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Being a 50-something is difficult. Midlife crises could also be largely full, greying hair and ageing efficiently navigated. But you’re not fairly sufficiently old to disregard the large social and vogue adjustments underneath manner.
In case you’re anyplace close to my age and assume you’re model conscious, or know what’s cool, you’ve both had a extreme knock to the top or watched too many TikTok movies. Certainly nothing about being model conscious in your fifties is remotely necessary. Or is it?
I’m not but able to give up type in favour of creating snug or sensible selections. I feel again to the time my dad ditched his Audi for a Volvo. Would I hand over on designer labels and bespoke fits and store as an alternative at M&S the place you should purchase garments in numerous sizes to accommodate fluctuating girth? Not this 12 months, my good friend.
However there’s one thing a lot, a lot worse than not wanting cool, and that’s making inappropriate model selections in your age.
Round my fortieth birthday, I’d been on a major food regimen and ended up in Abercrombie & Fitch. Simply because one thing suits, it doesn’t imply it is best to put on it. New manufacturers are a no. Dropping £800 on a Supreme hooded sweatshirt? The teenager it’s geared toward shouldn’t be capable of afford it. And though you may, you shouldn’t put on it.
Cool isn’t set in stone. Bubbly doesn’t need to be Veuve, Krug or Bolly if in case you have a extra fascinating English glowing to serve. A watch doesn’t need to be a Rolex for those who’ve determined that IWC is your factor. And your automobile doesn’t need to be made by Aston Martin. However you’re not going to go far fallacious with any of them. Some manufacturers have all the time been cool. And a few, irrespective of how exhausting they fight, by no means might be. Škoda. I relaxation my case.
Vogue and types change. Generally a model that’s extremely cool turns into uncool nearly in a single day. Some years in the past I wrote, reasonably proudly, about my Balenciaga sock footwear. Then, after a collection of promoting catastrophes, the model misplaced its lustre. Now my £600 knitted sneakers have one goal: gardening footwear.
Does that imply each advertising change or unfavorable assessment leaves you wanting uncool? Assume Jaguar. I’ve an I-Tempo, repeatedly really useful as the perfect electrical automobile for those who don’t wish to line Elon’s pockets. Then the company rebranded. Many slammed the train. Regardless of capitalising the G and quite a lot of different guffery, we’ve all been speaking about it. Anyway, if the brand new vehicles are good, the promoting might be lengthy forgotten. Which makes navigating our fashionable world much more advanced. An excellent product from a poor model can nonetheless be cool. How does that work?
Once I was youthful, manufacturers had been easy. You might gauge somebody by their garments — in the event that they wore Adidas, they in all probability performed soccer (or a minimum of ran for a bus as soon as). In the event that they wore Levi’s, they had been cool and wore boxer shorts, not pants. In the event that they wore Clark’s, they had been in all probability your mum’s good friend’s son, and never somebody you’d spend a lot time with. There was no ambiguity. No confusion. You simply purchased what labored or what your older brother’s cool good friend wore.
The excellent news is that, in accordance with what I hear, the Nineties are again. Lots of the issues I ought to have thrown away are again in vogue. Ralph Lauren polo shirts, moleskin trousers and rugby shirts. The opposite day, whereas rifling via my previous garments wardrobe, my different half discovered a Burg’s Mad Rags rugby high, 1996 classic. “That’s cool,” they mentioned, whipping it away to put on it. Why didn’t I do know it was cool once more?
As a result of they’re cooler than me. You don’t need to put on the fitting label to let individuals know that you simply’re cool. You simply are otherwise you’re not. Perhaps it’s swagger, physique form or simply having a watch — all attributes I lack.
However what I do know is that there’s one thing deeply undignified a couple of man of a sure age wandering round in labelled streetwear. Sure, an £848 pair of Moncler x Palm Angels sneakers look nice. On the store’s shelf.
The reality is, nobody cares what you’re carrying. Individuals have their very own issues, their very own lives. Their very own brand-new Off-White sneakers they dropped £500 on.
They’ve already forgotten what you seem like 5 seconds after you allow the pub. What issues is the way you carry your self. In case you stroll right into a room in pair of Chelsea Boots that you simply purchased for 40 quid at your native shoe store however you personal it, you may carry it off.
If, nevertheless, you enter the identical room with a jacket well worth the GDP of a small nation and field recent trainers which are over adorned with designer labels, you’ll be simply one other bewildered middle-aged bloke who’s clearly attempting too exhausting.
So, must you be model conscious in your fifties? Sure. Must you put on new cool manufacturers? After all not. That’s for youngsters who nonetheless assume their identification is in some way tied to the brand plastered on their chests.
I’ve lived a life, one which doesn’t require a designer bag or a pair of trainers that value greater than a weekend getaway within the Cotswolds. Positive, I’ll maintain the Rolex and the Aston. They’re cool. And I’ll purchase a pair of trousers at Marks and Spencer. As a result of M&S is cool now too — or so I heard on TikTok.
James Max is a broadcaster on TV and radio and a property professional. The views expressed are private. X, Instagram & Threads@thejamesmax
