Alternative Ageing, and I don’t mean Holistic.
This blog entry is specifically written for those women who were considered, “alternative” in their youth. We’re talking about “New Wavers,” “Progressives,” “Punk Rockers,” “Goths,” and “Mods”.
Once upon a time you had pink, or green, or blue hair. You sat around at the mall and dared people to stare at you just so that you could ask them what they were looking at. You expressed your angst-ridden emotions externally, and with the added bonus of making your parents embarrassed to take you to the grocery store.
Maybe as you got older you toned down the pink hair, but then it just became a matter of, not brunette, but BLACK. Not Red, but HYPER-RED, and not Blonde, but PLATINUM. You toned down your make up, but perhaps played up the garish colors in your wardrobe, or wore really crazy shoes.
Then one day you turned 35.
It’s tough when you’ve spent your life standing out to now realize you can’t really do this or that; well you can, but you’ll look ridiculous. You’ve unknowingly conditioned yourself to want to express your individuality externally and after a certain age, you just end up looking like a clown. And besides if you’re stuck in another time that’s not really originality; you might as well be wearing Mom jeans, or Member’s Only Jacket.
The only two women that can pull it off are Vivienne Westwood and Betsey Johnson, and even then…
So what do you do now? How do you grow older gracefully, but still maintain your creative individuality? Asking myself this question has caused me to develop a set of guidelines for ageing alternatively with grace.
If you want to have an alternative, meaning alternative to a color that occurs in nature, hair color, you must downplay the colors of your make-up and clothes, but you can play a bit with the shoes. I call this the Top and Bottom Effect; and no, it’s not a gay thing. Flair only at the top and bottom, everything in-between has to show great forethought and restraint.
In contrast, if you want to wear vibrantly colored clothing, your hair and shoes must be downplayed. * Note: You can have any kind of crazy haircut, and any kind of crazy shoe, but the colors must be a neutral.
If you are a jewelry-hound like I am, there are some things that need to be considered. If you like big chunks of silver or gold, these are considered neutrals and can be adorned freely with little-to-no concern for the hair, clothes, OR shoes. But if you like major sparkles, and/or major color, much needs to be considered. If you go with what I like to call the “Canvass Rule,” you should always come out a winner.
The Canvass Rule applies to only the colors, black, white, grays, and creams. Any of those colors are considered a blank canvass and can be enhanced with either big bold colors, or big bold sparkles. In fact, really any color, in its darkest form can pretty much be included in the Canvass Rule. Dark greens, blues, deep reds, browns, etc. Just make sure that the bold colors and sparkles are Complementary Colors to the canvass. If you don’t know what Complementary Colors are, you should read up, it would help you in life; whether decorating your body, or your house.
Pick a style ikon that you admire and do your best to emulate them. Call it your Spirit Avatar – mine is currently Julianne Moore. She is soft and beautiful, and always impeccably dressed, AND always with a hint of edge, whether it’s a jacket or a bracelet.
One last tip and it is about maintenance. At some point you’re going to need to take a portion of your fashion budget and earmark it for Beauty Maintenance. Whether it is facials, expensive creams and lotions, laser treatments, or Botox, you need to budget for this. I have yet to graduate to the Botox, but I feel it coming soon, maybe, but I’m a chicken so we’ll see. So, you have to buy fewer shoes, which is really okay with you because also, as you get older, you have less tolerance for shoes that only “look” pretty, but feel like medieval torture devices.
I believe this covers the basics of how to make a statement of personal creative individuality, and still look elegant, alluring, and age-appropriate.
That being said, I know that getting older bites the big one, but at least as our exteriors shift, and change, and become seemingly out of control, inside we feel more settled, stable, and content.
I THINK STUFF 