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Style at Fifty and the years beyond

— by Alyson Walsh

J Crew Lauren Hutton

Lauren Hutton

There are many ways to be FAB (Fifty and Beyond). Many style choices. Whether that’s letting grey hair show through or sticking with the colour that you’ve always loved (or, as in my case, experimenting with a bit of both), embracing wrinkles or having treatments to reduce the lines, baring arms or covering up, adopting a more relaxed way of dressing or going full-on Advanced Style. These are personal decisions, and the main conclusion I came to when writing Style Forever was that it’s important to wear what you feel happy in. Style is individual and ageless and confidence comes from doing your own thing and feeling comfortable with that.

Fifty and beyond Shot_03_Nayna_057

Hope Fashion’s Nayna McIntosh photo: Mark Harrison.

I was asked by the Daily Telegraph in Australia for a quote on ‘How to look fabulous at 50 and the years beyond,’ and this is what I said:

“Fifty isn’t old but the fashion industry sort of ignores you. It is changing now, but largely the photos in magazines are of young, thin people.

“But one of the things I think is important as we get older is to continue looking modern and this requires regular updates.

“Great style is also about confidence and not caring what others think.”

Read the full feature HERE.

Fabulous at 50 and beyondabb476cd4f

The Lauren Hutton photos are from a J.Crew ‘ Locals Only’ blog post, where she highlights her favourite New York spots. And just so you know, the  72-year-old is wearing: J.Crew’s washed cotton trench, classic merino cardigan sweater, striped t-shirt and matchstick jean in white.

On returning to modelling, Hutton says, “In my 40s, I realized I’d stopped looking at fashion magazines because no model shown in them was over 30 and most were way under. So I called up every editor I’d ever worked with and said, ‘Who is representing women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and on?’ I said, ‘You don’t have to use me, but it’s important you use someone my age.’ German Vogue called me first and J.Crew followed.”

We’ve moved on from there, these are FABulous times.

Having said that, That’s Not My Age is for everyone, all ages, and I will be including younger women. As ace makeup artist Kay Montano said when I interviewed her for Style Forever, ‘We have to be careful this doesn’t turn into a ghetto of naffness. We focus too much on the difference between people – black/white, old/young – when we should be looking at the similarities.’

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Grey hair, oh yeah

There are many ways to be FAB (Fifty and Beyond). Many style choices.