Kate Mulvey
Freelance journalist, author, and broadcaster.
July is almost upon us, the weather is sweltering, and it is the time of year when middle-aged women turn their thoughts to their beach wardrobe. The question is not so much jewelled sandals or flipflops, but that eternal quandary: bikini or one-piece?
Are you the type of woman who, in pursuit of beach respectability and a nod to increasingly flabbier flesh, heads straight to the cossie department to purchase a selection of sturdy swimsuits? Or do you say “heck no” and grab an armful of day-glo bikinis in a bid to stay on-trend?
I am firmly in the second camp, and I have no intention of ever hanging up my itsy-bitsy. That being said, styling out the beach post-midlife can be tricky, especially now that Gwyneth Paltrow has set a new standard for fifty-something loveliness. She looked stunning showing off her amazing figure -complete with a washboard stomach – on a luxury yacht in Sardinia recently.
