The shift to opulence extends to jewelry and accessories. Jean Prounis, founder and designer of Prounis Jewelry, says her clients are now wearing high-carat diamonds casually, instead of reserving their best pieces for events. One client, newly separated from her husband, recently approached her with a seven-carat diamond engagement ring, which Prounis re-set as a necklace. Another has been wearing her “museum-quality” Tahitian pearls on the daily. “That client was a very subtle jewelry wearer, but this is a big gold and pearl chain necklace now. And she’s like, ‘I love wearing it just to get coffee,’” says Prounis.
Statement jewelry is up 42% among key influencers, according to Trendalytics, which points “to a return to glamour that feels bold rather than delicate”, says Khan.
Dressing the divorcée
Stylus content director Emily Gordon-Smith calls Gen X the “the most lucrative and reliable customer segment growth opportunity that exists.” However, the demographic remains underserved. “Fashion brands keep chasing these consumers who are the most cash strapped,” she says.
The key to capturing this consumer, according to Gordon-Smith, is a stylistic emphasis on “feeling young at heart”. It’s worth noting that “Matthieu-mania” — the tagline for consumer frenzy for Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel — is in part driven by enthusiasm for the joyful “lightness” of the garments. Gordon-Smith used the rise of 50-plus clubbing as another telltale sign that youthfulness is ‘in’, as well as the festivals filled with “old-school ravers who don’t want to hang up their dancing shoes”. A great example, for Gordon-Smith, of this young at heart merchandising is Burberry’s 2025 summer festival campaign, which featured 59-year-old jungle music star Goldie, as well as 52-year-old Liam Gallagher with his adult children.
“The greatest missed opportunity in retail right now,” says Corrigan, “is the failure to realize that the mature customer isn’t only interested in ‘age-appropriate’ clothing.”
Brands might choose to look to Sylvie Grateau, the fictional marketing boss in Netflix’s Emily in Paris, as inspiration for dressing the hot divorcée. Bornstein’s clients, in particular, are requesting her style. Others who came up: Elsa Peretti, Zoë Kravitz in flats and oversized diamonds, and pre-Kennedy-era Carolyn Bessette.
“Many of these consumers are navigating divorce, menopause, dating later in life, or post-parenthood identity shifts, and fashion is increasingly being used as a tool of celebration rather than correction,” says Maggioni. Self-gifting, she adds, is one growing signal in this demographic, as is a rising focus on buying pieces that mark life transitions beyond traditional weddings or engagements. “Alt-celebrations” (which include divorce parties) fit naturally into the cultural landscape that includes aspirational midlife and fashion-over-50 creators.
The “fashion as celebration” narrative is why the maximalism we’re celebrating now comes with softer, comfort-led undertones. For Maggioni, this aesthetic inherently has adaptability and body confidence in mind — think fluidity and draping as opposed to restrictive tailoring, and self-assured embellishment as opposed to the nihilistic ‘boom boom’ aesthetic.
Embracing post-divorce life in a louder way aligns with the call for fashion to see generations older than the next young thing. Ramírez recalls a trend report segment at a recent industry panel, in which “an older woman said, ‘Why don’t you talk about me? I have money. I’ll give you my money, but give me something.”
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