According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the demand for older models in the fashion and cosmetics industries is skyrocketing.
Forgiveness. Maybe “explode” is a trigger word. It could give some of the more experienced models flashbacks to “the red glow of the rocket, the bombs exploding in the air.”
That’s how it is. When I say “older,” I’m not just referring to touches of gray. Cosmetics giant L’Oréal employs Helen Mirren (77) and Jane Fonda (85), and those celebrities are just “young girls” compared to other spokespeople selling makeup and clothes.
For too long, mature women have allowed influencers of college age, teens, or even luridly sexualized tweens to set an impossible standard of beauty for them. (“Wait, before you bring home the bacon and pan-fry it, be sure to warm up by making the slices and decorating the welcome float.”)
Bless the ladies for whom “class” means more than just copying the school algebra brain test.
Good genes, diet, exercise, skin care, and attitude have given society a plethora of older women who are stunningly beautiful. (So I’m told. I hate it when my wife reads over my shoulder!) However, they’ve traditionally been fraught with fashions so scruffy that a “come here” look is answered with, “Why? Do you need help getting milk the yaks?
I’m glad we’ve moved away from the paradigm of ever younger, skinnier models. People with memories of Studio 54’s disco days still talk about the ugly scene when a model became jealous of her own umbilical cord still attached.
A substantial advantage of hiring older models is that they are more sensitive and less likely to let the glamor and spotlight go to their heads. Of course, there are other things that can cloud your judgment. (“Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as my grandson’s drawing of whatever? If I can’t get this on the next cover of lingerie magazine, you’ll hear from my lawyer, brat!”)
Of course, new advertising campaigns must be adapted to current realities. The models who implored “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” in 1980s Pantene commercials would now plead, “Don’t hate me because I’m going to deplete the Social Security trust fund before they get there. Bwahaha…”
I have to admit that not all my friends agree with the change in the industry. The article touted “models over 50 whose faces tell a story.” One friend admitted: “Okay, your face can tell a story, as long as it’s not walking five miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways. ”
To hell with him. We need courageous role models (male and female) who can inspire their contemporaries or those who aspire to be that age in a few years.
Maybe you or someone you know has a bright future in modeling.
Just be prepared for the hyper-competitive arena of seeking to be listed.
“As I told Francis Scott Key, what happens in Fort McHenry stays in Fort McHenry!”
— Danny Tyree is a columnist for the syndicate newspaper Cagle Cartoons Inc.
Source: news.google.com