Helen Mirren and Sharon Stone are just two of many celebs over-60 to don itty-bitty bikinis over the years, showing us exactly why we can, and should sport one ourselves. But, for us normal folk, it can be a little daunting, with one over-60 taking to the internet to ask if she’s being “ridiculous” buying a bikini at her age.
The woman took to the online forum Gransnet on Thursday, telling users she’d ordered a bikini, but was “no Helen Mirren”. “I have ordered a bikini, but is this ridiculous?” the woman wrote. “I’m over 60. I know Helen Mirren looked great in hers a few years ago and I am a reasonable shape, but I am not Helen Mirren.”
Helen Mirren certainly did look great, stunning the world when images of her sporting a sexy red bikini went viral in 2008. Years after the sexy shots of Mirren surfaced, the actress revealed the real story behind the stunning snap – and it turns out it was all for her husband, Taylor Hackford. On holiday in Italy at the time, the actress was snapped by a nearby paparazzi photographer but said she had stood up and “sucked [her] tummy in” for the shot.
“Taylor said, ‘Stand up, I want to take a picture of you’. So I stood up, and sucked my tummy in because my husband was taking my photo. I tried to suck my cheeks in. I tried to look… good,” she joked, adding that she was going to say sexy but couldn’t.
Last month, Sharon Stone wowed us all when she shared a flawless snap of her in a yellow bikini, showing us exactly why she’s one of Hollywood’s most iconic sex symbols. The 63-year-old shared the picture of her flaunting her incredible figure in the very flattering bikini, featuring the 1980s-style high waist cut that has made a comeback in recent years.
While Stone and Mirren both look incredible, the woman who took to the Gransnet forum clearly has some reservations about switching the costume for an itty-bitty bikini, with most forum users reassuring her that she should “go for it”.
“No reason not to wear a bikini! Very few indeed have perfect figures, but you don’t see the men donning a t-shirt over their middle-aged tummies and grey chest hair,” one wrote. “I say enjoy the sun on bare skin if you are comfortable with it. Good for you.”
Several users said they do wear bikinis, but only when no one else is around.
“I wear bikinis, often just the bottom half when only OH (other half) is around as I don’t want strap marks. I couldn’t give a damn what other people think,” she wrote, adding, “Oh – I’m 72. You are just a young thing OP (original poster).”
Many agreed, that bikinis were the best way to ensure a nice even tan.
“I’m 73, certainly not model shape but I’ve always worn bikinis, don’t possess a ‘costume’’,” one woman wrote. “I like to get my tummy brown. I wear one on beaches and everywhere. Have you seen some of the sights on foreign beaches? Wouldn’t worry about me! I wore a bikini to an aqua-robic class and was told it would be better if I’d wear a full costume. Not been since but I’d wear a bikini if I want to.”
Another wrote, “Years ago, on a sunshine holiday, the husband in a couple we had become friendly with turned to my husband (the former didn’t think I could hear) and said, ‘Don’t they look funny when they take their costumes off’ – meaning (I think) the bits that didn’t get the sun. At least with a bikini, there’s less of that.”
While another added, “Of course you can! Draw the line at a thong though!”