thinking about AGE:

showing our age

here in the store we see, hear and talk a lot about age and the social life that comes with it.  while checking out some of our style blogs, we were delighted to read discussion about the marketing culture of youth.  no surprise.  however, the interesting feature of all of them last week was the desire to age more gracefully and naturally.  perhaps it is all turning around.

a few selections to start your week.

TALKING AGE

By Alex

I also think that society and popular culture bombardes us with images of youth in association with success, happiness, love. There is a lot of focus on looking young (and with that, thin) and hiding any signs that you’ve lived. Red carpets, runways, editorials and advertisements tend to push the idea that youth equals beauty. In the last few months I think we’ve started to see a bit of a change. Jessica Lange and Charlotte Rampling heading up two major beauty campaigns is hopefully, just the beginning.

Costanza Pascolato

I am a lucky person. All women in my family were strong and positive. They taught me to accept aging. But of course, they were intelligent, elegant, and my mother was very beautiful. The new generation follows their examples: my daughter Consuelo is 50 and looks great. And Alessandra is 48 and looks much younger than her age. We all have a sense that life is a privilege. So we treat our bodies (and souls) gracefully. I do a lot of exercise, eat well etc., but I do not try to look much younger than I am. I only want to look the best for my age (74), and that, happily, makes me stay away from anxiety.

Lauren Bastide

In general I tend to think staying slim, taking care of your hair and style and keeping up with your time (staying up to date with music, movies, news and technologies) is a good formula. As for myself, I have an obsession: I want to know what I am really supposed to look like when I get older! I want to become the old woman that nature has planned for me to become. I think I’ll hold on to this thought if some day the appeal of getting something ‘done’ gets to me.”

Scott Schuman

For every one older woman, a beautiful older woman, that I’m able to get a picture of, there are eight that say no. I’ve almost given up. They are beautiful, they look great and they say no. I would like to say it’s media or it’s men, but it’s women having their own issues. If women want to have someone to look up to, they have to look in the mirror and look to each other. They have to say, ‘I’m proud of my wrinkles and how I look.’