AGELESS STYLE WITH JACQUI GETZ

Every month my friend Cindy and I interview a different woman we think you’d like to know. This month I’m introducing you to Ageless Style with Jacqui Getz.

While raising three daughters, Jacqui Getz taught school and later was a principal in the New York City public school system. Jacqui was an advocate for children, and she was as fierce as she was fashionable. Now, at age 63, Jacqui Getz is a pro-age fashion stylist who works with women over 50 to help them define their style and shop smart.

“Life is all about the details. Some details are apparent: an accessory, a shoe, a color. Other details are subtle, a twist that puts your signature stamp on an outfit.” 

Jacqui’s style is fashionably cool and casual and while aging may change our perception of ourselves, she believes we need to age on our terms, not with what society says we should wear.

It’s important to try new things, and we should enjoy ourselves with fashion.

Jacqui Getz and I had such fun, visiting with one another, that if we lived close to one another, I know we would be great gal pals. Here’s a small sampling of our hour-and-a-half conversation.

BRENDA: After you retired at 61, you got a master’s degree—your second—in fashion. How did that happen?

JACQUI: I knew at some point I would do something in fashion and styling. Before I retired, I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and got an Image Consultant Certificate. Then I went to a satellite of a Scottish university here in New York City and studied sustainable development goals. Sustainable fashion was the behind the scenes. It wasn’t about designing but the environmental impact, human rights, and government regulations of sustainability in fashion. I wrote my thesis on ‘Can small sustainable brands, run and owned by women, disrupt ageism in fashion?’ I care about ageism in fashion because older women are left out of this conversation. I was the oldest by about 25 to 30 years of the rest of my colleagues.

BRENDA: How did they react to you?

JACQUI: They were so good to me. I couldn’t do anything technology-wise but they were patient and taught me. It wasn’t until I saw our graduation picture of me lined up with them that I realized how much older I was, but I never felt that way. I couldn’t have been in a more wonderful group of women. The reaction of older women to my going back to school is, “I’d never do that.”

But my brain is working. My heart is pumping. I want to do stuff! Older women have something to aspire to, not run away from.

BRENDA: Your style philosophy centers around the details of style. Why do you think details are so important?

JACQUI: I dress in a very minimalist way. I don’t wear prints. I don’t do frilly, and I carry a simple palette with accessories and a clothing item that are not expected, or what you would normally put together…If I have a ring on that matters to me and no one else, that’s putting the details together. 

I tell the women I work with, “You have to be intentional. You have to intentionally put together an outfit that is more than just a shirt and pants. One that gives you a spark and some joy. You’re supposed to get that zing feeling when you put an outfit together, and it’s generally in the details.

BRENDA: Intentional. That word is so important because regardless of what our budget is, I think many of our purchases are random. When we go shopping, many of us don’t go with anything in mind. It’s like we’re throwing darts. We grab the first thing we see, or we say, “This is on sale. I’ll buy it,” and we have nothing to wear it with. 

JACQUI: YES! I love getting dressed in the morning. It doesn’t matter if I’m walking to the Met or I’m working from home…I believe we can dress for the occasion, or dress for the place, but there’s something to be said for understanding your wardrobe, and your style and considering it as a form of self-care. It should be part of our routine to face the day with confidence and optimism. It surprises me that this isn’t the case with most of the older women I work with. I go into the closets of women in New York and Westchester and they’re always surprised when I say there doesn’t have to be an occasion to put things together and have style. They can do it every day, just for themselves.

BRENDA: If you’re working with someone and she doesn’t know her style, what do you do?

JACQUI: When I work with a client, we open their closet and go piece by piece…While a closet, big or small, can have a bazillion different options in it, if there’s enough talk and support, the client will point out things that work and things that don’t work and from what’s left, we can find a pattern and name something as a style. I think it’s important to tell women that out of all these clothes, we’re going to find something that defines your style.

BRENDA: And you can do this over Zoom as well?

JACQUI: Yes, and we have so much fun. It’s not rocket science. I like solving this wardrobe issue for women who aren’t leading high-profile lives. People who never thought they’d hire a stylist or someone to help them edit their closet. In a few hours together, we can make something wonderful and as women age, we need that.

Jacqui’s skirt is from the Gap.

BRENDA: I found a photo of you on your Instagram account, The Details of Style, where you were getting dressed to go upstairs to your neighbor’s apartment for dinner. You said, “There is no such thing as overdressing for a casual dinner.” I love that.

JACQUI: You get it! It’s really fun to build an outfit that reflects our mood, and I’m going to walk into a room feeling good. To lose your identity, your sense of self, your sexiness and sense of beauty… No. We have to reclaim them. This is me! 

This is how I’m showing up every day, and I get to have fun doing it.

BRENDA: San Antonio’s much more casual than New York City, but if I meet someone for lunch or dinner, or I go to a book club or Whole Foods, I’m always put together. I don’t do it for any other reason than this is how I dress whether I’m around people or not.

JACQUI: But I think you’re secretly inspiring women, and that’s huge! Huge! The thing about my Instagram is I don’t expect my clients to dress like me. I wear a lot of oversized things, baggy jeans. But I hope other women will take some risks in their wardrobes, and I talk about that a lot with clients. What is that detail that makes it a little out of the ordinary?

BRENDA: What are some good brands that aren’t super expensive?

“I wear this Frankie’s jumpsuit a lot and added a leopard belt.”

JACQUI: First of all, my clients aren’t going to Saks or Bergdorf’s, so I try to steer people to Frankie’s Shop where I buy a lot of things. JCrew, COS, and there are lots of boutiques in New York like Chi-Chi and Daryls. I found this amazing boutique in Cincinnati called Idlewild and they sell a brand called November. Also, I have an amazing pair of jeans from Clothes by Locker Room.

BRENDA: I buy ninety-nine percent of my clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, and underwear online because I know my style, my sizes, and all of my measurements, plus I buy based on specific occasions or pieces I’m looking for.

JACQUI: I’m like you. I will Google the description of something and search until I find what I want.

BRENDA: I just bought my favorite jeans in decades online from a brand called AYR. 

JACQUI: The best!

BRENDA: I am so in love with these jeans.

JACQUI: Which ones did you get?

BRENDA: The Secret Sauce in black. “Date Night” is the color.

JACQUI: Yes! I was going to get the white Secret Sauce!

BRENDA: They’re considered wide-legged but not so wide they make you look humongous and frumpy. They’re hip and modern without being trendy.

JACQUI: Love them! What’s great about AYR is they used the mother of the founder as the model. That’s what drew me to them. There are great small brands like Christine Alcalay, Flora Animalia. I send my clients online lookbooks.

BRENDA: There’s a photo of you in a pair of light blue jeans where you added pearls for your belt and repeated pearls around your neck. Talk about details. It’s beautiful and unexpected.

JACQUI: We were going to a friend’s house to toast her for her birthday and I also wore a pair of red suede boots with a diamond bow in the back. Completely overdressed for standing in someone’s living room.

BRENDA: No, I’d call it elevated casual. You weren’t wearing precious things.

JACQUI: No, and I was going out and that’s enough for me. Why deny myself the fun of putting on a great outfit?

BRENDA: I felt the same way when we used to explore the jungles of the Yucatán. In the ’70s, we emerged from the jungle into this tiny little village where they never saw tourists. I had on white Keds, white pants, and a white poet’s blouse with billowy sleeves. I’d used a scarf for my belt and had this huge, wide-brimmed Panama hat. Talk about overdressed, but the people treated us like royalty. Unfortunately, those days of finding relatively undiscovered areas in that part of the world are gone.

JACQUI: LOL!!!! I love that! It’s a trip and you get to put things together! Are you going to put pictures in your memoir?

BRENDA: I don’t know. We haven’t talked about that yet. I’d like to, but publishing a book has become so expensive. Let’s talk about hair and style. Your white, pixie-style cut and your glasses are very chic all by themselves. Any advice about trying a new hairstyle and glasses?

JACQUI: My short silver hair is super easy, and it’s part of my style. You have to find a hairstyle you like online and then stop saying, “That won’t look good on me.” Then you have to trust your stylist and keep in mind your hair will grow back. It’s astounding how a hairstyle can make such a difference. And it seems crazy not to use glasses as an accessory and enjoy them. Zennie is a great online place to get fun glasses.

BRENDA: Could women email you or contact you on Instagram and set up an appointment in person or on Zoom?

JACQUI: I would love that. Thank you. This was just a pleasure! You’re going to be incredibly successful with your memoir. I can’t wait to meet you!

BRENDA: We will make something happen, Jacqui! Bye-bye!

Thanks for reading Ageless Style with Jacqui Getz. Please leave me and Jacqui a comment and then visit Cindy’s site to see who she’s interviewing this month.