Ageing well is back in fashion
Iso enjoy those daring articles that trill praise of older women, their lingering good looks, feisty spirit, fashion sense. Some of the women can be as old as 40, even 50. Who knew you lived that long? I always thought the bus stopped at 45, you climbed on board, and you roared into oblivion. But apparently you linger, even when you’re no longer so pretty and perfect.
There is life, however much against the odds. You can start a fashion trend at 74, as Brenda Hale did recently in the UK. Lady Hale is a Supreme Court judge, and is still working. The big spider brooch she wore to deliver a verdict in the Brexit saga delighted women, possibly even men, and went viral. One company made a tribute black T-shirt with spider insignia and raised funds for the homeless.
It’s worth mentioning that Lady Hale hasn’t had work done, and consequently looks her age. She also owns frog, caterpillar and dragonfly brooches, whose opaque meanings keep people guessing.
Life lingers yet in US Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who at 86 looks 86, is recovering from a bout of pancreatic cancer, and is still working. Democrats need her to hang on till they can organise an equally liberal replacement.
The Queen, at 93, is still busy despite her age. She cut a regal dash under a sparkly diamond tiara this week, reading Boris Johnson’s government plans aloud, deadpan as ever. There are Hollywood actresses who couldn’t hope to achieve such composure.
Possibly there are advantages in having seen it all, her technique suggests. Many times. And grown weary of whatever.
Helen Mirren, 74, is the older woman dragged out when we’re asked to call older women sexy. Why they would want or need to be sexy is never explained, but she’s smart enough to see a buck in it, and never be out of work. It helps that she can act.
Jane Fonda, 81, was arrested last week at a climate change protest in Washington. She must have been delighted. Unlike others on my list, she is a miracle of the surgeon’s art, and clings to her Left-wing identity from way back, common enough in other countries but not America, where they still think she’s scary. Better scary and old than old and forgotten.
More to my liking is designer Vivienne Westwood, 78 and still outrageous, with a much younger husband/partner. She has relaxed into the wrinkles of old age fearlessly and fabulously, as has fellow designer Zandra Rhodes, 79, who lost her 98-year-old boyfriend in August. To death, that is.
Last I knew she had shocking pink hair and scary eye makeup in defiance of more usual TV advertising for the older woman, typically walking along a beach, a throw flung artfully around her slender shoulders, with a bloke.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, would have none of that, I should think, at 79. Another miracle of the plastic surgeon’s art, she dresses with a certain dash, and always looks elegant.
She also sounds as if she’s got all her marbles, as does Senator Elizabeth Warren, 70, currently running close to Joe Biden, 76, in the race for the Democrats’ presidential nomination. Both compare favourably with a certain very stable genius who veers off course alarmingly at 73.
As for the aged Democrat contender Bernie Sanders, 78, and Rudy Giuliani, 75, supposedly Donald Trump’s legal adviser, you couldn’t even call it a contest. The apt word is unfortunate.