Generally I love the recent trend in refuting the tired old trope around women, ageing, and style and enjoy seeing online and in real-life women who are wearing/doing/living exactly how they want. The Shift podcast is my absolute fave.
But, and I'm aware this might be just me, I do get a little weary of it in a way that's hard to describe. I recently read Anna Murphy's book 'Destination Fabulous' and while I really loved the chapter on work, the preceding ones about style and clothes annoyed me no end as she just kept going on about 'youthfulness'.
I appreciate no one is making me feel this way, it's all down to my own perceptions but sometimes it's hard to resist the unspoken but nevertheless existing pressure to smash ageing in a way that I currently find exhausting. Am I alone in this? I might be! I currently feel exhausted by EVERYTHING. Life, sandwiched between two quite demanding generations plus dealing with my own stuff, is so tiring.
I was on Jo Whiley's insta recently and I could not believe how good she looked. She's 59! She looks amazing and stylish in a way women never used to. I watched the first series of Gavin and Stacey and Pamela is supposed to be 54. She looked older in a totally different way to Jo. That was made in 2007, and so much has obviously changed in 17 years.
Then my 79-year-old neighbour and I were discussing her hair other day. She looked at my salt and pepper hair and told me she is growing out her grey but because she hates salt and pepper hair is dyeing it pink until all the old dye has grown out.
My hair is, probably, awful. It's still quite brown in the front but quite grey at the back. I say grey but it's a weird sort of washed out light colour that doesn't appear to be silver or grey. As well as thinking how rude my neighbour was I also thought of older ladies of my youth who were just old without any (to me at least) pressure to look anything other than what they were.
I am on HRT but not really looking after myself as well as I might which could be contributing to my oh-so-weary feelings.
Are you loving this new way of being a stylish older woman or do you hanker (a bit) for the time when women could just age in a more comfortable, or less exhausting way? I think I just feel that as menopause is (quite rightly) a hot topic these days so the spotlight has also moved to menopausal women in a way that men always seem to evade. No one ever comments on my husband's bald head or grey beard!