The Devil Doesn't Look 76
Welcome to Hollywood
The New York Times Magazine ran a story and photo spread on “older women” in fashion. Yes, it’s a thing.
Why Fashion Suddenly Loves Older Women
Representation of women of a certain age has never been higher. What’s going on?
Two icons featured in the story and all over the rest of the media of late are Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour, both age 76, who have garnered lots of press attention ahead of the release of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
Wintour recently wrote in Vogue, “I feel age is actually an advantage.” In the entertainment world around this movie’s release, she may be correct.
Wintour and Streep are baby boomers, as am I. And for as long as I can remember, baby boomers have managed to make everything about themselves as cool. Remember: Don’t trust anyone over 30. Then there was the show “Thirtysomething.” Now there is a sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada,” released twenty years after the original, yet Streep somehow looks about the same. 70 is the new 30.
The New York Times reports that the new new thing features runway models North of 50.
Older Americans, have more of one thing more than the young — money. quoth the Gray Lady,
“Indeed, according to the Federal Reserve, more than 70 percent of all the wealth in the United States is concentrated in the over-55 age group, which is also responsible for more than 45 percent of consumer spending.”
Older ladies who can afford haute couture want to see older ladies wearing haute couture, so the movie feeds the market.
Does that mean there is a sea change here where all doors, inside and outside of fashion, are wide open for women North of 65? I suspect not.
Speaking to the New York Times, Ashley Mears, a model turned professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam and the author of “Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model,” tossed out some prominent examples of older women in entertainment, then offered,
“it’s a paradox because they don’t look their age. For women who are successful in their fields and need to be visible, which usually happens later in life, the message is: You need to do work to look good.” And that’s expensive, connecting youth with class and wealth, and creating further barriers to entry at a time when fashion needs to take them down.
In other words: If you’re North of 65 and hoping to maintain a high-profile perch, work on your face, stay on the treadmill, and hire a stylist.
Do you detect a hint of envy in my post? Yes, you do. I thought at some point I would age out past the impossible models set for modern women, but that’s not going to happen.
AH, to be a man. Of course, I do have to put up with my wife constantly asking, “Is that what you’re wearing?”
It depends on which Target you go to. Mine is horrible -- nothing for anyone over 30 for women. Kohl's is a little better. The others discount places are hit or miss. I do not have the figure or the $$ that Nancy Pelosi has, who can have her clothing custom made. The industry has basically left us behind.