Fashions For The Older Woman

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31094, 24 June 1966, Page 2

Fashions For The Older Woman

(By

MOLLY ELLIOTT!

While fashion concentrates, almost exclusively on the' young these days, some manu- 1 facturers, having experienced a revulsion of feeling, now support the woman over 35. She, in face of the teen-age fixation, has developed a kingsize fashion inferiority complex that too often prompts her to choose greenish tweeds or enfluffing styles more hideously blurring than a nylon stocking over a gangster’s face. Such women, says the Auckland fashion promoter, Tam Cochrane, should feel proud of their age and Wagnerian bearing which earns them a special place in the fashion sun. They can show their daughters—and grand-daugh-ters—a thing or two when it comes to poise, elegance, and Athenaeum grandeur. To prove that the over-35s can wear anything from slacks to ball gowns, Tam Cochrane recently conducted parades for women who wear sies 16 for women who wear sizes 16 Naturally they should follow one or two rules: uncluttered, well-cut sweaters in plain colours; knitted two-pieces with deep V fronts or tuxedo revers to modify outsize busts; soft shades like China tea to drain complexions that have the rubicund tint of the contented cleric. If you belong in this handsome category, you need not shy clear of tailored slacks in a dark colour like navy, worn with a navy and white sweater or a hand-knitted oatmeal car coat with three-quar-

[ter sleeves, ideal for trips to the shops. j I The hand-made look distin- , guishes woollens this season. ( ; Crocheted suits showed up attractively, particularly in < chocolate with beige edging. . even the rounded pocket flaps '•on a button-up jacket Even i after-five wear included a . cream wool suit crocheted in /a shell design and needing no . ornament but matching crocheted buttons on the high-clos-.ling top. j The older, larger woman cannot go wrong in a suit. ! These come in a tremendous [(colour and fabric range; ji greengage wool with a long and box-pleated skirt, i magenta boucle with shell .(pink piping and silver but.toms, greengage and avocado [ Check tweed with a loose jac- [ ket, patch pockets and bracelet sleeves. il Three-pieces also favour the ; woman who can wear a taupe . Chanel suit with a white waist- ; i coat, or a 70 per cent wool j’tweed coat and skirt in fuch- ; sia rose and navy, this materr ial also edging a navy jersey (blouse’s round neck. 1] The older woman looks her| j:best in full evening dress,] .(particularly in black, not for' ■ its safety but for its sheer ( J splendour. No woman over) > 35 could fault flowing black! .chiffon with a black satin bow below a high, jet-encrusted . Empire bodice scooped at the tjback. j Young fashions dazzle for a j moment like a revolving lighthouse, but the older woman, ' pristine as a ship’s figurehead, >; perpetuates taste, poise and •-!—yes—beauty.