Grace Coddington is cool in her Calvins
— by Alyson Walsh
In the interest of balance, it only seems right that as well as featuring gorgeous grey-haired older models, That’s Not My Age includes women who prefer to carry on colouring. And I include myself in that category, despite on-going attempts to grow in the grey. The Calvin Klein fall 2016 campaign was released this week and 75-year-old Grace Coddington is one of the models. Known for her FABulous, flame-red hair, American Vogue’s creative director-at-large and former 1960s model appears pleased to be back on the other side of the camera:
“It felt really flattering to be asked, because I think that the campaign is full of very cool young people. They can’t think I’m young because I’m not, but I guess they think I’m cool because think the whole campaign seemed to be about being cool,” Coddington said. “From my perspective Calvin’s always been cool. I’ve always been a fan of the Calvin lifestyle.”
I think Coddington looks uber cool in her black CK trouser suit and comfy brogues.
Discussion (25 Comments)
- retrochicmama says:
Thank goodness! I’ve been feeling a bit foolish colouring my grey roots every 2 weeks. I just can’t let go of the feeling that grey hair is aging – Sorry I know that’s ageist but I really don’t want to go grey.
Thanks Grace & Alyson 😉 - bonnie says:
I love my grey/silver hair. I think I look much more radiant with my silver hair. It is really about what grey means. It can be dull and lifeless or a burst of white or silver or gorgeous grey. We each have to decide for ourselves what works.
- Stephanie says:
A lovely photograph of Grace. I must be a right ninny because I thought that hair was natural.
- charlotte bitoy says:
Hey nothing is more cooler than a COOL OLDER PERSON!
- Michelle says:
I bit the bullet about 2 years ago and decided to embrace the grey. I had a high-profile job at the time and heard unkind comments under breath (like ‘skunk head’ etc.) but it was worth it. I love the grey now! That’s not to say I don’t 100% support those of us who want to continue to color. The options we have now to be whomever we want and look however we want are just phenomenal. (P.S. One day soon, I’ll change my profile picture to reflect the new me.)
- Catherine says:
Alyson! You have no idea how much I am in love with Grace Coddington. She’s my ultimate girl crush. Her biography, “Grace: A Memoir” was one of my favorite books. She’s lived the life in magazines that I’ve always wanted but never had!
I also have a GREAT Grace story to share with you. I love her editorial visions so much because, in a way, the photographs remind me of my better half’s grandfather, Jacques Henri Lartigues photos. I wrote to her explaining this.
You have no idea how thrilled both me and my Frenchman were when she wrote back to me. The big surprise was that SHE was completely floored that I compared her editorials to JH’s photos. She COLLECTS Lartigue’s photos! Can you believe that?????
I thought my better half was going to faint when I showed him Coddington’s handwritten note. He was incredibly touched. And I was incredibly touched and impressed that she wrote back to me. She truly personifies the name Grace. I love her! I’m obsessed with her…what more can I say than thank you for writing about her! - Daisy Solomons says:
I have white hair, but have recently started dying it blue – a kind of denim colour – love it – lots of compliments. The best thing is if we all feel free to have whatever colour we want
- Zanna says:
I hope to see you in the N1 area Daisy!You will look so COOL .
- Daisy Solomons says:
Thanks Zanna – you can often spot me on the 43 bus between Angel and Holloway Rd!
- MaureenC says:
To dye or not to dye your hair, to wear or not to wear clothes that other people think are too “young” to shave/wax/epilate or not to shave……….?? The thing that is definitively uncool is to get in too much of a stew about such things and even worse to get sanctimonious with other women about their choices (not that anyone commenting today has done that). On the whole I like to think of myself as pretty stylish when I face the world with my slightly battered 57 year old body however when I’m at home on the sofa watching Midsomer Murders in my gardening leggings and tatty slippers one of my young adult children will usually say “the only reason all our friends think you look so cool is that they never see you like this!” It’s all relative.
- Penny says:
Isn’t Grace Coddington wonderful – another great role model to have now I’m in my 70s! Well, yes, I think it just doesn’t matter what you do with your hair – as long as it suits you, anything goes imho. Anyway, thought I’d share with you that I’m just about to have a conversation with my hairdresser (he’s totally OK and will be supportive whichever way I go) about maybe, just maybe, I might go white, as I can see that’s what I am at the front. And if I do I shall grow it long, down my back and have a Grace Coddington-type perm to get an afro frizz. Always good to have a plan and a project and a change in style, whatever your age, I think!
- Anna K says:
I love Grace and Iris Apfel and all the wonderful women who show individuality, verve and daring as they age. I’m glad they’re there to enliven life, but, like Olympic athletes or ballet dancers, they are way out of my league! I’m conservative (in dress, not politics) though, I hope, not dull. I like simplicity and quality and clothes that don’t wear me.
Hair: I’m not grey yet – still mid-brown at 73, but I recently tried a few highlights near my face which are quite flattering. My best friend is the most beautiful grey, and I envy her like mad. I think there’s nothing more stylish than a sleek silver head.
- Jane says:
God, she’s gorgeous. What an inspiration. My hair’s been silver since I was 43, almost 20 years now. I love it and so does my husband but this is totally personal. I love Grace’s mane of fabulous red hair. Vive la difference!
- Tove says:
Like Anna K I`m not yet grey at 68, and I honestly doubt I ever will. My hair is brownish, or what I call it on a gloomy day, mousy. That said, I`m fortunate to have a lot of it, thick and curly. I only recently came to terms with my curls and I`m now letting it grow long for the first time since I was a child. It`s a liberating project doing nothing to my hair but putting lightening highlights in it twice a year. It grows wild and I love it. Finally at home with my hair.
- Sue Burpee says:
Nothing gets us all going like the “grey hair or not” debate. Me… I played with the idea, and decided to NOT. For now. Love Catherine’s Grace Coddington story. I’ve been a fan of grace’s for years. Her editorials in Vogue are wonderfully creative. And I bought her memoir and enjoyed it. Love that Calvin Klein shot.
- Hilary says:
Yup. Age has nothing to do with how cool a person is and I’m glad this is a message getting through. At school I remember the cool girls (not me sadly) and I was thinking about this when I read an article about Miranda Sawyer’s book in the Observer a few of weeks ago who was opining on the onslaught of middle age which she didn’t entirely seem to be enjoying. I did wonder if this was the problem with being so ‘cool’ when she was young which has given her a lot to live up to. In contrast, having lived a sensible life, I love where I am and now do actually feel sort of cool now.
A tricky idea but what I’m trying to say is I think being cool is nothing to do with age, it’s where you are, what you do and your outlook on life. - Angela Rinaldi says:
Appreciate the convo re the hair, etc., however, I have seen better photos of Grace. Don’t think this masculine look is flattering or youthful.
- Elizabeth Arthur says:
I love Grace Coddington! Her flame red hair is fabulous – it is uniquely HER! Love this photo of her in this fabulous outfit, thank you.
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She’s one of my favorite icons, and I adore her look, her writings, and her philosophy. And the hair, you know I love that hair. xo
Patti
http://notdeadyetstyle.com