Helen Mirren

Live with it and love it

/ edebock / 2 Comments

My baby turned 40 this week. In fact, because my “Irish twins” are less than a year apart in age, his sister is also 40! And they’re my youngest! Is it any wonder that I’ve been thinking about age this week? Either I’m getting old or they’re catching up to me!

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In reality, I’m not bothered by my age. Surprised maybe. Time seems to have gone by so quickly. But bothered? No.

For as long as I can remember, advertising has been hoodwinking women into believing that we lose value as we age; that our goal in life should be to hang on to youth or the appearance of youth for as long as we can. Hogwash! I like what Helen Mirren, who celebrated her 79th birthday this week, had to say about age. “At every age, you lose some things but you gain other things. That’s the kind of magic that happens, so deal with it. You either die young, or you get old. Enjoy the ride!” In this short video she says her age has always been an asset and her advice is to all of us is to “live with it and love it.”

While I’m happy to be the age that I am, especially considering the fact that when I was first diagnosed with cancer I had no expectation that I would live this long, that doesn’t mean that I want to look old. I just don’t want to waste my time and energy trying to look young when I’m not. I simply want to be my authentic self, a woman in her 70s who loves life and hasn’t given up on herself. I’m sure that many of you can identify with that. 

So how do we accomplish this? Thinking about what you want your appearance to say about you and choosing 3 to 5 adjectives to describe your personal style can be very helpful in building a look that conveys the right message. You can read about how I arrived at my 5 style adjectives here. 

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The top three

/ edebock / 2 Comments

LogoOne of the things that I enjoy about blogging with WordPress is the stats that they show me. While I can’t actually see who you are, at any given time I can see how many people have visited the blog on a particular day, week, month, or year as well as how many posts they’ve read and where the readers are from. It’s always fun to see different countries around the world light up on the little map on the stats page!

But what does this have to do with fashion, you ask! Out of curiosity and also to help me determine what most appeals to my readers, I recently checked to see which of my fashion posts have been the most popular. Since quite a few readers have joined us recently, I thought today I’d share the top three again. If you’re interested in looking back and reading any of these posts, simply click on the titles.

#1  How to shop like a celebrity

Helen Mirren thrifting

Published on August 2, 2019, this post about celebrities who shop thrift stores has been read a whopping 14 530 times! Of course, that probably has more to do with search engines picking up famous names like Helen Mirren and Julia Roberts than it does with my writing skills or my popularity as a blogger!

#2  A model who embraced her age

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Cindy Joseph on the front cover of Viv magazine – July 2007

This post, now read 9306 times, was written on July 27, 2018 to share the sad news of the untimely death of Cindy Joseph, model and founder of BOOM! by Cindy Joseph, a pro-age skin and cosmetics line. The company, now BOOM! Beauty, continues to honour Cindy’s legacy with their pro-age, as opposed to anti-age, philosophy. Amongst their products are the popular and easy to use multitasking “Boomsticks” that act as lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow all in one.

#3  50 characteristics of an elegant woman

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At 1809 reads, this post, published on September 11, 2020, is a distant third, but it seems to be gaining in popularity as it has been showing up in my stats almost daily lately. In fact, it was read over 200 times in the month of January alone. That makes me wonder if there’s a growing interest in elegance among today’s women. That’s food for thought and perhaps a topic for a future post!

On an entirely different note, for those who are interested, I’m still waiting for a date for the treatment that I’m to have to destroy the tumour on my liver. I would say waiting patiently, but that would be a lie and #51 on my list of characteristics of an elegant woman should probably be “Is a woman of integrity who always tells the truth!” 

How to shop like a celebrity

/ edebock / 9 Comments

LogoI thought that taking my oldest underwear to Europe was a great packing tip, but actress Helen Mirren goes much further than that.

“I love a good charity shop, especially when I’m travelling. When I’m going to cold places, I take nothing – just underwear. On my way from the airport, I ask the driver to take me to a good charity shop, and I buy boots, socks, trousers, jumpers, sweaters, hats and scarves… On the way back to the airport, I have it all in a big bag and drop it off at another charity shop,” she said in August of 2010.

She’s also been quoted as saying, “The whole thing of clothes is insane. You can spend a dollar on a jacket in a thrift store. And you can spend a thousand dollars on a jacket in a shop. And if you saw those two jackets walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t know which was which.” 

I first learned of Mirren’s penchant for thrift store shopping when I saw this meme on Facebook. I immediately knew that we were two of a kind!

Helen Mirren thrifting

Apparently Helen Mirren is far from the only celebrity who shops for second hand clothing. Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, and Sara Jessica Parker are just a few others who can be found searching the racks of thrift stores. Eva Mendes even attended her first movie premiere in a $6 dress from Goodwill. I love the fact that they prove that thrift stores aren’t only for people who haven’t any other financial options, but why would stars who can easily afford to be selective about where they shop choose second hand? Perhaps it’s because it allows them to find unique pieces that they know their fellow actresses won’t be wearing. Perhaps they hate fast fashion and see thrifting as a way to contribute to the well-being of the environment. Or perhaps, like me, it’s more about the fun of going on a treasure hunt.

So, if you’d like to dress like your favourite celebrity, it might not be as expensive as you think. Instead of dreaming of hiring a stylist and shopping luxury stores, why not be a frugal fashionista and check out a few thrift stores?