No money for butter...

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
-Jenny Joseph

I spend a ridiculous amount of money on magazines but lately I've been trying to economize and buy most of them in second-hand book stores. So far this has worked out well, even as I've had to wait to tear out all the editorials, I've saved a few dollars. So it wasn't until yesterday that I picked up Dazed & Confused's Jan issue with this fantastic editorial of flamboyant Older Ladies. In the comments over at foto decadent someone suggested this shoot is derogatory as the makeup and styling makes the ladies appear clownish. While I certainly agree that it would be fantastic to see older models in more editorials and definitely that this shoot uses the age of the models to shock (neither the makeup or styling is necessarily that crazy), I also don't see why the fun should be limited to younger models. Screw the age-appropriate thing, fantasy knows no age limit.
This editorial reminds me of the kitschy Joseph poem and my grandma at the same time-she is such a style icon of mine. At 80, she still gets her hair cut and coloured every three weeks, will not go outside without her face being 'on' (I mean fuchsia lipstick, serious rouge and mascara), White Diamonds and coordinated accessories. She never takes off her bracelets, she has dozens of them on one arm and they are almost like a physical history-one from this child, one for a birthday, one that belonged to my great-grandmother. She has a fantastic walk in closet-with a purse shelf, and tucked into every purse is a penny and a clean handkerchief, a shoe shelf where both her spotless white keds collection and her jewelled clear heels live peacefully, hat box shelf with my great grandmother's hats not to mention the dress up drawer she maintained for my cousins and me (my favourite piece would be a pleated chiffon pink dress she wore to the opening of the Bahamian Playboy Club back when it was The Place to be seen). Seriously I love the way she takes care of herself, sometimes its scary e.g. her habit of refreshing her lipstick while driving which has taken years off of everyone around her but I want so much to be just crazily fabulous when I reach that age and I think that the ladies in this editorial are just as inspirational.

When I am an old woman, I will wear pink,
and place tulle flowers in my hair.
Smoke Cigarettes inside and powder my face white

Wrap myself in baseball caps and boas and forget to pay the electricity bill.