Talking fashion and ageing

Check out the midlife crisis jacket in action. For my early, big birthday gift, I opted for timeless style over a commemorative watch  - which was starting to feel a bit too much like a retirement gift - and the biker jacket was the people's choice, after all. Thank you. That's me at the Mirror Mirror conference with Ari from Advanced Style, last week. Discussing blogging, the visibility of women beyond a certain age, inspiring role models, the media/fashion industry's obsession with youth and so on. There's been a real buzz around this topic recently, and I'm hoping this means that the fashion world is finally starting to take notice of this important demographic. The Guardian published an interesting article asking 'has fashion really changed for women over 60?' based on a study by academic Julia Twigg. Not sure whether Vogue editor Alex Shulman has been taken out of context but she certainly doesn't have anything positive to say about her soon-to-be contemporaries:

"I don't think people do really want to look at older women as … exemplars of fashion and beauty." Why? Because they would look not only "slightly ridiculous" but "absolutely hideous".

Ouch. Over at High 50, a feature on midlife bloggers had more of a celebratory tone. Ari and I both agreed that we prefer to view this phenomenon not as a trend, but as a more of a long-term cultural shift or movement.

Even though I've done a fair amount of public speaking in my time, I'm not a huge fan, and was unbelievably nervous beforehand. There's a difference between talking to students and standing up in in front of peers, academics and fellow bloggers - the thought of which I found incredibly daunting. Poor Mr TNMA in the audience felt sick with nerves, too. Anyhow. A few reassuring words from Ari prior to the talk and I felt much, much calmer. Even better after we'd done a set of gentle stretching exercises with Daphne Selfe, and the audience, in what felt like the best warm-up ever.

The highlight of my evening was a fabulous Sue Kreitzman makeover. Decked out in one of Sue's beautiful Lauren Shanley coats, armfuls of rubbery bangles and an amazing necklace made from huge decorative combs, I felt like a rock star. Sue is a fantastic, inspirational woman who believes, 'Beige will kill you,' and so I was delighted to be turned into a work of art. The coat of many colours was so beautiful, I didn't want to take it off:

Then, in spite of a technical hitch, Ari showed a clip from his upcoming documentary which will be doing the rounds at film festivals soon and is incredibly moving and lovely. There's no doubting the impact Advanced Style has had on the media and people's perception of ageing, and I felt incredibly honoured to be sharing a stage with Ari. Once the nerves had subsided, it was such a joy to be able to discuss a subject I feel so strongly about, in a roomful of people who feel the same, and to meet a bunch of brilliant like-minded women afterwards. As someone commented, ' The energy in the room was palpable.'

The following day, I caught the Fabulous Fashionitas in conversation with academic Amber Butchart but I'm going to save that for another blog post. These women are excellent role models for myself and for much younger women too. In an image-obsessed world, where we're constantly bombarded with age-defying celebrities, they are cutting a path that is inspiring and interesting; growing old with dignity, style and joie de vivre in spades. As Sue Kreitzman wisely says:

' Don't be afraid of ageing, I've never had so much fun in my life.'