Like Sadie Frost, Sarah Jessica Parker and the make-up queens Ruby and Millie, this girl-woman has a flirtatious boudoir style and she’s well over 35. In her handbag there’s a Hello Kitty phone; in her make-up there’s a rosy Pout blusher; in her heart there’s a yearning for the little girl she once was. Girlie style is back, and this time it’s for the over-forties.
“I love to wear colour,” says Jeanine Lobell, 41, the founder of Stila cosmetics. “A pretty pink sweater can do the same thing as the right lipstick — it lights up the face and makes me look more rested and fresh.” It’s all about a psychological flirtation with youthful colour, sparkle and gloss, injecting some lightness and femininity into your styling, and not feeling threatened by your physical age.
Girlie-woman’s 1990s precursors, Paula Yates and Courtney Love, mined the kinder-whore look. They had this kind of trashy, little-girl style — all trailer park, lingerie and diamanté tiaras — down pat well into their thirties. But today’s girls are not necessarily bad: they’re successful women in the fashion and beauty industry who just enjoy a bit of frippery. Many of them even have children.
“For me, having this girlie style has been about living and breathing Pout for the past five years,” says Emily Cohen, 35, a partner in the make-up brand and emporiums. Cohen likes to team pretty vintage tops with jeans and sweet little shoes. “I’m always soft and feminine rather than hard-core black, and I definitely reflect that in my make-up as well.”
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In fact, girlie style tends to be a microcosm of girlie lifestyle. If you look at what Sadie Frost and Jemima French, both in their late thirties, put on the catwalk, it’s a reflection of their whimsical chic: the fluttering rose-pink silk dresses for summer, the chiffon, the tulle. They’ve also carried it through to a capsule collection of make-up for Boots 17. Two nail polishes, one (Frost Bite) a fairy-tale glimmering white, the other (French Kiss) a burnished rose. “We remembered 17 from our youth,” say FrostFrench, “and we were excited at the opportunity to work with it and create a renaissance. One of our best memories of our teenage years, even before we knew each other, was shopping trips to Boots to stock up on 17 make-up.”
For some, it’s nostalgia that’s behind their plunge into all things pink and twinkly. Not for everyone, though. “I was a full-on tomboy until I was 12,” says Cohen. “I wasn’t into dolls and make-up. It took me a bit longer to get to that point.” More than 20 years later and she’s indulging with aplomb. “I love being feminine and girlie and not taking myself too seriously.”
It seems there are two keys to pulling off this look aged 35-plus — a certain lightness of touch and a certain lightness of heart. One: you have to have a sense of humour. You have to know how to have fun. With the way you dress. With the way you act. Two: you do it with a sense of minimalism. This is not the Barbara Cartland school of maximalist femininity. Keep it simple, and the touches light, and you’ll get away with something cute. Of course, it helps if your skin looks young as well. “I achieve a fresh, girlie look by caring for my skin, drinking lots of water and wearing minimal make-up,” says French. “I think how you feel inside also comes through on your face. Plus lots of fresh air, long walks and vegetable juice.” For Lobell, the key is to “focus on putting that glow back into your skin”.
Ruby Hammer, of Ruby & Millie, who looks a decade younger than her 44 years, recommends using a base with a light-reflective quality, such as Guerlain’s Liquid Radiance, to add lustre. French, meanwhile, suggests spritzing your face with water to keep the skin hydrated and healthy. “I always use 17 Ultimate Volume Mascara, lip gloss, and a sweet shade of English rose on my cheeks,” she says. “My current favourite is 17 Blush Powder in Orchid Rose.” Looking sweet and fresh in your forties is just a slick of lip gloss away.