Let’s Get Gray
There is something about going gray that can give ladies a certain “carte blanche” to do whatever the heck they want. I’ve always had a serious soft spot for batty old women with too many cats and creepy mink stoles that still have their original heads and feet…I’ve already informed my boyfriend that he is required to die before me so I can lose my marbles living in my one bedroom apartment alone with my dachshund (yes my dog will live to be as old as me….) and dye my hair pink to match my collection of homemade feather boas….
Every winter my obsession with stylish old ladies and the air they carry themselves with, comes back stronger than the year before. Maybe a part of me feels like I’m already there with those nutty silver haired gals, especially since my favourite thing to do on a Saturday night is knit with my dog by my side and listen to creepy old elevator music from the 20s and 30s….Or perhaps I’m just inspired by their effortless but charming winter looks. Either way, most of my coats these days are frumpy wool ones with fur trims that are too big for me and smell permanently like moth balls. When I wear them with a floppy hat and some fur trimmed boots (instead of feeling like an abominable snow-beast) I feel graceful and a little bit wiser.
I think this admiration for older ladies is heightened in winter because of how angry I used to get at fashion magazines that would feature winter editorials with summer outfits. Girls in pretty little open coats and shoes with tights pranced around — meanwhile I was stuck with chunky boots and triple layered wool stockings on my legs! It only felt natural to turn to the generation focused on cozy comfort for more relevant cold weather inspiration!
The inspiration has definitely turned into an infatuation, and I think it’s safe to say I have absolutely no fear of getting older. The marble-losing process has already begun and my different collections are starting to grow out of control… soon I’ll be singing the alphabet backwards to my friends at the bingo hall and inviting my friends over for shortbread and sherry….
Images courtesy of the amazing Advanced Street Style Blog
- Meaghan Kelly
Tags: Advanced Street Style, fur trim, grey hair, little old ladies, Meaghan Kelly
January 4th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I remember being so disappointed when Vogue did their annual age issue (about as diverse as their annual shape issue) - the one from 2008, with the Kate Moss cover. They did a “Fashion at Every Age” editorial and had models in their late teens/early twenties model the clothes. I don’t understand why this 20something age group is always idealized when it comes to fashion (nothing against us young folks’, but that type of ubiquity gets so tiresome so fast, you know how it is) when their are so many older women with such interesting style.
I’ve definitely taken inspiration from my grandmothers before (I have 3 - my grandpa remarried - and each one dresses completely differently from one another). My dad’s stepmom has the craziest stuff - she collects scarves and big clip on earrings and wears the brightest colours ever. Then again, she was the grandma who would always let us have cake for breakfast whenever we went to visit as kids, so her awesomeness is not restricted to her sartorial choices.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I hate reading typos in my comments after I hit “enter”, especially when they are of the their/there variety. Forgive me, everyone.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
I’m a big fan of stylish older women as well - and I’m with Anna about the Vogue thing. Though I’m a bit troubled by the constant suggestion that all these women are “batty” or “nutty” or have lost their marbles, which smacks more of condescension than admiration. (Aw, look at the nutty granny!) I honestly don’t know how I’d feel if I was one of the women in the photos above, to find my image attached to so many references to insanity (not to mention the bingo and sherry).
It seems to me that “eccentricity” (a word spoken in a decidedly unflattering tone) is always the first assumption when a woman holds fast to unique style past the “acceptable” age of avant-garde dress. I would have hoped, by now, we would use words like individualistic and brave instead of, like Victorians suspicious of the free-thinking spinster, not-so-subtley hinting at the onset of dementia.
I get this was meant to be a compliment but, as when one is told they “look good for their age”, it’s sort of a backhanded one.
January 4th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I’m totally going to have pink hair when I’m old.
January 4th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
I love Advanced Street Style’s blog! I wish I had the ability to get the photos they do, and that there were more people featuring fashion and older people. It’s too bad that eccentric and dressing in a fun way when older have been connected in our society. Many people aren’t that, they are just enjoying life. People don’t call younger people crazy when they dye their hair pink or purple or other colors.
I’m all for being creative and it’s refreshing to wear what one wants as one gets older. And no bleaching of the hair for those colors either!
January 4th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Oh I love this post! These featured ladies have such great style! I hadn’t hear about the Advance blog yet, I’m so adding it to my google reader.
The woman with the white and pink hair who’s wearing a fluffy coat is my hero.
January 4th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Ace post. And the comment about using words like “batty” is interesting…because I definitely am prone to using that type of terminology, but in an appreciative? way…but hmm…when you really look at it…those types of stereotypes do present some problems. Perhaps I assume that when I am that age my present insanity will just have increased… either way, I defs respect there undoubtedly brave fashion choices.
January 5th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Oh dear! Secretariat you raise a good point. I definitely intended for all of those terms to be read in a tone of admiration rather than condescension! I will have to rethink the way I talk about my love for seniors, although truly I have trouble seeing “batty” or “nutty” as bad things to be, seeing as I already see some of those traits in myself and tend to cling to them as what makes me unique and special. I definitely do think all of the ladies in those photos, and the ones I see walking down the street, and the ones I know personally like my grandparents and their friends, are brave and unique and all kinds of fashionable!
I never meant to imply that their stylishness was based on early onset alzheimers! I only meant to acknowledge that as we all get older, we seem to become increasingly willing (and entitled) to let our individualities shine through, whether its how we dress or walk or what we do on our spare time!
and Serah-Marie, I think you should have pink hair now! Of all people you’d wear it like a pro!
January 5th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
i already define my style as “rock n roll grand-ma” so i totally get where you’re going!
however i do sometimes worry that since i dress old-timey now, will i one day regret my supposed-to-be-wilder youth and take to dressing like a raver when i’m 60+ ?! yikes.
January 5th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
I certainly try to show my admiration for the way old ladies dress by dressing as they do. Call me batty cus it’s true.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
RE: Meaghan’s comment
“…as we all get older, we seem to become increasingly willing (and entitled) to let our individualities shine through…”
That’s the idea I like best. But I do think certain terms have to be used carefully.
I think about being younger and hating it when older people assumed I was naive or had poor judgement, was impetuous or flighty. While some of my peers may have fit that description, I certainly did not. And I remember my mother, as she aged, would talk about how she never felt as though she was aging inside and was hurt when people lumped her in with “blue haired old ladies” because it implied a loss of faculty.
Part of my resistance to words like “batty” comes from pure empathy - it wouldn’t be nice to hear of myself whether it was meant in kindness or not (especially at at time when you realize that society as a whole either resents you as a burden, discounts you as a demographic, or generally disregards your ability to contribute).
But I’m sure when I get to that age (hopefully stylishly and with a great deal of well earned confidence), if I hear some impertinent young thing call me “nutty” I’ll give her a smart tap on the knuckles with my cane!
January 6th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Agreed…I am not, I repeat, not, afraid of getting old. I too embrace it. I mean seriously, how could you not love being utterly yourself with no fear of people judging!
January 7th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
As slowly won laugh lines begin to accent my eyes (noticeable for the first time this year) I wish that I could put my teenage style monthly bout of acne behind me. Alas.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
This post makes me happy. There seems to be a certain freedom in getting old that excites me a little. The ladies in this post are adorable, but I am equally fond of the men. There is something really dignified about the way elderly men dress that I sometimes feel is missing in younger generations - ties and collars and cardigans, suspenders, a good hat, neatly combed hair. One of my neighbours is in his eighties, and he always looks so sharp with his carefully arranged white curls and neatly pressed dress shirts. I think he will forever be a style inspiration for me, both for his clothing choices and for the way he carries himself.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
I am giddy whenever I am complimented on my style by anyone who is elderly and my of my fashion compliments are directed to elderly. My grandmother had impeccable style and it’s people like her who had nothing and still looked impeccable. Also the idea of gaining experiences along with age is just really comforting cause it reminds you that age is not something to be fought off.
Also 70 year olds are so far out of painful high school land that it’s not even a memory.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
When you complained about the smell of mothballs, only one thought made sense: she needs to get one still warm, as in still fresh… I love geriatric chique and this was just a pragmatic solution, at the moment.
January 11th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Hailey I couldn’t agree more with your comment! this generation of men just don’t feel as well put together as the ones of the past (who are currently the old folks of the present lol).
I love a man who wears a long wool coat and a hat. My grampa always wore a hat! he never left the house without one!
dust: i’m not sure if I get your comment…
January 13th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Well, if the coat smells like moth balls it has been in storage for a long time, cos the previous owner is long gone. For that reason I though you need it fresh-of -the-rocking -chair, a coat that was still in use in recent past, still “warm”…. but I was afraid it’s gonna sound too rude. Instead, it was just unclear.