My (sister) cousin Paige and I were recently talking about Christmas gifts for our daughters, who are in their early 20's. It came to light that these two young women both love the store Zara. Carly had just been shopping there and brought home several cute work dresses (I saw them--they really were very cute) and Olivia had gone shopping there with her grandmother and said she picked out a few cute blouses that would be work-appropriate.
I took a look at the Zara website. I'm short on Christmas ideas this year (Dave needs a few from me) so I thought maybe, given that both girls were enthusiastic about how great the clothes were, I'd find something cute that I could request for me.
Let's just say that I did not find anything even remotely plausible as a gift idea for me. That's not to say there wasn't cool stuff. There was. If you're twenty-one. Or twenty-three. Or in your twenties at all. Possibly if you're in your very early thirties and are just one of those hip people. But there was most definitely not anything for, ok let's call it the "mature" woman. Shut up.
It pains me to admit this, but I am a solid thirty years too old to shop at Zara's. And that's SOLID in all caps. For funsies, below is a visual comparison of what I'm looking for contrasted with what Zara's offers. See if you can guess which is which...
 |
 |
Can you tell which one is Old Navy and which one is Zara's? Here's a hint... which one of these can you absolutely NOT picture me wearing (and if you did try to picture me wearing it, I apologize that you can't unsee that)?
Young women are looking for stylish. They're looking for trendy, hip. They're looking for looking good.
I, on the other hand, am looking for comfortable. I want something that fits, but isn't tight. I like my tops to hang, not cling. I'd prefer the bottom of my tops to extend well past my belly button. I don't necessarily want anyone to notice me (except Dave--and actually, if I wore that red top he would most certainly notice me; but honestly I don't really have a problem with Dave not noticing me enough, so that's a hard no on the red top regardless).
Perusing the Zara website made me realize that women like me should have our own website. Forever 50. Named after Forever 21, but with literally nothing else in common with that store other than a similar name. Truly, really nothing else in common. Have you BEEN in Forever 21? I'm amazed anyone can find anything in that store. It's huge and every square foot is a MESS! It always looks as though a tornado has ripped through it. (Odds are good that I am not Forever 21's target demographic)
Forever 50 would be a medium-sized store--Old Navy is too big and Madewell is too small--somewhere in between. There would be no size 0's. Seriously, who do you know that's over fifty who's a size 0? Racks of merchandise would be nicely and neatly spread out so that you could actually see what's there without feeling like you're dumpster diving.
And okay, let's be honest--nothing in Forever 50 is going to be made of spandex. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
It's all going to be made out of 100% cotton fleece!
No, just kidding (sort of). I mean, you can't really have jeans made out of fleece. Can you? Seriously, can you? Because if that's a possibility, then count me in! But okay, probably not possible. So maybe not everything out of fleece, but everything made out of some derivation of cotton. Yes, it will require ironing. But it will be comfortable. You don't want to iron? Have fun in your spandex...
Forever 50 will have some good Queen music playing, quietly but audibly, in the background. There will be no fluorescent bulbs. It will all be soft lighting, casting a warm glow. There will be prosecco available. Do NOT feel guilty drinking prosecco at 10am while you shop. You are over fifty--you get to drink prosecco whenever you want (I could swear I read that somewhere...). Saleswomen will be present, but will not pester you. There will never be a line at the register (I don't know how that's going to happen, but let's just go with it).
Forever 50 will have beautiful clothes. Comfortable clothes. Useful clothing that you will wear and feel good wearing. It will be the store for "mature" women (shut up). But there will be limits.
There will be no Crocs.
No comments:
Post a Comment