Icons, Not-so-accidental
You’re not following enough stylish older women on Instagram.
In a fashion world where youth culture is often celebrated, the elegance of age has not been equally appreciated. This is changing. In 2017, Harling Ross coined the term “menocore” as “the aesthetic leap to styles we would embrace as middle-aged women, taking us forward in time to a more marinated version of our selves, our mothers and our world.”
Sententiously, there is a small but growing number of women who are doing the public service of exhibiting said lifestyle on Instagram. They’re older than your average “influencer,” and they look incredible. 65 year-old Lyn Slater (492k followers) states that she does not consume garments, but rather “lives her life in them and dresses honestly”. Yueli Lin Zhuang (83k followers), a grandma from southern Taiwan, calls herself “a 90-year-old moonlight fairy” and says “I’ve just been doing what I’ve wanted to do all along.”
Do people follow these women on account of their age and fashion sense, or is there something more? “Women [like me] are smart, creative, fashion forward, fit, thoughtful, engaged, related and most importantly clear and comfortable with who they are,” says Slater. This trend rises as many brands have integrated mature women into their marketing strategies, and for good reason. The population of people over 60 is expected to hit 2 billion by 2050, it makes up the fastest growing group of consumers in the world and prevail in financial assets and consumer spending.
Sources: Vogue (April 17, 2017) | Man Repeller (August 23, 2017) | Adweek (April 6, 2015) | Image: Laura Pittaccio