You're Too Old to Wear Trendy Clothes

Someone mentioned to me earlier this week that '90s beauty and style trends are back. Seriously? Oh, naw.

I have no reason not to believe it, but I do not want to.

Here's why: The last couple years, it's been all about the 1980s styles coming back. I wore these things the first time around when I was a teen, and have lived through the shame of finding the photos and saying, "What were we thinking?" and tucking them back into their box so my children can stumble across them and piss themselves laughing, just like I did about my mom's '60s beehive and dad's '70s wide lapels.

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Not only does this make me feel really, really ancient to see the fashions of my youth paraded around ironically by hipster kids, but this also means there is not a damn thing for me to wear. See, I have an ironclad rule, and if you are over 35, you'd be well advised to listen up.

That rule is: One time only on trends. If you were old enough to wear it of your own volition the first time around, you shouldn't be wearing it the second time (or any subsequent times). Trendy clothes look best on young people, especially the more ridiculous trends that will provoke the "I wore what?" reactions years from now.

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While it wasn't hard for me to pass up the 1980s looks, saying no to the 1990s ones will sting a little. See, I loved the 1990s looks! I was in college and working during the 1990s, and I was in my 20s and cute. I'd love to rock the babydoll dresses and Docs, or the short plaid skirts with black tights, or the sundresses over a T-shirt. But I'm not 25 and single; I'm 40 and married with two kids. I would look patently ridiculous in any of those looks at this age. Most people would wonder if I just never gave up the look.

And that's the reason why you need to skip the trend if you wore it the first time. Do you want to look stylish, or like someone who picked a look and stuck with it, no matter how outdated it got? No matter how hard you rocked the trend the first time, you're older now, probably quite a bit older. There are stylish clothes out there for us, but leave the babydolls to the babes!

Should you get a do-over on trends you loved?

Written by Amy Kuras for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

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