For some reason, everyone’s talking about clothes and accoutrements. Maybe it’s time for people fifty and beyond to dress appropriately – meaning (probably) inappropriately, but comfortably – with a willing nod to fashion.
It’s been attempted many times before, with calamitous results:
29 August 2005
The Very Secretive Forth & Towne
If you're in the advertising/marketing industry (or in the retail clothing industry, I'm guessing) you're probably sick of hearing about Forth & Towne - a new set of thirty-odd stores opening up around the country.
28 February 2007
Bye-Bye, Forth & Towne
Gap Inc. announced plans yesterday to shutter its Forth & Towne division, which catered to women ages 35 and older … Forth & Towne was launched 18 months ago in New York and Chicago to much fanfare as a place for fashion-conscious baby boomers to shop …
There are more posts through the years about fashion and advertising, but I’ll spare you.
The new stuff in Media Land:
Fashion: A mature market
By Andrea Felsted and Norma Cohen
Retailers are struggling to find the right formula for the demanding baby-boomer market…The problem is that few clothing retailers have successfully managed to market to the baby-boomer women – ironic, given that advertising has for decades been geared to selling the postwar generation everything from blue jeans to Pepsi.
Hmmm. It could have something to do with this:
Advertising to Baby Boomers
Preface and 1st Chapter (PDF)The Giant Leap
There had better be a minor revolution in the creative end of the advertising industry. Talented men and women in their late forties and fifties need to be brought back into the fold if you want to reach us. This includes copywriters, graphic artists, producers, directors, and creative directors.
Truth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say. Much of what is out there is valuable and useful … But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals—you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns.
Ronni Bennett’s recent blog post tells us something’s up:
Friday, 03 January 2014
Elder Fashion Sense
…Apparently, being in public in clean, attractive clothes selected to fit well, that match or contrast pleasingly along with shoes and hat that enhance the outfit is something to be remarked upon…
Thanks to Ronni I’ve become a fan of…
Advanced Style
Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.
The promo for the documentary:
OK, it’s a stretch – but watching the first few seconds of this video reminded me of the first few seconds of a short film from forty-four years ago:
I know of more fashion-related projects slated for this year, so fashion might be on my plate throughout 2014.
Unrelated to advertising:
This week a piece by yours truly is published in HuffPost Featured Fifty Fiction:
It’s my fifteen million pixels of fame….
