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Why There Is a Dearth of Middle-Aged Fashion Bloggers

By Lynne DeVenny

A couple of you have asked me if I follow any fashion blogs for real working women of a certain age, wearing normal stuff for the office straight from the Target runways, and looking rather like a model's very hip grandmum, and not like a model's 32-year old baby mum. Because the last time we saw 30-anything, it was the 90s, and a power suit still had shoulder pads and honkin' gold buttons.

Having never loved to get my picture taken, I thought maybe I could give the ol' daily career wear photo a whirl. But after taking a few full-length pics today, it hit me why not so many middle-aged women embrace fashion-blogging. I realized I've turned into my short, round grandmother. (I worshipped her by the way, and she gave the best sort of fluffy all-encompassing hugs ever). I don't know when I got so fluffy, too, but I think it happened last night.


Now I realize how much courage it takes to really put yourself out there on a career wear blog every day in pictures, good, bad and wrinkled (clothes). You need a good camera, kind lighting, a moderately talented photographer, decent photo editing software - and a lot of patience. It also helps to be photogenic. All I could come up with from today is this head shot (purposely brightened - I'm not that lousy a photographer), modeling the lovely navy blue flower brooch that Joanna from JKW Jewellry sent me:

The brooch turned my $10 dress from Ross into a blue ribbon prize winner!

The thing is, I see beautiful, fashionable real women whose kids are teens or college-aged - or older - every day, that I'd love to photograph for a working world fashion blog. My favorite ads are from the Dove "real women" campaign. I'm more than a little ticked off that most retailers only photograph professional clothes on models under 30.

I bet some of you remember the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and now exude the confidence that comes with age, and the great style that comes from surviving some of the worst eras for fashion ever. Is there a niche for us in the working professional fashion-blogging world? (Are there bloggers out there I've missed, showing us how it's done?)

Maybe I'll try that photo-op again tomorrow - after all, I bought the retro-inspired dress because it reminds me of my grandmother.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on March 22, 2011 (boomark / email).