Born at the back end of 1982 and growing up in the 90’s meant no mobile phones, no Amazon and certainly no Instagram or social media. Kim K who?
That probably sounds pretty scary to anyone reading this who is a lot younger…… In some ways life was a lot less complicated than it is today, but on the other hand it also meant that my world, and vision of the world I lived in, was very limited.
With no internet I could only see outside of my little bubble in West Sussex through what was pushed to me on TV, newspapers and in magazines – who remembers Bliss, More and Sugar!?
Back then, when it came to fashion, the standard mould of a model was a thin, white, teenage girl or one in her early 20’s at most. Even fashion that was aimed at a 40+ year olds for example, was still being modelled by 20 somethings! There was no diversity at all. None.
I remember thinking that once you hit 30 you were automatically an old fuddy duddy. All the LOLs.
I’m sure most people my age and older reading this, can relate – but we didn’t know any different, that’s all that was fed to us.
It’s pretty crazy when you think about it…. Over 30’s wear clothes, so why weren’t there any ads showing people who were buying the clothes, wearing them!?
Around 2 years ago I wrote a post about “Why I lack confidence in fashion blogging“. Prior to that post I was predominantly a beauty blogger. I had just started dipping my toe into the world of fashion blogging and I was, as I described in the post, as nervous as hell to press publish and show myself standing there in clothes looking awkward.
I was over 30 and certainly not a model size 6/8.
What would people think?! Who would be interested to read it?!
I was so overwhelmed to see the response it got. So many views and lovely comments. I was totally chuffed. This spurred me on to start posting more fashion on Instagram and now I’m pretty much only a fashion/ lifestyle blogger on Instagram.
One of the plus sides of having the internet and social media today is having our eyes opened to other people all over the world.
Now, at the the touch of a button I can scroll through and see ladies of all ages, a range of shapes and varying races wearing fashion and showing their style. Being exposed to variety has certainly given me more confidence in putting myself out there, because now I’m seeing other 30 + women who aren’t the typical model mould rocking fashion trends too.
Today I’m proud to say that bloggers are at the forefront for pushing for inclusivity when it comes to representation of size, race, abilities and age in the media. Which is flipping brilliant.
On top of that (some) brands attitudes are changing. Calvin Klein used Lauren Hutton at the age of 73 for an underwear campaign, and John Lewis used 60 something Jocelyn Beaudoin to model their new clothes collection.
But more still needs to be done.
Attitudes need to change.
This is why I set up a fashion account on Instagram to provide style inspiration to the over 30’s – a crowd that has been marginalised for far too long.
It’s been heartwarming to see the support it’s had and it’s grown to over 4,000 followers in just over 3 months! Crazy!
I think this just goes to show the appetite that is out there. Ladies over 30 want to see relatable content to help give them inspo for their next purchase, or how to style some clothes they already own.
I want to see ladies over 30 modelling clothes on ASOS, in magazines, on Britains Next Top Model and used for influencer campaigns because fashion is ageless. WE. ALL. WEAR. CLOTHES!
Getting older is a blessing. A blessing that not everyone gets to experience, so let’s celebrate that.
I don’t want teenagers to think that once you hit 30 you’re a fuddy duddy like I did, and we have the power to change that. Let’s show them that you can continue to be kick ass and inspirational whatever your age!
Together let’s change the concept that you need to be a young, skinny white girl to showcase fashion.
I’m a small blogger so it’s unlikely that any brands will read this post and take any notice, but the more of us that talk about it, and the more noise we make, a change will happen.
If you’d like to support the Over 30’s gang then make sure you follow @Over30sFashion on Instagram – these women are stylish, fashionable and kill it, every damn day!
Photography by: Fordtography
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