Everyone has an opinion, but sometimes we forget it’s best kept to ourselves.
A 76-year-old style influencer recently shared a photo of herself modeling a sleeveless midi dress and while the post was flooded with comments, they weren’t all positive.
“It’s not the first time this has happened, but this one surprised me,” Candace Cima told TODAY. “People have such outdated notions about age-appropriate fashion, and that needs to change.”
Cima, a grandmother to 11 grandchildren, showed off a brown knit sleeveless dress paired with a sweater.
Many complimented the pro-aging influencer’s style, but many took to the comments to criticize her look.
“From the side and back this dress does nothing for you. Form fitting below the waist is not your friend. Celebrate everything else about your body!” one person wrote on Facebook.
“The sweater on, not a fan of the dress,” someone else commented.
“Not flattering at all. Would never wear alone. Too old to be showing all that skin,” another user dared to write.
“It’s perfectly appropriate to have wrinkled skin at 76, and I’m not ashamed of it,” Cima said. “Sometimes I want to respond, ‘Should I cover my face too, because I have wrinkles there?’”
Cima started her fashion blog in 2019 after noticing a need for older women in the space.
“I saw an opportunity to talk about how to dress as you get older. Women have been conditioned to think they need to cover up because that’s what their mothers and grandmothers did.”
“We need to shift the way we think about age. We don’t need to adhere to these old ideas in a modern world.”
Despite the countless rude remarks, Cima paid them little attention and instead offered advice for some of her newest and younger followers.
“Aging is great. Everything you have learned your entire life is now there for you. You are now the wisest that you are ever going to be. Embrace it and be proud.”