Digital fashions beyond age

Abstract

Fashionable bodies are no longer young. This seems the new extreme narration of the fashion world, which increasingly includes images of elder models, which seldom reach the catwalk, and more often create their own blog offering clues for the re-creation of a fashionable mature look. Their representations of fashion have covered famous specialized magazines and have challenged the belief about the magic of fashion as a visual story of ageless beauty. More importantly, the images of aged models have displaced the barriers of access to the glossy world of the selected few: those who can wear what they want, are no longer the same as those who have won a genetic lottery. This (new?) breed of fashion bloggers is indeed making visible an existing part of the market that advertising professionals have been underrating for a long time – and that are now discovering due to their considerable purchasing power. At the same time, this is recalling an often neglected but relevant function of fashion and all vestimentary practices: clothing is a way to extend the self and to empower. So, Is this the newest advertising strategy – and a minor target of consumption that has no specific influence? Or is it a sign of a new visual paradigm beyond borders? In this contribution I will analyse a selection of the most celebrated examples of mature fashion blogs that seem to be challenging the on-going discourse of fashion. I will show how they blur the boundaries of mainstream representation and I will try to shed light on the ways in which they are pushing forward the limits inherent in the belief of fashion.