Forever Cool: How to Achieve Ageless, Youthful, and Modern Personal Style

By Sherrie Mathieson

Each year, 75 million baby boomers spend $100 billion on clothes—but you’d never know it to look at them. Alarmed by the fashion faux pas of her fellow fifty-plus peers, style consultant Sherrie Mathieson set out to help them update their personal style yet remain age-appropriate. While her theory is to skip formulas and mix it up, she counsels her boomer brethren to avoid trying too hard (Ladies, what’s worn in Vegas, stays in Vegas; guys, flowered shirts are so Beach Boys).

She presents stylish, contemporary twists to classic looks (a simple, sleekly cut black suit is punched up with stacked silver jewelry; a graphic skirt adds panache to a solid-color sweater set; a pair of men’s khakis is driven out of dullsville with a black linen shirt).

Each page pictures an unfortunate “never cool” ensemble and beside it a “forever cool” rendition. Whether her stuck-in-a-fashion-rut real-life people are sporting sad accessories, underage looks, problem prints, or predictable pieces, Mathieson takes on all of them with kindhearted candor and breathes new life into their attire.

From work attire to special-occasion outfits for evening, the beach, the gym—even the ski slopes!—Sherrie Mathieson has fresh-looking fashion fixes for any boomer who is ready to ramp up his or her clothes savvy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
• Release date: Feb 25, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307485021

Book preview

A UNIQUE VISION

We can run, but we can't hide from Mother Nature; sooner or later she catches up with us. But how do we deal with her when she does? You might have started thinking about aging when you were in your 30s; and most of us probably gave it serious thought during our 40s; but guaranteed, by the time we hit 50 it's a hot topic for all of us! With the media in our face shouting, Don't age! it's no wonder we're beating a path to the cosmetics counter to load up on empty promises or the plastic surgeon's door where we surrender to invasive procedures. Whether or not we go as far so a facelift, the bottom line is that we all want to look better.

I believe that looking better is about looking natural, and that aging gracefully is the only way to go. First and foremost, it's about embracing our age rather than denying it. Perhaps, for the first time since our teenage years, we can relax into being ourselves and accept the very things that make us unique. Then, it's about creating a personal style that expresses these qualities in a new way. Looking natural has nothing to do with that contrived look men and women of a certain age once aspired to (stiff hair for both sexes, women with heavy makeup). By combining a natural look with a modern perspective you can create a personal style that's unexpected, youthful and fresh.

My years as a costume designer, stylist, and style consultant have given me an extensive set of tools with which to identify a person's attitude toward fashion, find the roots of their aesthetic sense, and express their personality in a look that suits their lifestyle. While I have clients of all ages, I am particularly intrigued by the challenge that changing physiques and health issues pose for the over-50 crowd. The tools I offer in this book will help you reassess and reinvent your look while taking into account comfort, practicality, and style.

You'll see—you can look your best through personal style alone!

WHAT BECOMES FOREVER COOL?

What do I mean by cool? Certainly it doesn't mean wearing all and only black! Nor does it mean shouting to be seen or fading into the woodwork. Cool is knowing who you are and realizing your full potential. You'll know it when you see it—it's ageless, modern, and youthful.

Let me explain.

Ageless style is about transcending age by achieving a sense of timelessness—not being pegged by your age in any way. Ageless style mixes classic dressing with contemporary design to create a look that is refined and appropriate. It's never extreme, flamboyant, or funky, but it can definitely be imaginative and fun. It collects the best of the past and weaves in the new.

When you're modern it says that you're of today— that you know what's happening in fashion and trend. A modern look is the result of constantly reevaluating your look as you assess changing fashion to find what's appropriate for you. If you're modern, you're current.

When we think of youthful we think of words like active, energetic, vibrant, vital, dynamic…ideally the way we feel. The aim of this book is notto make you look young. After all, you could learn how to dress like a trendy twenty-something by just flipping through magazines. My goal is to help you achieve a style that implies youthfulness. A youthful spirit is what we're after.

Keep in mind, too, that this is not a book on fashion; it's about style. Fashion is fleeting; style endures. Although style (the characteristic way we dress) is unique to each of us, it comes more easily to some than to others. This book will teach you how to use fashion to create an ageless, modern, and youthful style that works for you. In order to use fashion to your best advantage you need to