A recent survey out of the UK has everyone talking. “Women over 47 should not wear a bikini,” per the survey of over 2000 British women published in the Daily Mail last week. Never mind that I, myself have a few photo’s of myself posted recently in a bikini from spring break this year. If I had only known what a fois pas it was to be sporting a two-piece swimsuit, I would have grabbed my turtleneck.
Recently, Helen Mirren was photographed in a bikini looking pretty smashing and she was 63. I can only imagine how great Demi Moore might look in a tiny bikini this summer and she’s older than me. And the article didn’t stop at bikini’s. It listed very specific clothing items and maximum ages that should be considered when making that daily decision of what to wear. I was floored. Maybe you are, too. To add insult to injury, I see teen-aged girls wearing half-shirts with rather large tum, tums. So, is it really about age? And truly, is it really about judging others and what they turn out wearing? I may not agree with someone’s attire and the same may hold true when some see me in public, but I truly could care less if someone looks too fat, too old, too pale, too bony for whatever clothes they adorn. Shouldn’t we simply try our best to represent ourselves well and at our best as often as we can? That’s all I ever reminded my children to consider when going out in public. It works for me. But I would hate to offend the masses and it is important to consider local customs.
If that’s the case, I am now too old for sport sneakers, so I’ll keep flip-flops in my workout bag to change into when leaving the gym. I have just met the cutoff for Ugg boots- dammit, that was a wasted purchase this past winter. Knee high boots- that’s a kicker, I cannot stand being cold, so I own at least 20 pair and now I’m obviously disgusting and trying to act like my daughter. No more see-through chiffon blouses, oopsie. Leggings, I guess I had my chance in the 80’s. Now we move on to miniskirts, well how short are we talking? And it’s no longer acceptable to wear a classic ponytail and long hair after our fifties, so I’m guessing my double braids are completely so “helz no”, much less the bikini that is posted on my FaceBook….I’ve probably ruined my family’s reputation and embarrassed future generations. This will be my legacy. Kid’s, she was a crazy rebel, that great-grandmother of yours. I may have embarrassed my mother when she had a dear, longtime friend meet us at her home on the beach.
I didn’t realize I was possibly offending not only my mom, but also her visiting friend as we lay on the beach soaking up the sun while I donned my grey bikini. Oh, the shame. Hey! Wait a minute. Those two women my senior, were wearing bathing suits! They are both over 61. I didn’t realize I, should have been the one outraged that they were wearing bathing suits at all!
Crazy, right? I think these rules are not mine and the Brits can keep them. Anyone have an opinion, the list is posted below. Let me know.
On The Way To Happy 
You are absolutely correct. We should try to represent ourselves as well as we can. We can all look in a mirror to see if we look nice, so it shouldn’t be about silly “rules” connected to age, evryone ages differently.
I am guilty.
I was by myself shopping the sale rack. I tried on a dress when I realized that, though it was a pretty dress on the hanger, it was just “off” a bit on me. I was having trouble defining what was off about it… I turned this way, then that way…
the sales girl came by and looked at me a bit quizzically. I bit my lip, looked her in the eye, and said: something is off with this picture isn’t it?
The dress was frilly in a way that I remember feeling. But when I put it on I didn’t feel frilly at all. I felt… hmmmm… I wasn’t quite sure, but I suspected. So, I said to her, “am I just a bit too “old” for this dress?”
I was sort of mortified that I was even thinking such a thing. She smiled at me with relief in her face. I imagined that this must be what a Mom feels like when a daughter gives her age related input.
“Maybe just a little,” she said.
“…a little,” I was glad for the gentleness.
On second thought maybe a daughter would say:
STAY OUT OF MY CLOSET!!! YOU LOOK LIKE AN OLD WOMAN IN CHILDREN’S CLOTHES AND YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME.”
I agree with you that the rules are often absurdly restrictive to what freedom ought to be. After all, I have always had things in my closet that one person or another thinks is “too” something.
Maybe this survey is for women like me, who have no children to check them.
Taste is, well, a matter of taste!
Power on Happy. Thanks for bringing us about for the journey!