Watkinson
DON’T TELL ME TO DRESS MY AGE
It came as quite a shock to me to hear my recently-turned-40 friend referring to herself as middle-aged.
I am the “baby” of the group, I myself turn 40 in a year’s time and hadn’t quite thought about what bracket leaving my 30s would push me into.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to turn back the clock – well physically maybe a little – but I wouldn’t want to be a teenager or in my 20s again for all the tea in China. All that angst, plus the internet makes everything so much more intense for young people today, I’m happy with my wasted youth all captured on throwaway cameras and photo booths in nightclubs.
So why my panic? I already watch Call the Midwife and stop at one glass of wine mid-week for fear of a “big-head” the following morning. I’m no young whipper snapper, but the stereotype about middle-aged people freaks me out. I don’t want to cut my long hair into a short style for a start, and then the fashion... I don’t believe fashion has an upper age limit. I like fashion that is fluid, unisex and diverse. So why should it be ageist?
It drives me bananas when it’s suggested that perhaps someone is “a little too old to be wearing that”. Let’s be honest, it’s usually directed towards a woman, usually when said woman is wearing something revealing or kooky – mini skirts, dungarees, hot pants or anything baring their navel and it’s usually accompanied by a whole heap of unjustified sneery judgement. Men are not immune from this criticism though. It usually strikes if men choose not to exchange their cool trainers or sportswear for flatfronted slacks and sensible jumpers the minute they hit 50.
Why would they? It’s like changing your personality just because you have completed 50 laps around the sun. Some very famous women turn 40 this year, Beyoncé and Sienna Miller among them, and I can’t see either of them adhering to any dated stereotypes about how middle-aged women should dress either, so I’m in very good company.