How to Look Younger Than You Are

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In today’s society, youth is often idolized. Luckily, as a man having a few wrinkles and gray hair, doesn’t make you look like a grandpa, but wiser and adding a few elements to your wardrobe and the things you do will really help to make you look younger without looking foolish like a teenager. Also, looking younger can help to advance your career and remain in the workforce as the zeitgeist and many companies often is to get rid of older employees.

Table of Contents
  1. What Can You Do To Look Younger?
  2. CONCLUSION

What Can You Do To Look Younger?

Embrace A Healthy Lifestyle

I know it’s not something you immediately see from the outside but if you eat the right food, if you workout, and take care of your body, it will show. That also means getting enough sleep because only if you feel well will you look great. I also encourage you to try new things; maybe a vegan or plant-based diet with Whole Foods, just give it a shot, do it for two weeks. See how it makes you feel. Don’t be afraid of trying something new.

Dry skin close up
Dry skin close up

Wear Sunscreen

Definitely, wear sunscreen or use a face lotion product that helps protect your skin from everyday sun impact. It’s good against cancer but it also prevents wrinkles. No, I’m not talking about your character wrinkles, those are fine, but you don’t want those deep craters otherwise, you will look like a raisin.

Sweat it out!
Sweat it out!

Hit The Gym

Go lift some weights and work out. As your body ages, you’ll lose muscle mass and having that nice attractive v-shape will help you to look younger and vital.

If needed, update your email address to gmail
If needed, update your email address to gmail

Update Your E-mail Address

Nothing says I’m an old man as having an old [email protected], msn.com, hotmail.com, you name it. Young people these days go with Gmail addresses and so should you.

Socialize
business events are great places to meet others20162

Hang Out With Younger Men

You may have your prejudices but honestly, there’s a lot to be learned from young men even if it’s just your technical stuff. Also, being around young people makes you think in a different way and I guarantee you it will make you look younger as a result.

Flip phone

Stay Updated

Stay up to date especially in terms of technical stuff. That means get rid of your flip phone. I know the battery lasts for a whole week versus the new smartphones, you have to recharge after a day but honestly, when you are away from an outlet for more than a day and all the opportunities you have with new smartphones are incredible. You can control all the lights in your house, and a sprinkler system, and even talk to people from around the world all from your phone. Isn’t it amazing? That aside, being up to date makes you look young.

Sven Raphael Schneider's disconnected undercut
Sven Raphael Schneider’s disconnected undercut

Go For A Youthful Haircut

The way you’re perceived as a whole can hugely depend on your haircut. If you haven’t changed your barber in the last 20 years, you get the same boring haircut every time, maybe think about spicing it up, maybe going with an undercut with some more product. You’d be amazed what impact it can have on how you look. Also, it’s very important that you keep your eye hair, your nose hair, and your ear hair, under control. Nothing says I’m an old dude like ugly hairs poking out from your ears and your nostrils.

Switch To Modern Glasses

Those old titanium glasses that you got in the 90s are just outdated. Right now classic frames, bolder frames, are more popular and I suggest you go to the optician and try different options and you don’t even have to spend that much. You can even go to new places online, order frames and get something new for under 100 bucks. Honestly, it will make you look at least 10 years younger if you choose the right frame. The same is true for sunglasses.

Your oral health must not be overlooked
Your oral health must not be overlooked

Have Your Teeth Checked

Take care of your teeth because they’re a highly visual indicator of your age. If you’ve smoked a lot in the past, or a lot of coffee, or drank out a red wine, chances are, you have like a yellow tone to your teeth so consider going in for a teeth whitening because that will certainly impact the way you look.

Beards can look great with all kinds of outfits
Beards can look great with all kinds of outfits

Grow A Beard

Cover your softening jawline with a beard. I know when you grew up in an office job, you had to be clean-shaven. Today, that’s not the case anymore and the urban beardsman has really risen in popularity. If you want to jump on that wagon and cover up your jawline, make sure it’s neatly trimmed and has a unique cool look to it.

Orthopedic shoes
Orthopedic shoes

Ditch The Old Men Style

Stay away from styles, patterns, and cuts, associated with old men. By that, I mean don’t wear orthopedic shoes or white tennis socks with white trainers. It just puts you in the category of 80 plus. Also, don’t wear sandals or socks with sandals. Of course, you should also ditch all your 90s ties. I know you wore them when you had great sales meetings but the patterns are really dated, the width is very wide. Today, a lot of younger men were slimmer ties and especially the patterns and the color schemes are very different. That being said, young men today oftentimes don’t wear neckwear and so you can also skip it, leave the top or the top two buttons open, however, make sure not to unbutton your shirt all the way down to the belly button because that makes you look like a wannabe Cassanova or Hugh Hefner.

Modern preppy style with a Blazer
Modern preppy style with a Blazer

One of the things I see a lot in older men is the way they dress. I know in the 90s you had these Blazers with lots of shoulder padding, lots of fabric that draped from your chest, and very roomy cut khakis, and you maybe wore them with some tassel loafers. Instead, go with a trimmer cut jacket. It doesn’t have to be slim fit or skinny fit but just get rid of those excessive shoulder pads. Go with a more natural shoulder, maybe go with 3-inch lapels, you don’t have to go extreme and go super skinny because that’s over the top as well. Just like you have to overhaul your corporate wardrobe, you have to do the same thing with your casual clothes, those old stonewashed jeans that look like a carrot on your legs are simply outdated. Now people wear Japanese salvaged denim they maybe pair it with a pair of red wing boots or similar stuff maybe with a flannel shirt and if you want to look like a younger man, you should go in that same vein.

Pop Of Colors

I know it’s a very underrated thing, but stay clear of the muted pastel colors. Try to go with something that’s a little more lively because that’s what younger people would choose. You don’t have to go overboard and wear super bright pinks but rather navy, get two shades lighter, maybe go for a richer blue, maybe something like linen green. Find ways to add colors back into your wardrobe, maybe if you wear a lot of jackets and sport coats, use pocket squares, maybe if you want to wear a tie, go with a knit tie with more texture or a different color. You can also go with different socks or just exchange your shoelaces and give your whole new outfit a pop of color.

Keep The Fit Of Your Clothes Trim

You don’t want wide bootcut jeans, you want slim jeans but nothing that is skinny. The sleeves on your jackets or sweaters shouldn’t be puddling but close to your body and flattering. Rather than going with an oversized navy blazer, consider going with a Harrington jacket, rather than having your sack style oversized blue dress shirt, invest in a trim fit denim shirt. Also, take a look at what younger men are wearing.For example, right now the Apple watch is popular and so are wristbands, you can add these elements to your outfit to look very young. Also, if you like tweed, it is a fantastic garment for fall/winter but go for louder colors. If you can’t find them or you maybe want something for the transitioning seasons, maybe you go with a linen Safari jacket in an interesting color that will just help you look much fresher and up-to-date.

CONCLUSION

Don’t be afraid to be bold. At the same time, you don’t want to dress exactly like your teenage son because that just makes you look foolish and ridiculous.

What do you think makes you appear younger? Share your thoughts below.

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Reader Comments

  1. Don’t agree with the apple watch. A good classic mechanical time piece will never die. An apple watch just screams.

  2. A vegan diet- really? I hate to say this but humans didn’t evolve eating only plants- we are omnivores by nature, and the idea that saturated fat and cholesterol from animal foods is bad for you, is out of date with the latest scientific research.

    The former point is proven by the fact that there are several vitamins and minerals you can’t get from plants and need some form of animal protein or a supplement to get it ( and even then it’s debatable if supplements are a good idea).

    It’s simply makes little sense to justify a diet from an evolutionary perspective with low levels of several nutrients ( B12, Vitamin A & D, bioavailable iron and zinc, choline) critical for human function.

    1. I reckon he is saying ” eat less fast food and go for more cook-it-yourself type foods.”

  3. Dutch Uncle:

    If you look again more carefully, you’ll see that there are indeed some older men trying to look young; instead, they just look ridiculous.

    Also, telling older men to “hit the gym” and “work out” is irresponsible. Advising them to do exercise of any sort would make far more sense.

  4. I was wearing what are now called “dress” shoes, i.e. “normal” leather business shoes and a younger man approached me and said he had “inherited” a similar pair of shoes from an uncle. He had them resoled and was charged $50 and asked me if he had been over-charged. I told him that was a normal fee for resoling leather shoes. Sticking to standards gains respect. An older man can look ridiculous adopting younger styles, viz. old guys in exercise clothes and sports shoes. Older guys could use more discretion in wearing shorts, too. I was visiting Chicago and my friend was going to go out in downtown Chicago in shorts – we’re 76. He thought he was OK. When we were out I pointed out how old guys in shorts generally look pretty sad.

  5. Loved the article on dressing younger, and really liked the TONE of the article, which highlighted gentle changes that create overall improvement to people in general. Plus, you aren’t suggesting extreme alterations such as plastic surgery or stomach stapling. Your ideas are respectful to the older reader who is not being urged to shed much over 10 to 15 years, and even that mainly in his choice of attire. As always, your insightful postings are enlightening and educational, and a pleasure to read.

  6. Vegan diets are great. Plenty of protein powders and supplements these days– plenty of yummy alternatives—-it’s not like being vegan in the 60’s for example. I myself resisted people’s advice to try at least moving in the vegan direction at first, but I have found that I personally have felt better and better the more I have cast off meat/animal products. I weigh the same as I did 30 years ago, have plenty of energy, and can bust out some b-boy moves at will. If it’s not for you…ok, no problem at all….but don’t knock what you haven’t tried and don’t know much about. The article itself, a very good summary of its subject, only said to be open to try new things.

  7. Thanks for your tips.
    I agree that looking young means taking good care of ourselves physically and mentally and staying updated with people and technologies.
    I find all of your tips helpful. I will try one by one for myself.

  8. Those readers who would like to experience the joy of a classic mechanical watch, might like to try the re-issue of the Timex Marlin:

  9. You lost me at “grow a beard”. Nothing ages a man more than facial hair. If you want to look younger, you should shave the beard.

  10. most of all: accept that you are growing old. And live it with dignity.
    Nothing worse than trying too hard to conceal the obvious if it’s too late.

  11. Flip phone, email on gmx…guilty as charged, and I am only 32 :-D. Oh, and still wear large pants instead of skinny ones. I am a kid of the millenium, and I don’t try to conceal it. But doing some sports can never harm.

  12. Sven, this is great! We think men can be amazing at any age. This is all good advice that can be utilized by many age groups. The graphic on sunglasses for complimenting particular face shapes is especially useful. Your thought on style and popping color into the wardrobe is also a great idea. We’re loving rich tones right now in menswear, and functional but youthful, stylish bags. (http://Peccadilly.com)

  13. As I get older, it’s important to take care of myself. I’m not going to dress like a youngster. I have to be comfortable with who I am.

  14. Sunscreen is definitely a must. And you can take it a step further. My wife got me started into a skin care regime:
    Don’t use soap use a skin cleanser.
    Wash your face with cleanser before you go to bed and apply a moisturizer.
    In the morning rinse off your face, no cleanser, and apply a moisturizer.
    When people find out my age (70) I inevitably get a “you don’t look it” comment.

    I like Aveeno products, they are reasonably priced and do a good job.

  15. I say, ignore any other comments and wear exactly whatever makes you feel good about yourself! And by the way, the comments on this website usually make me happy and I love to read them.

Comments are closed.