http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/women-40-50-new-ageless-generation/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw
2 JULY 2017
• 6:00AM
Lean,
lithe, beautiful and effortlessly cool, Polly Kemp teaches yoga at the hip
hotel and members’ club Babington House in Somerset. She’s addicted to
Instagram and loves fashion and travelling.
But no,
she’s not the woman on the left – that’s her 19-year-old daughter Iggy, a model
who lives in London. Polly (right) is a mother of three (she also has sons
Gabriel, 22 and Finlay, 17, with her photographer husband Iain) and is 51.
‘Don’t get
me wrong. I’m under no illusion that I am 19 or look 19; I’m very comfortable
in my own skin – lines, grey hair and all,’ she says.
‘But I know
I live very differently from how my mother and grandmother did at my age. Iggy
and I often borrow each other’s clothes, although we might not wear them in the
same way. And we both love vintage clothes, so we often trawl charity shops
together. We enjoy the same TV series on Netflix, such as Schitt’s Creek,
Girlboss and Grace and Frankie; and we’re following the same online daily yoga
challenge on YouTube.
‘When I
hear the term “middle-aged”, I have to stop and think, “Is this meant to be
me?” I don’t polish silver or plan menus, and I’m not interested in housework.
I am also spontaneous and I don’t think that’s a quality traditionally
associated with middle age.’
Polly’s
age-defying attitude is something I can relate to. Growing up, if I’d pictured
myself aged 53, my hair would be a little less long and blonde and a great deal
more grey than it actually is – and I’d be wearing frocks and face powder, not
jeans and CC cream.
And now a
new survey exclusive to the Telegraph has found that, like Polly and me, 96 per
cent of 40-plus women don’t feel middle-aged at all.
The study
of more than 500 women by marketing agency SuperHuman found that 80 per cent
felt society’s assumptions about middle-aged women do not represent how they
live their lives.
More than
two thirds considered themselves in their prime of life; 59 per cent felt as
vibrant and young as they ever have – partly due to a focus on health and
fitness – and 84 per cent said they don’t define themselves by age.
SuperHuman
was founded by Rebecca Rhodes, 44, and Sandra Peat, 42, who feel brands are
failing to realise just how midlife women have changed.
Perennials
are ever-blooming, relevant people who know what’s happening in the world
Armed with
negative stereotypes about older women, companies still focus on millennials
despite the greater financial firepower of 40-plussers. Says Rebecca, ‘By 2020
it is estimated that up to a third of the UK workforce will be 50-plus and they
will control 80 per cent of the wealth.
'We know
that 85 per cent of purchasing decisions are made by women and yet 91 per cent
of women don’t believe advertisers understand them. This isn’t good enough.’
As a
result, she adds, ‘Eighty-four per cent of the women we surveyed used products
and services they felt were aimed at younger women.’ But the generation gap is
closing. ‘Forty-plus women today look, feel and live differently than the
generation before them – 90 per cent consider themselves to have a much younger
attitude than their own mother’s generation at the same age,’ she adds.
In short,
women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond no longer associate themselves with a
life of lawnmowers and Rotary Clubs, cheese and wine parties, elastic waists,
river cruises and walking tours of Madeira. Even the term ‘middle aged’ is fast
becoming obsolete.
People
magazine recently named Julia Roberts, 49, as the World’s Most Beautiful Woman
2017, 26 years after she first made the list. And France’s youthful new
president Emmanuel Macron, 39, has been pictured passionately kissing his
glamorous blonde wife Brigitte, who just happens to be 64.
Everywhere
we look, highly visible older women are rewriting all the rules. From JK
Rowling to Nicole Kidman; Michelle Obama to Anna Wintour, they are at the peak
of their power and creativity.
They are
engaged, influential and often increasingly political.
There’s
even a new term to describe people with this no-age mindset: ‘perennials’. It
was coined by US internet entrepreneur Gina Pell, 49, who explains, ‘Perennials
are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who know what’s happening in the
world, stay current with technology and have friends of all ages. We get
involved, stay curious, mentor others, and are passionate, compassionate,
creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded risk takers.’
This
attitude can be helped by the way we look. And if that sounds trivial, it’s
not, according to Ellen Langer, professor of psychology at Harvard University.
Her researchers have found that people who feel old compared to others tend to
age faster, and a major factor in this is the way they dress. Those in the
study who wore uniforms, and so dressed the same as younger colleagues,
suffered fewer age-related illnesses.
The good
news is that we don’t need a white coat to gain the same health benefits; nor
do we need to dress ‘young’. ‘Since the 1990s, society has become increasingly
informal and fashion has become more generic,’ says Rebecca.
‘In today’s
Converse-and-jeans uniform, worn by everyone from 10 to 70, you often can’t
tell how old a woman is from behind.’
Indeed, a
glance at shots of classic perennials Julianne Moore, 56, and Emma Watson, 27,
reveals that despite their three-decade age gap, they favour an identikit look
of striped tees, oversized coats, leather jackets, jeans and trainers.
Assessing her own fashion evolution, Polly
says, ‘I thought that by this age I’d want to look “smart”. Instead I like to
look cool and sexy, and I live in trainers to the extent that I wonder why I
even have my other shoes. Like Iggy, I’m in jeans all the time, though I might
pair mine with a silk blouse and a jacket.’
Happily,
SuperHuman’s survey found that 67 per cent of women over 40 felt more confident
than they did a decade ago, and just as many were more ambitious too. ‘Doing
things that challenge me’ was important to 60 per cent of women in the survey;
personal fulfilment was a priority for 61 per cent, while 63 per cent described
themselves as ‘very optimistic’ about the future. Almost 80 per cent said they
had a strong appetite to explore and experience new things with or without
their kids.
I thought by
this age I’d want to look 'smart'. Instead I like to look cool and sexy
‘The idea
of retiring at 50 and having an empty nest is totally out of date for most
people,’ says Richard Cope, a consumer trends analyst at Mintel. ‘Economic
pressures and increasing pension ages mean women are working longer and thus
spending time with younger colleagues. At the same time, due to property and
rental costs, more adult children are living at home, and their attitudes are
influencing their parents, causing what’s known as generational blurring.’
When her
17-year-old daughter became vegan a year ago, author Fiona Gibson, 52, ended up
dramatically changing her own diet. ‘Erin opened my eyes to the ethical issues
and health downsides of my more meat-heavy diet. I probably eat vegan four days
out of seven now.’
Lynne
Barratt-Lee, 58, also a novelist, says she’s picked up her 24-year-old daughter
Georgie’s online shopping habits. ‘We get confused over who’s put what in the
Asos basket,’ she says.
But there’s one black cloud in this sunny
picture. While 40-plus women feel very confident in their abilities and
opinions, 48 per cent of those surveyed said they felt less confident about
their appearance than they had a decade ago, citing pressure to stay looking
young – and 83 per cent felt this affected their self-image.
Rebecca
calls this the ‘confidence paradox’, and adds that while older celebrities and
models are more visible than ever before in adverts and on screen, women in
their 40s and 50s still feel ignored.
Entrepreneur
Grace Fodor agrees. Two years ago, she founded cosmetics brand Studio 10, aimed
at women in midlife. ‘Currently, older women are part of the zeitgeist,’ says
Fodor, 50, citing Michelle Obama and Jenna Lyons as examples. ‘But remember:
we’re for life, not just this season’s marketing strategy.’
The future, says Gina Pell, lies with forward-thinking companies such as Netflix and Amazon who profile customers by their tastes, not by their age. ‘Defining people by their birth year is so antiquated,’ she concludes.
