1. desire to live but realising that
death is inevitable. In order to quell
the potential for terror, humans
“invest in cultural belief systems or
worldviews that imbue life with
meaning”. This, Professor Menke
explains, is why we don’t like to be
reminded of growing old and
closer to death hence we’re always
in pursuit of youth or its
impression.
“As a culture, we tend to say that
ageing means retirement and not
so much about looking forward to
what’s next. We’ve always
expected life to wind down after
turning 50 or 60,” added Professor
Menke.
COSMETICS AND
COMMERCE
Iris Apfel, 93; Tilda Swinton, 54;
and Joni Mitchell, 71, were some of
the veteran personalities and
celebrities who were chosen to be
the faces of fashion and beauty ad
campaigns earlier this year. Sure,
the “phenomenon” of hiring older
spokespersons isn’t at all ingenious
– Ellen DeGeneres, then 50, was
hired by make-up company
CoverGirl in 2008, and L’Oréal
Cosmetics had 68-year-old Jane
Fonda endorse its anti-ageing
treatment in 2006. But in a youth-
obsessed world of fashion and
beauty, the visuals were refreshing
to look at while the initiative at the
very least indicated the
inclusiveness that some designers
and brands desire to attain.
Even if the sentiment seems too
good to be true. Co-founder of At
Retail Concepts, Tino Soon,
responsible for establishing local
brands Sala Bianca, Philosophy
Men and GraffiTee, stressed that
this is very likely just another
business model.
“It’s a business driven industry.
Any big brand is answerable to
investors at the end of the day.
They don’t particularly care if the
customers are young or old – it’s
the returns they want. These
brands must have stats to show
that older people make up a big
chunk of their customers
otherwise they wouldn’t publicise
mature women in their
promotional materials,” said
Soon, who’s been active in the
local fashion industry for over 30
years.
The next question ensues:
does hiring celebrity
spokesmodels aged 40 and
STYLE22
theSun ON WEDNESDAY | MAY 27, 2015
FASHION & BEAUTY EDITOR: Peter Yap E-MAIL: peteryap@thesundaily.com
BY RACHEL LAW
T
HE average woman would
have flipped through
enough fashion magazines
in her lifetime to know that
“thou shall dress according to thy
age”. When any of your anatomy is
beginning to wrinkle, or is at the
mercy of gravity, it should be
covered to spare family, friends
and strangers from an eyesore. You
don’t want to be labelled trashy. On
the other hand you don’t want to
put on so much fabric because then
you’ll look too matronly for anyone
to notice.
A quick Google search for
“celebrities who don’t dress their
age” would return suggestions of
“repeat offender” Kris Jenner, 59.
According to Fox News, the
Kardashian “mom-ager” looks like
she shares a wardrobe with
daughter Kim while Vibe.com
apparently didn’t get the memo
when it slammed Mariah Carey for
“flashing ample cleavage”.
(Newsflash: mini dresses have
been her style staple since the 90s.)
Needless to say, Madonna makes
the cut too due to her
extraordinary wardrobe choices.
But looking good in a well covered
ensemble didn’t excuse the 56-
year-old from hate because
StyleBlazer.com decided to pick on
her liquid leggings and arm
warmers instead.
YOUTH IS BEAUTY?
Whenever non-celebrities of 50
and above appear in the media or in
advertisements, they’re usually
there to promote denture
adherents if not adult diapers or
health supplements. Not very
vogue if you compare that to
younger models in toothpaste
commercials or fruit juice ads.
Professor J. Michael Menke,
Head of Psychology of
International Medical University
(IMU)’s School of Medicine
explained that society’s obsession
with youth is partially an aftermath
of evolution. In the 1900s, when a
lot of women and babies would die
during labour, teenage girls were
valued because they had higher
chances of birthing healthy
offspring.
In today’s context, the “Terror
Management Theory” (TMT)
would deem more relevant.
Originally coined in 1986 by social
psychology professor Jeff
Greenberg and his two colleagues
at University of Arizona, TMT
proposes a psychological conflict
which results from having the
above impact the buying
decisions of consumers in
the same age group? Does
this group of
consumers
experience celebrity
fixation?
“Psychological
studies have shown
that young women
carefully look at the
pictures in fashion
magazines
whereas older
women would
breeze by those
pictures.
Mature
women have
gotten over
the youthful
model ideal.
They’re
more
interested
in
characters,
their age
and how
they
dress;
Marc Jacobs Beauty appointed actress Jessica Lange,
then 65, for its Autumn 2014 campaign.
Style icon Iris Apfel, 93, starred in jeweller
Alexis Bittar’s Spring 2015 ad campaign
alongside teen blogger turned Rookie editor,
19-year-old Tavi Gevinson.
Tino Soon (left) and Professor J. Michael Menke.
Actress Tilda
Swinton, 54, is the
face of Nars’ Spring
2015 cosmetics
campaign.
(right) Author Joan
Didion for Céline
Spring 2015.
>MarkTwainoncesaidthatageisanissueofmindovermatter.Soif
itisjustanumber,whatonearthisage-appropriatedressing?
Thecaseof sexygenarians
somebody like Meryl Streep,”
Professor Menke noted.
EMBRACE YOUR NUMBER
Much like racism, sexism and
ableism (the discrimination and
social prejudice against people
with disabilities), ageism should be
buried already (pun unintended).
When Madonna gets dressed, she
is clearly not worried about what
critics might say – she wears what
she wants. As she is in the
entertainment scene, Soon said you
can’t be expecting her to “dress her
age – like a grandmother”.
“People should come to terms
with ageing and celebrate it. When
you age, you are wiser, kinder,
smarter and beautiful in your own
way. It’s sad to limit the future of
old people. Do you expect them to
stay at home and wait for death to
come knocking? Allow them the
liberty to spend on a lipstick and
live!” said Soon.
Younger female celebrities get
questioned ad nauseam regarding
their sense of fashion – some are
even accused of dressing far
beyond their age (this statement
however doesn’t condone the
sexualisation of children). The
bottom-line is there is no winning
in this game of fashion policing.
Here are some final words by
Professor Menke we should all take
to heart:
“If we look at ourselves as just
our bodies and the attraction of
that then we dismiss the
experience that we’ve acquired –
which is kind of sexy in itself.”
Madonna
wears
what she
wants.