Showing posts with label eccentric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eccentric. Show all posts

Monday, 20 August 2012

Is "cute" a good look for over sixties?

That is a rhetorical question, as I already know the answer.  Once we are over sixty "cute" isn't an easily achieved look and it's certainly not one we should be trying to achieve any more.   Herein lies my dilemma.

I am short, I have freckles and cute hairstyles suit my small features - so I guess that over the years that has been my signature look.  Some women look elegant, others look dramatic and a few are effortlessly glamorous, but these looks have always eluded me.  If you are tall and slim you will look stylish no matter what you wear, but when you are five foot something it isn't so easy.  No matter what clothes you wear, the best you can hope to achieve is - yes, that's right, cute.

I have been through my wardrobe with a ruthlessness that I didn't realise I possessed.  I have recycled all my "cute" clothes and have been relieved to find that there are still enough clothes left to get me through the week. A few are relics from the days when I had to go out to earn a living and others are more recent purchases to help me cope with the hot summers here in Spain.  Going through what remains, I was trying to figure out what my new look could be.  At the moment the best I can come up with is "classic", which is fine, but a small voice is whispering "boring".  Now I am over sixty, do I have to settle for looking boring?

Being British, the look that I would secretly love to adopt is "eccentric".  It's fine to be over sixty and eccentric, especially if you are British, though I'm not sure how that would go down in the small Spanish town where we live.  The mere fact of being English and pale-skinned is enough to make people notice me, even when I am wearing boring clothes.  I'm tempted to dye my hair bright red and start wearing dramatic clothes.  Would this be a step too far?

The amazing Vivienne Westwood - my style icon