This is Sad
Here is the depressing photo of the Donatella Versace, the woman who has so much, and yet still feels the intense need to carve her face into the simalacrum of beauty.
The Manolo he does not mind the occasional nip or the little tuck, this it is not bad, but the grand attempt to turn back the hands of the time, or the desire to remake the features of the perfectly attractive face, it is disturbing and suggests the sadness and insecurity at the core of the person’s being.
The Manolo, he prefers one who is content to work with what the nature has given, who understands that symmetry is frequently overrated, who knows that old is not ugly.
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Comments
Annalucia 20 years ago
Ayyyy…this is most painful to the eyes. And the bleached-blonde hair, it does nothing for her appearance either.
The Annalucia remembers a photo of the Donatella which she saw perhaps seven or eight years ago. The hair was already blonde but the figure was that of the Neolithic Venus and that face was that of the sturdy Mediterranean woman and if not “pretty” had character and was pleasing to the eye. (The dress she wore in the photo, a silver spaghetti-strap, did not suit her figure but that was the only visible flaw.) And now alas she has made herself into a mummy look-alike. This is sad indeed.
blackbird 20 years ago
Bravo Manolo! well said.
(I do, however, feel that Ms. Alexander should reconsider strapless evening wear.)
Cat 20 years ago
She is sort of a photo negative of Michael Jackson, and every bit as scary!
Erica 20 years ago
Thank you, Señor Manolo, for giving aging men and women their due. It is easy for me (a mere hatchling at 23) to scoff at the desperation that makes women of my mother’s generation resort to expensive creams and surgeries. I do not understand what it is to stare at faces sans lines through eyes with crow’s feet etched by many smiles. Nor do I grasp what it is like to see fashions that do not respect my hard-won wisdom and individuality but only force me to look on my “Golden Years” as a permanent exile from beauty and all things fashionable. I do not judge these women for trying to keep up, I judge society for commanding that they do so. I wish more folk would take your stance for truth, beauty, and the delight of aging with grace.
On a related note, your blog is a constant surprise, affording me encouragement as you explore fashion with a common-sense approach and exhort us all to be as super-fantastic as WE can, rather than advocating a standard of unquestioning conformity to the currently chic. It is refreshing as it is rare.
Also, you make references to philosophy and as a girl with a degree in philosophy, I could NOT be more thrilled to find my twin interests (shoes and ideas) occasionally colliding.
M 20 years ago
In defense of the Cher, she really does look good–even though that particular picture was not her best. Are we to be defined just by the bad pictures of ourselves? Well I guess the celebrities deserve it–they are afterall just selling themselves on the basis of their particular poses at the moment. But I still like the Cher and think that her openess about her surgeries makes people think that she’s been really old for a really long time–the portrait of Dorian Grey. But I think she mostly has good genes and would still probably look ok if she had opted out of surgery. And let us applaud her choice of surgical professionals–they’ve done a great job, in comparison with the quackery that ruined Michael Jackson.
distressedjeans 20 years ago
Ay! Donatella’s skin is perfect for the trim on the new J. Lo Sweetface pants for fall. In fact, Jennifer Lopez is thinking of creating some suede boots from the skin of the Donatella with matching furry bunny trim.
Kim 20 years ago
Perhaps she continues to get surgery because her skin is dripping off her face? She’s melting and she needs someone to pick it up. Poor Barbara, I feel her pain. I share almost the identical asymmetry, but I can’t get the whole world to change their sets to the left side. Unlike some people. Whose dressing room is often filled with roses.
Miss Tanya 20 years ago
What is most distressing is the effect this is having on her 18 year old daughter, Allegra. In photos it appears the young lady has not eaten more than celery in 5 years. I am a fan of thin, but not the sickness.
Robin 20 years ago
Well said, Erica! I’m a few months from 40 and have started to experience those feelings. Putting makeup on crowsfeet is difficult. Hard to gauge. The rules are changing, and I don’t know what they are.
Manolo, as usual, you are wonderful!
Texasexile 20 years ago
The Texasexile, while being one of middle age (44) does not overly ruminate on wrinkles, passage of time or the potential ravages of gravity. An obsession with competing with 20 year olds can lead one to a tragic life as a fish-lipped, expressionless (due to botox), shiny (peels), tight-faced (lifts) clone. Ooops – I think I insulted most of the entertainment industry. . . .
jj 20 years ago
The *occasional* nip and/or tuck can be helpful. The jj’s mother recently had a wee bit of work that magically transformed her from An Elegant Woman of a Certain Age, In Need of a Good Nap to An Elegant Woman of a Certain Age Who’s Had Her Beauty Sleep.
The Donatella OTOH appears to have had her skin surgically replaced with flesh colored duct tape.
Christina 20 years ago
At 34, I am just beginning to see the fine lines around my eyes (while still getting the feeling of being a teenager by having the occasional blemish–Yeah Middle Age!). While I despise those blemishes, and despair of ever being rid of them entirely, the lines bother me not at all. I think they give me more character, more life, while reminding me of my children–the ones who gave them to me.
So, while I might have some plastic surgery to get rid of some excess…well, let’s just leave it at “excess”, I just do not understand why anyone would want to pretend they are less than what they are. And by trying to look younger, they are pretending to less–less life, less experience, less wisdom, less character, less maturity.
beth 20 years ago
That picture scared me!
JayKay 20 years ago
Seriously, LAY OFF the self tanner, honey. Sheesh!
desertwind 20 years ago
Damn, my well-thought-out comment seems to be Gone With the Wind.
Lori 20 years ago
Age is, to a great extent, in a person’s attitude. A 20-year-old neighbor of mine was so crabby that she looked 40. But a retired friend is so positive and energetic that he seems 15 years younger than he really is. He’ll burn out before he rusts out. As I see it, you can get laugh lines or frown lines. Laugh lines look better.
I rate age not only be attitude but by how a person moves. A person can be old at 20 or young at 90–literally. There is an article in today’s paper about Agassi being called a geezer at 35, and about a 90-year-old competitive tennis player. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_and_fitness/article/0,1299,DRMN_26_4093201,00.html
leddi 20 years ago
she’s pretty…….pretty ugly!
maya rudolph is way easier on the eyes.
Gidget Bananas 20 years ago
Is the Manolo sure that is the Donatella, and not the Eric Roberts in a platinum wig?
toad 20 years ago
It is sad, it is doubly sad that someone in the business of beauty should know better. The beauties fade and those without character, talent and or brains disapear.
joliesboutique 20 years ago
Ohhhh, Donatella. Please….I don’t like to be negative but really…this does not look good.
the Diva Leigh 20 years ago
For the ladies of the diva age, the look should be fabulous, not freaky. The Donatella does not look fabulous.
The Scarlett 20 years ago
Is that Donatella or is that Iggy Pop?
La BellaDonna 20 years ago
La BellaDonna, she hopes that the Erica, with her eloquence, compassion and insight which far exceed her calendar years, she enters the Manolo’s essay contest and wins a treasure which makes her happy.
AskMom 20 years ago
Prettiness may be in the transitory freshness of youth, but true beauty is in the character, charm and wisdom one must earn as years pass. Find a mother whose grown, happy and productive children respect and adore her, and you will see beauty as the angels paint it. Gianni Versace revelled in the natural glory of grandmas and grandpas. Would he be happy to see his sister overbaked and then shellacked?
Kate 20 years ago
Suddenly, I am inordinately fond of my crinkly laugh lines and the tiny wrinkles on my upper lip. If ever I comptemplate severe plastic surgery, I will revist this picture!
Anya 19 years ago
Wow. She looks like Keith Richards in drag. I will look at this photo if I ever get the urge to turn into a tanorexic botox hag.