Fashion for over 40

FASHION FOR OVER 4O

What do I think about fashion marketing to women over 40? It needs to be completely overhauled because it’s outdated and bordering on offensive!

People often ask me how I became one of the most successful fashion influencers in Australia practically overnight. I believe @letmetrybeforeyoubuy has exploded in the last 12 months because I don’t use filters or alter my images, I don’t wear Spanx, I mainly post unedited videos and I focus on the needs of the consumer.

Fashion marketing teams focus on creating a perfect picture. While it might look good on their CV, it won’t sell clothes to women over 40. What they should really be focusing on is: What do women need to know about the garments in their collection? How can they make women feel welcome in their brand?

To make women feel welcome and boost their sales, fashion brands need to throw away the current marketing practices that have been in place for more than 50 years and adopt these key principles.

Embrace age, ethnic and size diversity

In 2021, fashion brands need to include age, ethnic and size diversity in their campaign shoots and social media advertising. If they want to sell clothes, they need to have a 50-year-old goddess and a 20-year-old goddess. They need a range of body shapes, sizes and skin colours. They need to help women who have money to spend figure out whether their clothes will suit them or not.

There’s a reason why my Instagram feed has blown up over the past year. Women over 40 who are sick to death of all the overly filtered fashion photos on Instagram have been flocking to my page. They want someone real who can show them what clothes will actually look like on them. They relate to the unfiltered and unedited videos of me in my underwear because I’m like them.

Analyse the data

Most retailers ask their customers for their date of birth when they complete a purchase, so they should have a look at the age range of their customers. I bet the average age isn’t 22, so why is there a 22-year-old model in the campaign? Marketing teams think older models won’t sell clothes, but they’ll probably be surprised if they try.

Talk to customers

Brands need to spend more time in store speaking with actual customers to understand who they are. Instead of sitting in an office making mood boards, they need to get their hands dirty. Once they truly understand their customers, they’ll be able to create campaigns that sell clothes. If the image they’re portraying in their campaign doesn’t match their customer, they’ve missed the mark.

The dawn of a new era

As long as retailers continue to alienate women by making them feel unwelcome in their brands, they’re losing money. Changing their marketing approach isn’t just a matter of principle, it’s a question of survival.

So what else can fashion brands do to help us?

Get the sizing right

One of Australian women’s most pressing fashion needs is inclusive sizing. Most women sit between a size 12 and a size 20 yet they struggle to find clothes they love that fit them. Women also need clothing that suits their body shape and stage of life. They don’t want to have to search for a new brand every time they put on a few kilos or when their body has changed shape after having a baby. It’s not only larger women who are insecure about their bodies and don’t know how to dress – it’s all women. There are very few women who have the confidence to try new styles and different ways of dressing. I’d say only about

five per cent of women are confident enough to try something new and be proud of their bodies or at least show kindness to themselves.

Build customer loyalty

If a business wants to build meaningful relationships with women and turn them into loyal customers, they need to design clothes for women at every stage of the life cycle. It’s completely normal for women’s weight to fluctuate throughout their lives. Most Australian women will also have at least one baby and their size and fashion needs will change during that time. Many mothers will require clothes that accommodate breastfeeding. They need to factor in women’s changing needs if they want them to keep coming back to their brand. In my mind, the perfect clothing collection has options for short apples and tall apples. The apple body shape – where most of the weight is carried in the tummy – is the hardest to dress but the most common. The perfect collection also has some options for breastfeeding mamas as well as for women who want to show shape and those who don’t want to show shape. If it ticks all those boxes, they’ll have something for 80 percent of Australian women. That’s a wellrounded collection!

Stay relevant

People think that one of the main issues in fashion right now is fast fashion versus ethical and sustainable fashion, but that misses the point. Fast fashion isn’t winning because it’s better or because the Australian public wants to buy it. Most Australian women can only buy fast fashion brands because they’re the only ones who provide a size range that fits them. Women’s clothing brands that offer ethical and sustainable clothing in a range of shapes and sizes will tick all the boxes and stay relevant. The bottom line is that inclusive sizing and body diversity can no longer be ignored in the fashion industry. By Natalie Angel. Natalie created Let Me Try Before You Buy to give average-sized women the chance to see real reviews on flattering, functional and beautifully fashionable clothes for real bodies that are sized 14, 16 or above. Launching in the middle of a global pandemic, Natalie closes the gap for women who want to shop online but are too scared the clothes will arrive in skimpily small sizes that will only have them queuing up at the post office to return everything. @letmetrybeforeyoubuy