Everyone has insecurities when it comes to their body, whether it’s their arms, crepey skin or just body shape. And it’s no different for former Playboy star Dorrie Jacobson.
But the model turned style icon, 84, has now revealed she’s overcome her own insecurities with some simple style tricks to look and feel her best – and she’s shared some of the best with Starts at 60.
For Dorrie, she’s found her biggest battle has been with age spots and bingo wings – and while she insisted it’s good to feel comfortable showcasing every part of your body, there’s no reason not to hide the parts you feel anxious about.
“It’s a problem that comes with ageing and unfortunately there’s not very much we can do about it, but we do have some choices,” she said.
“I keep telling people that you need to love the skin you’re in because that’s what you project. If you’re agonising over bat wings or the crepey skin, that’s what you’re putting out there unfortunately rather than ‘I think I’m beautiful’. So we do have choices. I choose, for the most part, to camouflage those parts that I’m not too happy showing.”
Dorrie revealed one of the things she does to camouflage her arms is wear sheer-sleeved jackets and tops – not only ensuring she remains cooler in hot weather, but also meaning she can make a fashion statement and look great.
While your arms are visible under the material, it gives them more coverage to disguise age spots and marks, while also hiding excess skin you may be worried about.
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“It’s a fashion statement, it looks marvellous and you have eliminated a problem,” she explained. “It’s the same thing with a top with sheer balloon-type sleeves or bat wing sleeves, again a fashion statement that covers up the problem but you still have something that is cool and fashionable.”
While age spots are inevitable as we get older, and many women confidently embrace them, Dorrie admitted they’re something she herself has struggled to come to terms with. But while she’s made strides to embrace them, she said covering them with body make-up is still a choice she’d make – and there’s no reason other women can’t either.
Ultimately, Dorrie said her best advice is to highlight your best features – ensuring people focus on them over everything else.
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“Do you have beautiful hands? Wear some beautiful jewellery so your hands are the focal point,” she said. “Your shoulders are the last thing to go! So show off the shoulders in shoulder tops. Or it might be that you have beautiful eyes or hair, whatever it is, that’s what you want to focus on.”
She revealed that feeling confident in an outfit can help you project confidence when you’re out and about, which will always make you more alluring to other people.
“Society has given us this concept of the ageing woman: ‘When you get past 40 you’re no longer an alluring, attractive, sexy woman. A man can become more attractive with age but not a woman’,” she admitted.
“So you have to change your attitude and think of yourself as a beautiful woman, there’s no reason not to because you are. This is what you project out there. If you think of yourself as becoming invisible and no longer attractive, that’s exactly what you’re putting out.”
Dorrie added: “I think a lot of it has to do with, every day looking the best you can and when you know that you do look the best you can, you feel good about yourself, you have self-confidence and that’s what you put out there.
“I think some of the most alluring women in history were not the most beautiful at all, but they had this self-confidence and that’s what they projected and that’s what came across.”
While Dorrie has largely left her modelling days behind her now, she has instead launched her own fashion advice blog, Senior Style Bible, offering words of encouragement to women of all ages and body types – while modelling different looks to give them ideas.
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It’s spurred her on to now branch out and design sheer tops and other essential items to help women feel good about themselves – especially because they can be hard to find on the high street.
“Often you find sheer jackets made by designers who have more youthful styles and then the sleeves are too narrow. When your body matures it changes, so we need to modify the styles,” she explained.
Asked if she thinks there’s a need for mature women to be modelling more, in order to represent more realistic body types, she said: “Absolutely. Unfortunately you look at the fashion magazines and you’re looking at teenagers wearing these high-end fashions.
“We can’t relate to that at all. If you go to buy a cocktail dress and you’re a woman in your 60s, you’re either going to find something that’s very matronly or a strappy little dress that’s you don’t want to bear your arms in. So what do we do?
“People need to realise there’s a major market out there of senior women who are very fashion-conscious. We want the modern, trendy clothes.”
While Dorrie said style and fashion is a personal choice, she insisted Botox is too.
“It’s choices, choices, choices. You may want to let your hair grey, or colour it, Botox or no Botox, it’s your choice,” she explained.
“One of the biggest problems is women judging other women. We are not nice to each other and we should be supportive. It’s a personal choice. I’m very, very open about the fact I use fillers and Botox and I had a face lift 35 years ago… We should allow people to do exactly what they want to do and support them, not criticise and body shame them.”