Conventional wisdom holds that we all look best when our clothing is age appropriate. But what does that mean now that people are living longer and rock stars bring their grandchildren to their concerts? What is age appropriate for a nonagenarian anyway? I ask that because, when I recently had to leave town suddenly, I went down to the Uniqlo flagship store (in the office building where this firm is headquartered), bought a pair of chinos and a pair of jeans and had them altered to grab and run that afternoon. Should an American lawyer and dad step into clothes styled for Japanese teenagers? Sure, if he has the build and taste of a Japanese teenager, which my experience convinces me I do. As the actuarial meter is reset by advances in medicine and nutrition, and as we all hear that fifty is the new thirty (or was it sixty is the new forty?), we may need to rethink when it is that we time out of our clothes. If I had to do it over, I would not have given away that supple suede bomber jacket when I hit forty, thinking I had aged out of it. The way things are going, it may be time for me to buy another.
Credit: Alan Behr
