The pursuit of individual and personal style becomes so much more important as you get older. When I look at my clothes at home, I don’t think my style has changed very much since my early 30s. That was when I settled on something. And if I could be 38 again, I don’t think I would dress any differently than I do now, at 50.
That said, some elements of the way I dress have been constant since I was a teenager, when I became obsessed with a Bruce Weber Vogue shoot based on Edward Weston and his women. I remember taking the magazine into Exeter to get my hair cut like the picture, then buying a fisherman’s jumper in a sailing shop. I bought a grey pencil skirt, dug out my school shoes and ankle socks, got my dad’s overcoat and got the look. I still dress like those pictures in a way.
There’s an abiding perception that the high street doesn’t serve older women very well, but in my view it’s better than it has ever been. The choice is huge – whether that’s Topshop, Uniqlo or Cos. It’s not one stop that gives you everything you want, more that everybody offers something very different.
Everyone also used to assume that the high street wasn’t very good quality, but that has really changed. It makes a big difference for a grown-up woman buying fashion. You’re looking for something that has a little bit of longevity – not just in terms of style but also physically lasting a little bit longer.
The key is to be true to yourself and confident about what you like. It’s not necessarily about what’s in fashion, it’s what you love for you and your style. I have never been comfortable in structured clothes, for example, and I accept that. I’m lazy in a way. I can’t wear high heels because I can’t walk fast enough in them. I like to feel I can move around and get everything done. I’m also not somebody who scrutinises every detail or seam, looking at the construction. I like clothes that give you the effect of what you want.
Topshop’s Boutique label is a true reflection of what I love now. It’s where I would go for classics: a gorgeous khaki shirt, a camel coat. I think if you want to buy a camel coat, you should always be able to get one, regardless of season or trends. The same with a V-neck jumper and a white cotton shirt. It’s that simple approach to fashion that allows you to dress it up as much as you want, or dress it down. It still leaves a lot of it up to you.
If you start with a very classic approach to your clothes, you can add anything flamboyant to that. If you start the other way round, it’s much harder to tone it down afterwards. Start with the boring bit, then add to make it feel more relevant to what is going on in fashion.
When I was a 25-year-old fashion assistant, I used to look at a 40-year-old fashion editor and think they were ready for retirement, so serious in their Chanel suits and pearls and Manolo Blahniks. But women are loving fashion at all ages now, it’s cross-generational. Think of how jeans have become the norm. My mum wore jeans into her 70s but her mother would never have worn them. Now you can wear leopard print when you’re 60 but it doesn’t mean you look like Bet Lynch – unless you want to. And if you want to wear sequins, you can wear sequins.
I love seeing women like Jane Birkin who were so influential when they were young in what they wear, and they still are. Of course, there are compromises. You do have to be prepared for that thing that fashion does – when you fall in love with something and it feels absolutely perfect but they change it. It’s a bit like how you can’t get a Levi’s 501 to fit like an old Levi’s 501 because they’ve adapted the design. And you do have to age into your style, like Kate Moss has – retaining your style personality but moving it on so it becomes more relevant to the age you are.
I think, in the end, fashion is always about those little things that you discover. Margaret Howell did a really beautiful blue scarf for the Barbara Hepworth exhibition and I bought one because I loved it, but I had never really worn a scarf before. I was tying it round my neck thinking, “Oh, it feels really different, really grown up, to put a scarf on.” I quite liked that.
Reference source:theguardian
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