Life is the Occasion

That's Not My Age thinks it's commendable that fashion retailer, LK Bennett is using real women/customers over forty in their latest Life is the Occasion campaign. Chandrima, 42, is an indie rock-loving, consultant obstetrician who has an office full of babies...



Helen, 51, is a busy mother of eight who runs a boutique hotel in Yorkshire and says, 'I have no time to spend on wondering what to wear,' which is probably why she's up a stepladder in a pair of high-heeled slingbacks.

The Style List

Breaking news, people! Today Debenhams launch their latest campaign featuring older models, from left to right: Caroline Josling, 52, Valerie Pain, 66, and Maxine Smith, 41. In collaboration with fashion commentator, Caryn Franklin, the high street retailer plans to 'give ongoing solutions, advice and guidance on how 40+ women can achieve any desired look.' The project called The Style List will be delivered in stores, online and through photography.

Franklin says, 'It’s been really fulfilling to create shots that celebrate the wonder of getting older. It’s important to challenge what we see in our media with a broader reflection of beauty. Enjoy the magic of these women, their confidence, their attitudes and their allure. These wonderful faces express the joy of getting older - not something we see enough of.'




All commendable stuff but the accompanying press release claiming that DEBENHAMS TARGETS ‘FORGOTTEN WOMEN’ WITH GROUND BREAKING CAMPAIGN (dare I mention Levi's, Gap, Twiggy for Marks & Spencer and Dove?) is poorly conceived and tactless. Debenhams are right to take action, I just wish they'd asked Caryn Franklin to write the press release.


Read more about the project here

Love: Lauren Hutton

OK, I'm a bit slow off the mark with this one but that's the advantage of being a late adopter; less pressure, less competition, just let the iPad-carrying hipsters do all the work for you. And so, when designers at NY fashion week are looking for models with gappy teeth and there's something of an age-fest going on; Julianne Moore at Tom Ford's show yesterday, Christy Turlington in the current Louis Vuitton ad campaign, Kristen McMenamy - US Vogue, September issue, Stella Tennant...I won't go on, just to say that it's a joy to see Lauren Hutton, nearly 67, on the cover of LOVE magazine.

Discovered by the legendary Diana Vreeland in 1965, 'She saw something in me. She saw what she was seeing in the streets: a new sort of person...who wore jeans and a t-shirt with no bra, and many of these 18-year-olds were still wearing iron corsets - fashion was still very much in the fifties - and I was not.' By 1974, with her gap-toothed smile and wonky nose, Hutton had become the 'million dollar girl next door,' the face of Revlon Ultima II, an American Vogue cover girl and the highest paid model in history.

Wrinkles, imperfect teeth and old news - you can read it all here.