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Home › Style

Style | 12/29/2008 9:15 am

wOw Presents: The 15 Over-40 Female Fashion Leaders of 2008 (Photos)

Photo Essay

Play Slideshow
Michelle Obama
Welcome to the First Annual Over-40 wowOwow Best Dressed List!

You may disagree with who is on it, but perhaps you will agree, at least philosophically, with our deciding factors: women in the public eye who support the international fashion industry, who dress age appropriate but who nonetheless take calculated risks, who wear trends but are never victim to them, and most essential of all, they are women who are comfortable in their own skin because, when you are, you can wear anything from sackcloth to silk and make it look good.

Click on through to see who’s made the cut!
Read more about: Anna Wintour, Barbara Walters, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Carolina Herrera, Chanel, Daphne Guinness, Diane von Furstenberg, Elle Macpherson, Gucci, Halle Berry, Iman, Kelly Klein, Lee Radziwill, Madonna, Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang

29 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

shirley adams
I think the best dress women’s in the past were Jackie-O & Princess Diane. and the almost first lady need a lot of help with her clothes in her new role as first lady. Please someone help her?
By shirley adams on 12/30/2008 7:57 am
patricia walling
Shirley, Diana, Princess of Wales, women is the plural form, what ‘s with the( ‘s) and need is plural, needs is singular, Ms. Obama needs no help with her clothing but you need a great deal of help with english.
By patricia walling on 12/30/2008 6:49 pm
Irish Eyes NY
Hi patricia; I disagree, I think Michelle does need help with her choice of clothing. I’m sure she’ll get the help she needs, once she’s in the big house. One can only hope.
By Irish Eyes NY on 12/31/2008 7:17 pm
Lisa Sperling
Lots of women over 40 seem to have learned what looks right on their bodies. Take, for instance, the woman who created Sassybax shapewear. In her 40s she created a bra that finally addressed the other side of our bodies: the back. She put aside the strappy demi-cup bras for one that got it right all over and made clothes on the outside look more polished. I put her up there with the other on-target designers that showed us that mature dressing doesn’t mean matronly, it’s just polished and smart.
By Lisa Sperling on 01/02/2009 9:39 am
Cookie M
wowowow - some of these comments are nasty… and some ageism in there to boot. Nice! Other than Anna and Barbara, I dont like any of the choices much. I dont see any of them as icons. Michelle is getting the Princess Di treatment in the press, which is a shame since she is such a smart woman. and btw, whoever dissed Daphne Guiness for wearing a mini and platforms totally missed the fact that the woman has a rockin pair of legs and a figure to match. If ya got it, show it, I say!
By Cookie M on 01/02/2009 6:22 pm
Farris Outland
Where ar the simple elegant items of the fifties, combined with the sixties and eighties trends for women over 40 who are not ashamed to admit that they are 40+? Celebrity or not, women over forty have a terrible selection of items to choose from. I don’t want to compete with my 25 year old daughter, even if others do. I am 50 and I am glad and blessed to be alive and would appreciate it if designers recognized that we are the ones who keep high quality fashion going, not the pretenders.
By Farris Outland on 01/03/2009 2:10 pm
Belinda Joy
Great choices for this list, but Madonna? Did someone bump their head and have a temporary bout of psychosis? As Diana pointed out, she looks out of place among all the other women who exude, style, class and sophistication.
By Belinda Joy on 01/04/2009 5:08 pm
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