When I turned 50 years old, I wondered if I would still be femulating when I retired. I assumed that when I reached retirement age, I would look so old and unattractive that I would not want anyone (including myself) to see me en femme.
This June, I will have been retired seven years and I am still femulating no matter how old and unattractive I have become. Old lady is better than no lady and I look forward to continue femulating just like the gentle men in the image above.
Back in the 1960s, my grandparents were all spending their seventh decade on the planet Earth. My grandmothers dressed like most of the other women their age, that is, they dressed like “old ladies.” Fashion-wise, they made no attempt to compete with the younger generations. Their fashion sense reminded me of a line from the Saturday Night Liveadvertisement parody for Mom Jeans, “Get her something that says, ’I'm not a woman anymore, I’m a Mom!’”
Things changed and by the time my mother reached her seventh decade in the late 1970s, 60-year-old women were dressing more stylishly than their mothers had in their seventh decade... stylish enough that this girl was still borrowing stuff from Mom’s wardrobe when her Social Security checks began showing up.
Things kept changing and today, 60 is the new 40, 70 the new 50. People are living healthier and thus, longer lives. Reaching retirement age today does not have the same connotations as it did in the 1960s. I recall that American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) commercial about a woman of a certain age who knows her way around miniskirts and can run in high heels.
Admittedly, not everyone my age fits that description... not even me. I seldom run even in flats, but I typically walk wearing heels, my hemlines seldom gets acquainted with my knees and I plan to dress my “age” for the rest of my life.
 |
| Wearing Ann Taylor |
 |
| Harvey Korman femulating on television’s The Carol Burnett Show. |