When I dress, I hope to pass.
It's more than that though. Passing is in the middle. Here's a list of hopes, from minimum to needs-help-of-fairy-godmother:
wear a skirt or dress
not look like my male self
not look like a guy in a dress
tie: pass as a woman
blend with other women
be attractive as a woman
be downright pretty
I'm in my late 50s, and even for women with the advantage of being one all their lives, most women my age aren't what society would call pretty. I don't expect anyone to come up to me and say "wow, you look great." OK, I can probably find someone on Craigslist. Gigs -- Creative. Looking for someone to tell me I look great. Will pay up to $50.
But in real life? No way. At the last soiree, someone said from an angle, I looked like Lily Tomlin. Thanks, I suppose. But I'd rather look like, say, Catherine Bach.
Then a reader sent me a bunch of "then" and "now" pictures of actors and actresses.
Would you believe it? It took 30 years but I'm prettier than Catherine Bach! I got my wish, just not the way I hoped.
You do realize that most women in their late 50s do NOT look as good as you do? For heaven's sake, look around you in the supermarket or the mall...most women in their late 40s, don't look as good as you do!
ReplyDeleteMeg -
ReplyDeleteOne can same the same about Kathleen Turner looking like a grandma now - she has changed a lot. But I love how she looks - even as a grandma type.
Kathleen and you take care of yourselves, both doing your best with what you have. Catherine Bach, on the other hand, does not seem to do so. (At least, not from the unposed photo.)
M
So very true... Using the "now' pic as a guideline, I could probably say the same thing about myself!
ReplyDeleteMandy
not everyone ages so well. Granted that doesn't look like a flattering angle of bach, the camera doesn't lie either. I see the lily tomlin in your face now that someone mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteI guess that we all need to thank our GG friends for not aging well, whether it is due to bad genes or bad jeans. It lowers the bar for passibility for all the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteJust be sure to remember that we get to select the 1 out of 100 photos that is the most flattering to us and the magazines get to publish the one of 1 million pictures that is least flattering to them