October 15, 2019 —By Frances Kolarek —
I go back so far—See how I ducked that ugly word ”old?”—that I remember when the age of 30 was over the hill and a lady never told her age. And one didn’t, of course, ask.
Now here comes Sandra Bullock at age 50, a candidate for the title of the world’s most beautiful woman!!
I take heart when Judy Dench, approaching 80, stars in a movie in which Maggie Smith, in her late 70s, also plays a role. Retire? Judy says, “Not in my plans.”
There’s more good news. I picked up a fashion magazine the other day, and on page 3 a full-page advertisement carried the picture of an old woman looking out at the world from behind enormous sunglasses.
Further along—back where the text begins in such publications—Victoria Press, London’s interior decorator of the hour, is pictured seated on a chaise longue, looking her 88 years and proud of it.
Turn a few more pages and discover Joan Jonas, 78, the artist who represents us at the Venice Biennial this year, standing proudly, hair uncombed, without a smidgen of makeup. Her strong, beautiful face shines through.
There are ”cures” for some of age’s depredations in plastic surgery, Botox, etc., available to men and women. My ophthalmologist recently started offering Botox from his practice, and my dermatologist has joined ranks with plastic surgeons. If you want to look younger than you are, go ahead. There is not a thing wrong if you need it to bolster your self-esteem. Same with dying the hair. Feeling young at heart can also do wonders for the way you look.
Let me tell you one of my favorite stories: Lariisa Latynina, a Ukrainian Olympic gymnast, who for years held the record of 18 Olympic medals, was watching Michael Phelps score a win that broke her own 48-year-long streak. Still handsome at 78, “when the moment came,” Jeré Longman reported in The New York Times, “she knew exactly what a great champion should do. She put on her lipstick.”