With a smooth face, toned frame and sleek wardrobe, Victoria Beckham has escaped attempts to be labelled Old Spice as she turns 50 this week. Instead, the one-time Posh Spice is now a member of fashion’s Ageless-Looking Women Club.
Members include supermodel Christy Turlington, 55, ethereal on the runway for Pucci this month; Shalom Harlow, 50, and Amber Valetta, 50, in the latest campaign for the relaunch of Donna Karan; and fellow designers Tory Burch, 57, and Stella McCartney, 52.
Pop star turned designer Victoria Beckham celebrates her 50th birthday on April 17.Credit: Getty
“Fifty is hot,” says Australian model Abigail O’Neill, 49, who is part of the smooth-skinned silver tide of mature talent rising to the front of the fashion industry.
“It’s down to earth, relatable yet inspirational. There are superpowers I’m tapping into at this age that weren’t as prominent in the earlier decades of my life.
“Expectations certainly have changed, but to be honest, I feel there could be even more pressure to continue to be it all, do it all and look even more perfect as we do it.”
Like an unwanted accessory, anxiety accompanies the increasing visibility of older women in fashion that followed Meryl Streep, who in 2011, at 62 years old, became the oldest woman to appear on the cover of US Vogue, and author Joan Didion modelling for Celine in 2015 when she was 80 years old.
From left: Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista at the Vogue World show in London, September 14 last year.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s a powerful message when beautiful women like Andie MacDowell come out and let their hair go silver, and abandon any dissonance to say, ‘This is how I look,’” says health sociologist Dr Annie Ring, author of Engaging with Ageing: What matters as we grow older.
“I find it objectionable when older women are made to look ageless in advertisements and magazines. That’s unrealistic. There’s nothing wrong with ageing.”
Many women agree. The September edition of Vogue, which featured supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Turlington, attracted criticism for airbrushing.
“They seem more like AI-generated bots than actual people,” Vanessa Friedman wrote in The New York Times.
“When these images are used to sell products claiming to make you look 10 years younger, it’s worse. Let’s keep looking forwards, not backwards. There are real pressures for women to look younger in industries with age discrimination, but we need to celebrate older women beyond fashion images.”
For former Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements, frustration emerges when you look away from advertisements or images of ageless older women in fashion and try to buy clothes.
“These images are not reflective of most women,” says Clements. “We don’t need to see older women in amazing clothes. We need to see these clothes on the racks.
“There’s no point in having Joan Didion appear in advertisements for Celine if you can’t wear the clothes. Try to find something off the rack that’s not for a tall, willowy woman, and you’re struggling. It’s too dowdy or too cheap. Wearing cheap clothing becomes more difficult as you get older.”
Australian label Jac + Jack has kept women in Beckham’s age bracket front of mind – and store – since launching 20 years ago.
“If you’re limiting yourself to a young customer, you’re missing out,” says the label’s co-founder Lisa Dempsey. They will eventually get older and you will lose them. Or you will exhaust yourself by constantly changing.
“Creating ageless pieces has been a part of our DNA since we started. Rather than wondering whether a 50-year-old-woman will wear something, we create something for everyone. Clothes shouldn’t be limited by age. It’s all in the spirit.”
For model O’Neill, who has elevated the runway experience at Australian Fashion Week since she returned to professional modelling two years ago, spirit is key.
“We are on a fashionably refreshing trajectory,” she says. “I just wore a couture swimsuit in the Australian Fashion Week Next Gen campaign and feel very blessed right now. I think it’s cool for young girls and women to see an image like that and think, wow, I have an amazing life ahead of me.”
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