Marketing: Boomer Chic

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That leads to another hurdle, often referred to as the numbers game. If marketers put big numbers--like 50--on their products, women walk away. "Thirty-five plus is code for brands that probably have an average age of around 50," says James Chung of Reach Advisors, a Boston-based market-research firm. Indeed, the fashion community seems nervous about anything that is even remotely close to 50. "It makes you less fashionable, less sexy, if you talk about 50," adds Liebmann. "A 50-year-old sees herself as being as good as she was at 35."

Take Dana Buchman, a Seventh Avenue-based designer who has spent 19 years supplying department stores like Bloomingdale's with career staples for women over 35. "I'm 53, and I want to be hip," says Buchman, the mother of two teenage girls, who wears tailored jeans and denim jackets to work. Now, Buchman says, her best-selling items are not beige pantsuits but trendy pieces like leopard-print calf-hair jackets.

Many think apparel manufacturers are zeroing in on this market because of the success of Chico's, a specialty retailer based in Fort Myers, Fla., that started in 1983 as a folk-art shop. Chico's operates more than 500 stores in the U.S. in addition to a catalog business. The company's profits have grown for nine consecutive years, and sales surged 34.6% in the second quarter of this year, to $343 million. "Because of that growth, every company and their mother is trying to get into selling a line of clothing to women in their 40s, or 35 plus," says marketing expert Chung. "No one paid attention to this age bracket before."

Even advertisers, until recently loathe to associate their products with older customers, are taking note. Five years ago, Chung says, you wouldn't see 35- to 40-year-old women in ads. Now it's common. "Call it the Desperate Housewives phenomenon," says Chung. Christie Brinkley, 51, appears in the new ads for CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Age-Defying Compact Foundation, and actresses like Susan Sarandon, 59, can be seen hawking Revlon foundation. Upscale department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue are putting older women in their advertising.

According to Gabrielle Kivitz, senior retail analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities, Chico's focus on fit and styling has paid off. "It's appropriate for this age," she says. The clothes are sized 0 to 3, which means women can avoid the embarrassment of having to ask for a high number like 14 or 16. Service is a key component of Chico's strategy too. The company trains sales associates to create personal relationships with customers.

Gap also hopes to cash in on the need for better service among older clients with Forth & Towne salespeople, called "style consultants," who advise women on putting together a complete look. "In focus groups, women kept telling us, 'I have so many clothes, and I don't know how to put them together,'" says designer Austyn Zung, who was hired away from Oscar de La Renta. Another key service element will be fitting rooms with extra lounging space for a friend or husband. The fit of the clothes is another major point of difference with Gap and is geared toward a more mature customer, with longer T shirts, higher waists and boxier sweaters.