Fight back against pink repression

For a few days last April, I was cranky about another one of those prescriptive diatribes about what women should - or should not - wear after a certain age. It was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald Style column that got me going, written by one Michelle Lawford.  I do not know who this repressed 50+ lady is, but in her "Retail therapy" column she listed all of the things she thinks women over 50 should not wear. The list included bikinis, plunging necklines.. and HOT PINK.

As for me, I specifically wore hot pink for my 50th birthday dinner at Manta Restaurant, Wooloomooloo (Colette Dinnigan chiffon hot pink blouse with black velvet hot pants and Wolford faux garter hosiery - pictured above with friends Rachel G, Bronwyn S, JoAnne W and Gillian E).

I have worn hot pink on many occasions since then, and challenge Michelle to justify her exhortation that I (and all my sisters) should stop. What she really meant was she herself did not want to wear hot pink, or more likely she could not wear hot pink. Though never having seen this woman, my guess is that she never suited hot pink at all, so it would be no surprise that at 50 nothing had changed.

I am no clairvoyant, but have a strong gut feeling that Michelle has a complexion totally unsuited to hot pink, whereas I have olive skin.

My tabou colours are salmon pink, baby pink, light grey and khaki.

Colour is such an important form of personal expression, even if it's only black or beige that you wear. Colour is also a means of mood enhancement. Choose your colour based on many factors: skin tone, the type of garment, the precise hue, the appropriateness of the occasion - but least of all, age.

That kind of prohibitive talk does make me cross, as a reaction to what I perceive is a form of shame or shaming. I reject the shaming of 50 year old women who dare to wear HOT PINK.

PINK AND PROUD

At school reunion, in Carla Zampatti satin glam bomber jacket ( with Sandra, Alison and Lisa)

Attending Karl's graduation, Cambridge, in YSL Rive Gauche pink wool suit over black chiffon blouse with pussy bow, topped by mohair cape.

(P.S. Michelle, I also do plunging necklines and bikinis, although the latter can be a bit scary. I am emboldened to do so because my husband says "one pieces are for women who have given up"!)