Incontinence pads and retirement homes: How modelling used to look for a woman over 30

Fierce at 55, Kate Bell is a champion in the modelling industry. She talks ageing in a sector that has changed dramatically in recent years: women can now work as long as they want.

There was a time when Kate Bell’s modelling job offers changed from major fashion campaigns to promoting aged care homes.

Such was life for a woman over 30.

Those days are over though with the 55-year-old remaining one of our top models with a career spanning nearly four decades.

“We only ever saw them (mature models) in things like incontinence pads and retirement homes, and that is the sort of work that I did get for a solid 10 years,” Bell told The Daily Telegraph.

“Around my 40s, late 30s, and then it all started to change. Women can be sexy all the way through.”

Sydney model Kate Bell, 55, in Woollahra, today. She is busier than ever and has been modelling since age 18. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Bell, 55, has modelled since the age of 18, when she was discovered by Chic Management’s Ursula Hufnagl.

As a general rule, models were deemed to have ‘aged out’ of the industry at around 30.

The sweet spot to gain the most work, she explained, was 18 to 25.

“I’ve pictured myself walking down the runway with a walking stick,” she laughed, adding: “I am kidding.”

“Perhaps when I just don’t have the energy anymore but for the moment I’ve got lots of energy and it has turned into something as well.”

Bell has found strength in sharing her story on social media, helping other women find their voices. It has given her purpose.

Kate Bell for health and beauty shop in Double Bay, The Beauty Chef.

Kate Bell models Suzanne Grae shot by Juli Balla.

“I am not just modelling, I am being their face because they need to see themselves out there,” she said. “I am being their voice. I feel in some way I am doing my little bit in empowering mature women and suddenly then modelling has taken on a new meaning because I am someone that has something to say and brands can align with me because I stand for something.”

Bell’s clients range from David Jones to Mecca. She is currently fronting a campaign for Suzanne Grae to support Women’s Community Shelter’s.

“I don’t suppose I’ve ever really done things the way that you are meant to do things.

Perhaps this second wave of the world embracing mature women is, not a second chance, but it is an opportunity for me perhaps to learn the lessons that I was meant to learn when I was younger … the lessons I could have learnt earlier but I was too young.”

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