Alyson Walsh of That’s Not My Age has been documenting her process of transitioning to grey hair for a while now. I particularly liked what she said in her latest blog post on the subject:
“Part of the fear of going grey when you’re over-50, is that the change (of hair colour) will make you look older. I know I look my age and I’m happy with that. With age, comes self-acceptance and increased confidence. Admittedly, there are times when my hair is tied back and I catch my make-up-less-self in the mirror and get a bit of a shock. But I can always usher in the blusher. The reality of this grey-naissance is that I don’t feel older. I feel authentic. I feel better.”
Emma Beddington, who has alopecia universalis (an auto-immune condition where the body views hair as an intruder), switched out her usual auburn wig for a silver grey one, and found that going grey stirred up unexpected emotions:
“I thought this grey business would be a lark, but it wasn’t, actually. It poked at spots I didn’t know were tender and awoke a desire to look nice I had long squashed down. I was sceptical of the much-documented drama of hair ‘transition’ I explored online, silently judging the ‘brave’ and ‘not for the faint-hearted’ narrative grey positivity seems to inspire. This week has taught me I was wrong. Confronting the reality of a physical self you hide or ignore is big stuff, it transpires, and oddly exposing. Theresa has forced me to accept that I am not just a disembodied brain in a padded gilet. But now what? Grey is anything but giving up: it’s hopeful but it’s also challenging.”
Fab Links from Our Members
Robin Givhan’s point about the perjorative use of ‘old lady’ to describe unflattering clothes completely resonated with Shevia: “Indeed, for each silver-haired model with sharp cheekbones and a long, lean body that designers put on the runway or venerate in an advertising campaign or on the red carpet, they articulate countless cautions against ‘old lady’ style, or ensembles looking too ‘mother-of-the-bride’ or ‘mumsy’ — all of which land like a thousand paper cuts.”
UmmLila wanted to share this article about public figures receiving advice on how to be appropriately dressed for the occasions they appear at.
Runcarla thinks it’s pretty cool when celebrities ‘thrift’, and particularly interesting that vintage maternity wear from the late ’50s and ’60s seems apropos.
Following our recent conversation about leggings, kkards thinks Vanessa Friedman has done a great job of laying out the leggings debate as a generation shift. This paragraph in particular spoke to her: “The truth is, it’s possible leggings may be simply standing in for those other issues. One of the great gotchas of fashion is that what may appear superficial or unimportant (leggings!) is, in fact, representative of a more complicated, harder to express reality (identity). This is what gives clothes their power.”
Thinking about identity, Vildy enjoyed this article on leather jackets for guys who aren’t sure about leather jackets.
Recently unfrumped has been feeling inspired by Jamie-Lee of Mademoiselle and Alyssa Beltempo of msbeltempo: “Both actually for buying less. I am continuing my very slow wardrobe editing and I need repeated reminders for focus and versatility (non- imaginary). Most of it relates to my work wardrobe because that gets over expanded as I feel ‘justified’, but in general having things that aren’t getting enough wear for the space they occupy.”
