I’m over 50 & so glad Amanda Holden & Davina McCall have shunted the dead-eyed Tiktok teen models out of the way
MOVE over, 20-something Love Islanders and TikTok influencer wannabes.
When it comes to ruling retail, we over-50s are in serious danger of stealing your thunder.
Walk down any high street this week and you’re likely to find Naomi Campbell, 53, staring down at you from a Pretty Little Thing billboard.
Turn the corner and don’t be surprised if you see Davina McCall, 55, in her latest JD Williams ad.
At the bus stop?
Perhaps you’ll spot Amanda Holden, 52, looking luscious in her new Lipsy ads.
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If, like me, you’re over 50, it’s strangely heartwarming to see these fabulous women of a certain age showing the Molly-Mae Hagues of this world how it’s done.
But, oh, do we have a lot of catching up to do.
According to some seriously depressing stats, women over 50 appear in less than two per cent of all advertising.
Yet we control nearly 70 per cent of all UK household wealth.
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Ooze aspiration
You don’t have to be a Carol Vorderman maths whizz to realise what a truly bonkers situation this is.
Thankfully, change is, gradually, happening.
Cash-hungry brands are beginning to realise that, when it comes to spending power, women over 50 are something of a goldmine.
But getting us to prise open our purses is no mean feat and, inexplicably, it’s taken retailers until now to twig that we want to see women our own age in their ads.
Enter Davina and Amanda.
Both in the unapologetically ageist and cut-throat world of showbiz, they are currently leading the charge in redefining what it means to be over 50.
Still at the top of their game career-wise, keep-fit queen Davina’s effervescent energy and Amanda’s unique brand of high-octane glamour ooze aspiration.
Whenever we see them, we’re left thinking (When Harry Met Sally-style): “I’ll have what she’s having!”
Thanks to them, and a handful of others, after years in the wilderness, 50-plus women are finally having a moment.
The cover of the September issue of British Vogue featured Naomi, Cindy Crawford, 57, Linda Evangelista, 58, and Christy Turlington, 54.
OK, the shots were heavily airbrushed, but there was no denying these women still have it in spades — as we’ll see when the Apple TV+ documentary, The Super Models, drops on Wednesday.
I have just turned 52 and seeing women my own age on Instagram, in ad campaigns, featured in magazines and on the telly has really given me the kick up the bum I needed to focus on myself and how I look.
Now that my kids are a bit more grown up, I’m finding more and more that this is “my time”.
Only eight years ago, when I started doing Instagram, I remember feeling pretty much invisible in the fashion and media landscape, but all that has changed now.
Feeling “seen” again was really important to me, and with 13million women aged 50-plus in the UK, it is a no-brainer to me that big brands are focusing on us.
The only question is: What’s taken them so bloody long?
If I’m going to spend my hard-earned cash with a brand, then of course I want to see myself represented.
Heck, I want to feel loved by that brand.
Once you turn 50, something shifts. I found my inner “fierce” when I hit the big 5-0.
My need to stay relevant, live my best life and continue to provide for my family made me up my game in pretty much every area of my life, from work and social media to health and fitness.
I want to see wise, wonderful women my own age — and older — lighting up billboards and advertising products that are aimed at me, not some teenager in a bum-skimming bodycon dress who doesn’t know what a wrinkle looks like.
So seeing Davina in the fabulous JD Williams three-piece suit that she wears on her new ITV show My Mum, Your Dad, or Amanda rocking a classic co-ord while launching her new Lipsy collection gives me a genuine boost.
And the 50-plus takeover doesn’t stop there.
Zara’s new collection with acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel, 69, features supermodel Linda Evangelista in an oversized leather shirt, over-the-knee boots and a deerstalker faux-fur hat alongside a list of other top names.
Her fellow Nineties catwalk queen Helena Christensen, 54, has shot an autumn/winter collaboration with Gap — and it’s right up my (high) street.
Christensen describes her style as “colourful, cosy and confident” and the collection is just that.
It’s what every over-50s woman wants and needs — just simple, timeless pieces that won’t date, including a classic trench, oversized blazer, baggy jeans and a cool white tee. At last!
Cool French model Ines de La Fressange, 66, works with one of my favourite brands, Uniqlo, every season.
Chic shrunken blazers, knitted tanks, beautifully cut trousers and cool printed dresses all feature.
Nothing is taboo now
It’s affordable and wearable and I normally want to wear every piece in the collection.
Nothing is taboo for the over-50s now.
Marks & Spencer shot a glorious lingerie campaign this year that celebrated all types of bodies, including the over-50s.
Nicola Griffin, 63, one of my favourite silver-haired models, starred in Sports Illustrated swimwear campaign at the age of 56 — and she looked sensational in her bra and pants.
M&S also works with one of my favourite fashion influencers — @venswifestyle — aka 58-year-old Renia Jaz, who makes a real statement in catwalk creations on her Instagram as well as showing you how to style great high street buys.
Of course, not everyone is getting it right.
For example, I am wondering why a lot of online fast-fashion brands are embracing the over-50s woman, but then designing clothes that only look good on teenagers.
This summer there was huge fanfare when Pretty Little Thing announced their collab with Naomi Campbell, in what has been described as a “big-money deal”.
All I can say is, it must include quite a lot of zeros.
While the collection has a lovely white two-piece suit and a great tuxedo jumpsuit, 95 per cent of it is all bodycon dresses and see-through tops that would look way better on my 19-year-old daughter than me.
Elle Macpherson, 59, has a collection for Karen Millen that is a little more grown-up, but you would have to have the body of an Eighties supermodel to wear it.
I don’t have many mates my age who want to go out in a white, spray-on mini-dress that barely covers their nether regions.
Luckily, there is a lovely red long-sleeved wrap dress in the collection that would go down well with most of them.
I suppose what I am looking for is that fashion “sweet spot”.
I want to see women my age in clothes that I would feel comfortable wearing — and if they look chic and expensive, while still being affordable, even better.
My favourite collaboration so far this year has been with Sylvia Ezer and White Stuff.
The 88-year-old former drama teacher was scouted while shopping in the White Stuff store in Muswell Hill, North London and now stars in its autumn/winter campaign - which has been a sensation on social media — because she looks super-comfortable in both her own skin, as well as in the clothes.
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As an over-50s woman, I can relate to that a lot more than to a supermodel wearing a see-through top.
So while I don’t dress like my nan did when she was my age, I don’t want to dress like my daughter, either.
