Judi Dench — from stage star to fashion icon

Sie ist das älteste Cover-girl der Modebibel – und ein Hit in den sozialen Medien. Wer sagt, dass Älterwerden nicht cool sein kann? Von GWENDOLYN SMITH

ADVANCED

You can’t call Judi Dench lazy when it comes to contributing to society, but she’s been working particularly hard recently to boost morale. Who knows, perhaps she felt pressured to make up for her role in the strange Cats film, where her cat character horrified viewers by appearing to wear a coat made of its own fur. Dench has provided vital comic relief during this time of crisis, mostly with silly social media clips — a Twitter video of her wearing a dog hat with pop-up ears in which she tells us to “keep laughing” racked up 5.4 million views. Now, she has given us a much bigger pick-me-up by becoming, at 85, British Vogue’s oldest cover star.

On the front page of the magazine’s June issue, the Oscar-winner rocks a floral Dolce & Gabbana coat. But her outfit is not the most striking thing about the picture. What you notice immediately are her stylish pixie haircut and sparkling blue eyes. And yes, her wrinkled skin doesn’t go unnoticed, either — unsurprisingly, because fashion magazines, like the rest of society, aren’t exactly known for celebrating getting older.

There are several encouraging messages to take from the cover. First, could it be that the age-phobic fashion world has finally realized that women don’t become old and unattractive the moment they hit 40? (And that readers won’t desert magazines that choose to show them.)

It’s true that Dench is not exactly an everywoman. Her megawatt star power means she can, to an extent, escape the prejudices usually directed at older people. But seeing as publisher Condé Nast says the average Vogue reader is 39 for print and 44 for online, there’s a chance that this issue will enable readers to feel more represented age-wise. In turn, this could encourage the magazine to include more older stars in the future.

But the cover is also encouraging for a bazillion other reasons. At 85, Dench is in one of the highest-risk groups for Covid-19; as her issue hits the newsstands, talk continues of an extended lockdown for the over-70s. In other words, we’re all thinking about the potential physical consequences of getting older. In this context, photos of her grinning mischievously feel defiant.

It’s for this same reason that her light-hearted social media videos have been such big hits. Along with the doghat offering, Dench did a Tiktok dance with her grandson and went viral after teaming up with actor and comedian Gyles Brandreth for a reading of Edward Lear’s nonsense poem “The Owl and the Pussy-cat”.

Also, while the interview compares Dench to a “cultural tea cosy”, the conversation shows she’s much sharper than that. Take her pleasingly blunt response to her outfit in Cats. She describes her cloak as being “Like five foxes fucking on my back”. Society likes to patronize older people by pretending they are universally friendly. As well as giving us a look at how she operates on set, Dench’s comment that she can “be very difficult if somebody takes me for granted” hints that, well… don’t try that attitude with her.

Besides, while we continue to fetishize youth — just think of the tributes to how the BBC’S series Normal People shows the intensity of being young — a “pinsharp” depiction, went a recent Guardian editorial, of “the unforgettable intensity of first love and lust — Dench reminds us that there’s plenty of inspiration and vivacity to be found among the senior generation, too. The psychotherapist Esther Perel recently spoke in a Financial Times podcast about how grandparents discussing difficult periods in their lives with younger relatives may be a way of passing resilience down the generations. I was reminded of this while watching the video that runs with Dench’s interview online, in which younger stars ask her for professional advice. Yes, she’s largely discussing acting rather than anything darker, but it still confirms that with age comes wisdom.

Age is not just a number; Dench is blunt about the physical challenges it brings. “It’s terrible to be so dependent on people,” she says of having to give up driving. But, she’s strongly resistant to the expectations that come with getting older. Take her attitude to retirement, for instance: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” is how she sums it up, quoting Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do not go gentle into that good night”. All in all, you’re left thinking that while you can’t fight ageing’s physical reality, it is possible to push back against the prejudice that accompanies it.

Indeed, Dench’s cover will inevitably be called age-defying, but it’s more accurate to say it defies our expectations of what getting older involves. Both her Vogue and social media stardom prove that vitality continues far beyond youth, and that it’s frankly ridiculous that society sidelines older women, given their style, wit and energy. Honestly, Dench has been so busy giving all sorts of key lessons of late, I’d suggest she give herself a break and retire. But, of course, she’d never agree to that. © Guardian News & Media 2020

Find out more about Judi Dench’s life and career on the next pages.