Fashion Over Fifty: Playful Polka Dots

Hello!  For this week's Fashion Over Fifty post I'm going to ask the question 'Can someone older than fifty wear a more 'playful outfit?  Or do we always have to be dressed more sophisticated, polished, and elegant?'  I don't know.  I'm on the fence about this one.  My natural instinct would be to go back to my usual thinking 'It's not your age, it's your body shape', but I think it really also depends on the outfit, the occasion, and the personality of the person too.

I was out shopping with my friend about two months ago when she spotted this fun, playful polka dotted navy dress at Francescas.  I tried it on, and we both immediately fell in love with it.  I decided to buy it just in case I might need a pretty summer dress for a wedding or some other party this summer.  But then it hung in my closet for a couple of months.  Every time I pulled it out of my closet and tried it on, I kept thinking 'It's too young for me.  It doesn't look right'.  My husband loved it and encouraged me to wear it, but I just wasn't sure and I said 'Oh, I'll just give it to Ashley (my daughter), she'll be thrilled to have it.'.  Well, finally a special day at our church arrived and I needed a special outfit for the occasion, so I pulled the dress out of my closet once more and decided to be brave and wear it.  I ended up getting a lot of compliments on this dress (mostly from young people) and I happened to mention to one of these younger ladies my insecurity of wearing this dress, and she said 'Oh, you have the figure, so you can get away with it!'.  Then when I told her I was thinking of giving this dress to my daughter, she said 'Oh, I wish my mom would buy cute clothes so she could share them with me!'.

So here I am wearing my cute, playful polka dot dress.  Sorry for the bad pictures today.  Mother Nature was intent on stealing the spotlight that morning.  

 Unlike most dresses, this dress was super comfortable to wear.  It has a solid navy blue attached sheath underneath, covered with a second layer of the sheer polka dot fabric.  The waist is elastic, and as you can see in the photo below, the sheer material hangs underneath the arm too.  It also has a high/low hemline:  the dress is shorter in front and longer in back.

 I wanted to bring a little color splash into an otherwise neutral outfit, so I carried a Tibetan Red Clutch from Express.  For jewelry I wore a white multi-strand beaded bracelet and matching earrings.

 I wore a slightly off-white peek-a-boo toe pump for shoes that are very, very, old.

 And finally, here is a shot of my very large hoop earrings.

So what do you think?   Can older women wear playful outfits on occasion or should we always look more elegant and refined?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Have a great day!  Amy

Get this look for $68+ on Lookastic