their catalogue without going to an event by calling the local person. I really like the quality and range of their clothes.</p>
<p>OP, I think it depends on your budget. For me, spending $50 for a pair of shoes, pants or even a dress is about my limit. For some that is a drop in the bucket, for others that is too expensive.</p>
<p>Key word for me: SALES. I do/can like nicer stuff, but just can’t and don’t want to pay a lot of $$ for things. I will shop at places like Kohl’s sometimes, but am a bigger fan of TJ Maxx, sometimes Ann Taylor loft, and also like Eddie Bauer for casual wear. </p>
<p>I find that I would rather have a few basic bottoms that I LOVE and feel COMFORTABLE and then have lots of top options. A couple of pairs of jeans in the winter and lots of top options.</p>
<p>"OP, I think it depends on your budget. For me, spending $50 for a pair of shoes, pants or even a dress is about my limit. "</p>
<p>-It is way too much and after you add time that you spend on buying it and disposing of old clothes, opportunity cost is huge. Unfortuantely sometime I got to be stuck in this situation, spending even more than that. Shopping makes me very drained and feeling like I wasted ton of valuable time, except for one positive result - supporting economy.</p>
<p>When William and Kate were married a month ago, there was a big discussion that her dress would hopefully lead to more dresses with sleeves. Hard to find dresses with sleeves, in general, but especially in the summer.</p>
<p>I have done very well finding dresses at Lord & Taylor with sleeves. I don’t mind the shrug sometimes, but overall it would be great to have more choices for sleeves, especially 3/4.</p>
<p>I have always gravitated toward tailored styles, but being the only woman in a house of men, I seem to be gravitating toward more feminine styles now.</p>
<p>I, too, shop all over, but hate malls. I tend to go to more boutiques and go immediately to sale racks. I like Marshalls too. I never have luck at Kohl’s for me or my H.</p>
<p>However, I seem to be adopting the “less is more” attitude lately and will shop for finer pieces, so I will buy good quality and have less pieces in my closet.</p>
<p>Agreed re: less is more. My long time friend has a women’s consignment shop. I call her when I need something and she calls me when she has a likely match. Just bought a dress for a wedding with matching sweater for $22. But it does need a slight alteration. One thing I learned from all that What Not To Wear with my D is that a good tailor is your friend…</p>
<p>I concur with much of the above, already mentioned re. catalog shopping: favorites are Boden, Garnet Hill, Sundance (well, mostly I have a weakness for their jewelry) and Zappos for shoes. But what has happened to J Jill over the past couple of years? I used to find great stuff there, but lately everything looks very frumpy. I am nearly 54, and while I am in good shape (Obama arms!), I agree that the challenge of shopping at this age is to find things that are stylish, but not excessively girly (frills, ruffles, floral prints) that would risk looking ridiculous. On the other hand, I don’t want anything that reads too matronly either. I work from home, so work clothes are irrelevant for me.</p>
<p>^Well I am much further in the same type of predicament since I am much more advanced age-wise and I do not have Obama arms, but thank goodness, neither her behind. Women clothes does not fit, looks like it is done for some imaginary figure with huge b–t and tiny waist, I do not have either. Juniors at least have normal waist/hip ratio and waist band does not go up to my bra.</p>
<p>Pretty much agree with everything above. I’m 55 and in decent shape, but don’t really want to show off my upper arms/ knees anymore. I work in a fairly casual office so usually wear slacks, sweaters, and fitted jackets. While I live in an area with great shopping, I can’t begin to tell you how much I hate to shop. Like a few others, I am a confirmed catalog shopper. It seems I am always finding better deals on line than in the stores, and usually get coupons on top of sales. I love good deals. I try to find things on clearance a little off season. As long as I stick with more basic clothes, they aren’t out of style. As for dresses, I agree that it is tough to find ones I like, so I make most of my dresses. My daughter works at Anthropologie, so we all do take advantage of some good prices there, although a lot of their stuff doesn’t work for me. Their clothes tend to be overpriced to start with, so even with the discount I don’t buy much. I used to love to shop, but it has become work- I guess as I get older, I would rather spend my money on other things!</p>
<p>I love to shop (well, not as much as I used to) and am very fit and 5’4". I like JCrew, Limited and sometimes Loft. I think Loft is a little out of control with the vanity sizing thing- I really am not a size zero. I can often find things at Gap, too. JCrew has great slacks and capris for work (we are business casual). I do great with bottoms, but seem to have trouble lately finding tops I like. I also like Nordstrom but have to do that out of town since ours doesn’t open until this fall.</p>
<p>I agree about JJill. I used to go there all the time and have to restrain myself when buying. Now I can’t even find one thing in the catalogue that i like. Very frumpy and the colors are anemic. They used to be the beautiful earthy linens that were a bit feminine and sexy without looking like your daughter’s clothes. Very disappointing. I will share a link with you who are looking for a longer dress with actual arms that is still flattering. i got it through Newport News (hate 90 percent of their clothes but love this dress.)</p>
<p>I am all over the map when it comes to clothes. I recently bought some sweater sets from LandsEnd in cotton. Really nice and cheap. Then its Bloomingdales, Saks and Neimans (on sale) and then random pieces from JCrew and Banana Republic…</p>
<p>I find JJill good for clothes that are comfy and a bit loose. Nothing there is tailored, so I only buy things that I wear for knocking about on the weekends. Though I did get a knit pencil skirt that I love and wear to work a lot.</p>
<p>I was paying particular attention to my 50+ coworkers today in sleeveless shirts or dresses. What I noticed is even those with very fit arms tend to have a little bit of skin sagging as will happen as you age - toned or not- as well as that mottled looking skin many of us get thanks to brown spots and the like. I guess that’s what turns me off on the whole sleeveless thing. Of course, people should wear what makes them feel good and even though sleeveless makes me feel self-conscious these days, I’m sure lots of women are fine with it. I will say the whole ‘what’s appropriate for our age?’ conversation keeps coming up in my social circle. It’s actually been quite controversial as the women who think there are no limits on what you should be able to wear get quite offended when someone suggests that not every style works at every age. Of course, fashion is always a matter of individual taste at any age. </p>
<p>Ann Taylor, the Loft, JJill and Talbots are notorious for vanity sizing. I can always go down one size at those stores.</p>
<p>Just like ellebud, I shop all over the place (except Walmart) and rarely buy things that are not on sale. When I’m in a mood for treasure hunting, I stop by Nordstrom Rack or browse Yoox.</p>
<p>I wish I could browse Walmart or Target or Cosco. The whole Petite thing sets it’s own limits. I did go on Banana Republic’s site today and ordered some cute t-shirts and a tank top in the clearance section. I never really looked there because of the prices but the clearance was reasonable. Thanks for the tip!</p>
<p>Last year I bought some cropped Lucky denim at Costco. Identical to the pair I bought at the Lucky boutique.
I suppose being petite they don’t really hit me where they would hit my D2, but who cares?
Sometimes you can even find lenghts in the jeans at Costco, but it is hit or miss usually.</p>