Introduction

Recently, I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Munich, Germany. It’s a wonderful city in a wonderful country and a very unique place too. Being relatively close to Italy (a three hour train journey to Venice, with the train service in Germany making British rail look like a boy’s toy train set – with a few pieces missing) Munich’s houses have the wonderful terracotta roofs of an Italian village and the wide streets of relaxed Roma but with the added, and distinctly German attributes of plenty of beer, chapters of history and a scattering of Bavarian lederhosen.

During my stay in the Bavarian capital, between the big slabs of pork with dumplings, the glorious Gothic Rathaus and the ‘umpa-umpa’ bands, I kept noticing that there is only one thing more definite than your train arriving on time; older occupants would always be dressed with elegance. Every time I saw any male or female aged 50+, they would be dressed with style, grace and an awareness of what to wear, how and with what.

Having now returned to the Great British Isle, waiting for my now-30-minute-late train, I look around to see men that have more wisdom, experience and a CV the length of a loo-roll wearing trainers with baggy chinos, above which is an Iron Maiden t-shirt, still shrunk by the sweat from that amazing gig. Oh, and let’s not forget the haircut that should only be seen in the latest Tudor documentary.

Dressing Your Age: Sixty Plus

It’s the last in our ‘Dressing Your Age’ series; FashionBeans’ guide to creating an age appropriate wardrobe that will help you feel like the confident, well dressed man that you are – no matter what your age. But now FashionBeans is going German; following the example of Munich’s stylish pensioners, we aim to create an older generation full of polished leather, fitted jackets and pressed shirts, keeping the man looking and feeling younger.