Shoppers of a Certain Age: Somehow, the Media, Marketing, Advertising Have Lost Track of Women Over 50

That's no shocker to Sharon Leicham of Memphis, a 60-plus, nationally known retail consultant in outdoor apparel and a Downtown activist. She is on Facebook and Twitter, and does much of her work with an iPhone and a laptop. She loves buying the latest skin care products; she maintains a stylish hairdo; and she keeps her body fit including running half-marathons for the last several years.

Yet the fashion and beauty industry often ignores her. "It's difficult to find things age-appropriate that have style and are current," she said. And when magazines show beauty "at any age," the 60s often get dropped. "I'm mostly around people younger than me and our values and energy level seem to be about the same," she said. So why do TV ads so often show older people as "dotty?" she asks.

Networking and organizing are ways to increase visibility, and, with the advent of the Internet, that's never been easier. For example, memphiswoman.ning.com , is a free social networking site launched in October and maintained by Lisa Montgomery, 52, founder of the now-defunct Memphis Woman magazine. Montgomery thinks older women regionally have been slow to warm up to online networking.

"I think they're fearful about too much information being out there" about themselves, she said.

But slowly they are seeing opportunities. The site now has 415 members, including an organization of female business owners, women's charity groups and folks who give natural hormone replacement therapy seminars. There are also forums for women to spout off.

Heisser of California noted many blogs and online associations for older people have popped up in the last several years. But she takes the idea a step further with 50+ Fabulous, the online magazine she started in 2006 that allows women over 50 to get expert advice on topics of interest to them from women like themselves.