Like a Fine Wine

As reported in the Los Angeles Times

Like a fine wine: V magazine celebrates 50-plus divas

November 22, 2010 | 8:30 am


Oversized glossy magazine V is always out to provoke dialogue or, some would say, shock the Confederacy.

But its new "Who Cares About Age Issue," featuring a trifecta of sophisticated cover girls — Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda — is actually surprising. Why? Because we're so used to "age" issues in women's magazines featuring rosy-cheeked 30-somethings -- think Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow -- perhaps with a token 50-plus woman folded into the back pages.

Fonda, 72, affects "Dynasty" glam in a Dolce & Gabanna leopard-print top and a cocktail ring the size of Las Vegas. Sure, she's strategically airbrushed, but so is Kate Moss. And correct us if we're wrong, but she might be the first septuagenarian to grace the cover of an edgy fashion mag.

Weaver, 61, plays up her androgynous beauty in a playful baseball cap worn over slicked-back hair, serious lipstick and a perforated dress by Alexander McQueen. Sarandon, 64, channels her "Witches of Eastwick" look (and challenges convention) with her tangle of curly red hair. Her outfit: spectacular drop earrings by Fred Leighton and nothing else.

Other mature women featured in the issue include 64-year-old Charlotte Rampling; Argentine singer and theater actress Nacha Guevara, 77; Eve Fletcher, the 83-year-old amateur surf star; and 86-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt.

It's about time these veteran beauties get their due.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photos: The three covers of V magazine's "Who Cares About Age Issue." Credit: V magazine.