Tag: Fashion

I have been a fan of Grazia pretty much since it’s launch in the UK and while I don’t have a subscription, I do buy it weekly. Last year I tried pitching a few ideas to the editor but they fell short and I was gently reminded that the audience is mainly women in the 18-35 age bracket.

Having bought the first issue of the year yesterday, I was reminded of the age bracket, leafing through the magazine & before I switched off my bedside lamp, I thought I would write a post about some of the things that ‘grabbed’ my ‘over the 35 age bracket’ attention.

–  January is the time of new year resolutions and one of ’10 Hot Stories’ is dedicated to stopping hibernation and getting fit, with the suggestion that on-trend trackies might inspire you to do that. Sadly all the fitness gear in that feature, alongside all the fitness ads in the magazine are ‘modelled’ by women barely in their 20s who are slim/skinny, of model height and hardly breaking the sweat. That reminded me of a recent Instagramm image of Deliciously Stella, who poked fun at the ‘workout perfection’ phenomenon. I workout not to be pretty but to be fit and well & as far as I know, mere mortals sweat when they exercise & it doesn’t make us any less attractive, in fact i prefer that to airbrushed perfection.

– I mostly leaf through the magazine but some features or stories grab my attention and I read them from the beginning till the end. One of those was ‘ The life-changing power of giving no f**ks’.

Some of us are born self-assured, some gain that perspective in later life, as experience makes you realise that only opinions of select few people in our lives really do matter or make a difference to what or how we do things. People like to advance themselves or talk about good intentions or supporting endeavours of others, but not everyone walks the walk. Sarah Knight, a self-confessed overachieving perfectionist, writes honestly and with humour about walking away from her senior book editor job after 15 years because the pleasure was sipping away from her life. January is indeed ‘the perfect month for giving fewer f**ks because the festive season is so, so draining’.

– ‘Let’s style it from the boys‘ – seeing those images made me hoot with laughter and made my husband look at me with raised eyebrows, clearly questioning my sanity, when I suggested he ‘adjusts’ his office attire. Neither was I inspired to borrow those style ideas and incorporate them in my own wardrobe. I know plenty of men who are in touch with their ‘feminine’ side, but I don’t know any who would be drawn to dressing like men in the images below. The whole trend of making men more feminine and less masculine is somewhat distressing, as many already don’t know how to do a simple thing like put a nail in the wall and hang a picture, thus making women less romantic and more tough. If that trend continues, I don’t know what the future for relationship between men and women will bring.

– ‘Hottest health kicks‘: reading about the things that others say ‘will rock’ your wellness, is always fun but a timely reminder that before we start buying into trends and fads we should really question their benefits for us. The answer is clear how it benefits PR, marketing and brands.

Streamed Classes: great for those of us who love working out from the privacy of their own home or when travelling.

Fitness Gaming: I know that even young kids love virtual reality, but personally I prefer to do real things, like actually swimming in the sea or going on a rollercoater, instead of ‘imaging’ doing it. A life is worth living & not pretending to do so.

Wearable tech: a top monitoring one’s heart rate sounds great but I draw a line at leggings telling me the amount of calories burnt. Do we really need the earpiece that tells us to chew more slowly or a gadget that tells us to sit more upright? Instead of spending the money on those, I would rather use my mind to do that, for free.

Normcore eating: bless the ‘diets be gone’ slogan – I would ban the word if I could!

Artichoke
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