Lulu’s still a lady in red
A dash of scarlet keeps you young, says singer... and always steer clear of beige
BEEHIVE hairdos, leather catsuits and platform shoes – she has tried pretty much every fashion fad going during her 50-year career. But when it comes to style advice for the over-60s, Lulu has one rule: anything but beige.
The 65-year-old singer, who shot to fame as a 15-year- old in the 1960s, admitted it was difficult for older women to remain stylish and age-appropriate once they hit 60.
The star insisted that while she will happily wear red leather jackets, the key to looking fashionable is to avoid grey and beige.
Asked how difficult it is to choose outfits at her age, she said: ‘I hope I dress appropriately. I don’t want to be too boring.
‘Because of the work I’ve done I’ve been allowed to go to the left of centre, so I can wear a red leather biker jacket.
‘But it’s a very fine line to being ridiculous and looking like mutton dressed as lamb and looking cool for your age.
‘I consider that I’m getting old,
‘Growing old disgracefully’
but I’m getting old disgracefully! It is a very difficult for a woman to have a sense of style and not be grey. Or beige – that’s even worse. I like grey, but beige is much worse.’
The singer added: ‘Accessorising is the key for women of an older age. It is important for an older woman to change her make-up, maybe to change the colour of her hair, because that makes you feel different.
‘You look in the mirror and think, “Hey, I don’t look so bad today. Bring it on. What can I do today? A dance class? Start a business?
‘Maybe I’ll decide to walk today with my friends. Maybe I’ll join a book club.” Never give up on yourself. It’s your mental state. If you look good, you feel good.
‘Now it’s not about confidence, you don’t have the same issues. I know what suits me, I accept that I’m small, that I’m getting older. But I’m fighting all the way there.’
The star, whose real name is Marie Lawrie, said women her age are increasingly happy to be single in their sixties. She has been married twice, first to the late Bee Gees singer Maurice Gibb between 1969 and 1973, and then to celebrity hairdresser John Frieda.
They married in 1977 and their son Jordan was born that year. They split in 1991.
She said: ‘Dating is a very odd thing for a woman my age. Of course I go out with men, but I don’t have a partner, I don’t mind being single.
‘ It’s much more common for women of my generation to be single and embrace that lifestyle because we are living longer, we are looking better and if we take care of our health we are can have a happy, long life.
‘ I’m actually much more comfortable in my skin as I get older. You are angst-ridden when you are young.’