why shouldn’t older women wear bikinis?
Believe it or not, Susanna is 61 — and says she’s proof there’s no age limit for looking good on the beach
WITh her lithe limbs, taut stomach and smooth, unblemished skin, Susanna’s bikini body is the definition of ‘beach ready’.
But look at her face and you’ll notice the wrinkles and laughter lines, because, astonishingly, she is 61 years old.
In last week’s femail magazine, Janet Street-Porter insisted that no woman over the age of 20 should ever wear a bikini.
‘It’s a total mystery to me why grown women think that putting all their bits on display and hoisting up their breasts like a pair of half-set jellies on a plate makes them seem alluring, sexy or seductive,’ she wrote. ‘What grown woman in her right mind deludes herself that her body will ever be “ready” for this ridiculous garment?’
But Susanna is one of a host of over-50s who disagree. Some are old enough for their bus passes, but their fantastic figures mean they have no intention of covering up.
Sparked by a spate of scantily clad older celebrities, such as helen Mirren, 70, and Goldie hawn, 69, they happily show off their bodies in the slightest of swimwear.
In fact, body confidence among the middle-aged is rising in general. A recent survey by an online retailer revealed that one in three women over 50 will be wearing a bikini on their holiday this year, compared to one in five last year.
So how do they keep their fantastic figures? here, five proud bikini-wearers aged between 56 and 76 — none of
whom has had cosmetic surgery — explain the surprising secrets behind their youthful bodies . . .
EATING RAW GARLIC KEEPS ME SLENDER
SuSanna Somogyi, 61, is a Pa from London. She is divorced and has no children. She says: Forgive me if this sounds like bragging, but i think i could pass for a woman 20 years younger in my bikini.
And every year that passes, i simply become more confident about my body. With age comes the power to stride out on to a beach with head held high and not give a damn about how you look.
Yes, there might be the odd moment i want to reach for a sarong, but i don’t have that youthful naivety that makes people think a scrap of fabric will magically make their legs look longer or stomach flatter.
That said, i think it’s so important to make the best of yourself, whatever your age. i put my great figure down to an odd diet secret: raw garlic.
every evening i crush a clove of raw garlic into a dressing made of olive oil, horseradish sauce, yoghurt and onion. i eat it with a side salad and a portion of organic meat or fish. i also eat plenty of parsley, which i believe neutralises the garlic smell.
i’ve been making my dressing for the past 20 years, and it doesn’t just taste delicious: garlic contains nutrients that — when eaten raw — have antibacterial properties, while the copious quantities of olive oil seem to keep my skin supple and cellulite-free. The onion has anti-inflammatory properties which ensure i rarely get ill, so i can keep up my active lifestyle.
i walk an hour a day and as a result am still a size 10, and only 6lb heavier than i was in my 20s.
Yes, i am single — and i suppose my garlic might have something to do with it. Bar the odd long-term relationship, i have remained on my own since divorcing aged 33 after a decade of marriage. it’s not that i want to be alone — i just have yet to meet the right man.
But then again, if i shared stodgy suppers with a husband before egging each other on to finish pudding, inevitably i’d pile on the pounds.
instead, i’m free to follow my own diet, which, admittedly, is not one many men would enjoy.
I LIFT WEIGHTS TO FIRM UP MY TUMMY
CarLa TemPLeman, 76, is a retired music shop manager from Chelmsford, essex. She is married to John, 84, a retired market stall manager. They have a son, russell, 50, and four grandchildren aged between seven and 19. She says: i’m pleAsed with my reflection. my stomach is reasonably flat, my legs are strong and my size- 10 frame is in proportion.
granted, i have some wrinkles, but who wouldn’t at my age? i think i look good in a bikini, and frankly, given the amount of work i put in, i should jolly well hope so, too.
While other women my age might be content pottering round the garden in the name of exercise, i head to the gym for a gruelling twohour workout at 8am every day.
i haven’t always been an exercise fanatic — as a busy working mother i was still a size 10-12, but the most i could manage throughout my youth and middle age was one aerobics class a week.
When i retired aged 62, i knew a sedentary lifestyle wouldn’t suit me, so took out a gym membership.
i signed up with a friend and started a class specifically for the over-50s. As my fitness improved, my confidence soared and i started lifting weights, pilates, zumba, spinning and aerobics classes for all ages.
i developed muscles in my legs and arms, my waist got slimmer and i grew addicted to the endorphinbuzz exercise gave me.
i enjoy the social aspect, too. most of the women i exercise with are half my age and twice as fit, but they give me something to aspire to.
i try to fit in ten classes a week, but reluctantly take saturdays and sundays off because i suppose i should see my husband — a confirmed couch potato — every now and then.
We’ve been married for 56 years and our happy relationship definitely helps me look youthful. John looks unusually young for his age, which makes me want to look good, too. despite not making any effort, he could easily pass for 60. i want people to think we’re an attractive couple.
i’ve always eaten lots of fruit and vegetables, chicken and fish, but i allow myself a glass of wine with my evening meal because deprivation isn’t good for you either.
Besides, i know i’ll work it off in the gym the next day.
I SHIVER MY WAY TO SMOOTH SKIN
Joanna HaLL, 56, is a beauty therapist from Southampton. She is married to Tony, 53, a garden designer, with whom she has a daughter, Janay, 24. She says: THeY say one must suffer to be beautiful — but when you look like this, it’s well worth it. And no, my firm tum and smooth skin aren’t down to a surgeon’s knife or painful injections. instead, it’s a freezing shower — every single day.
After i’ve washed my body and hair in the morning, i turn the temperature of my shower down to its lowest setting and stand under an icy blast of water for a minute.
it’s not easy, but i’ve trained myself not to flinch, even though i often step out with my teeth chattering and chilled to the bone.
some might say this makes me a glutton for punishment — and maybe they’re right — but as far as i’m concerned it is the best way to get a bikini body.
Fifteen years ago, i read that cold water could help keep the skin firm, so i started splashing my face with cold water 15 times, morning and night, and discovered it did have a tightening effect.
i decided that if it worked on my face, it would work on my body as well.
research suggests that cold water improves circulation, giving a healthy glow to the skin and — at a stage in life when most women get more wrinkles — toning and reducing the appearance of lines.
my bracing showers were a shock at first, and in the winter i admit to turning the bathroom radiator up to make them more bearable, but unlike expensive face creams and cosmetic surgery, they don’t cost a penny.
i now enjoy showing off my bikini body on the beach.
my 33 in legs are well proportioned and age has actually given me a more enticing shape.
i was a stick-thin size 8 before i became a mum at 33, but i never lost the last stone of my pregnancy weight and found that my new curves suited me. Tony says i look as stunning as the day we met, 33 years ago, and strangers often put me at 35 and ask if i’ve had a facelift.
But i’ve never been tempted by surgery — i’ll stick to dousing myself in cold water instead.
NOT HAVING KIDS HAS KEPT ME SLIM
angie CHaCe, 65, is a retired accounts supervisor from Portsmouth She is married to edson, 66, a retired credit controller. She says: mAnY women my age might lament the taut bodies of their younger years but i am in better shape than ever
my secret isn’t so much what i do to look young, as what i haven't done — have children.
it’s hard to imagine i would have my 27 in waist, pert bust and hourglass figure had my body gone through the rigours of giving birth
i’ve never been desperate to become a mother.
i look back on my adolescence with sadness — my father died of bone
A freezing shower every morning keeps my skin taut and wrinkle-free
cancer when I was ten and my mother struggled to bring me up alone. as a consequence, I have always viewed the prospect of raising a child of my own with trepidation.
Edson and I married at 18 and shared a wait-and-see approach to parenthood. We didn’t actively try to avoid getting pregnant but weren’t disappointed when, by my late 30s, it hadn’t happened — a fact I later discovered was due to me having the womb condition endometriosis.
Meanwhile, I watched women my age give birth and their bodies irrevocably change.
Their waists filled out and most never lost their pregnancy weight. Sleep deprivation left them reliant on sugary snacks, and they never had a spare moment to look after themselves.
They developed stretch marks while my stomach remained taut, and as they dealt with toddler tantrums I took out a gym membership, deciding, aged 38, that it was time to get fit.
a combination of aerobics and step classes toned my size-10 figure and stopped the dreaded middleaged spread.
My breasts, meanwhile, are unravaged from breastfeeding. In fact, for unknown reasons, my bust has grown from an a to a D-cup in the last decade, giving me a more womanly appearance.
at 9 st 3 lb I’m only 5 lb heavier than the day I married.
I know my body isn’t perfect — I don’t like the saggy tops of my arms, and a hysterectomy at 49 left me with a slightly bumpy tummy — but I’m proud of my figure and happy to show it off.
I may not have children, but I do have a body I love.
FALLING IN LOVE SAVED MY FIGURE
Penny CAin, 59, is a hairdresser from Sheffield. She has a daughter, Danielle, 29, from a previous relationship, and for the past two years has been married to Andrew, 53, who owns a steel firm. She says: TEn years ago, I could scarcely have imagined wearing a bikini, let alone looking good in it.
I felt unlovable and unattractive. It is only since falling in love that I have found happiness — and the cliche is true: when you feel good you really do look good.
nobody can believe I’m about to turn 60, I have the body of a 40-year-old.
I was 49 when my first marriage broke up. We’d been together for ten years and, approaching 50, I feared I’d be alone forever. In despair, I lost interest in my appearance, picked at junk food and rarely left the confines of my living room.
My loneliness and low self-esteem were reflected in my face and body. although I remained a size 10, my skin looked lacklustre and my muscle tone was non-existent.
But when I was 53, I met andrew in a local bar. He swept me off my feet and made me realise that, despite approaching middle age, my body shouldn’t be hidden. He complimented me on my strong legs and flat stomach, and I started to feel so much more confident and sexy.
I bought a pink bikini for our first holiday abroad and wore it on a Dubai beach — he said I looked amazing.
We married in June 2013, and with no need to comfort- eat I started cooking healthily and making nutritious meals from scratch.
I don’t waste time in the gym; I can’t think of anything worse than an hour on a treadmill.
Instead, andrew and I walk our dog together for an hour a day, which keeps me toned without developing unattractive muscle.
andrew being six years my junior also helps — I don’t want to look dowdy next to my husband. Thanks to his constant compliments, I no longer think twice about wearing tight-fitting or even revealing garments if they suit me.
Physically and emotionally, I am enjoying a second youth.
yes, my healthy diet and active lifestyle play a part, but the real secret of my bikini body is simple: being in love.