In a sea of pearls be a Marina

Now we need to get serious here for a moment, so bear with me. I need to address something I read during the week and which sent me into a bit of a rage.

I came across an article by former Vogue editor Alexandra Schulman in The Daily Mail. Now firstly I was quite surprised she was writing for said newspaper, but secondly, I was even more surprised and dismayed by what she had to say.

It was in my opinion a very misjudged opinion piece on what original '90s supermodel Helena Christensen wore to model Gigi Hadid’s denim-themed birthday party.

The issue for Schulman seemed to lie in the fact that 50 year old Christensen dared to wear a bustier with jeans to the party and deemed the whole look age inappropriate.

Helena looked absolutely amazing in the outfit but even if she didn’t look fantastic in it, it’s her right to wear whatever the hell she wants without having to be told she shouldn’t wear it because she isn’t 20 anymore.

Alexandra Schulman is just reinforcing these ridiculous 'fashion rules' that you can’t wear certain things at certain ages as if some fashion police are going to come up and arrest you if you dare to wear a skirt above the knee the minute you reach your 50th birthday.

One of my most hated phrases is 'mutton dressed as lamb' because it’s just such a cutting put down to someone who obviously still dares to like getting dressed up when they pass a certain age. So many women live in fear of this phrase being applied to them and it drives me absolutely crazy.

I know for some it must bring to mind TV characters such as Bet Lynch from Corrie with her penchant for high hair and animal print or Marina from 'Last of the Summer Wine', but let's face it, these were the absolute best characters on these shows. At least they were interesting.

No matter your age, wear what you want if it brings some joy to your life then who cares what other people will say. It’s generally just judgemental folk like Schulman who will say anything, most other people don’t actually care, so in a sea of pearls - be a Marina.

In other news, I’m off on holidays for a few days next week and in a departure from the norm, I am pretty much packed already. This was probably made easier by the fact that I’m off to Torremolinos so I just packed my summer clothes knowing that there would be no chance of me wearing any of them at home this week.

Is any one else feeling mighty cold? I’m going for six days and I’ve managed to pack everything I need into cabin baggage which I feel is pretty impressive packing. It’s made easier because summer clothes are so light and I’ve just thrown a pile of sun dresses in there, so I don’t know if I would fare so well if I needed winter layers. Regardless, I’m still giving myself props for this.

I also went shopping for swimwear the other day and boy was that a shock to the system for my poor pasty winter body! However I was so impressed by the amount of really nice swimsuits out there so I picked up a tropical palm print swimsuit and a high waist striped bikini, both from Dunnes Stores, for lounging by the pool with my factor 50 sunscreen while I sit under my umbrella. Sunburn is not a good look.

I’m also off to a Dreaming Always event in the beautiful surrounds of Legan Castle Farmhouse in Kilkenny when I get back and we will be glamping so I’ll fill you in on how that goes when I get back.