To think Catherine Zeta-Jones is an inspiration!

[Parisa5]

I was in the hairdressers yesterday and so provided with the obligatory copy of “Hello” magazine. Anyway, in it was CZJ and I just thought she looks fantastic. I’m 45 now, so the 50s are looming and I love seeing a woman like that who is 50, but more stunning than ever. I also think the same about Amanda Holden who I’ve met a few times and she’s another one who has improved with age. I know AH is not popular on MN, but why not? AIBU to think these two defy the myth that women should just let it all go as they get older?

An inspriation for geting filler and face lifts? no thanks i prefer people like helen mirren and judi dench

I see what the OP means, I'm 49 and while I want to move in to my 50s prioritising health over being attractive (because what choice is there) and feeling ok, it is still a transition! It feels like a transition, because it is one.

Something Jennifer Aniston said struck a chord with me recently. She said for the first time she is not going over the past, not overthinking the future. She's just content in the moment. That's what I'm aiming for as an older woman. Not going to be successful all of the time but hopefully some of it.

It's all very well to be content in your looks as an older woman, but there is a reduced ''social capital'' that goes with that ageing process, this can lead to being ignored and invisible. It's harder to be in the thick of things. I don't need young men to find me attractive, but I don't want to be forgotten or dismissed.

I can strive to control my own sense of my self but I can't make other people notice me, includ me and consider me relevant. So, I thinstill k it's necessary to remain ''visible'' as you age, not so that men will shag you but so that you're included in the/a group and heard and considered.

This is human nature. We can't ''hack'' the need to belong to a tribe and the need to connetc.

I don't need young men to find me attractive, but I don't want to be forgotten or dismissed.

I would agree with you there, Cambon

(Mind you - all CZJ's incredible beauty got her was a mummified old man . . . he looks like a stood-up corpse on most of their photos. I'd rather be forgotten/ dismissed.)

I thought CZJ and Her husband had split up? I can’t stand Amanda Holden. My son has met her and thought she was rude and arrogant.

The thing for me is CZJ hit the jackpot genetically looks-wise and is in the fortunate position to have enough money to maintain those looks with surgery, procedures and beautiful clothes. She may well have a chef and personal trainer.

I wouldn’t mind having Botox, subtle fillers etc and being able to afford beautiful clothes etc but there’s no way I can or will ever be, able to afford these things. My genes dictate that I look like a small hobbit so don’t have a great base to work with. So no, having loads of dosh and being naturally beautiful doesn’t inspire me or give me hope that now I’m 58 a can still look fabulous, because that’s just not true. I dress my best, cut and style my measly thin hair as nicely as it’s possible, wear flattering make-up, eat well etc, but CJZs pics are unlikely to make me feel better about my ageing self.

I think CZJ looks older rather than younger. I think Julia Roberts, Winona Ryder, HBC, all look amazing. And yes Christy Turlington is gorgeous!

Can we STOP with the "Helen Mirren is a naturally ageing beauty", it's as tiresome as "Marilyn Monroe was a size 16". Watch the boxset of Prime Suspect. She looks younger at 62 than she did at 47 and her jowls are up at her eyebrows by now! Now I like HM but come on.

Each to their own but I don't think injecting botulism into your face is inspiring and I'm sad that this is considered an odd cranky opinion in 2019.

She had clearly has had loads of work done in an effort to make herself look younger, so no wonder she looks youngish. How is that an inspiration.

She has access to the most well cut expensive clothes, expensive make up artists and hairdressers. Frankly it would be very surprising if she didn't look well turned out.

And what the hell, is this myth that at 50 women 'let it all go', I've never heard that.

I'm 20 years older than her, I haven't even begun to think I should 'let it all go' whatever that mean.

PigsDOfly, if you are still talking about Cstherine Zeta Zones I don't think she has had any work on her face. She's also not that old, I certainly looked good at 50 and in my early fifties, why shouldn't she? Of course she looks older than she did twenty odd years ago, it would be unnatural if she didn't but she looks lovely right now. Good for her!

As for Amanda Holden, she is very pretty but she's only 48 so why shouldn't she be.

What is 'inspirational' about a woman of small talent who has traded on her looks and married a hugely successful Hollywood actor/producer?

CZJ has had shedloads of cosmetic surgery and other procedures but, if anything, she looks older than her years and has ruined what natural beauty she had in the process.

I find women like Michelle Obama inspirational and a woman called Alice Leahy who founded Trust in Dublin a befriending social and health sevice for homeless people.
Catherine Zita Jones and Amanda Holden look amazing for their age. Aspirational perhaps for some people but not for me.

unfortunate notion that women are “past it” by a certain age. So when you see women such as CZJ looking as she does, it kind of defies that notion But she doesn’t defy that notion because it’s done with surgery, Botox, etc. If you are looking for an ‘inspirational’ woman, based solely on appearance, then at least choose someone who’s worked hard through exercise and healthy living, rather than chemical and surgical help. That being said, I think I’d look to someone who has actually done something more challenging and useful than looking pretty, ffs.

What are they inspiring you to do?

The greatest inspiration for a woman, to extend the years she is sexually appealing to men. FFS

@LionelRitchieStoleMyNotebook 😁 They're not inspiring me to do anything. It's CZJ's job to look good and hit the genetic jackpot and had a headstart with that. She then married into a very rich family and has a whole team of people to facilitate her life and looks. OP, what have either of them done to make society better?

I'm lucky enough to know some more mature ladies who still have plenty of 'social capital' and it isnt anything to do with botox. I'm not sure what they have but i think confidence and their own unique sense of style helps.

I really hate the celebrity culture to cut and paste oneself endlessly in the pursuit of youth. Beauty is about far more than plump cheeks and a taut body. Look at Madonna, she looks like a freak in my opinion and I don’t think she’s a very nice person. Her whole life has been about her image. That must be such a burden really.
I wish older women were celebrated for their wisdom not how taut their faces are. Our values are all wrong.
I don’t think that pouty, frozen, injected face look is even remotely attractive. Nicole Kidman though she looks great for her age has lost her natural beauty I think through far too much Botox and ‘work’.

How is a Catherine Zeta Jones an inspiration just for being beautiful and looking good for her age? Serious question. I thought that being an inspiration involved DOING something. Something admirable. Something, oh let me see, inspiring. Maybe she actually has, but a two dimensional image of her posing in a shiny frock isn't representative of this.

And if I wanted to be inspired, I'd pick something a bit more doable. I will NEVER look like her, so using her as my inspiration would just be bloody depressing.

Czj actually reminds me a lot of Victoria Beckham they both seem to have a similar look and I wonder if they see the same person for whatever they have done as it look similar

What I found rather inspiring was the trailer for the new Terminator film - bear with me - my first thought was, blimey Linda Hamilton looks old. Then I thought, well of course she bloody does, the first film was made in 1984! And then I thought, what a refreshing change to see a woman in a film who actually looks like she has aged, and aged naturally. I wish we could see more of this.

Schadenfreude "stood up corpse" possibly not a look HE was aspiring too

Schadenfreude "stood up corpse" possibly not a look HE was aspiring too and CZJ's face looks totally weird/odd/frozen and hugely different from her natural self... not in an older way - just in a not-her-anymore way..

Agree about the genetic jackpot. I always think welsh women are generally more conventionally beautiful than us english types. Maybe something in the water?!

Naah. Yabvu.

I’m more beautiful than czj is or ever was

Sorry I think I’ve had something like flu so just catching up.

There are a multitude of ways people can be inspiring. If someone shaves a hundredth of a second off their best time in the 200m, this may be inspiring to some people. Yet nobody says, “We’ll no, you can’t be inspired by that, sorry - because she hasn’t solved world poverty - what good is she actually DOING for anyone else - and she’s got all the best genes / coaches / facilities so what do you expect and anyway, she is setting unrealistic standards and they all take performance enhancing drugs. I prefer REAL people I do .,., and so on”

I do think Lady Hale is a massive inspiration - absolutely! Brilliant woman and what a role model.

But I don’t see how she or other “inspirational” women is relevant to CZJ really. It’s like comparing apples with pears. Pointless.

It’s a bit sad really how the whole thread has been people getting in their high horses about Botox. IMO, such treatments are like anything else - used in moderation it’s absolutely fine. There is no need to go OTT and few people do. I don’t think CZJ looks fake at all - just the best version of herself at this time. It’s like anything else - eg if you take diets or exercise to the extreme it becomes damaging. But that doesn’t mean they are damaging in moderation.

Whatever people say, I think approaching / turning 50 is a tricky one for women. Of course it’s not all about how you look . It’s obviously about how you feel; mental physical health; personal fulfilment; relationships and all sorts of factors. But, for me, seeing CZJ looking better at 50 (in my opinion) than when she was younger, just made me feel more positive. It doesn’t mean I don’t think other things are more important. It has no bearing in anything else.