It ain’t over until The Fat Lady SCREAMS
ff………….t-shirt
Photo source: Social History Archives, 1953
Hey! Older women take off the Invisibility Cloak
by Kerry Cue
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me
………….Jenny Joseph, Warning, Poem, 1961
Do dull clothes make you dull?
Red Hat Society
Jenny Joseph’s poem has gained something of a cult following. Today there are Red Hat Societies that encourage members to go out in public wearing purple dresses and red hats. They have a lot of fun and raise money for charity – insert applause here – and, of course, the Red Hat ladies don’t go unnoticed in public.
Such societies, however, rather defeat the idea of the older woman as a respected individual by turning her into a red hat, purple dress-wearing stereotype. Jenny Joseph aptly expressed her unique eccentricities in her poem, but why turn yourself into a Jenny Joseph clone?
There is, however, a more insidious problem concerning fashion for older women.
In her book FASHION AND AGE: Dress, the body and later life, (Review: Cheryl Buckley, Times Higher Education, 19 SEP 2014) Julia Twigg insists that as women age they become estranged to fashion and begin to wear “rectangles and squares” in sombre colours with little ornamentation, instead of choosing clothes that fashionably drape and shape our older selves.
It is the curse of the ‘chunky ¾ length pants and polo fleece tops’, the uniform worn by older women on bus trips! This garb is the real world equivalent to Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak.
Fashion is fun but it’s not for everyone. Moreover, older women can wear what they bloody well like. They’ve earned this right. But fashion also serves a purpose. Dowdy or dull outfits scream ‘I’ve given up’. If you are not interested in yourself, who else will be?
Yes! You do get more respect if you dress smartly in public. You needn’t stop there. Some older women don amazingly zany outfits and they are, indeed, an inspiration for all ages. Here they are, women from the Advanced Style Blog. Ari Seth Cohen wanders the streets of New York taking pictures of fashionable women in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And they look fabulous, darling!
Beatrix Ost Fashion Diva
Fab Fashionista
Joyce
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Kerry Cue is a humorist, journalist, mathematician, and author. You can find more of her writing on her blog. Her latest book is a crime novel, Target 91, Penmore Press, Tucson, AZ (2019).
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This 66-year-old Fashionista is just Stunning!
The Sibyls
While riding her bike around the streets of New York and dressed-to-amaze, 66-year-old Tziporah Salamon once had a friend call out when she was stopped at a light, ‘I want to be you when I grow up!’
According to the SMH Salamon has ‘modelled in a 2012 advertising campaign for Lanvin, starred in the 2014 documentary Advanced Style, and has recorded her unique approach to getting ready in a new book, The Art of Dressing: Ageless, Timeless, Original Style’. Her book includes interviews with 10 other women over 50 whom she finds inspiring. Enough said, here is some of Salamon’s zany style.
63 Year old Style Icon
by Kerry Cue
Looking for a quote to head this post about 63 – year – old New Yorker, Lyn Slater, Associate Professor and Style Icon, I couldn’t find one that fitted the bill. So I made one up. Her Accidental Icon Instagram account has 100,000 followers! Her Accidental Icon blog is equally fascinating.
Style does not depend on age. Look at the images of Lyn (below) taken from her Instagram account. Confidence and flair seem to sum up the impact of her fashion style. May there be more like her.
Funny Fashion: Vile Vintage
by the Sibyls
When the catwalk becomes the, ah, dogwalk!
Photo Source: Vintage Fashion pinterest
Beyond Gen Y Fads Cool & Classy
by Kerry Cue
You can find more information about Her Magnificence (above) here along with more fab fashion at WOMAD, Adelaide, here and our very special Chemo Fashionista, Jules, here. Meanwhile, here are some more Cool & Classy fashionistas at WOMAD.
Mother and Daughter with the WOW Factor.
Dazzling African Print
Spot on style.
The Fabulous Hazel
Officialish & Classy too
Beyond Y Gen fads: Classy & Fabulous
by Kerry Cue
STREET VIBE MELBOURNE
The fabulous Jane Chisholm, Marketing & Sponsorship Manager,
Big West Festival outside the Arts Centre Melbourne.
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Also around Melbourne _____________
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Hey! Older women take off the Invisibility Cloak
by Kerry Cue
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me
………….Jenny Joseph, Warning, Poem, 1961
Do dull clothes make you dull?
Red Hat Society
Jenny Joseph’s poem has gained something of a cult following. Today there are Red Hat Societies that encourage members to go out in public wearing purple dresses and red hats. They have a lot of fun and raise money for charity – insert applause here – and, of course, the Red Hat ladies don’t go unnoticed in public.
Such societies, however, rather defeat the idea of the older woman as a respected individual by turning her into a red hat, purple dress-wearing stereotype. Jenny Joseph aptly expressed her unique eccentricities in her poem, but why turn yourself into a Jenny Joseph clone?
There is, however, a more insidious problem concerning fashion for older women.
In her book FASHION AND AGE: Dress, the body and later life, (Review: Cheryl Buckley, Times Higher Education, 19 SEP 2014) Julia Twigg insists that as women age they become estranged to fashion and begin to wear “rectangles and squares” in sombre colours with little ornamentation, instead of choosing clothes that fashionably drape and shape our older selves.
It is the curse of the ‘chunky ¾ length pants and polo fleece tops’, the uniform worn by older women on bus trips! This garb is the real world equivalent to Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak.
Fashion is fun but it’s not for everyone. Moreover, older women can wear what they bloody well like. They’ve earned this right. But fashion also serves a purpose. Dowdy or dull outfits scream ‘I’ve given up’. If you are not interested in yourself, who else will be?
Yes! You do get more respect if you dress smartly in public. You needn’t stop there. Some older women don amazingly zany outfits and they are, indeed, an inspiration for all ages. Here they are, women from the Advanced Style Blog. Ari Seth Cohen wanders the streets of New York taking pictures of fashionable women in the 60s, 70s and 80s. And they look fabulous, darling!
Beatrix Ost Fashion Diva
Fab Fashionista
Joyce
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Fashionistas Photos: Red Hat Society Sowystitch and Advanced Style Blog.
sibylesque 