Dear Liz Claiborne: You Go, Girl

I Paused. I Looked Twice. Was I reading Allure or Maxim?

There was Cindy Crawford, dressed in gladiatrix leather, subduing a loaf of peasant bread with her incisors, legs splayed, arms akimbo (possibly my favorite term for a body position). Yup, the cover reassured me, I was indeed reading Allure--a women's magazine focused usually on this season's "it" handbag; the cutest lip gloss; maybe an article on how to get your guy to treat you with more respect. Then I turned the page. . .And checked the title again. Because now I was looking at Cindy Crawford, one-time supermodel but now surely in the "mom" age range, similarly spread out, now naked and iced strategically--but not so strategically I couldn't see plenty--with whipped cream (OK, my guy friend says it was Cool Whip. I didn't linger on the page long enough to study texture closely.) The point of this photo shoot? Supposedly, to reassure all of us middle-aged women that this was "The New 43." If so, then Hera thank you for letting me be "The Old 55."

Clearly, women are still being told that it's unacceptable to simply age, that a sense of style and grace aren't enough, that we have to remain buff and tough and willing to show it all to survive the culture of youth.

Which brings me back to Liz Claiborne's current ad series. Yes, I know Liz herself is no longer around but the company still seems to be run by people who actually do have respect for women. The latest ads all show a number of people standing in some public setting--waiting for a bus; riding in an elevator--all wearing Liz Claiborne (admittedly, an amazing coincidence that everyone at the bus stop reached for the same designer that morning but, hey, a little suspension of disbelief here, people). And in each ad, there's a range of models. Always a lovely young woman or two, of course, and a guy who looks very metrosexual but also always a range of skin shades and body types and--what makes me smile most--age. In every ad, there's at least one "woman of a certain age" and that age isn't 43--or even 55, I'm guessing--and she's not a classic older model with shiny silver hair and great skin. No, the older woman wears her age on her face and in her body but she's still wearing the latest Claiborne fashions, wearing them in the same tasteful way all the other models in the ad are, not having to wear some token old lady version of them. In the elevator ad, the youngest model is dressed in pink with a flouncy skirt and brown clutch; the older model has on a great purple suit jacket with a clear trench over top and a big, statement-y tote bag. Both look beautifully stylish and like they are comfortable wearing clothes that express their ages and places in life.

None of us has to dress like Margaret Dumont if we feel more like Katherine Hepburn just because we're past 40. I still feel most comfortable in tight jeans and boots. And yes, I'm trying to work out a little so my triceps don't sway in the breeze this summer. But at a time when there are more middle- and older-aged people than young, why are we still getting the message that naked with whipped cream should be our goal.

Thanks, Liz. And shame on you, Allure. May you be forced to eat Cool Whip on your next sundae.