Ageless dressing

By KATHERINE NGUYEN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Today's 40-year old mom doesn't limit herself to twin-set cardigans and pleated pants, or sturdy jeans and roomy sweat shirts -- outfits that emphasize practicality over sex appeal.
Instead, she might opt for figure-hugging, body-baring looks and relish being mistaken for someone a decade (or two!) younger.
"Age-appropriate clothing? That concept is as outdated as setting your hair in rollers," said Lois Joy Johnson, fashion editor at More magazine, which caters to the lifestyles of 40- to 50-year-old women.
"It's a matter of taste, not age-appropriateness," Johnson continued. "The older women aren't trying to dress young; they're just trying to wear what they like."
Enter the ladies of Bravo's recently-wrapped reality show "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
There's leggy Lauri Waring -- who has been struggling to keep her family of three children (including a 20-year old) together after a messy divorce.
Waring works for insurance executive Vicki Gunvalson, self-made mogul with children 18 and 19.
Kimberly Bryant, better known as the Felicity Huffman/Jerry Hall look-alike who went from an A-cup to a D-cup to please the hubby, is the mother of a 13-year-old and a 7-year-old.
Jeana Keough is a former Playboy centerfold who sells multimillion-dollar homes and is a mother to three teens.
What's been happening
For the past three months, we watched the mostly blond cast sashay around in clingy, low-cut and trendy clothes. They revel in their love of Botox, glitz and cleavage. Some of the response to the fortysomething housewives' appearances has bordered on harsh:
"Why do all these mothers dress like they're 18? All those tight halter tops/jeans/high heels is nauseating. It makes me wonder how old these gals are going to be when they finally decide they're too old to wear halter tops ... maybe they want to be buried in one," one viewer wrote on Bravo's online message boards.
"... Trying that hard to look young only makes you look old and desperate," wrote another.
For all the brouhaha the women may have stirred up, they try not to take the backlash to heart.
Bryant, Gunvalson and Waring recently met up for a little afternoon shopping at one of their favorite boutiques, La Diva in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
"I don't care what other women think," Bryant said while slipping out of her leopard-print camisole to try on a slinky tube top. "I think I owe it to my husband and to my marriage to keep things exciting, to keep up and make my husband happy."
Across the way, Gunvalson chimed in, "I want to make myself happy."
"We just don't do Talbots or any of what you'd call mature clothing," Gunvalson said, drawing a finger across her neck. "Plenty of my friends do and they look fine, but that's not for me."
What they like
Waring, who had on a pair of True Religion jeans with a fitted, long-sleeved lime T-shirt and crystal studded belt, made a beeline for soft, snug tees and anything with a camouflage print.
"I love jeans and cute T-shirts," she said. "Anything sparkly or glittery, too."
Waring said her closet gets raided regularly by daughter Ashley, 20. "She'll sometimes say to me, 'Mom, don't you think that's a little too young for you?' But I like to be youthful and trendy."
In the store, Waring twirled in a silk halter dress with a plunging neckline.
"It's good for your [figure]!" Gunvalson remarked.
Gunvalson said she's proud that she can share clothes with 18-year-old daughter, Briana, but insists there are things she won't attempt to pull off.
"Does this look too little-girl? 'Cuz I don't want that," she said while trying on an embellished tank top. "I don't like showing off too much cleavage, and I don't like showing any stomach."
As for Bryant, the petite fitness buff said she tends to buy clothes with wild patterns and prints.
"I have splotchy skin, so I think busy patterns helps to distract people from my skin," she said, laughing.
Body conditioning
Long before "Real Housewives" and "Desperate Housewives," there was Stiffler's mom in the 1999 film "American Pie" (whose physical attributes inspired an acronym we can't print as a family newspaper). She -- and other hot mamas -- blew away the old rules about how older women should look.
Liza Mahler, owner of La Diva, says many of her customers are in similarly good shape.
"They're trendy moms and other women who are into fashion," Mahler said. "They're active and they buy clothes to wear out to places like Vegas."
Johnson said older women have earned the right to wear whatever they want.
"You know what? We've gotten the jobs, had the experiences, the family. ... If we feel it looks great, then that's all that matters!"
At the end of the housewives' hourlong shopping session, only Gunvalson bought anything, all for an upcoming getaway: two ribbed tanks with grommets and embroidery for $60 each; a white halter top with gold rings for $112; and a pair of jeans with lace pockets, $115.
"Will this be OK for going out?"