This is 48

"Age before beauty" the saying goes - but why should one exclude the other?  Surely the two can co-exist? I recently came across Kristin Perer's beautiful and inspirational photographic blog called this is 50 which Perers started as a roadmap for turning 50 with style and grace, and here you will find both age and beauty in glorious abundance. These are women who are truly "bien dans leur peau" (comfortable in their own skin), following their own particular paths, career or otherwise, and their interviews make for uplifting reading. The photo montages sing with a wonderful zest for life and if Perers' aim is to make other women feel better about themselves through meeting these ladies, then she has certainly succeeded.

Photography: Kristin Perers

Photography: Kristin Perers

Photography: Kristin Perers

One of Perers' subjects is quoted saying "I am not just one picture" which I really like, and another has written an A-Z of what makes her life tick at 50 so I thought that as I celebrated my birthday yesterday I would share my version with you - thank you to Sian Tucker for the inspiration: this is 48

 A:  Adventure, Ageing, Amour, art
B:  Boys, Birth, Beach, blogging, BELONG, bed, Balance, blessed
C:  Cocktails, colour, cat, caring, candles
D:  DAN, discovery, dancing, daring, daughter
E:  Evolving, exploring, energy
F:  FAMILY, friends, fun, flowers, freedom, food, flexibility
G: Glitter, growing, garden, GRATEFUL
H: HAPPY, hugs, home, health
I:  Inspiration, ideas, idling, Instagram
J:  Joy, jeans, Romeo and "me"
K: Kisses, kisses, kisses
L:  LOVE, laughter, LUCKY, light
M: MOTHERHOOD, Mary Berry, macarons, mountains
N:  novels, nature, nurture, nourish
O:  Ottolenghi, optimism, older, outdoors
P:  photos, prayer, play, patience, pebbles, pockets
Q:  quiet...sshh...
R:  romance, renewal, reflection
S:  SISTER, sunshine, stars, smiles, soul, snoozing, singing - SONS
T:  Time, tomatoes, thanks
U:  upside down, ups and downs
V:  Vitality, (la dolce) vita
W: Wonder, WRINKLES, walks, waves, wisdom
X:  eXcitement, eXample
Y: Yoga (to keep me) young at heart, yes
Z:  zzzzz - sleep...

this is 48

Rockboy declared that 48 is "not that old",  so it's good not know I'm not over the hill just yet - phew! And as I always say, you're never too old for a sparkler:

In Praise of the Older Model

If your face is your fortune, then how do you cope as you get older?  Do you try and put time on hold, doing whatever it takes to hang on to the appearance of youth (and thus ironically often losing your looks) or do you embrace your advancing years and accept the changes that ageing inevitably brings? We are surrounded by the cult of youth, bombarded daily with images of bright young things and often made to feel that growing older is something for women to be ashamed of. Since when did 'ageing' become such a dirty word?

85 year old Daphne Selfe Photo: El Pais

I wrote a post last year in celebration of the stylish over 50's and I'm happy to say that these women - Tilda Swinton, Kristin Scott Thomas and Charlotte Rampling among them, are embracing the ageing process gracefully and stylishly and still looking like, well, themselves.

Kristin Scott Thomas Photo: Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

So I was delighted to read that 68 year old Rampling has been chosen to be the face of the new Nars campaign, launching in September to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the brand. La Legende (as she is known in France) will appear in a “black and white portrait style image” shot by founder and creative director François Nars.  “She is a natural beauty that feels strong, yet relatable,” he told WWD. Nars went on to say Rampling’s “strength of character” and artistic talents make her a perfect fit for the brand. “I remember Dirk Bogarde referencing Charlotte’s ‘fabled look’ because of the combination of her beauty and withering gaze,” he said. “This is what makes her an endlessly watchable mystery.”

Charlotte Rampling Photo: James Macauley for The Guardian

Rampling herself has said "I know the power of my look, of who I am." She remains for me the epitome of the stylish and supremely sexy older woman, so bravo François Nars.

Jessica Lange @MarcJacobsIntl

And then hot on the heels of this news comes the announcement that 64 year old Jessica Lange is to be the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty with a campaign shot by David Sims - good on her.  Catherine Deneuve (somewhat heavily airbrushed I wager), can currently be seen fronting Marc Jacob's last campaign for Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood is featuring 80's model and musician Leslie Winer (no Photoshopping for Dame Viv and Juergen) in her current 2013/14 ads, and Linda Rodin is modelling for J. Crew and Karen Walker Eyewear among others. As Anne Karpf asked in The Guardian last weekend - are the times really a changing and is the older model here to stay?

Catherine Deneuve Photo: Steven Meisel

Leslie Winer for Vivienne Westwood Photo: Juergen Teller

It would be nice to think the answer is yes and we will be seeing more of these beautiful older women in all their guises gracing the pages of magazines and advertising high end fashion and luxury brands that at the moment are the domain of the young, or George Clooney. This current wave of mature models is a very welcome one but in truth people are still scared of seeing age in all its glory, and so the advertisers pander to this fear, with only the individualists and innovators prepared to buck the trend.

Linda Rodin for J. Crew

Linda Rodin for Karen Walker Eyewear Photo: Ari Seth

Whilst English Gent is happily sliding into Silver Fox-dom and doesn't give ageing a second thought, I'm sure I spend way too much time wondering whether Co-Q10 supplements and the like are going to improve my wrinkles, but I am learning to love them, as they are a part of me.  I read a great quote from Penelope Cruz talking about her grandmothers and she said how much she loved their faces as "they had so much life, history and experience. Their faces were like beautiful poems." Seeing, showcasing and embracing that poetry is surely what beauty, at any age, is all about.

Age is just a number

Last weekend The Guardian published their 50 best dressed over 50 list and as Jess Cartner-Morley comments: "It's more interesting than your average best-dressed list, because style over 50 has a depth of character with which no youngster can compete, however good she may look in hotpants". Hear, hear.

With the world at large, and particularly the fashion world, obsessed with youth and hanging on to it, it is refreshing to celebrate people who are often erroneously considered 'past it', and whilst I'm not so sure that beauty does fade as Jess suggests, style certainly becomes more important. There's a real smorgasbord of style amongst the 50 over 50 - here are my favourite ladies from the list, in no particular order:
 

Photo: Ari Seth Cohen

Iris Apfel, 91: One of Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style favourites, Apfel recently said: "No amount of money can buy you style. If someone says, ‘Buy this – you’ll be stylish’, you won’t be stylish because you won’t be you. You have to learn who you are first and that’s painful… I don’t try to intellectualise about it because it tightens you up. I think you have to be loose as a goose.” I love that. Being Iris means owl-sized glasses, necklaces, bangles and bright colours that all add up to "Manhattan's coolest and oldest it-girl" - proof that age really is just a number.

Photo: Linda Nylind

Lucinda Chambers, 53: The fashion director of UK Vogue has that unique British ability to mix and match prints and fabrics and always look totally individual and true to herself. Her Vogue photoshoots are an extension of her style and self expression. Sheer class.

Photo: Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello

Charlotte Rampling, 67:  Here is a woman who holds no truck with ageing or with fashion and yet commands complete authority through the power of her image. She is the very epitome of the stylish and supremely sexy older woman. I am in complete awe of her.

Photo: Marco Grob for Time

Julianne Moore: 52: Moore keeps things simple and real. Hers is an unadorned beauty, and when she does glam up for an awards ceremony she usually blows away the competition. Definitely one of my major role models for ageing gracefully.

Photo: Rex

Mary Berry, 78: Homely and glamorous en même temps, Berry has become a national treasure thanks to "The Great British Bake Off" and something of a style icon with her colourful scarves, jackets, and perfectly coiffed hair. I would adopt her as my second Mum in an instant. This blue evening dress is a triumph and she knocks spots off many women half her age - way to go Mary.

Photo: Billy Farrell Agency/Rex Features

Tilda Swinton, 52:  Ah, Tilda, be still my beating heart. Here is a woman to confuse, subvert, upend and flount every fashion diktat you thought you knew, and still be breathtakingly stunning. She pushes the boundaries with her fashion choices, does androgyny like no-one else (but can also be amazingly feminine) and dances to her own tune in all aspects of her life. Respect.

Photo: Ben Quinton for The Guardian

Kirsty Wark, 58: One of the mainstays of BBC2's Newsnight for the past 20 years, Wark knows her Marni from her Dries van Noten and firmly believes that feminists can and should care about fashion. Here she is totally rocking this season's taffeta Dior skirt and top - a woman supremely confident with how she looks and how she is perceived. Brains and beauty, a winning combination.

Photo: Suki Dhanda

Kristin Scott Thomas, 52: The English think she is French, the French think she is English. Forever in our psyche as the haute English aristocrat, in real life she is more the classic, cool (albeit adopted) Parisienne, all trench coats and white shirts with a cool reserve, and that je ne sais quoi that just makes her all the more interesting. Femme fatale and English rose all rolled into one.

Photo: Getty

Diana Athill, 91: The last word has to go to the wonderful Athill who told The Guardian three years ago: “However old one is, one still feels inside like the person one used to be. It’s a foolish mistake to try too hard to look like that person, but it would be a bit sad to look very much like something else.”

That pretty much sums up perfectly how I would like to carry on ageing into my 50's and beyond.  Whilst you cannot keep your youth (and let's face it I don't want to revisit the 80's again, truly I don't), you can still be true to yourself at any age and all of the above women are setting a fine example of doing just that. Ladies, I salute you.