‘Too old’ for a backpack? What piffle!
The other day, as I sat down with my morning cuppa and opened the paper, I was cheered to see a gorgeous picture of helen Mirren, a style icon at 73 just as she has been for decades.
She was glancing proudly at the camera, a chic rucksack thrown casually over her shoulder. hurrah, I thought — Dame helen surely proves you’re never too old to look fabulous in oversized shades and a casual knit.
Then I read on, and my blood started to boil. For after posting the picture online, she had been informed by many oh-so-helpful people that she was too old for a backpack and looked like she was off to her first day of school.
Well honestly! I was outraged — and not just because, at five years older and possessing a rather similar rucksack myself, I was feeling a bit over-sensitive.
First of all, let’s dispose of this rot about only teenagers wearing backpacks. Dame helen is toting an impeccably elegant number by Tumi ( whose bags sell for hundreds of pounds) in what looks to be black leather. Any child bringing one of those to class is going to get some funny looks from teachers — not to mention probably ruining it by the time they crack open their lunch.
I’m told Prime Minister Theresa May likes to carry a Longchamp backpack, and she is certainly an expert at balancing grown-up fashion sense with practicality, quality and comfort.
I would like to think my own backpack, from eazo, is equally stylish, if a little more affordable.
In sleek khaki canvas and leather, it has brass buckles and plenty of pockets. It was a gift from my 41year-old daughter, a busy working mother to three young children who nevertheless always manages to look good — and who always carries a backpack. She’s keen to get me wearing one regularly, since it’s not only fashionable, it’s also much better for you.
Carrying about a heavy handbag is never a good thing for women of a certain age and a backpack spreads the load evenly across your shoulders, so is much better for your back and posture.
For years I’ve lugged around heavy books, my precious laptop, water bottles, make-up and my mobile phone in oversized totes on my right shoulder. Old habits die hard, and I do love my bag collection, but my husband says I’m beginning to stoop, my back often aches and I suspect I list to one side now, like a ship in the wind.
So perhaps Dame helen’s style statement will be just the spur I need. A rucksack is handy for organisation, too, with pockets for each of those essentials so they don’t end up jumbled together (Dame helen’s has several inside and out, as well as a ‘key leash’).
And they’re perfect for travel as they’re safer than a handbag — they’re trickier for pickpockets to dip their hands into.
My husband, Michael, has given me the treat of a couple of days in Seville this month. I’ve always wanted to go, and I am seeing the city with my backpack in tow!
You don’t have to pay filmstar prices — perfectly lovely, sturdy backpacks can be found on the high Street for just a few pounds. I’m amazed at the range of brilliant styles. As for looking a bit different, I stopped worrying about that long ago, and I suspect Dame helen feels the same.
Another present I received from my daughter recently was a pair of silver trainers covered with lots of red lips — I live in them. These and my backpack have both been admired and have raised eyebrows, but they’re comfortable and stylish and I defy anyone to say I’m too old for such frivolities.
I know perfectly well that I’m no pop star, no Lily Allen, no sprightly young chicken — but we oldsters know better than most women the clothes and accessories that flatter us, and have a keen eye for anything that would look gimmicky and out of place.
Very few things really have an age limit, apart from overly revealing styles — we can all agree that bingo wings and orange-peel thighs are best not flaunted.
Still, when I think back to the age of safe skirt-lengths and the strict uniformity of my mother’s generation, I thank my lucky stars for the liberation of today.
Who cares about what the online idiots say? Any thinking woman who values her comfort and who doesn’t want to end up with back pain will say simply, thank you, Dame helen!