It’s something I find quite interesting. I love looking at photos of normal, every day people wearing their outfits and for this reason I love lookbook.nu. Amongst the many things I have observed, is how what you wear plays a big part in how old or young you look.
For instance, take a look at this woman, Bebe:
In this outfit, I think she looks like a child, about 14-15 years old (she’s 17). Clearly her clothes here makes her look younger than she is. Now see the outfit below (which I love):
Notice the difference. In an instant, she looks older. She looks like a woman, not a child. Now she looks about 18-20 years old, not 14-ish. It’s common knowledge that make-up also plays a part. Daisyline (another favourite of mine) is 24 years old and I would say she looks about 22-24 years old in the photo below.
Then notice how much younger she looks with less make-up below. Generally speaking, a tanned face makes you look older.
All photos are from lookbook.nu.
Donalda Goncalves
At some point your clothes do not determine how old people judge you to be. If you have too many markers of old age (gray hair, sagging features, splotchy skin, an out of shape or matronly body) it won’t matter what you wear. You won’t look much younger but you can look much older. You can manage to look younger up until about your mid-fifties if you stay in shape, dye your hair and dress in youthful clothing (just make sure its not too trendy, this is a fine line).