Although fashion has shifted to a slightly more generous cut in the past year, most fashion magazines and runway shows traditionally showcase the trim long lean models in fanciful styles. And the apparel industry consistently focuses creative energy on the young, fielding ideas such as cropped tops, low-riding pants, sleeveless sweaters, tube tops, low dipping necklines, and narrowly cut styles similar to those seen on young Hollywood celebrities.

Yet as women have children and grow older into their 40s, 50s, and beyond, they often find their bodies shifting, regardless of whether they add middle age pounds or hit the gym regularly. Women well past voting age can only maneuver through a maze of images to develop their own shopping tactics and personal style.

Ironically, the older group includes the powerful post-war baby boomer generation, which has influenced product development, marketing and design as it has moved through every decade.

Their generation tends to have more disposable income than the young. And, says Maddy Dychtwald, of the California-based Age Wave consulting and marketing group, the baby boomers are exploding all expectations as consumers.

"They are increasing their earning and spending years. More are working longer and continuing to spend more than any generation before," she says.

In general, the 50-plus market accounts for more than $2 trillion in income and for more than 50 percent of discretionary spending, according to Age Wave data.

Baby boomers have now shifted the way we think about the second half of life from years of decline to peak years.

"They are always spending. And they don't see themselves as old," says Dychtwald, whose current book project is "Cycles: How We Live, Work and Buy."

Mature people tend to be more active, youthful, spirited and better cared for than counterparts of past generations. The boomer generation is exercising twice as much as any other group, Dychtwald says, perhaps to the point of narcissism. And yet, society still can seem stuck on old-fashioned, negative images of aging.

David Wolfe, the creative director of the New York-based consulting company Doneger, plays on that in his presentations. He tells his audience: "I am about to show you two old ladies." Then he unveils pictures of Sophia Loren and Tina Turner.

To its detriment, the clothing industry hasn't revised its image of aging, either. Dychtwald says it still markets by age segmentation, a '50s style approach that she calls the marketing equivalent of a horse-drawn carriage in the automobile age.

At the same time, the potential of the middle-age market has not been lost on others.

The beauty industry started beefing up its array of hair color, anti-aging and sunscreen products in the mid-'90s, when the first boomers edged toward 50. Anti-aging products drove a 6 percent increase in skin care product sales from 1999 to 2000, according to NPD, a Port Washington, N.Y., company that tabulates sales trends.

The plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology fields have accelerated research to come up with a Chinese menu offering quick hit skin resurfacing and fat injections as options to face-lifts.

Vickie Abrahamson, a partner in the Minnesota-based Iconic Culture organization, which tracks future trends, agrees the industry is missing an opportunity.

The baby boomer woman has lost interest in clothing, she says, because nothing has enticed her to add to a wardrobe that is reasonably sufficient. Instead, she has no qualms about shopping discount stores for apparel items and spends her money on adventure travel, learning experiences, and spiritual exploration.

But the clothing industry may be waking up. With apparel sales now sluggish in a slowing economy, the clothing industry is starting to look more closely at the needs of the mature woman ­ whom Wolfe calls the "forgotten woman."

It is "coming to grips with the baby boomers, who are being very aggressive in demanding what they want," Wolfe says. But the problem continues to be the media, which is still "focusing on the young, hot, sexy image."

On the upside, Wolfe thinks financial pressures will ultimately trigger a turnaround.

PHOTO available from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099.

(c) 2001, The Kansas City Star.