I was Tweeting a couple of nights ago with two beauty journalists on the basis that after 40 there is pretty well no option but to crumble (their view). No I have no intention of letting on my age (sorry), but all this ageism always annoys me, as it should you.
There are some things you can’t control as you get older, if you’ve spent too much time in the sun, unprotected or otherwise you will have wrinkles etc etc but frankly you can fall apart at any age, through bad luck or genes or not taking enough care. If you don’t eat carefully, if you drink to distraction, if you don’t exercise you will grow older younger but please…….don’t blame it on age. It is up to you.
You are without any doubt as old as you allow yourself to feel and all those who feel it is a battle to stay looking younger think of it this way; it’s a challenge and it can be as much fun as you want it to be.
As someone who, for various reasons, decided to try and get themselves together at the start of 2010 I know these things. I am now slimmer, fitter and happier than I’ve been since my 30s. There’s no secret attached, you just take the decision and then you have to get on with it. No one can do it for you. It has to come from within. But I’ve always enjoyed a challenge. And the day my 22 year old fitness-mad son called me ‘gran’ (he’s such a tease) I decided to beat him at his own game………..well not quite but you know what I mean. He’s now cycling from Bordeaux to Rome with a tent on his back (yes he was the one doing the tuk-tuk race in India last year) and I’m definitely not going for that one.
Having a 20 year old daughter I’m hugely aware of not doing the mutton dressed as lamb thing and I believe you need to be careful about what you wear. I see far too many mothers on the train with their daughters trying to wear the same muffin top enhancing jeans that they do. Ridiculous. Just look in the mirror please. Things that don’t suit anyone are mid calf skirts unless your pins are seriously neat, shoes that are too classic (usually worn with frumpy length skirts and dresses), trousers that are too short and the list goes on and on. But definitely you don’t dress for your age. You dress for how you feel, glamorous, sexy, elegant, classic, chic or otherwise.
Kids can get away with a lot of style sins and frequently do although attention to detail suits every age from grooming to dress to accessories. I’m off today for a meeting, lunch at one of my favourite places to eat (newly favourite I might add) in London then a meeting with a TV company to talk about a pilot, that one may or may not come off. What will I be wearing? Red. My favourite short (ish) DVF sleeveless fitted dress with the highest confidence-building nude suede heels in my armament. Age? Forgetaboutit. Enjoy the challenge and do something!
