Placeholder Content Image

The #advancedstyle movement celebrates and empowers stylish older women

<p>Until recently, the idea of paying close attention to mature women’s style would have, at best, been met with little interest from other consumers and the fashion industry but most likely completely ignored. </p> <p>After all, to be fashionable and feminine has typically been viewed as requiring youth. What could older female consumers possibly teach us about being stylish?</p> <p>Following the unexpected popularity of what’s known as the “<a href="https://www.advanced.style/">advanced style</a>” phenomenon, discussions about ageism, gender and fashion have been attracting increasing attention in the popular media, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/style/instagram-grandmas.html">the New York Times</a>. The <a href="https://www.instagram.com/advancedstyle/">@advancedstyle Instagram account</a>, created in 2008 by American street style photographer Ari Seth Cohen, helped fuel these critical conversations.</p> <p>Cohen’s celebration of the personal styles of regular women 50 years of age and older has launched a flourishing consumer movement. </p> <p>More than a decade after its creation, the Advanced Style Instagram account has more than 300,000 followers, boasts a hashtag <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/advancedstyle/">(#advancedstyle)</a> that’s been used more than 205,000 times, is regularly featured in major fashion magazines around the world, like <a href="https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/street-style/advanced-styles-ari-seth-cohen-on-sydneys-senior-style-scene/news-story/0264eec1ded0e57824f23f9c14f4c42e">Vogue Australia</a>, and expanded into the realm of coffee table books <a href="https://powerhousebooks.com/books/advanced-style1/">in 2012</a> <a href="https://powerhousebooks.com/books/advanced-style-older-and-wiser/">and 2016</a>, as well as <a href="https://powerhousebooks.com/books/advanced-style-coloring-book/">adult colouring books</a>.</p> <p>In light of this social media success story, my colleague <a href="https://www.hec.ca/en/profs/marie-agnes.parmentier.html">Marie-Agnès Parmentier</a> and I decided to explore how women over 50 are amplifying their voices and changing representations in the fashion and beauty industries by becoming official Instagram influencers. </p> <h2>The study</h2> <p>To do so, we conducted a focused media <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995511">and netnographic</a>investigation of the advanced style movement and its Instagram influencers. In particular, we followed 10 popular Advanced Style influencers from our personal Instagram accounts for 12 months. </p> <p>This online participant observation, which is a big part of conducting netnographic research, provided us with first-hand experiences of the influencers’ marketing activities and fan interactions. </p> <p>Our complete study is now published online in a special issue of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/712609">the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research</a> focusing on gender, markets and consumers. Overall, we have found that all 10 Advanced Style influencers use the social media platform to actively fight gendered ageism rampant in the fashion and beauty industries.</p> <p>Specifically, these women enact two forms of embodied resistance informed by the western dominant discourse of successful aging: They deconstruct gendered and ageist fashion, and they defy gendered and ageist beauty standards. </p> <p>Successful aging not only turns people’s inevitable biological deterioration into a personal project, it also provides concrete strategies of how to best be old. In 1997, American physician John W. Rowe and his psychologist colleague Robert L. Kahn, defined successful aging, first and foremost, as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/37.4.433">encompassing the avoidance of disease and disability, the maintenance of high physical and cognitive function, and sustained engagement in social and productive activities</a>.”</p> <h2>Gendered ageism in fashion</h2> <p>The fashion market makes sustained engagement difficult, given it’s replete with discriminatory rules about what to wear and especially what not to wear once a woman turns 50. These style rules include no longer showing one’s body through tight, short or low-cut clothing, adopting a less colourful wardrobe and makeup and retreating from ultra-modern, cutting-edge styles.</p> <p>In response, we find the advanced style consumers-turned-influencers engage in <a href="https://montecristomagazine.com/essay/defying-ageist-fashion-rules">online “style activism,”</a> demanding designers create ready-to-wear options for their changing bodies. </p> <p>In the sphere of influencer marketing, style activism also means deciding what brands to endorse and collaborate with, and what brands to pass and avoid. The advanced style influencers often refuse to be “<a href="https://thekit.ca/style/canadian-fashion-designers-roundtable/">the token senior</a>” of a marketing campaign. </p> <h2>Gendered ageism in beauty industry</h2> <p>The majority of the advanced style influencers equally reject the anti-aging beauty industry that <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/WN/selling-fountain-youth-author-arlene-weintraub-anti-aging/story?id=11533763">transforms getting older into a disease</a>. The multi-billion-dollar industry also falsely promises everlasting youth in a bottle.</p> <p>We find that these women opt instead to popularize natural, greying hair, wrinkles and body scars through their Instagram posts. For eons, beauty brands have told aging women that greying hair is a mortifying problem that must be hidden, whereas for older men <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/gallery/mens-grey-hair-care-guide">it remains a sign of mature sexiness</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvQoh6CSGvY">Grey hair</a> is consequently a defining feature of these influencers’ embodied resistance, and one that’s front and centre in their style activism. </p> <p>We encourage everyone to follow the advanced style influencers’ consumer activism journeys on Instagram by engaging with the hashtag #advancedstyle.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-advancedstyle-movement-celebrates-and-empowers-stylish-older-women-157952" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

Update your home interior with these stylish tips

<p dir="ltr"> If your home needs a revamp, it’s reasonable to think a major change is needed to see any difference - but you might be surprised to find that even the smallest of changes can add some new life into your home’s interiors.</p> <p dir="ltr">Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux’s Colour and Communications Manager, says making your home reflect your unique style that just a couple cans of paint could be all you need.</p> <p dir="ltr">“People often underestimate the power of paint as a cost-effective and impactful way to jazz up your space,” she says. “Additionally, colour can be introduced in a number of ways to help tailor and refresh interiors, all whilst keeping the structure and integrity of the home intact!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Paint can be a particularly helpful tool in revitalising your space if you’re renting and can’t knock down walls to your heart’s content, or if you’re looking for change that won’t cost an arm and a leg.</p> <p dir="ltr">To prove just how effective painting can be at revitalising your space, Dulux Trend Forecaster and Stylist, Bree Leech, took to her own rental home with a paintbrush or two.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2fce05c2-7fff-1636-6c0d-fffb27457698"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Our dining room had a feature that didn’t work for us and I’d wanted to fix it for some time!” Bree explains. “It was a neutral space that had a cut-out in the wall so you could look through the adjoining room. The cut-out feature was serving no real purpose and the dining area just felt a bit flat.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/06/home-interiors1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Before and after Bree Leech revamped her dining room with a lick of paint and some simple changes. </em></p> <p dir="ltr">She solved this problem with fluted wall panels that covered the cut-out feature, which she then painted with bright colours that were fun, joyful, and reflected her personal style.</p> <p dir="ltr">Those wanting to achieve something similar won’t have to work it all out on their own either, thanks to these tips from Bree herself.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Colour isn’t just for walls</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Bree says: “Painting dining chairs or a table is also a great way to achieve this look whilst renting. Add artwork that references your colour scheme to bring it all together.”</p> <p dir="ltr">But, Bree adds that having an overall mood or style is critical for selecting colours.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When selecting colours, always have an overall mood or style in mind and select colours that help bring this idea to life. It’s helpful to have a visual you can refer to like a mood board, materials board or a Pinterest board,” she explains. “This helps keep your colour scheme cohesive and gives you a reference point to work out your proportions as this can dramatically change the mood of the space.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Small changes work just as well as going bold</strong></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a17f3c09-7fff-5f3c-5231-ab6c37bc7f85"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“When it comes to scheming, going bold with colour can really pay off but equally, small changes can make a big difference,” Bree says. “If you want to introduce smaller pops of colour, choose furniture items or highlight small areas of a wall, door or even your ceiling.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/06/home-interiors2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Work with what you have</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">If you’re renting or following a strict budget, you may need to work with the existing fittings and features - but that doesn’t mean you’ll need to compromise on your style.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Working with existing fittings and fixtures can often mean a clash in colourways,” Bree adds. “While you may not be able to pull up the carpet or replace the kitchen benchtop, you can always add rugs for a tonal effect to get you closer to your desired palette. Dulux also offers a wet room coatings range (Renovation Range) which allows you to paint over existing benchtops, cabinetry and tiles for a bespoke, premium look.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Test your colours with this simple trick</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Since the colours you see in-store might look different in your home (or even at different parts of the day), it’s worth testing how the colour will look before you decide using this hack from Bree.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Paint a cardboard slip or piece of paper and leave the painted swatch up on the walls for a few days,” she says. “Move it around the room at different times of the day to ensure you love the colours(s) under different lighting conditions – both natural and artificial.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-fcffa6b1-7fff-aa38-0e20-fc649c1624fa"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: </em><em>Dulux Colour Forecast 2022 - Wonder Palette, Bree Leech (Dulux Colour Forecaster &amp; Stylist), Mike Baker (Photography), Wall Panel: Colour -</em><em>DULUX Harmonious, Product - DULUX Wash&amp;Wear, Supplied by Surround by Laminex; Chairs: Colour - DULUX Plunder, Product -</em><em> DULUX Aquanamel; </em><em>Rug supplied by Halcyon Lake </em><em>(</em><em>Supplied)</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

Placeholder Content Image

9 little winter fashion rules you need for staying warm and stylish

<p><strong>Pair skirts with knits</strong></p> <p>Instead of the typical blouse, pair your skirt with a cute knit this winter. You can layer a thin t-shirt or tank under your knit to ensure even more warmth. Celebrity stylist Cristina Ehrlich told <em>In Style </em>to pick your fit according to your height. “On the shorter side? Choose a more fitted sweater. If you have some height, the long shawl style is perfect,” according to Ehrlich.</p> <p><strong>Layer, layer, layer</strong></p> <p>Ray Lowe, fashion market writer for <em>refinery29.com</em>, recommends wearing a thin shirt under your knit and then top off the look with a stylish coat. This way, when you get to the warm indoors you can take off your layers in case you feel too hot.</p> <p><strong>Swap out thin tights for a thicker material</strong></p> <p>Try wearing fleece lined tights or leggings underneath your dresses, skirts and even pants. Fleece lined tights and leggings are still relatively thin material, so you won’t look too bulky, but you will be much warmer.</p> <p><strong>Rock the faux fur</strong></p> <p>Turn heads with a stylish faux fur top layer such as a coat or vest. <em>Glamour </em>recommends keeping the rest of the outfit simple with a solid knit and pants.</p> <p><strong>Layer with a turtleneck</strong></p> <p>Turtlenecks are only for the ski slopes: wear a turtleneck under your blouse to keep you extra warm. Add colour to your outfit with a stand-out turtleneck, or keep the look more neutral. Depending on how tight your blouse fits, stay even warmer with a thicker material turtleneck such as wool.</p> <p><strong>Add colour with hats and gloves</strong></p> <p>Add pops of colour to your outfit with colourful hats, gloves and other winter accessories. That way you can still make a fashion statement when you bundle up to go outside. Stylist Elizabeth Stewart, told <em>In Style</em> that she recommends wearing a thick black shawl with bright knit gloves and hats.</p> <p><strong>Wear ribbed clothes</strong></p> <p>“Trapping pockets of heat in your clothes while lengthening the lines of your limbs, these cottons are indispensable in a wintertime wardrobe,” Connie Wang, fashion features director at <em>refinery29.com</em> wrote on the site. Wear ribbed shirts and tights under your knits and dresses.</p> <p><strong>Layer with silk</strong></p> <p>Silk is an extremely warm material and since it’s very thin, it’s easy to layer underneath your winter clothes. Wear it under jackets, knits and dresses for another layer of insulation while still making a fashion statement.</p> <p><strong>Sport knee-high boots</strong></p> <p>Keep your feet and legs warm while wearing a skirt or dress with knee high boots. Celebrity stylist Miranda Almon recommended to <em>In Style</em> to go up half a size with your boots. “Going a half size up allows room for wearing thicker socks over tights,” Almond said.</p> <p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-e4815da9-7fff-8152-7b32-db4457da9fd7">Written by Morgan Cutolo. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/9-little-winter-fashion-rules-you-need-for-staying-warm-and-stylish" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

Do you shop for second-hand clothes? You’re likely to be more stylish

<p>Not only is second-hand shopping good for the planet and your wallet, <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1eme%7E3SU%7EVoF7C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our new research</a> finds the more style-conscious you are, the more likely you are to shop for second-hand clothes and accessories.</p> <p>In the 2020-21 financial year, <a href="https://reluv.com.au/sustainability-report-fashion-resale-in-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">72% of Australians</a> purchased at least one item of second-hand clothes – but we wanted to know more about people who were shopping second hand.</p> <p>It is <a href="https://debtbusters.com.au/buying-second-hand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">often assumed</a> those who shop for second-hand clothes do so to save money or reduce their impact on the environment.</p> <p>In our study, we found the higher people rate on style-consciousness, the more likely they are to shop second hand. In fact, style-consciousness was a bigger predictor of second-hand shopping than being frugal or ecologically-conscious.</p> <p>Style-conscious shoppers are very different from fashion-conscious shoppers. Fashion is all about the “new”: fashion is a novelty and constantly evolving.</p> <p>Style, on the other hand, is about expressing long-term individual identity.</p> <p><strong>The problem with fashion</strong></p> <p>Fashion shoppers are used to a continuous supply of new trends and “fast fashion” products. Fast fashion works quickly to replicate an ever moving stream of fashion trends, generating large volumes of low-quality apparel.</p> <p>The impact of fast fashion on the environment is significant and well-documented. Globally, the fast fashion industry creates <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/csr.2166" target="_blank" rel="noopener">92 million tonnes of waste</a> per year and uses 79 trillion litres of water. Less than 15% of clothes are recycled or reused.</p> <p>Poorly made and low-quality fast fashion items are a significant problem for charity stores, who are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-14/charities-not-accepting-donations-as-bins-overflow/10713158" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to send</a> fast fashion items they can’t sell to landfill.</p> <p>But, going against this fast fashion trend, <a href="https://www.thredup.com/resale/#resale-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing numbers</a> of people are shopping for second-hand clothing and accessories.</p> <p><strong>A growing market</strong></p> <p>It’s difficult to determine the size of the second-hand market because many sales take place in informal settings such as pre-loved markets and online platforms like Facebook Marketplace.</p> <p>However, sales data from online platforms shows an explosion in growth. James Reinhart, CEO of online second-hand fashion retailer Thredup, has predicted the global second-hand market <a href="https://www.thredup.com/resale/#size-and-impact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will double</a> in the next five years to US$77 billion (A$102 billion).</p> <p>He also predicts the second-hand market will be double the size of fast fashion <a href="https://www.thredup.com/resale/#transforming-closets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by 2030</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.thechainsaw.com/online-secondhand-platforms-booming-australia-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Younger shoppers</a> are driving growth in popularity of second-hand shopping, especially via online platforms.</p> <p>Our research suggests much of this growth is due to shoppers considering themselves to be style-conscious.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2WAdSgca6/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2WAdSgca6/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Alex van Os (@op_shop_to_runway)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><strong>What makes a second-hand shopper?</strong></p> <p>We surveyed 515 Australian female-identifying consumers looking at their “orientation” (the preference to behave in a certain way) when it comes to shopping. Each participant was measured for their orientation towards frugality, how ecologically conscious they are, their level of materialism, how prone they are towards nostalgia, their fashion-consciousness and their style-consciousness.</p> <p>While we found there are frugal and ecologically-conscious second-hand shoppers, our research revealed overwhelmingly that style-consciousness is the greatest predictor of second-hand fashion shopping.</p> <p>People who scored highly on the style-consciousness scale were more likely to shop for second-hand clothes than any of the other orientations.</p> <p>A style-conscious person expresses themselves through their clothes. These shoppers want clothes that complement their personal style and values. They look for authentic and original pieces and avoid mainstream trends and fast fashion.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca0fWXCpN8y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca0fWXCpN8y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Ashley (@ash_slay__)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Style-conscious shoppers buy high-quality, durable clothing and accessories. While fashion-conscious shoppers are constantly buying new clothes to keep up with current trends, style-conscious shoppers buy clothes that are timeless, well-crafted and allow them to express their individual identity over the long-term.</p> <p>Traditional thrift shops run by charities are responding to consumer demand, <a href="https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/shopping/rare-by-goodwill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reinventing their stores</a> with carefully selected, high-quality clothes, improved merchandising and store design, online sales and improved <a href="https://www.cmo.com.au/article/688451/how-salvos-embraced-ecommerce/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital and social media marketing</a>.</p> <p>The number of independently owned, highly-curated “pre-loved” stores and online sales platforms is also <a href="https://reluv.com.au/sustainability-report-fashion-resale-in-australia/?utm_source=home&utm_medium=cnva_link&utm_campaign=fashion_report_21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02650487.2021.2000125" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social media influencers</a> have driven much of this growth. Their accounts embrace second-hand fashion, the <a href="https://planetark.org/about/objectives/sustainable-resource-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener">circular economy</a> (which highlights reuse, repair, repurpose and recycle) and promote the notion of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/secondhandfirst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#secondhandfirst</a>.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B064OkRHEy2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B064OkRHEy2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Ellen (@theonlywayisop)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><strong>Helping the planet…with style</strong></p> <p>We hope with increasing numbers of second-hand stores, markets and online platforms selling a range of quality, pre-loved clothes at different price points for different budgets – coupled with the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/second-hand-clothing-to-overtake-fast-fashion-20191004-p52xt4.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing acceptance</a> of second-hand shopping – shoppers will consider buying second-hand more often.</p> <p>For those who already embrace “not needing new”, not only are you helping the planet – our research shows you are also likely to be doing it with style.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180028/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-grimmer-212082" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louise Grimmer</a>, Associate Head Research Performance and Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-grimmer-330523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Martin Grimmer</a>, Associate Provost and Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-shop-for-second-hand-clothes-youre-likely-to-be-more-stylish-180028" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

Royal fashion icons! Kate and Meghan rated most stylish

<p>Duchess Kate and her sister-in-law Meghan Markle have been labelled the most stylish royals of 2020.</p> <p>Royal umbrella maker Fulton Umbrella analysed Google searches related to royal fashion and found that the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, was the most searched-for royal, with Duchess Meghan coming in second place.</p> <p>The data looked at search trends and the most popular search terms relating to the senior women of the royal family, from 2017 to 2020.</p> <p>Despite not carrying out a majority of royal engagements this year, Kate came out on top with 77,000 searches this year to date. </p> <p>The royal continued to maintain her effortless elegance and style with glamorous hair-do’s and colourful, sophisticated dresses for video calls.</p> <p>The Duchess of Sussex, 39, has continued to wow the world with her easy, beautiful looks despite stepping down as a senior royal alongside her husband Prince Harry, in March.</p> <p>The royal appeared in many Zoom conference calls with Prince Harry throughout the year, opting for smart casual outfits that showcased her elegance over breathtaking gowns.</p> <p>However, Fulton Umbrellas did register a dip in searches relating to the Duchess of Sussex this year. </p> <p>This year's dip could be explained by the fact that the Meghan and Harry have now stepped back from their royal duties and have wisely chosen to isolate within their LA home.</p> <p>Princess Beatrice secured third place with her more polished ensembles and breathtaking vintage wedding dress borrowed from the Queen.  </p> <p><strong>Most searched keywords of 2020</strong></p> <ul> <li>Kate Middleton dresses: 33,800</li> <li>Meghan Markle style: 12,400</li> <li>Kate Middleton fashion: 12,100</li> <li>Meghan Markle dress: 11,700</li> <li>Meghan Markle fashion: 10,860</li> <li>Kate Middleton style: 10,600</li> <li>Princess Beatrice hat: 4,010</li> <li>Princess Beatrice dresses: 3,870</li> <li>Kate Middleton shoes: 3,680</li> <li>Kate Middleton hat: 3,320</li> <li>Most searched per month 2017-2020 </li> <li>Meghan Markle dress - 4,400</li> <li>Kate Middleton dresses - 3,600</li> <li>Meghan Markle style - 1,300</li> <li>Meghan Markle fashion - 1,300</li> <li>Kate Middleton fashion - 1,000</li> <li>Kate Middleton style - 1,000</li> <li>Meghan Markle coat - 480</li> <li>Princess Beatrice hat  - 390</li> <li>Kate Middleton shoes  - 390</li> <li>Kate Middleton hat - 390</li> </ul>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

Inside Dannii Minogue's stylish $2.7 million Melbourne home

<p>Dannii Minogue, 47, has put her "very private" home in Melbourne on the market for $2.6 million. The 780 square metre home is set to go to auction on June 22.</p> <p>The house features four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a two-car garage, a large pool and spa, as well as a large outdoor entertaining area.</p> <p>Since buying the property in 2010 when she was with then partner, Kris Smith – who she shares 8-year-old son Ethan with – Minogue has done a luxurious renovation on the spacious home, giving the lounge room and dining area a makeover since she first bought it.</p> <p>Director and auctioneer Campbell Ward told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7080727/Dannii-Minogue-lists-stylish-Melbourne-pad-auction-cool-2-6-million.html" target="_blank"><em>Daily Mail Australia</em></a> that the home has a guide of $2.6 million.</p> <p>“It's a very good home. It has been really well looked after and is quite a large home,” Ward said.</p> <p>“It is very private and it is surprisingly spacious,” he added.</p> <p>“It has a really good entertainment area out the back and is in a really good location with lots of schools around.”</p> <p>East Hawthorn is an affluent suburb which is just nine kilometres east of Melbourne’s CBD and is a short distance from the singer and TV host’s parents’ home in Surrey Hills.</p> <p>Scroll through the gallery above to take a tour inside the luxurious home.</p> <p><em>Photo credits: <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/466-tooronga-road-hawthorn-east-vic-3123-2015308045" target="_blank">Domain</a> </em></p>

Home & Garden

Placeholder Content Image

Looking stylish in your 60s and beyond

<p>At a casual glance, the fashion industry seems to target only the under-40s. A quick flick through the rails of many stores glaringly shows this age bias, with short, tight garments that go only up to size 14.</p> <p>Magazines seem to be equally biased. Apart from the occasional special feature, most magazines are filled with teenagers modelling clothes that work only on the very slim and young.</p> <p>This peculiar age bias is very odd, because, unlike most other industries, fashion companies seem to ignore the very people who want to and can afford to buy their products.</p> <p>It is as if a major section of the population has become invisible.</p> <p>British-based blogger The Invisible Woman, who writes for The Guardian newspaper, believes older women should buy clothes from mainstream stores.</p> <p>"I have always maintained that we, the older generation, do not need a special shop. To say that we do makes us sound special in the pejorative sense." For the Invisible Woman, she says the trick is to define your own style and then research where to find the right pieces.</p> <p>Theresa Gattung, former chief executive of Telecom, turned 50 last year. For Gattung, "age is irrelevant; everyone tries to look their best".</p> <p>Since leaving Telecom, she has adjusted her wardrobe to reflect her more active lifestyle. She has swapped high heels for sportier, more practical pieces. One of her favourite brands is Trelise Cooper.</p> <p>"My own style isn't defined. What I like is colour. Even when I am wearing mostly black, I would add a bright-orange coat."</p> <p>In 2010, Gattung and her friend, Margaret Duccas, opened Eva's Attic, a second-hand store with a difference, named after Duccas' mother. The store specialises in quality, donated clothing, with all profits supporting local and international charities.</p> <p>Navina Clemerson, now in her mid-60s, recalls: "In my early 50s, I felt like I became invisible. I simply stopped being noticed. This changed gradually three years ago when I picked up karate. I am now an advanced yellow belt."</p> <p>Carolyn Perry, manager of the Jane Daniels store, finds that the customers who stand out to her are often the most confident, and it is that confidence that is reflected in their style.</p> <p>For the woman who wants to improve her style, Perry offers some good honest advice: "Style is very important for women. There has to be that X factor in a garment that suits her body shape. By achieving this, she looks and feels confident and this, in turn, makes her feel sexy.</p> <p>"Many times I have suggested to women to try a garment that's a little different on the hanger and they have ended up purchasing it, saying they would not have looked at it had I not shown it to them."</p> <p>For Pip, a former lawyer aged 68, the biggest change came when she retired, and had to start seriously watching her budget.</p> <p>"When I was earning I would buy more expensive things. Now, I wouldn't spend the money."</p> <p>But she does think older women dress younger these days, compared with her mother's generation.</p> <p>"Older women don't dress elderly any more," she says.</p> <p>While the way women dress as they reach their 50s and 60s seems to be less limited than in the past, finding a style that works and is affordable can still be challenging.</p> <p>Like with any new stage in life or major change, playful experimentation, an honest outside opinion and some careful window-shopping can make all the difference.</p> <p>In the end, what is age appropriate is all in the eye of the beholder.</p> <p>How would you define your style? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><em><strong>To figure out ways to save on larger scale expenses by visiting our comparison tables section for <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/comparison-tables/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=RateCity&amp;utm_medium=post-generic&amp;utm_content=comparison-tables" target="_blank">better deals on credit cards, super and home loans</a></span>. For more information, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/comparison-tables/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=RateCity&amp;utm_medium=post-generic&amp;utm_content=comparison-tables" target="_blank">click here</a></span>.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Written by Ehud Joseph. Republished with permission from <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>. </em></p>

Money & Banking

Placeholder Content Image

The basic beauty products you need to look stylish

<p>Beauty companies are forever trying to convince us to buy more stuff, but when it comes to looking well-groomed, you can cull your arsenal down to just a few key products. </p> <p><strong>Hair</strong></p> <p>Good hair is 80 per cent of the battle to looking good – such is the negative impact of a bad hair day. Find a cut and style that suits your actual hair texture (not the texture you wish you had) and commit to getting it trimmed every two to three months. You'll need to go much more often if you have short hair, so factor that into your style choice.</p> <p>If you want to be low-maintenance, either don't colour your hair or choose a shade fairly close to your natural hue. Sharp, unintentional, colour contrasts due to regrowth make you look instantly unkempt.</p> <p>You need one good styling tool you can easily use, whether that's a heated brush, straightening iron, curling tong or just your hair drier, plus a styling product that works well with it. </p> <p>If your hair tends to run wild, an accessory such as a headband, clip or even a stylish hat, is great to have on hand for bad hair 'emergencies'. </p> <p><strong>Skin</strong></p> <p>Unless you have problem skin, you really only need a good cleanser and moisturiser, and perhaps some rosehip oil to use at night.</p> <p>To look polished, the main point with skin is to have your foundation, BB cream or tinted moisturiser in the right shade for your face. Get someone in a store to colour-match you so you avoid the classic trap of having your neck a different colour from your face. If you occasionally have blemishes or dark circles under the eyes (i.e. most of us) then a little concealer won't hurt either. A brush to blend your foundation is also helpful.</p> <p><strong>Makeup</strong></p> <p>Groomed brows give your look instant polish. Get them done once by a professional, then maintain the look at home with tweezers.</p> <p>As for the rest of the eyes, choose a look you can easily master. Mascara would be the minimum (go for brown if you prefer a natural look), but choose liner and cream shadow or powder shadow if you can easily apply it and it suits you.</p> <p>On lips, bright colours can be best left to experts – soft peach, rose or beige will never take your look into garish territory.</p> <p>For nails, invest in a manicure set so nails are clean and clipped reasonably short. Simply buff, or add nude or clear polish.</p> <p><strong>What you<em> don't</em> need</strong></p> <p>They're trendy and fun to experiment with, but are definitely not essential for a polished look.</p> <ul> <li>​A contouring kit</li> <li>An eye palette that has more than four shades</li> <li>More than three lipstick shades (work, evening and weekend)</li> <li>Specialty makeup-artist type products, such as primer, finishing spray or colour corrector</li> <li>False eyelashes</li> <li>Multiple hair appliances</li> <li>Multiple hair styling products</li> </ul> <p><em>Written by Melissa Williams-King. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Placeholder Content Image

80-year-old dazzles in stylish outfits

<p>Meet 80-year-old Ms Lin from Chongqing, south-west China. Her glamorous fashion shoot has wowed the internet, proving style has no age barrier.</p> <p>Gifted a professional photo shoot by her grandniece, the octogenarian embraced the life of a model with gusto, posing in a range of outfits that many would be surprised to see on their grandma. But from the photos it’s evident Mr Lin not only has a fashion sense to envy, she’s also having the time of her life!</p> <p>Her niece said she had given her great aunt a pair of four-inch heels to wear, but was afraid she would fall.</p> <p>“I suggested she could take them off between shots, but she insisted on keeping them on for added effect.”</p> <p>Ms Lin also refused to wear makeup saying she wanted to be keep her looks natural.</p> <p>“We wanted to show her most natural side in the photographs; we didn’t want the person in the photos to be unrecognisable afterwards,” her family said.  </p> <p><strong>Related links: </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/06/80s-fashion-trends-making-a-comeback/"><em>15 fashion trends from the 80s that are making a comeback</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/06/new-trends-to-try-this-winter/"><em>3 new fashion trends to try this winter</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/06/fashion-tips-for-flattering-the-neck/"><em>Fashion tips for flattering the neck</em></a></strong></span></p> <p> </p>

Beauty & Style