Leyla Sanai

Sorry Alexandra Shulman but Helena Christensen can wear what she wants

Is 50-year-old model Helena Christensen too old to wear a bustier to a party? The ex-editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, thinks so. ‘There comes that point in every woman’s life,’ Shulman wrote with finger-wagging admonishment at the start of her column in the Mail on Sunday, ‘when, however reluctantly, you have to hand over the fleshpot-at-the-party baton to the next generation.’ 

Shulman then proceeded to castigate Christensen for turning up, ‘at the age of 50’, to her friend Gigi Hadid’s birthday party wearing ‘a tacky, black lace bustier.’ She continued: ‘surely you should call time on Ann Summers style, a look, incidentally, that no stylish young woman would dream of wearing.’ Miaow!

Unsurprisingly, Shulman’s judgement caused an uproar. Christensen was vehemently defended by friends and strangers alike. Actress Julianne Moore and models Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell piled in to support their friend.

Written by
Leyla Sanai
Dr Leyla Sanai is a Persian-British writer and retired doctor who worked as a physician, intensivist, and consultant anaesthetist before developing severe scleroderma and antiphospholipid syndrome

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