Jules, I’ve seen the “crone” archetype a lot lately, and also the “grandma” thing. I’m just…not there and maybe never will be, in terms of embracing that kind of identity. Maybe this is my own personal bias, but I kind of resent being identified in terms of my apparent age, and certainly not as a grandma (I’m not one and never will be one) or a crone (I know the term originally meant an ugly or mean old woman but there has been a rebranding effort to own the word and turn it’s meaning more into one of wisdom and spirit).
This is not about appearance or style, but when I think about getting old, the two main images that pop into my mind are both photographers. One was a man I studied with for a week in NYC — he was 80 at the time and is still doing his thing 14 years later. He walked around NYC, where he has lived his whole life, with a camera, looking at the world with the wonder of a child. He never lost that sense of fascination and awe with the sights of every day. I aspire to that.
The other that comes to mind is also from over 15 years ago. I was traveling in the desert in California, and on the side of the highway was an older woman who was standing on a stepladder in the field taking photos of an abandoned shack. I stopped too, and we chatted a bit. She was 82 and told me she does the same thing I do — takes solo road trips to photograph places all around the country. I told her, I want to still be doing that when I’m 82 as well! I think I was 40ish at the time, and I still feel that way, maybe even more so now.
So… yeah, this is long winded and tangential, but I feel style is this way too. I don’t see radically changing my style as I get older because I don’t see changing myself as I get older. I want to stay engaged and curious and active as long as I can, and I want my style to support that. I know that things look different on an older body and face, and that’s ok. I’m trying to adjust to that reality.