Dear Cher,
You have no idea how much it pains me to write this. After all, I consider you one of my style mentors.
But I'm wondering if maybe, just maybe, it might be time to start thinking about wearing a few more clothes. You know, if you want to, and all.
It's not that you don't still have the body for baring it. You absolutely do. And it's not like you are old (64 is totally the new 40.)
It's just that you've always sort of been my hero. Even when I got bored with other gutsy icons, you were always there to show me what to do (Win an Oscar! Fight aging! Be your own person!)
And now that I'm thick in the middle of middle age, I struggle sometimes with what is, you know, age appropriate anymore. You're not exactly helping matters, either.
I know you recently made a big deal about still looking hot in a see-through bodysuit you wore 21 years ago. And that was quite an impressive feat. It's just that being middle-aged and wearing the same thing we wore 20 years ago isn't really an option for most of us.
What most of us – at least the women I know – are looking for are some examples of how to navigate the New 50 and 60. My friends and I are looking for older women to emulate, ones that encourage us to think beyond fanny packs and mom jeans. I just sort of always thought you'd be the one.
I still have a glimmer of hope that your everyday persona – the one I've seen in your "off-duty" pics – in cool jeans, multi-wrapped scarves, and sexy leopard print pencil skirts – will overtake your still-living-in-the-past, see-through, cut-to-there all-black ensembles that you seem to favor for your public image.
I know modesty on stage was never really your strong suit. And I know it must be hard to be an aging icon. But wearing exactly the same thing we wore 20 years ago seems a little dated. I was sort of counting on you to show us a new way to dress sexy and hot, but still look like a grown up.
Yours truly,
Cindi N.