You’ve probably been hearing about this new documentary by the BBC called “Fabulous Fashionistas.” Maybe you’ve already seen it. If not, let Glamour Girl bring you into the fold.
GG has written before about les femmes d’un certain age (see here, here, and here). And it seems that now, these women are everywhere. Or to be more accurate, they’ve always been everywhere. It’s just that now more of them refuse to be invisible.
That’s the cliché, of course—that older women in our society become invisible. And let’s face it; to a large extent it’s true. Youth is considered desirable; old age isn’t. And that’s not something that’s just come about in the 20th century. Look back at literature over the millenia and you’ll see the same sentiments. It’s understandable, so let’s not go into high dudgeon over it.
But at least part of that cloak of invisibility is self-inflicted. Indeed, at any age, you can dress to blend in, or you can dress to stand out. You can dress “like an old lady” or you can look “mutton dressed as lamb,” as the British saying goes. But there’s plenty of territory in between. GG is 56. And there’s no way in hell she would ever dress the way her mother and aunts were dressing at 56. Or even at 46. Sensibilities have changed. We don’t have to get slotted into categories anymore. We can choose our own categories. We can make up new ones.
That’s what this BBC film is about. It’s fun. It’s inspiring. It’s a hoot. And it blows away preconceptions.
See, for example, if you’re half as nimble as Gillian, age 87:
Or as soignée as Bridget, age 75:
Or as sprightly—and spritely—as Jean, who still runs three times a week, also age 75:
Or as glamorous as Daphne Selfe, whom you’ve no doubt seen in ads, age 85:
Or as colorful as Sue, 73:
Here’s an article about the Fab Fashionistas in The Telegraph; here’s one from The Daily Mail; and here’s the documentary itself, which you can watch on-line.
Have fun!