Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives via Flickr
My first real corporate job was working in a purchasing department for a large company. I did some low-level administrative stuff. What surprised me most was that I worked with a bunch of old people. In a department of thirty, there were four of us under 25, actually under 50. The rest were in their 50’s and 60’s. Back then that was really old. And they looked it too.
They dressed old. They all wore black shoes with clunky heels. I, on the other hand, wore pointed shoes with skinny high heels in all different colors. They ruined my feet but I was certainly stylish.
No one seemed to color their gray hair. My hair was sometimes blonde and sometimes red and sometimes highlighted…well, you get the picture. They all had hair ranging from totally gray to drab brown with lots of gray streaks. They did get them “done” every week. Sprayed so hard, it looked like a helmet on their head. Their hair didn’t get washed until next week’s hairdresser trip. Yikes! (Or perhaps I should say cooties!)
Then there was the dress. They wore flowered dresses with black cardigan sweaters. Sometimes it was a black wool skirt with a white blouse and a black cardigan sweater. It made me swear off of cardigan sweaters for a good 30 years! On the other hand, my clothes were all colors and all styles. I loved clothes! And…I never wore black shoes in the summer. That was the time for bone, red, purple, navy, tan, maybe black patent but never black leather.
Well folks, on Saturday I will turn the dreaded 65. Yep, I thought it would never happen but it did. I do not have gray hair (not that there is anything wrong with it!). Nor do I wear flowered shirtwaist dresses with black cardigans. No stiff hairdresser styles for me and believe me, NO OLD LADY SHOES!
I don’t feel a day older than I did forty years ago. I wonder what young people think when they meet me. Do you think they refer to me as the old lady with the out-of-date boot cut jeans? (Note to self: Get another pair of skinny jeans or wear the pair you have!) I don’t wear the wonderfully sexy five-inch stiletto heels but I lust after them in my heart! Does that count? Someone said it best, “getting old sucks!”
Oh, by the way, my mother never dressed like them. She was stylish!
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
Belated happy birthday!
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Happy Birthday, Kate. Getting old sucks, but it sure beats the alternative. 😉
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Well,there is that….
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Oh yes, I agree
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At 60+ I identified with this post. There is a disconnect between that “old guy” staring back at me in the mirror and the fact that I still feel like a college kid inside.
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Happy Birthday
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Thanks.
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Happy birthday!
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Thanks. My husband calls this the high holy days!
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When I was young, I thought of thirty year olds as ancient geezers, now I look back and see them as spring chickens!
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Gosh, I’d like to be 40 again! Of course knowing what I know now!
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Happy birthday!
I feel that style for older women has changed over the years. It seemed that when they got to be a certain age back then that they “accepted” being old and dressed the part. Nowadays, women are aging gracefully and are looking young and fabulous. You’re only as old as you feel!
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I think you are right. Now we age gracefully or at least kicking and screaming! (and not with orthopedic shoes!)
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Happy Birthday! My mother used to always tell me that she felt like a young woman inside. Now I know what she meant. Keep stylin’.
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When people say to me that I don’t look 63 (I am younger than you) I wonder what that means. What does 63 look like if it doesn’t look like me? I wonder how I will feel when I tell someone my age and they don’t say I don’t look like 64 or 80 or whatever?
BTW Happy Birthday!
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I get that a lot too. I am not too worried. My brother is 81 and everyone tells him he looks like 65.
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Happy Birthday! Funny how a image gets stuck in your head- and you are that age forever? Nothing wrong with that. Who needs mirrors anyway. Besides there are plenty of shoes that are cute- with lower heels! Dance and prance on!
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Yes, I think I’ll be 35 forever!
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Your post made me think of how funny it is that when we’re younger, we think “old people” have nothing in common with us … then one day we look up, and we’re the ones that are supposed to be “the old people”, yet we still feel too young to be “like them”. Turns out we’re all pretty much the same (except, of course, for the stylish shoes). Good stuff!
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Yes, it’s pretty amazing. Most surprising is that you don’t realize this until you are one of the “old” ones!
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You are way to cool and hip to be a senior! Wow!
I know I don’t plan on ever shopping in the old lady section anywhere!
Happy birthday to you on Saturday. We will be back in Bermuda by then!
Blessings to you!
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Thank you. Hope your visit on the mainland was great!
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Happy early birthday to you, Kate! It’s funny how our perspective on age changes the older we get. I’m sure you’ll be fun and hip for many decades to come.
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Yes and how much older “old” gets too.
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