Fierce Women
Recently an FB friend of mine started a group referred to as "The Fierce 50 Movement". It is all about celebrating women who are fifty and over. Although we have been hearing a lot about women over 50 and most of us who pay attention know they can be quite fierce, many of us fail when it comes to understanding what this really means. We know these women when they are in the media and famous in some way but we don't believe that they exist in the real world. In fact, most of the time we fail to notice them. While we have often times celebrated men of 50 and even older we tend to dismiss women who are "older". And so here is the time for us to take notice of women over 50, all of them. I for one would like to bring them to the forefront and to share my own magical experience with women who are seasoned (my word to replace the word "old"). No more.
Some years back a young man decided to capture what he referred to as "advanced style". He went into the streets of New York and began photographing women who were "older" and what happened after that is historical. Women he photographed that were 70-90 years of age were used in commercials and some were subjects for talented artists who used them for their paintings. Soon there was a documentary called "Advanced Style" and then a book filled with pages of women dressed in ways that took fashion to a mind blowing level. After seeing the documentary I looked for and purchased the book. Today it sits on my desk in my den because it is proof that fashion, beauty and style have nothing to do with age.
I guess I am a pretty different kind of man because I was raised by a woman who did not believe that age mattered when it came to what she could do or how she looked. I knew very early on that taffeta was a rich fabric and that silk was a delicate one. I had a grandmother who was as seamstress and who taught me that looking sharp meant something. It was more about how one presented and taking pride in ones own body. For me it was second nature. In my twenties I worked for Marshall Field's in a relatively high end area where women came to shop for men dressed to the absolute nines as they say. I experienced women who looked impeccable all the time and were in their 60's on up to their 80's. I was impressed by this idea that women could be so beautiful at any age. It stuck with me to this day that women of any age can look beautiful, be confident and be empowered at any age.
Being introduced to this new group of women has ignited something inside of me. I feel like I must share my positive experience with this idea that women can be fabulous at any age because it's true. The women that I know have stepped into their goddess energy and kept their ageless look and their ageless attitude. Some of them are dancers of salsa who I hang with while others are grandparents like me who love being every aspect of who they are. All of them have not conformed to the idea that once you are of a certain age it's all over. In fact, they are women who are doing even more of what they dreamed of every day. I want to advocate to celebrate these women and to show the world that they are just as valuable as the ones in their 20's. As a male I want to celebrate the fact that many women are doing things that are amazing at 50-60-70-80-90.
I celebrate women of any age who have shown us all that life does not stop at 50 but in fact starts at 50. These women, like Catherine and others are symbols of active living at any age. These women are true symbols of beauty and empowerment. These women are not just fierce they are valuable resources for all of us to know that life can be fantastic at any age. These women are the reason that I would wear a red suit, dance salsa till 2am and live a life that is based on self-love rather then my age.
Elliott Maximo Collazo
Some years back a young man decided to capture what he referred to as "advanced style". He went into the streets of New York and began photographing women who were "older" and what happened after that is historical. Women he photographed that were 70-90 years of age were used in commercials and some were subjects for talented artists who used them for their paintings. Soon there was a documentary called "Advanced Style" and then a book filled with pages of women dressed in ways that took fashion to a mind blowing level. After seeing the documentary I looked for and purchased the book. Today it sits on my desk in my den because it is proof that fashion, beauty and style have nothing to do with age.
I guess I am a pretty different kind of man because I was raised by a woman who did not believe that age mattered when it came to what she could do or how she looked. I knew very early on that taffeta was a rich fabric and that silk was a delicate one. I had a grandmother who was as seamstress and who taught me that looking sharp meant something. It was more about how one presented and taking pride in ones own body. For me it was second nature. In my twenties I worked for Marshall Field's in a relatively high end area where women came to shop for men dressed to the absolute nines as they say. I experienced women who looked impeccable all the time and were in their 60's on up to their 80's. I was impressed by this idea that women could be so beautiful at any age. It stuck with me to this day that women of any age can look beautiful, be confident and be empowered at any age.
Being introduced to this new group of women has ignited something inside of me. I feel like I must share my positive experience with this idea that women can be fabulous at any age because it's true. The women that I know have stepped into their goddess energy and kept their ageless look and their ageless attitude. Some of them are dancers of salsa who I hang with while others are grandparents like me who love being every aspect of who they are. All of them have not conformed to the idea that once you are of a certain age it's all over. In fact, they are women who are doing even more of what they dreamed of every day. I want to advocate to celebrate these women and to show the world that they are just as valuable as the ones in their 20's. As a male I want to celebrate the fact that many women are doing things that are amazing at 50-60-70-80-90.
I celebrate women of any age who have shown us all that life does not stop at 50 but in fact starts at 50. These women, like Catherine and others are symbols of active living at any age. These women are true symbols of beauty and empowerment. These women are not just fierce they are valuable resources for all of us to know that life can be fantastic at any age. These women are the reason that I would wear a red suit, dance salsa till 2am and live a life that is based on self-love rather then my age.
Elliott Maximo Collazo
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