Customer Reviews

Forever Cool: How to Achieve Ageless, Youthful, and Modern Personal Style

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

While the author does a good job with most of this book, use your head before taking all her advice. She has something against pink, pastels, jewel tones, and white shoes. Yes, some colors look bad on some people, but it isn't age, its their skin tones and hair color. One of the most beautiful, older women I've ever knew looked wonderful in pink and we all admired her young spirit for wearing color when others her age only wore blacks, greys, and blues. (This was 60's & 70's era.) White shoes are the same, they can age you badly, but a snappy pair of pumps or sandels can make an outfit. The great thing about this book is the real people models which make it easier to study what looks good, what looks bad, and why.

It's easy to see how the problems that Sherrie Mathieson addresses in this book develop. Eventually, we all realize that clothing stores are catering to a crowd that is 20-30 years younger than we are. At that point, many of us start staying away from the stores or buying "old reliables," with the end result being a dated and dowdy look. Even worse, we try to fit into the kid stuff, making ourselves look in the best case like we're trying too hard, and in the worse case, like aging floosies. Finally, someone has provided some guidance for navigating these treacherous times. As a private client of Sherrie's, I have gone from angst ridden to quietly confident that I can look my best in any situation. The principles that she sums up in this book, in tart prose and great pictures, can be mastered even by the somewhat fashion challenged (which includes me). Go after simple but modern lines, invest in great accessories which you'll have for years, stay away from clichéd colors, strive for vitality and naturalness even with our changing bodies and laugh lines. This approach provides the best formula for avoiding plastic surgery that I have found to date!

It is about time that people "of a certain age" are recognized in the style revolution of the 21st century! I am still in my 30's but I loved the practical advice offered about remaining stylish as one ages. I know MANY who could benefit from the author's artistic perspective on dressing the aging body and remaining-Forever Cool.

Buy one for Grandma but check it out for yourself first!

Loved it, loved it. Before reading Sherrie's book, I thought my Chico's and CP Shades-style wardrobe was about the best I could do on the far side of 45. Wrong! "Forever Cool's" photographs give immediate insights into the type of clothing that can be aging, and what to do about it. But don't stop at the pictures. This book has real depth, when you carefully read and re-read the text. I think the people who didn't like the book must not have really spent any time with it.

I have always thought of my style as "sophisticated-funky," but in the past several years as my figure has morphed, that has ceased to be true. I've gone into those stores that are supposedly designed for us boomers (you know, the ever-present elastic waistbands and flowy silhouettes). The result is "funky-duddy", and not sophisticated at all. Since reading Sherrie's book,I have faced that harsh truth. I've now taken the plunge and have gone into stores like J Crew and Lucky Brand, where I never would have before. I always thought that a place like J Crew was too preppy for me, and Lucky Brand was for 20-somethings. But -- I'm seeing now that I can team up my great Navajo jewelry with a classic cashmere sweater, and I'm getting a grownup, expensive-looking version of the sophisticated-funky I used to be. And I can buy a classic-cut collared shirt in a cool fabric, and I instantly look updated. Sherrie's concept of dressing a bit "sportier" (which is very different from simply "casual") has taken years off my appearance, as well. The person who wrote from Florida and said that there isn't any information for her is all wrong. I live in Phoenix -- certainly as hot as Florida -- and I'm gleaning all kinds of great advice in the book. Just read it a bit more carefully. I can't recommend this book enough, and I've bought additional copies for my cool friends who can't wear what they did at age 25, but who want to exude panache and individuality.

Forever Cool is the first book I have read that provides many, many step-by-step solutions for boomers whose previous decade or more of personal styling doesn't work anymore. Readers will recognize themselves in before pictures and the solutions to common issues like "busting out" (which happens when women no longer fit into tops the way they used to...and wear too-tight tops which are not flattering). I studied every page and then went shopping to pick up a few "right" things.(Using the reference guide in the back of the book, I tried one recommended store and found well-fitting and age-appropriate clothes, including a pants suit.) Next day, I cleaned my closet and took a pile of things from my mid-30's to the thrift shop. For male and female boomers who need to look modern in order to maintain footing in the competitive workplace, and who don't want to look too young or too fusty..it is worth every penny.

For years, I've searched for a current style book that speaks to seniors, and have found "Forever Cool" to be a great investment for a sixtysomething couple.

We live in a small community where senior style isn't a major concern. But when we travel, we feel like aliens. We've never quite known how to bridge the gap between sleek urban, and dowdy small-town.

Thanks to "Forever Cool," we're finally on the right track. This book is extremely well formatted, with plenty of "cool" and "uncool" photos, and the author's riotous sense of humor makes the commentary thoroughly entertaining.

The book ends with a valuable list of clothing retailers for every budget, from mainstream catalogs to high-end department stores.

Sherrie's demeanor and look is ageless and cool. On her behalf she stated in our seminar that she is not against people wearing glasses, perhaps even white shoes if they are appropriate, she is not dead set against light colors and pastels if done appropriately(in fact in her book she has a model dressed in shades of orange from head to toe) . According to her the key is to obtain refinement in your style and modernize it with accessories. Through the use of exposure to media(the right magazines and even movies, some people watching)with focus on simplicity and refinement one can learn how to enhance their youthful spirit. So those who gave negative stars it seems you have not read the book in depth or you would not be focusing on these hard rules. Each person's style is unique depending on their personality, figure and budget. But high or low budget her book will show you how to dress to enhance the energy within.
Her book signings come highly recommended as her style is to engage people in a dialogue. When I saw her she looked cool: A black v-neck button sweater, with white tee peaking underneath, a eye catching belt with a large silver buckle(western inspired) playing off the oversized silver watch with black pants and brown contemporary glasses with little makeup--she had a stunning natural glow . She was sharp! She looked cool!
Thankyou Sherrie. Look forward to your tv show. My husband and I had a wonderful time and learned so much.

This is a book of fashion for people who are no longer teenagers, purportedly telling them how they can dress like adults, but nevertheless remain "cool". This is a worthy goal. The book is a "teach by example" book; it pretty much doesn't give any actual style tips, but shows pictures of adults dressed "never cool" and compares them with the same model dressed "forever cool." Unfortunately, a lot of the styles had me looking at them saying "what in the world could she have been thinking?!?" Lime green blazers for men? Brilliant orange running shorts? In some cases, the "never cool" really was way out of style, but in many cases, we had a hard time trying to figure out the "cool" from the "not cool." (In fact, I don't think I'd call any of the pictures actually cool.) My wife and I went through the book laughing at some of her fashion choices.
The book uses some cheap tricks to try making the "cool" choices look preferable-- the "forever cool" models are always smiling (while the "not cool" models either are scowling, or if they are smiling, with a small tight smile), and the "forever cool" pictures are printed about an inch larger than the "never cool" pictures; and in the "never cool" photos the models slouch, while the "forever cool" picture shows the model standing straight up.
On the positive side, she uses models that actually look like real human beings, and the models all are in the range 50-75, not actors "pretending" to be real people-- I'm heartened to see a book of fashon that doesn't pretend that everybody in the world is cocaine-thin.
So on the whole, it's a good book of ideas if you are willing to look at the pictures and make your own choices.

Couldn't figure out why I was unable to coordinate my wardrobe. My first thought was that I had developed
colorblindness. The photos in this book illustrate, by example, what was so terribly wrong and enabled me to "let go" of items that were not my own personal style.

I bought this book but should have listened to my gut feeling...look at the picture of the "Forever Cool" Ms Mathieson
on the cover. She keeps saying GET RID OF THE GLASSES in the "before" pictures but she should take her own advice.
The before pictures of women are so bad that "duh" the after pictures do look better. However the over-all impression is that the book "teaches" you how to dress so you blend in in suberbia, not how to be individually stylish or dress to look like anything except someone with a credit card who went to the local shopping mall and bought whatever was socially acceptable.