There is a certain je ne sais quoi about becoming an older woman. Our wishes include elegance and wisdom. The world presents aching joints and brain fog. We meant to wizen gracefully. Instead aging is inconvenient, unsure and nerve racking. Less Carmen Dell’Orefice and more wrinkled gargoyle.
Don’t know Carmen? Oh my dear. She is the longest working model in the world. At 95, the woman in breathtaking. No addition of “for 95.” She is beautiful for any age. She turned prematurely grey in her twenties and after a stint of coloring, said screw it and embraced the change.
While that will never happen in the the House of Duchess, a lifetime has been spent generally unafraid of aging, partly due to Carmen’s grace and sophistication. It isn’t just that she is so lovely. She has a sense of movement and poise, admirable at any age. You just know her table manners are exquisite.
With such storied success, I doubt she is all that bothered by the every day. She certainly has room for her joie de vie. Unlike the regular girls whose nails are unclogging garbage disposals; Women like her are gifted nails so they can scratch all the kittens they encounter, non?
But we’ve accepted, haven’t we, that we’re not getting 24-hour help for all the things, right? So, isn’t it possible that the key to woman of a certain age happiness is found in the attitude and not the wrinkles? Or at least the not focusing on them part?
Two things strike me–she’s not going lighter on the makeup so STFU. And she lines the undereye. Does it work on you? Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong. Stop listening to old lady rules made up by a twenty-something. Especially the two classics. Hair needs to be short and makeup need be sparse. More is more for a reason girlfriend.
As for Carmen? She offers advice for aging women. Basically do whatever you feel. Exercise–she walks and stretches, That’s it, even when she was younger. Eating? Whatever she wants including ice cream. Sex–again, when and if she feels like it. And skin care-moisturize. Finally, someone not telling women to turn themselves inside out to achieve a beauty standard. Create your own, Doll, and do that. Thank you Sweet Baby Jesus.
She says, “We have to program the mind of the public that age is not ugly. Age is just age.” She further stresses that elegance comes from attitude rather than appearance. On retirement, she quips, “I retire when I go to bed.”
In fairness to the rest of us, she does admit to a lift and tuck here and there, but at 95, let the girl have the face she’s got. You keep yours and I’ll keep mine, wrinkles and all. I promise to clap as you go by. You do the same.
