7 fashion and body confidence tips from models over 50
When you think of London Fashion Week, you might picture runways filled with models who have barely left school, but at one event this September, that wasn’t the case.
As a brand which caters for older women, JD Williams decided to stage an off-schedule catwalk show, featuring only models aged over 45, to showcase its autumn/winter collection.
The catwalk line-up included the two winners of the retailer’s Midster Model Search, which was launched after research revealed that 79% of British women feel ignored by the fashion and advertising industries.
We went backstage to chat to some of the models and were blown away by how cool and calm they were, ahead of their big catwalk moment.
“I’ve got to a place where I love my body for what it is, and I just thought, ‘I’ll share that with everyone else’,” says Nancy Harris, 51, an amputee who was signed by her agency when she replied to an ad looking for models with disabilities, and who has just appeared on the cover of Grazia.
Wishing you had the same amazing attitude? It’s all about self-acceptance and being yourself, according to these fearless females.
Here are seven top tips for ultimate fashion and body confidence, whatever your age.
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1. Own your look
“When I decided to go grey, it was really daunting, because I actually felt like I was ageing,” reveals Jenny Stoute, 53, one of the model search winners.
“Everybody was saying, ‘Jennifer, are you sure you want to do that?’ but I thought, ‘No, I am going to own this’.
“Once you own who you are, everyone else will own it too, and all of a sudden, no one will see it.”
2. Know where to shop
“I found fashion that fits me and have developed my own style, so there’s a huge amount of confidence now, with me as an amputee,” says Harris, a former PE teacher, who elected to have her leg removed after a trampolining accident over 20 years ago.
Although she initially struggled to source clothes that worked for her, she now knows which stores she can trust.
“I love Wallis, I love Principles, Marks & Spencer Per Una is where I go. Once I find a size that fits, I tend to stick with it.”
3. Don’t compare who you are now to your younger self
“I can never look how I used to look in my 20s,” continues Stoute, an Olympic Bronze medallist and former Gladiator, “but I can look like the best version of me.”
The other competition winner, Sue Hammond-Doutre, a typist and carer from Buckinghamshire, agrees:
“It’s about accepting your shape, because obviously I am bigger than I used to be – because of being 58 – but it’s being confident about it.”
Midster model search winner Sue Hammond-Doutre walks the JD Williams Midster catwalk
4. You don’t have to follow trends
“I sometimes feel that they’re a bit too young for me,” says Harris about the latest fashion trends, but she does like to keep an eye on what’s in vogue.
“I think it’s about what you like, it’s not about pleasing other people… if you look in the mirror and go, ‘That looks good’, then stick with it!”
Model Nancy Harris walks the JD Williams Midster catwalk
5. Put yourself first
“I am now at a significant time in my life where I’m in charge… I run a sporting agency, and having two children, doing everything for everybody, I thought it would be nice to see what it would be like to do something for myself,” says Stoute of her decision to enter the competition.
Hammond-Doutre shares this sentiment, after deciding last year to have a breast reduction: “I was a very top-heavy girl… it limited the things I could wear and do.
“I got myself confident in other ways. I have a lovely life, I’m getting married next year, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to take control of my body now’.”
This choice has meant she’ll be entering her sixties with more self-assurance than ever.
6. Embrace your age
“As soon as I turned 53, I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my mum’s age, what am I supposed to do?’” Stoute says.
But she no longer feels that way: “There is life after 40… we don’t want to be teenagers, we just want to be hip and great and noticed.
“I think what JD Williams is doing is encouraging everyone to have ownership of who they are and to celebrate it.”
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7. Don’t forget to smile
It sounds simple, but smiling projects confidence and can transform your mood.
Says Hammond-Doutre: “If you smile a lot, people always smile back, and you feel good.”
The Press Association
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