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The Easy-to-Wear Collections By
Beth Baker
Catherine
Edgerton of Rockville, who just celebrated her 96th birthday, has always
prided herself on looking good. She'd never be caught wearing pants, and
she still enjoys high heels and lipstick. But a few months back, she was
unable to get her dress off after returning from an outing. "I could
not reach the little handle on the zipper in the back," Edgerton
recalls, laughing. She wound up sleeping in her dress and didn't remove it
until her caregiver helped her the next morning. Severe arthritis,
a bad back and other problems make it hard for 81-year-old Phyllis Smink
of Bethesda to fasten dresses and manage buttons. She points out that once
you have trouble getting dressed, you also have a hard time shopping and
trying on clothes. And like many older people, she does not have access to
the Internet to order clothes online. "Jewelry is
another problem," she says. Tiny clasps make it impossible for her to
wear favorite necklaces unless someone helps her. The issue of
clothing for people like Smink and Edgerton has received little attention.
In part, that's because experts say older people who are physically and
socially active are sometimes reluctant to admit it's hard for them to
perform such mundane tasks as buttoning buttons, zipping zippers and
reaching their arms over their heads. The fashion world hasn't done much
to explore the large niche that falls between middle age and being
bedridden -- a niche more Americans are destined to occupy for longer
periods over the coming decades. Nearly 35 million people in the United
States are now 65 years or older, and the Census Bureau projects that
number will double by 2030. Caregivers have
long been able to purchase "adaptive" clothing designed for
people who need assistance getting dressed. But typically these
"fashions" are little more than floral-patterned hospital gowns
or muumuus -- not likely to make the wearer feel very attractive. Yet the
desire to look and feel your best does not wane with age or disability,
say many who work with this population. Elinor Ginzler, manager for
independent living and long-term care for the senior advocacy group AARP,
has encountered women in nursing homes suffering from dementia who still
love getting dressed up every day: "Shoes, hose, dress, jewelry, a
purse -- that brought them incredible satisfaction," she says. Patty Mascari,
owner of the Home Instead Senior Care franchise that employs Edgerton's
aide, agrees. "The stereotype that as someone grows older they no
longer care about their appearance is simply not true," she says.
"When I go out on service visits, the seniors I'm meeting with are
often dressed to the nines." Experts say the
impetus is no mystery. "No matter
what their level of functioning, older people strive for a sense of
control over their lives," says Ginzler. "That kind of control
can be threatened when you are facing something as basic as being able to
button a shirt." Knowing Where to Go But keeping up
those appearances can be difficult. Major clothing manufacturers and
retailers ignore how aging affects both the shape of our bodies and our
dexterity, says Colette Wong, assistant chair of fashion design at the
Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Only a few independent
designers focus on this market, according to Wong. In 1999, Wong, in
collaboration with the National Osteoporosis Foundation, held a design
competition, called Beauty in All Forms, to encourage the industry to
produce lines of clothing aimed at people with osteoporosis, the
bone-thinning disease that can result in restricted movement. "The
biggest [design] challenge was to fit the changing body shape of the older
woman and man," she says. "We have a tendency to shrink, to
stoop over more and to hold our arms and shoulders differently than we did
when were younger." Manufacturers'
response? Zilch, says Wong -- for one key reason. "When you're
talking about producing patterns that may be different in sizing and shape
[from the usual range of mass-manufactured products], it gets more
costly," she says. Ginzler hopes
manufacturers will realize there's money to be made in this market -- just
as they did when they shifted to Velcro-fastened shoes for youngsters 20
years ago. In the meantime,
where do you go to find stylish, easy-on clothes? Home Instead
Senior Care, based in Omaha, conducted a national search this spring,
consulting with Women's Wear Daily and the Los Angeles Fashion Institute,
to find stylish, affordable clothing designed to meet older people's
needs. They identified two online catalogues that met their criteria:
Silvert's Clothing Company (www.silverts.com;
800-387-7088) and Wishing Wells Collections (www.dawnwells.com).
In addition, they found that Talbots, a national retailer with stores in
the Washington area, also carries clothing for this specialized market. For example, the
Wishing Wells Collection -- created by actor Dawn Wells, aka "Mary
Ann" on the '60s sitcom "Gilligan's Island" -- features a
denim jumper with a front Velcro closure and a bright red velvet caftan. A
pantsuit from Silvert's has a top with large snaps at the shoulders and
pants fastened by Velcro closures on each side. Wells was
inspired to create her clothing line for older women and men after
visiting a close friend in a nursing home. She was appalled by the dreary
sight of women sitting around in hospital gowns that tied in the back.
Wells adapted what she'd learned from doing quick costume changes in the
theater and designed easy-on, easy-off clothes she describes as
"fashionable looking" -- clothing, she says, that doesn't make
"dignity [go] out the window." Silvert's has
been selling clothes exclusively to older people for decades. "Ninety
percent of our line is for the frail senior who has become infirmed in
some way," says owner Jeffrey Alter. "But the [people]
purchasing on their behalf are mostly baby boomers, who tend to impose
their own sense of fashion on what they buy for their parent."
Silvert's offers the usual pastel floral-patterned hospital gowns and
muumuus, but also carries tailored styles in a range of colors from
turquoise to mauve and fuchsia that use Velcro, snaps, oversized buttons
and other design features that make them easy to don. They also carry
men's clothing, including easy-on sports and dress shirts. But while these
collections are a definite improvement over the traditional nursing home
garb, they aren't targeted to the fashion-conscious older woman who is
still independent. "I didn't see anything there that appealed to
me," says the 81-year-old Smink, after seeing photos from these
collections. What About the Boomers? Aging baby
boomers will likely be an even tougher sell. Retired teacher
Kathy Anderson, 58, of Takoma Park, applauds the idea of easy-to-get-on
clothes, especially since she developed mild arthritis. But she too turned
up her nose at the styles, which she found "dorky." Her solution
for finding clothes that are comfortable but also fashionable: Shop at
stores that aren't targeted at elderly people but carry trendy,
loose-fitting styles and interesting fabrics, such as Amano's in Takoma
Park and Chico's, a national retailer with several stores in the area. Although Chico's
target market is affluent, 35- to 55-year-old women, the store has many
older customers as well, says Robin Martin, business manager at Chico's
corporate headquarters in Fort Myers, Fla. "We try to think of the
woman whose waistline may be a thing of the past but who wants to be
stylish," she says. Similarly,
Talbots carries plenty of clothing to satisfy people who have trouble with
zippers and buttons, says Betsy Thompson, fashion spokesperson for the
Hingham, Mass.-based chain. "We appeal
to customers from a broad age range," she says. "We have a lot
of multigenerational shoppers." Among features that she says are
popular with older women: fabric that feels soft and is easy to care for,
large neck holes that fit over the head easily but don't gap at the neck,
and Spandex insets for skirts and pants. Anderson recalls
an 89-year-old friend who called her from Ohio for fashion advice because
she didn't want to "look old" when going to a special event. Anderson found
her a stylish, brightly colored jacket at a small specialty store to wear
with slacks. "That's how
the baby boomers will be," predicts Anderson. "Even when we're
90, we won't want to look like we're 90." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
