Are You A Female Midster?

What do Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, Tilda Swinton and Patti Smith have in common? They are all Midsters.

Born between 1960 and 1980, Midsters are those ladies with a positive attitude about ageing who actively reject the traditional middle-aged role. Midsters’ identity is strongly linked to being perceived as being radically different from their parents and the latter’s concept of what being middle aged.

No longer embracing bubble perms and nylon dresses, midsters have interesting lives and look good. The previous generation’s loafer shoes have been replaced with cool trainers; the shapeless dress and elastic-waisted trousers with modern suits and skinny jeans. They tend to be educated, extroverted, strongly attracted to new projects and ideas. They love social media and care about fashion as well as the environment. Midsters are the ones with a “can do attitude”, ladies who live life abundantly with purpose, intent and a dash of adventure.

Times are changing. People’s perceptions are changing and thanks to these daring stylish women, who live unapologetically, midlife is slowly but surely getting a rebrand on TV shows, websites, books, magazines and advertising. In fact, there has been a noticeable increase in the use of older models and celebrities in advertising campaigns and as fashion muses in the last decade. Grey Models, an agency for older fashion models, also use to run one-day intensive ‘Grey Rebellion workshop‘ – a coaching session for new faces, returning models and pros. It promised training on the catwalk, poses, expressions, castings, fitness, contracts and even a hi-res photo from a Master Photographer to take home.

Whether you want to be a midster-model or not, we know there is much more out there waiting for us. As older ladies, we know that the labels society puts on us may be big but they’re rarely true (and maybe ‘midster’ is another one but a bit more flattering). We’ve learned to value each other and ourselves by what we do over an extended period, not how we look at any given moment. The bottom line is if we take care of our bodies and our minds and create a positive healthy environment in which to live then really what is stopping us from realising our dreams? The biggest advantage of growing older is that it simply has given you more time to do what you want to in life. More time to achieve, to gain wisdom and to collect experiences. Midlife, in the end, it’s a Wake-Up Call, or an opportunity, because awareness creates the opportunity to change.

Are you a midster? Share your story with us here