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I am looking for a word or expression for an older man, often over 60, who usually wears fashion items ( shoes, shirts, jackets), dye their hair, and do their best to keep fit. The overall result is sort of younger look which often clashes with the real age of this persons. I am not looking for a derogatory term but possibly a politically correct one.

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  • How about "superannuated followers of fashion"?
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:08
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    Or "old goats in kids' clothing"?
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:13
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    These types of requests are very subjective and, while interesting to some, are not the focus of English Language and Usage. The answers are Primarily Opinion Based, which is Off Topic here. Please modify your question to make it more On Topic by reading the help section on questions, which advises to share your work as well as other ways to make your question more applicable to EL&U.
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:16
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    For women who wear heavy makeup and dress inappropriately for their advancing years there is the super derogatory term mutton dressed as / like lamb. Interestingly, I can't think of anything that can be applied to men.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:33
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    @Mari-LouA: Sounds as applicable to wizened, ramshackle rams as to elderly ovaried ovines...
    – Drew
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 0:03

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Putting aside the odious ageist assumption that doing one's best to keep fit amounts to "trying to look younger" (suppose they want to feel good and live longer?), and since you are supposedly "not looking for a derogatory term but possibly a politically correct one," why not simply use the same kinds of language you would use for other age brackets:

fashion-forward seniors

fashionable older men

men in their golden years and dressing well

older men who take good care of themselves

hip baby boomers

etc.

By the same token, if you did want to offend/denigrate, you could use the same strategy

retirement-age chavs

'bros' pushing 70

elderly metrosexuals

etc.

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There is a term mutton dressed as lamb but mostly applied to old women. It is also used for old men sometimes.

(idiomatic, derogatory) A mature woman dressed in a style more suited to a young woman, especially if in a deliberate attempt to appear young.

For men, mutton dressed as ram version is used also.

There is a related term medallion man also, though they have a specific style:

a man who tries to look younger than he is by wearing jewellery and tight clothes, and who often has his shirt open at the front to show his chest

As a formal term, you can use well-groomed or soigné.

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  • Mutton dressed like ram, I've never heard and it makes no sense. A lamb is a young sheep, a ram is a male sheep regardless of age. The female parallel should then be: mutton dressed like ewe.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:35
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    @Mari-Lou A: I did not make it up though. Even it sounds silly, it is used in the news.
    – ermanen
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:39
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    Is it? Well I've not read it. Medallion man I've heard but that was more popular between the late 1970s and mid-80s when disco fever broke out and men wore open necked shirts (think Al Pacino in Scarface or John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever) often revealing a hairy chest decorated with one or more gold medallions.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:44
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    Hmmm.. found this article "Mutton dressed as ram. Aging male stars making fashion mistakes..."
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:59
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    @Mari-Lou: I'd not come across the ram version either until now. At first glance it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but I certainly think it was a witty title for a review of the McCartney's album Ram.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 23:05
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"Those dapper older gentlemen..."

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The two phrases I hear the most are:

  • trying too hard

  • old guy in the club

And then you can always use poser if it is too overboard.

A nice way to say it is forever young.

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I rather like the word Dandy.

It's specifically for men and not necessarily derogatory.

A collection of dictionary definitions for Dandy are here

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Senior people usually if handsome I'd say come in the category of "rugged" or "ruggedly handsome". Same goes for young ones as well.

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I am looking for a word or expression for an older man, often over 60, who usually wears fashion items ( shoes, shirts, jackets), dye their hair, and do their best to keep fit.

Since the time this question was asked, a new word has arisen for such people, although without the specific connotation of trying to look younger. That would be the word zaddy, defined by Wiktionary as:

(originally African-American Vernacular, slang) A handsome, fashionable man, especially an older man.

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Neanimorphic is a older word, but it means "to appear younger than one's actual age."

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