Are you almost TOO fabulous after 40?

Welcome to the new woman after forty. She is beautiful, fit and fabulous after forty. She is in shape, and making use of state of the art cosmetic beauty treatments from lasers, to implants, to augmentation, liposuction and cosmetic surgery. She can afford to pay for skin creams and anti aging wrinkle treatments. She eats healthy and visits the upscale organic food stores, or tries to at least.  She wears clothes that she wore twenty years ago. The only problem? Trying too hard to look half her age is making her look OMG older!

Trying too hard

The trying too hard after forty syndrome is what happens to women who are so hot in middle age that they can wear clothes from their college days, the juniors section, clothing stores like Forever 21, and hey even wet and wild. So what happens when you do all of this? Unfortunately a bad thing sets in called diminishing returns and she winds up looking older!

Avoid falling into the club clothes trap

Did you just buy a brand new set of breasts from your plastic surgeon and now you are compelled to proudly display the surgeons skills on a silver platter for all to behold?  Hey I don’t blame you because recovering from having children and especially a lot of children is no joke even with plastic surgery tricks!   The problem is that women are looking so hot and such transformations that they are stuffing themselves into age inappropriate clothes. Why? Because they fit and for no other reason.   Such outfits don’t always look good.

Look at a woman like Angeline Jolie. She’s sexy as all get out yet she did show primarily just a leg at the 2012 Oscars. She didn’t show it all. And that is what the high fashion designers really recognize. A mature woman has to do sexy in a very tasteful manner in order to get it right. Because if she flaunts her legs, cleavage and curves all at the same time she is going to look like her daughter’s nightmare.

Remember, it is not just that man you need to attract and please. It’s your daughter, nieces, nephews and critical family members too.  If you are going to do hot, keep it toned down to a tasteful version of hot. Trust me it will be just as attractive to men, possibly even more so. Don’t go for fabrics that are so inexpensive and skimpy that your cellulite dimples (or whats left of them after your mommy tumescent liposuction makeover) and everything else shows through.

Housewives of where-ever USA

At left you have two absolutely stunning housewives from, well, wherever! Wow. They have luscious hair, absolutely marvelous curvy bodies, and they’re having fun with the way they dress. Many a woman over forty would kill to look like this, see photos at left.

But can they do better? Oh yes they can. Actually if they were to tone down their club wear look a tad, they could really rock it. See photos at right for more subdued model looks worn by much younger women. The younger women look better but its not because they are younger. It is because they are styled more classically. They aren’t playing up everything at once either.

The brunette

The brunette model modifies the club outfit to something downright sexy but is more conservative. Notice that she is wearing a snug fitting outfit but forgoes the total bustier. A little less jewelry and the higher neckline makes the models look at right more sensational.

The blond

Animal prints are incredibly hard to pull off and still look sophisticated in. It’s hard even for Kate Moss to do it. The H&M dress at right is a little toned down both in color and cut as compared to the louder one at left.   At right the H&M model is wearing a more natural version of that dress that has the low neck yet the dress has a more sophisticated and flattering look to it. The thin fashion belt also adds a pretty stylish touch to it.

Avoiding the Jerry Springer show fashion disaster

Remember those Jerry Springer shows where you had people running around in the most ridiculous fashions ever seen, usually way to skimpy and skin revealing? That’s the look you want to avoid. You don’t want to look like you’re trying to look like you’re half your age. You don’t want your children to secretly want to throw some sort of cover up on you when they are embarrassed of their mom letting it all hang out. You don’t want to be dragged onto the show as one of those Help my mom doesn’t dress appropriate for her age makeovers.

When in doubt tone it down

There is nothing wrong with embracing your cougar side and dressing to kill after forty. You see it on the Housewives of OC, Housewives of Beverly Hills, Atlanta and New York. They are dripping in over the top street clothes. But there is a time and a place for every thing. When trying to take that Housewives look to your street, always err on the side of conservative.  Be sure what you are wearing meshes well with the venue you are wearing it in.  Reference fashion models, glamorous women, and the fashion designers for ideas of how to look sexy yet at the same time appropriately dressed.

Housewives of Beverly Hills OK. Housewives of New York OK. Housewives of Orange County OK. Housewives of Jerry Springer? Not OK. If you look as fabulous as the two lovely ladies shown, think of how to keep your exposure tasteful. Flaunt one or two things, but not every thing.   All of the ladies shown in the fashion do/don’t example here are gorgeous in my opinion and its really just a simple matter of knowing how to tweak things so that you successfully  flaunt your assets while still keeping you inherent style classy and tasteful.

As a mature modern day woman, you’re walking a fine line as you want to attract men while simultaneously keeping your college age offspring from flipping out over your dating or dinner party outfits.  At pushing might think you’re looking like Stacey’s mom but your kids might beg to differ.