Turning 29: part II

I would like to prelude this by saying it was not my original plan for part 2.  This was very much inspired by a photo book of Audrey Hepburn I received as a birthday gift.  I hope it is something that can be related to, but if not it is at least me being honest about my feelings on aging. Love, love.

When I was six years old, I was the only kid on my block that was an Audrey Hepburn fan. I had just seen My Fair Lady and fell in love with this funny actress that sold Eliza Doolittle as a real person to me. I think she was a stunning woman who wore amazing clothes (how can you not when Givenchy is a personal friend?), and she seemed like a truly kind and giving person. Outside of her career in Hollywood she was a mother and humanitarian. Much of her later life was dedicated to working for UNICEF. She was fluent in six languages. She was sixty-four when she died. All of these are just a few empty facts about someone who was no doubt a complex being and yet none of those facts or her complexity seem to matter.

I bring this up in reference to my recent birthday, because I think Audrey is a good example of our culture's fascination with our 20's and how we sort of dull the romance of later years. Although she worked well into the 1980s, you don't find many images of her from this period. Additionally, why are the only photographs I find in magazines of Grace Kelly of when she was very young? To quote Audrey Hepburn, "The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years."

I recognize that girls and women are going to hold closely to style-icons whose appearance in age looks similar to their own, or at least close to age they want to look.  Audrey is a classic beauty, who has appealed to young girls for generations.  While I don't think there is anything wrong with having an icon to aspire to dress like, or imitate the make-up techniques of... as I grow older, my icons grow older as well. While I think certain models and actresses are adorable, there is no way I would try to dress like them or even aspire to be them because they are so young. I guess a decade ago it would have been different. But I have matured, and so have my ideas of beauty, style, and well-- importance in general. 

For a long time, I never thought about the life beyond the portrait of a stylish woman like Audrey.  I was content to try to line my eyes in that same cat-shape, and call it good.  But as I grow older, and fashion becomes less important to me, the lives behind the photos are much more intriguing.  I think it is a shame that we have such short attention spans when it comes to the people we celebrate.  Granted, we should not set before our eyes idols of flesh and bones... maybe I should clarify what I am saying:  I think it would be refreshing to see more images of popular beauties in their 40's and 50's and 60's.  Not airbrushed and tweaked... I think there is so much to appreciate in the lines and expression worn in an experienced face. Of course most famous beauties in that age-range today have done so much to their faces they do appear younger... I wonder where the pressure to do that started? Perhaps they do not want to fade into the unknown like their predecessors.  Incidentally, this last remark just makes me want to give Jamie Lee Curtis a hug.

I hold onto the face of my twenties for one final year, but I have a long time of being gorgeous left. Wow, that's a loaded statement... {chuckles}. What I mean is that I never want to look in the mirror and panic. I think there is a lot of fear and panic in our society over looking older, especially for women because we have frozen so many of our female icons in their youth.

While I think the last dozen 'Sex and the City' movies are a little sad-- women growing older should not try to deny or ignore that fact... I also think there is no reason for a woman to give up on elegance simply because she has learned there is more to life than fashion.  I really hope I can grow old gracefully, and can be someone that my husband and sons always think of as beautiful.  Also, I would really like to be a woman that younger women can look at and be encouraged about the next phase of their lives through... that I would be nothing of the gawdy, or tacky, or man-haircuts that make the future look a little scary.  But that I can continue to learn what it means to be a lovely, mature woman.

That's part of the challenge of next year and a new decade that I am looking forward to.  I hope I can wear the silly mistakes of my twenties as an expression of a wiser lady... that I can calmly say, "No dear, that will bring you heartache and aggravation," in a way that only experience makes believable... and that small things... like getting my hair done or shopping for new clothes are that much breezier because I am so in-tuned with my person.

Cheers to being 29, to having a bright future... and might I raise a glass to aging beauties everywhere. Thank you for staying natural and making this journey through life more dignified and inspiring.