The Rise of the Wrinkly Models!!????
Fabafterfifty: Fabafterfifty Blog
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Article by Ceri Wheeldon When I saw the image of three attractive mature models in today’s Mailonline, I thought Fab! A breakthrough. Three glamourous ladies aged 58, 61 and 71 are all enjoying successful careers as models. Great to see three mature ladies representing women over 50 on the catwalk. So why did the headline have to spoil the feature? ‘The Rise of the Wrinkly Models’ does not exactly capture the growing trend for mature models in a positive way! All three ladies look far from wrinkly. Why can’t women over 50 just be described as attractive? Why is it that women over 50 cannot be described as attractive without reference to wrinkles or grey hair. Overall the article highlighted many positives – it is such a shame that they could not write a more enlightened heading! I have had the opportunity to meet some terrific models in their 50s,...
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When was the first time you were made to feel ‘older’ ?
Article by Ceri Wheeldon We all have that tell-tale moment when a chance remark or act makes us realise that perhaps we don’t appear to be quite as young to others anymore. So what happened the first time you were made to feel older? These are just of the examples that were given to me by friends- but please do add your own to the list! Of your, we all know that getting older does NOT mean being less fabulous!! The first time I was made to feel older….. Being called ‘madam’ in a shop Someone giving up their seat on the train for me Being directed to mother of bride section when buying my own wedding dress Having anti wrinkle samples popped into the bag with my mascara ! Being ignored by assistants on Top Shop Is this a present for your daughter? Thinking the latest male ‘A lister’...
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How did you approach turning 50? Did you dread it or embrace it?
Article by Ceri Wheeldon Did you dread turning 50? Did you fight turning 50? Did you deny turning 50 and pretend you were still 49? Or did you embrace turning 50 and see the coming decade as one of opportunity? So often I receive messages and emails from people who are petrified at the prospect of their 50th birthday- yet many of the women over 50 I meet and who have contributed to the FabAfterFifty website say they have never felt happier, and are quite literally having the time of their lives. More to life than youth So how can we remove the stigma of ageing? How do we show that there is more to life than youth, and that experience which comes with age creates opportunities rather than destroys them? Is it our own perception of ageing or how we feel we will be perceived by others which creates...
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Would you compete in a People’s Olympics? Olympicked!!
Article by Fabafterfifty What a great idea! Having been spellbound by the Olympics over the past 2 weeks a press release about a book based on ordinary people picked at random to participate in the next Olympics gao me thinking. Michelle Sinclair’s novel Olympicked! imagines just that – a Games where all the competitors are chosen by random selection and given just four years to train in their allocated sport. Michelle, who lived in London until earlier this year, got the idea from a chance remark made by her husband. “He joked that the Olympics would be much more entertaining if it was ordinary people competing instead of highly trained athletes. It was just a passing comment, but the thought stuck in my mind and the more I thought about it, the more I realised it wasn’t such a crazy idea. People could achieve quite a lot with...
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A life of ‘I wish I had’, or ‘I’m glad I did!’
Article by Ceri Wheeldon It is often said that when looking back on life people regret more of those things they did not do than the things they did- even if mistakes were made. How many of us look at past opportunities and think ‘if only’. I wish I had….. I wish I had travelled more I wish I had spent more time with my family I wish I had followed my instincts and set up that business I wish had been more adventurous I wish I had written that book I had always talked about writing It’s never too late to follow your dream The good news is that it’s never too late! Just meet some of the ‘fabwomen’ we have featured who have followed their dreams after the age of 50. They have set up businesses over 50, climbed mountains over 50, written novels over 50, gone to...
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Which are your personal gold Olympic memories?
Article by Ceri Wheeldon As Olympic fever hits the UK, with high expectations , and no doubt new sports personalities to capture our hearts, I started to think about which Olympic moments from previous games stood out for me. My earliest Olympic memories are of the 1972 games. Who could forget Olga Korbut as she entranced the crowd, complete with personality and pigtails, giving a tremendous performance in the gymnastics floor exercise to win the gold medal and the hearts of all who watched her. Or Mary Peters winning the pentathlon, beating the local favourite, to take the gold medal home. Fast forward to 1984 and the winter Olympics and Torvill and Dean’s spellbounding ice dance performance for Olympic gold. Sheer magic. Of course I have watched subsequent Olympics, but none have, for me, matched the excitement of these three winning performances. Which Olympic events bring back memories for you?...
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In the internet age, do we expect too much for free?
Article by Ceri Wheeldon Are we expecting too much for free? Is it a question of ‘you get what you pay for’ or ‘the best things in life are free’? Has the internet age brought about the expectation that we should no longer pay for anything? Growing up, if I wanted anything, book, camera, latest toy, I was encouraged to save up and buy it. When I bought whatever item it was appreciated. But has technology and the internet changed expectations? I was chatting to someone about a charity project they were running. Part of their fundraising initiative included producing and selling a music CD. In order to cater to those who preferred to download their music straight to digital devices, they also made it available online as download – for which a payment should have been made. They hadn’t factored in the ‘sharing’ aspect of sites such as Spotify,...
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Happy 50th birthday Tom Cruise – will his birthday help change perceptions of age?
Article by Fabafterfifty. Whether or not his 50th birthday is a happy day for Tom Cruise in light of his wife filing for divorce less than a week of his landmark birthday, only he will know. Landmark birthdays marking the end of one decade and the start of a new are often occasions when we reflect on achievements and challenges of the past, and look towards our life and hopes for the next 10 years. For Tom, no doubt his thinking on both fronts will be going into overdrive! Putting his marital difficulties aside, does Tom Cruise turning 50 help change the perceptions of age. He still plays the romantic lead, still plays the action hero and the still draws in the box office crowds Nobody seems to suggest that he should be swapping the silver screen for his pipe and slippers just yet! 50 is far from old Will...
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As more under 25s may be forced to return to live with parents, how will your life be affected?
Article by Ceri Wheeldon Could a new initiative to cut housing benefit for the under 25s see the return of a lot more boomerang kids? As David Cameron looks to cut the benefits bill by £1.8 billion by looking at adopting a policy which is said to have been effective in both Germany and Holland, what impact will this have on empty nesters as they see their adult children return home? The details of the policy have not yet been revealed. We do not yet know if this affects only single childless under 25s or whether it also affects those young adults with children of their own. If the proposals do go ahead it will, however, mean dramatic change for many families who have their adult offspring unexpectedly return home to live. Setting boundaries when boomerang kids return home We have previously discussed the importance of setting boundaries up front...
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The ‘wrong side of 50′?!!
Article by Ceri Wheeldon Every now and again I hear a comment which I immediately react to. Certain things have a tendency to make my blood boil! In a recent conversation, someone ( male in his 40s) described Madonna as being ‘the wrong side of 50′. I immediately asked them what they considered the ‘right side of 50′ to be. No answer was forthcoming, especially when I pointed out that at 52 I personally did not consider myself to be the wrong side of anything, except perhaps the table where I might have given them a playful thump for making the comment! Is there a right or wrong side to any age? It did occur to me that with attitudes describing anyone as being the wrong side of 50 we still have a long way to go to combat ageism – especially when it comes to describing women. How often...
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