Danish model and photographer , former Victoria’s Secret model and beauty queen Helena Christensen,50 appeared on Gigi Hadid’s 24th birthday in black lace bustier and high-waisted jeans . Since the theme of the Hadid’s party was denim, no wonder Helena dressed accordingly. The party took place on April 28th but the controversy surrounding Helena’s outfit is still going.

Alexandra Shulman, 61, former editor of British Vogue said that model is dressed inappropriately for her age.

“We might like to think that 70 is the new 40 and 50 the new 30 but our clothes know the true story,” Shulman commented calling Christensen’s look “tacky” and comparing it to “the madam in a one-horse town.”

“Something you wore at 30 will never look the same on you 20 years later. Clothes don’t lie,” she continued. “When women’s bodies no longer serve any child-bearing purpose, we find flaunting them disturbing and slightly tragic. I don’t claim that this is fair. But it’s true.”

Christensen seemed bothered very little by the spiteful remark. She posted a photo of herself wearing the same corset alongside designer Camilla Stærk and Tali Lennox. “Let’s continue to elevate and support each other, all you beautiful, smart, fun, sexy, hard working, talented, nurturing women out there,” she captioned the snap, along with the hashtag #ooopssheworeabustieragain.

Luckily, Christensen had a lot of supporters not only from the anonymous admirers online but also from people she previously worked with. Edward Enniful, who replaced Shulman in 2017 said that Helena is “beautiful inside and out”, Linda Evangelista said that Christensen is a goddess and Naomi Campbell called Shulman’s remark “a cheap shot”.

However supportive the prominent members of the fashion world are, Shulman voiced the collective opinion of the modern society’s attitude towards women who add cheeky stuff to their outfits. Traditionally, sexuality is closely linked with youth. Why? Probably because sexual energy serves not only for our personal pleasure but also for procreation, which requires fertility. Although there a lot of famous seducers and seductress of the 40s and 50s in arts, literature and film, their images still remain marginalised. As the inevitable withering comes along, more and more people are convinced that bright colours, open and revealing clothes must be replaced by timeless elegance.

These preferences are predetermined by biology but how much does biology contribute to our choices nowadays anyway? We managed to get nature’s obedience-the dust, the wind, the sun, natural resources serve for our personal benefits. We established racial, national, religious, gender tolerance, however, do we apply the same tolerance towards age?

In my opinion, aging is there for our own understanding of mortality. The passions that we were overwhelmed in youth fade as the time goes by. Interestingly, many women are treated seriously only after a certain age. Elif Shafak, internationally renowned author says that she witnessed herself how women gain more authority in patriarchal Turkey as they get older. Shafak says that unfortunately many people cannot embrace the complexity- they only accept woman as an equal only if she defeminizes herself( imitates man’s behaviour) or if she succumbs to this natural process of withering and stops seeing herself as a woman.

As a model, throughout her life Christensen’s was treated as a sexual object. No wonder, many see her outfit as a desperate attempt to remain “that hot chick” in eyes of the public. Nevertheless, I see it differently. I think that Helena embraces her age and her “flaws” so nonchalantly that it irritates people who do not possess the luxury of high self-esteem. Shulman’s remark exemplifies that it is mostly the women who attack on women, whereas men are more supportive of each other. But whoever you are a man or a woman, whether you are 20, 30, 40 or 50, always allow yourself to be who you want to be. Even if you look stupid or vulgar, guess what? You have a full right to be like that.

Written by Chinara Sadikhova

I spoke with an expert about this incident.