The Style Stories Podcast · Personal Stylist Lisa Gillbe

Are You Ever “Too Old” for Fashion? The Real Question to Ask Yourself

·33 min·1 clip

Lisa Gilby says age has “absolutely” nothing to do with style, only whether you can carry it off.

Is there a cut-off point? Lisa opens with a survey from Age Without Limits, where 4,000 people were asked about fashion and ageing. The answers sound like the kind of wardrobe rules she wants to rip up. Two-thirds said 56 and above was the age to stop wearing fashionable clothes, and plenty even pointed to 40. Lisa is not buying it. Before getting into the argument, she catches listeners up on being away in Dubai and tells a story about a client with beautiful designer pieces who still spent her days in leggings and a T-shirt. That example does a lot of work. The issue is not whether someone owns expensive clothes. It is whether their wardrobe supports the life they actually live. Lisa then turns the lens on herself. She compares her confidence now with her 25-year-old self, when she was in a job she did not like and dressed as if she were following somebody else's script. Coolness, in her view, changes as you get older. It is less about short dresses or chasing youth, and more about ease, self-knowledge, and caring a bit less in a way people can feel. She also talks about her mum-uniform years: skinny jeans, a top, and a raincoat while her boys were small. No shame, just a stage. That becomes the practical point of the episode. People change, fashion changes, priorities change, so style has to move too. Instead of asking whether you are too old for something, Lisa wants listeners to ask whether the clothes make them feel like themselves. A good outfit is still a good outfit. Her advice is simple: stop shrinking after a birthday and choose pieces that bring joy, whether that is an embellished top or the outfit that makes you feel like a million dollars.

As heard by us

A warm rebuttal to the idea that style has an expiry date.

This episode makes a clear case against the idea that style has an expiry date, and it does so from a lived-in, specific angle. Lisa Gilby opens with an Age Without Limits survey, then uses her own style history to push back on the idea that people should quiet their clothes…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you are wondering whether there is a cutoff age for fashionable clothes, this gives you a direct answer.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Style Stories Podcast