Queen of the Club

Talking about being 61 to a reporter, Helen Mirren said, “I just think that everybody else is getting older, so you're not the only one. You're with your group - you're sharing the same experiences.”

That does makes aging easer to handle – being part of a a huge population of contemporaries to inspire and commiserate with you and, when the whining gets too much, to say “get over it.”

In “The Queen,” Mirren plays not only her royal majesty in an award-winning manner but offers a pretty familiar image of how women of a certain age used to look. Tweedy clothes, spongy shoes, tight perm and a purse by her side. Stiff, proper, pinched.

When I questioned the royal purse in a newspaper column I wrote about Mirren’s performance, a reader suggested that she probably was packing a gun. I was unable to confirm that, although it sounded tantalizing. I figured it held a lipstick or breath mints. Maybe treats for the dog.

As soon as Mirren stopped being queenly she was back to being her hip, luscious and confident self. She has a look that says, “This is me. Accept it. Enjoy it.”

I think it’s a good look for the club.

Orthopedic Stilletos

I gave a talk about Boomer women with my friend, Brenda Kinsel, author of "40 Over 40: Things Every Woman Needs to Know About Getting Dressed" and a Bay Area image consultant, to a San Francisco audience and the talk got around to shoes.

Someone remarked that it would be nice if there were such a thing as "orthopedic stilletos," given the tortured conditon of many middle aged feet challenged by the desire to still wear kick-butt heels.

I offered what a woman told me for my book "The Juicy Tomatoes Guide to Ripe Living After 50."

It's in a section called "How to be a Hottie After 50" and the idea is to walk like you're IN high heels even if you're not. Try it in running shoes. Or bare feet.
We don't need the killer shoes. We can simply call up our "inner stilletos" and sass our way down the sidewalk in a pair of clogs.