Where to Shop in Ottawa if You’re Over 40

We hear it all the time,

“Now that ____” has closed there’s nowhere to shop in Ottawa if you’re over 40.

Now, I know that I’m over 40. Heck, I’m over 50 and 60 too but that’s not to say our styles don’t suit you if you’re 40, yes, even in Ottawa. 

Maybe if you’re in your forties you’re not wearing these items the same way that we’re wearing them but that’s the beautiful thing about timeless clothes that you’ll have in your closet for a long time.

So what makes a garment appropriate for your forties? Let’s talk about it. Here at Three Wild Women it’s me, Helen, the owner of this store and I have been for 20 years. It’s me buying the clothes and wearing the clothes and I want good clothes. 

Quality is the first thing I look for when bringing in pieces to the shop. I want to feel good about selling you these items and maybe this is a selfish way of thinking, but I don’t want to worry about a piece after it leaves my doors. 

I used to be a sewer, my grandmother was a beautiful seamstress, and I refuse to bring in pieces to my shop that are just going to fall apart on you. A lot of the designers we work with are Canadian, some are made in Canada but they’re all good people with a great product. 

If you’ve never heard of Orange Fashion Village, this is one brand that stands the test of time with my 30year old clients all the way up to my 80year old clients. 

They have great basics, like this turtleneck sweater that I would wear like this:

But you might wear like this:

Looking for jeans? Well, I’m sure you’ve gone to the mall and tried on jeans and realized that your bum isn’t where it used to be, I know I had that moment in my 30’s. Charlie B is another Canadian brand and they cut a nice jean for women who don’t want to feel like they’re stuffed into pants where you can’t breathe or the rise is so low you feel like Brittany Spears. Now, 

Here’s how I would wear my Charlie B:

Here’s how I see my 40 year old customers wearing them:

Heck, we even have those barrel jeans everyone seems to be talking about! Those aren’t for me but I think that’s a me thing. Les has them here in the shop and she looks smashing.

The last thing I’ll say is that you need a nice white blouse. I am going to insist on that. If you work in an office of any kind, if you just wear it with jeans, underneath a sweater, a crisp white blouse really does add that layer of maturity that I hate to remind you of, but you have, ma’dear. 

As always, here’s how I would wear mine:

And here’s how the 40 year olds are wearing theirs:

Hope is not lost if you’re over 40 and trying to find something to wear! But I know it’s hard to change your mentality. We’re the shop where your mom shopped or maybe still does shop. But try and look past the expectation and look at the pieces. Sure, you’re not wearing it the same way as us oldies over here but there are some classic, well made pieces, that have a place in your wardrobe.