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Beautiful Women Over 40: Salma Hayek, 45 makes the cover of Lucky Magazine

10 Apr

I was sooo happy when I received my May issue of Lucky with Salma Hayek on the cover!    The shopping-and-fashion mag tends to have lots of under 35 starlets from both TV and movies on the cover, many of them I’m either unfamiliar with or just don’t care about.  But Hayek’s life, how she’s managed her career, and what she thinks of herself are important reads for any woman at any age.

Some of the key takeaways from Jean Godfrey-June’s feature on Hayek ,for me, were about how she views her body and her skin.  She admits to being short and curvy (read: not fat) and sometimes wanting to be smaller.  Yes, the world around us sometimes makes us want to hide our breasts and behinds as they are so often objectified.  Thus, we might fear that we, too, are objectified–and who knows that better than a celebrity, who may be picked apart at any  moment for a change in her face, or what she eats, or anything….

Hayek also admits to acne when younger, taking Accutane, and the resulting skin sensitivity.  She also mentions her grandmother’s beauty concoctions (my mom had some too!) , her own Nuance beauty line, and NOT having Botox.

Now, how many of our celebrities can admit to *that* one?  Not many, that’s for sure, and a whole ton of the over 40 set seem to be addicted to the stuff.  Rumor has it that some dermatologists are recommending it for women in their late 20′s and 30′s.  Here’s her thoughts on Botox and skin:

“Botox, trust me I’ve been tempted—but I resist! Think about what happens to your muscles—and your skin—if you’re sick and don’t move for a few days. It all atrophies! Plus, if you freeze a muscle in your face, other muscles have to compensate! And once you stop, what does that look like?” Before I can issue a rebuttal she offers another theory: “You know Latin people? African-American people? How our skin ages more slowly? Even though we’re dramatic, we move our faces, we eat higher-fat foods, we’re the ones with fewer wrinkles—it makes you wonder.”

IMO, what one eats definitely has an effect on one’s skin.  I know this from my own experience.  Yes, some of it is genetic, but also if you eat good fats–extra virgin olive oil, avocados, salmon–and this helps skin integrity. Eating these kinds of mono unsaturated fats is a good idea at any age.   Staying out of the sun and out of tanning beds helps too.  The late 70′s and early 80′s were big on tanning, and  I got a lot of ribbing about being “whitey” during that time when I was in my teens.  However, it’s paid off in the long run.  Even the dermatologist I saw last week for a sun-un-related skin condition remarked that my overall skin was quite nice. :)

Yet, Hayek, indirectly, brings up another point about our perceptions of beauty:  it has always been more acceptable for Latin and African-American women to be curvy.  Anglo, and those of us who resemble the Anglo side of our heritage more than the more “ethnic” sides tend to be overly concerned about our weight because the image of the perfect Anglo-Saxon Protestant American woman is one that also reflects the Nordic marauders–tall, slim and blond– who contributed to that gene pool.  So, if one is not identified as Latina or African-American, there’s this odd assumption that to be anything but tall and thin and small-breasted is somehow an indication of  weakness…

I could go on about these ridiculous assumptions, and their roots, but I digress. .

All in all, Hayek is, perhaps, one of the healthiest women in Hollywood today, and this profile gives us a peek into how we, too, could foster healthy attitudes about our bodies as we are getting older,  to no obsess over our minor imperfections, and how to, ultimately enjoy our lives.

 

 

 

How to fix Kris Jenner’s latest fashion faux pas

24 Mar

Ah, the Kardashians!  We, the people, have probably had enough of them, but the gossip press sure hasn’t.  The latest was a smack in the tush to K-Momma Kris Jenner for this outfit, which was described as “too young for her age”.   Most of the criticism of the outfit was levelled at the pants.   Those, however, seem the least egregious to me.  After all, you can find that color in pretty much any “old lady” department.  So, I’m certainly not offended by the color–and quite glad they aren’t embroidered with little penguins or umbrellas all over them.

Likewise the black tee isn’t a faux pas.  It’s your usual tee, no biggie.

Where, then, does the outfit start to fall apart?  It’s the accessories!  Let’s start with the shoes:

OMG, where *does* one start with these fashion travesties!  Leopard clogs with something like a six-inch heel.  You have *got* to be joking.  This style, as well as the huge-heeled covered wedge shoes (which I like to refer to as “Frankenstein boots”) and sky-high pumps are, for most occasions, for the young. They tend to give one’s feet an outsized Olive Oyl/Minnie Mouse/Daisy Duck appearance,  and appear to be oh so cute on,  skinny girls in very, very short skirts.

In a term, they’re ugly, and don’t compliment the  pants, esp. if you’re out running errands.  Who wants to run errands in six-inch heels??  Either a flat (if one insists on leopard) or  a mid-heel neutral toned pump would look great with this kind of pant.

The next set of accessories send the death knell to the outfit:

Oh, gosh, where do we start!  First, the hat: what we would call a fedora and the Daily Mail UK calls a trilby.  Whether trilby or fedora, it actually ages Jenner, whom the Daily Mail describes as looking “much younger than her 56 years” (and she might if she laid off half the accessories she’s sporting.)

Next, let’s tackle 3 in succession:  earrings, bag and jacket.  The earrings simply look trashy, as if they came from a Claire’s shop in the local mall.  Sure, wear a big dangling earring if you like, but not a pair that would look better on someone in high school.  The bag, too, is cheap-looking.  Perhaps an oversize bag is great for shopping, but between the leopard heels and the pink pants, a silver over-sized bag is over-kill.   And then the cropped jacket.  Well, at any age, unless you are wildly thin, a cropped jacket will make your rear end look larger than that of the average school bus.   If you have a penchant for motorcycle jackets–even if you don’t own one–an average length men’s style would have looked better here.  Or, quite frankly, a tuxedo-style suit jacket couldn’t go wrong.

Now, take a look at how daughter Kim accessorized an equally bright pair of blue denims: In this case, daughter really does know best:  Kim wears flat sandals with a matching large bag, light-colored neutral toned tee, cropped tuxedo style jacket, and simple large hoop earrings.  The outfit looks just as effortless and far more polished…..

Which brings up one of my most important points for women over 40:  When dressing in trends, make sure you do not look like a throwback to your teens or 20′s.  Kris’s tough chick black-silver-leopard accessories in many, many ways give the look an 80′s gloss.  Nothing will age a woman more than futile attempts to replay her past in her current wardrobe.

Which reminds me:  K-Momma might want to think about getting that signature black dyed short haircut a rest.  That’s another 80′s style relic.  I did it too, back in the ’80′s,  but would never, never think of going back to that.  My gosh! It would be like wearing a pompadour with a fishtail!  While it may look cute and retro on someone in her 20′s,  it won’t make anyone in her 50′s look cute.  She’ll look just retro–like a puffy-sleeved dress in an antique clothing store.

SO…..the moral of the story is:  it’s not the pop-of-color pants that cause the fashion faux pas, it’s the poorly chosen and badly matched 80′s influenced accessories.  If you feel you’d like a pair of brights, go right ahead, but make sure you accessorize in a polished, modern way.

Bests and Worsts from the Oscars 2012 (and one horrific Grammy look)

1 Mar

Whew! It’s been awhile since I posted…and in that time we had two high-profile awards shows with some incredible–and incredibly awful–fashions.  I’ve got to say that the Oscars were the far more fabulous show, while the Grammys left me wondering “what the heck was that?”  Although I believe some of the soberness was owed to the death of Whitney Houston the night before the show, which may have caused some celebs to make last-minute wardrobe changes.  Therefore, I only have one outstandingly horrid Grammy choice–one that could have easily been averted with minor tweaks.

That being said, I will proceed with a few of my favorite Oscar looks (the rest you can find at Pinterest on my Oscars Best-Worst 2012  board.) Oh, one final thought:  I read a gazillion Best-Worst Dressed articles from both the U.S. and U.K. and there was no hands-down winner that *everyone* though was either the best or the worst.  Fashion is starting to take on the vibe of surrealist literature: either you get it, or you don’t, but who decides whether you’re getting it right or not getting it at all is a subjective judgement….

My first favorite has to be Viola Davis in this incredible, gorgeous green Vera Wang.  While some reviewers thought the pleats at the bottom were too much, IMO they’re perfect, bringing movement into what would have been a rather stiff ensemble (and giving it that “undersea” look that was popular at some of the 2010 fall social events in NYC.) More important to this look is Davis’ natural hair, which complements the look perfectly and sticks it to  the Anglo beauty standard.  In fact, the same reviewer who didn’t like the dress also didn’t like Davis’ hair, saying it was “inappropriate.”  Excuse me!?!  Women should not need to make themselves over to the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Beauty Standard in order to be beautiful.  We are who we are, and beauty is beauty, even if it ain’t whitey-style.

Next came Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Soji.   It seems that many designers have no idea what to do with a woman who has curves.  Soji has no problem with a woman who has curves *and* isn’t in her late 20′s.  The dress highlights her waist and draws the eye both up to her face and down to the beautiful draping. The simple sleeve makes it elegant, not matronly (unlike Melissa McCarthey’s disaster, which looked better suited to a  middle-aged mother of the bride.)

The last of my faves that I’ll blog about (you can see the others on Pinterest) is this Alexander McQueen gorgeousness on Jessica Chastain.  I’m a sucker for embroidery, and I love the way the bodice embroidery resembles a golden butterfly hovering over a fields that traipse along the bottom of the gown.  Chastain’s soft hair and make-up are the perfect complement to a dress that is an absolute work of art….

And now for my top three worsts–and there were some bad ones….

It pains me to say this because I *love* Melissa McCarthey, and I know a good friend of hers designed this dress for her, but, my god, as someone else said, the designer should be taken out and beat with this dress.  Neither the color–mother of the bride mauve–nor the cut does a darned thing for Melissa.  She needed something that gave her lift, possibly with a short or cap sleeve, and not that fluttery butterfly stuff that’s there.  yuck!  The gathers/ruching/pleats or whatever they are on the bustline are just awful.  If this is the worst thing that happened to Melissa McCarthey this year, then she should pack this dress off to a charity and move on…

What can one say about Kristen Wiig, other than that she might want to consider firing her stylist.  Every time I’ve seen the woman at an awards show, she’s wearing gowns with colors that range from Old Nun’s Pantyhose Nude to Support Hose Beige.  WTF?  Wiig’s an attractive woman, so what’s with the beige?  A nice teal, perhaps.  But please! no more with the beige.

It’s tough picking the last of the worst, because there were a lot of worsts.  Could have been Leah Thompson’s silvery mother of the groom ensemble, to Angelina Jolie’s “legware” (oh, god, I could go on and on about that mess) but I just have to take a stab (literally) at Glenn Close in Zac Pozen.  Ok, we got too much going on here.  We got some fancy stuff going on with the corset-style bodice (anyone other than me getting tired of seeing that style, esp on women who might not ever need to wear a corset?)  to what looks like a painfully tight mermaid skirt.  Not just tight but a tad too long.  Oh, and where do I start with that jacket?  Really? A tuxedo style jacket?  Really??  I’d rather have seen that jacket with a pair of really cool trousers, a drapey low-cut cream or oyster colored shell underneath, and some cool shoes.  It’s just way too much for a fussy mermaid style dress.  yeesh!

Ok, so that clears up the Oscars.  And, as I said, I only have one ensemble from the Grammys to take a swipe at, and I’m only doing that because I really expected more from…..

FERGIE!  Just because it’s Jean Paul Gauthier doesn’t mean it can’t be a hot mess.  and this dress is a serious hot mess.   It’s not just that the word “orange” doesn’t rhyme with anything, but also that orange is a horrific color to match with anything.  Any color other than black would have made it look like a beach cover-up (and quite frankly, shortened up, it would make a super beach cover-up) but then again black under orange makes us think Trick or Treat.  And the only person who got tricked here is Fergie.  I love the woman–she’s a strong performer who truly loves what she’s doing, and it shows in her work.  But wow!  this is just one of the all time awfuls.  How could have it been improved?  A nude or medium pink slip, perhaps?  I’ m not sure even that could have helped it.

 

 

 

 

 

Carine Roitfeld is my fashion soul sister! (well, kinda…..)

7 Feb

Well, ok…I haven’t worked at a fashion magazine ever, and I’ll probably never get closer to Karl Lagerfeld than I did when I almost tried on one of the dresses from his Macy’s capsule collection.  But when I read that Carine Roitfeld, former Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Paris,  is planning a new magazine, slated for launch in September and wants to be “the link between the runway and the real woman,”  well, I almost died…

One of the reasons I started High Fashion, Average Woman, is to experiment a bit with fashion journalism to see if a fairly average woman with good taste and personal style could actually write something that other women would find fun and somewhat helpful as they, too try to navigate the crazy world of the fashion and beauty industries.  Too often I hear from women friends of all ages  and geographic locations about how they don’t understand what’s going on in fashion; question why clothes don’t fit nor flatter their figures; and if there is any sense to even trying to look good when everything looks recycled from previous generations’ bad fashion closets.  Granted, I don’t keep up with this blog as much as I should, but my goal has been pretty lofty and I’m not making any money from this particular venture.  So I get to it when I can.

And I think , for the most part, that I’m meeting my goals here…

So, I’m really glad to see that Roitfeld is planning to use her knowledge and experience to perhaps help us navigate what the heck is going on in fashion and beauty.  In the meantime, I’ll keep up my end of the deal and continue to write here.  Who knows what might happen–you know what I mean? ;)

(h-t to Fashionista.com)

Madonna’s Outrageous Super Bowl Look Eerily Reminiscent of Madeline Kahn as Empress Nympho

6 Feb

in Mel Brook’s History of the World Part I.


And I can imagine that auditions to be part of Madonna’s honor guard (the guys in the Roman gear who carried the bier she rode in on) went something like this (not that there’s anything wrong with it, mind you…):

Julianne Moore for Talbots: Redefining the 50-ish Woman

3 Oct

Talbots is expanding its campaigns featuring Julianne Moore, who was featured in Spring 2011 campaign

Sharon Stone, 53, as Aphrodite in upcoming “Gods Behaving Badly”

10 Aug

Holy Parthenon!  Sharon Stone looks absolutely beautiful on the set of the “Gods Behaving Badly”  in her role as Aphrodite (with Christopher Walken as Zeus!)

Now, who was the bozo that  said women over 50 are old ladies?? Please!  That may have been another generation, but nowadays, we’re looking better than women have ever looked.  We’re healthier than our mother’s generation, for one thing.  For another, our good looks have little to do with extensive plastic surgery..

…Among actresses in the over 40 set,  Stone is one of the few that does not look like she’s been surgically altered, nor does she look numbed up with Botox, or fat-lipped with collagen.

Knowing how my skin has held up over the years, the two best things a woman can do for herself is stay out of the sun and get a good skin regimen.  “They” might say that creams don’t work, but if you start using the right stuff for your skin at any age, you will halt any damage and slow the wrinkling process.

Oh, it also helps if genetics are on your side.  Always look at your mom, and her skin, and what she did to preserve it, and that will give you a good indication of what you might look like.  I, luckily, ended up on the good side of the gene pool.  I also invest in some great Chanel cosmetics that I’d die without.

Perhaps the only time plastic surgery might be a good investment is when you’ve still got a boatload of energy, good health,  and are in those “golden years” (yes, I’m talking 70 or older.)  Take a look at these ladies in an article on seniors and plastic surgery in today’s New York Times.

Quite frankly, if I’m in good health in 20 years,  70 seems about the right age for a little nip and tuck :)

Photo courtesy of Radar Online