Do the clothes make the woman?

Today I tried a fashion experiment. I had a meeting in Tel Aviv at a start-up E-Commerce company. If there was a 40-year-old working there, I would be shocked. Even a 35-year-old would be a virtual human artifact in that environment. In fact I think that at least half of the employees there ran away from home and turned their hacking skills into respectable positions.

So, needless to say, I am ancient by the company's employment standards. And as if that isn't enough, I am a Modern Orthodox older woman. I only mention that by way of saying that I normally wear skirts and not pants. In Israel, people can tell if you are religious by the clothes you wear. In other words, I couldn't be less cool in that world if I tried.

That's why I decided to go to today's meeting in blue jeans, high leather boots with pointed toes and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Frankly, I think I was the epitome of 47-year-old cool. My husband (perhaps not the best judge under the circumstances) said that I looked the way he remembered me when we met!!!

I was trying to determine whether people see me differently when I dress differently -- or not.

The guy I was meeting with is a guy I have been doing work with for about three years now. To him, I am old in a generic way (you know, can't work when the kids are on vacation or it's a jewish holiday) and I doubt he noticed one way or the other. But when I met the CEO of the start-up -- I swear he was 30 tops if he was a day -- I am convinced that things played out as well as they did because I just seemed inexplicably regular and normal.

When I returned home my husband asked me how my experiment turned out. I didn't really know what to tell him. He thinks that I created this issue in my head. My same-aged professional, religious, women friends, all disagree with him. We sense that we are considered over-the-hill when we are in a work environment. It may not be something tangible, but it is definitely there. And we aren't stupid; we know that all of those companies can hire sweet young things almost half our age (and for a lot less money). They won't have our smarts or experience, but in this cool new world, no one seems to care.