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Print this page50 is the new “40”
Today’s 50-year-old men have style, attitude and second careers. A lot of them are just plain sexy. Think Jimmy Smits, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
On the cover: “Country Club” super 120’s navy blazer $648; Sleeveless V-neck argyle sweater $89.50; Yellow “ProSport” polo shirt $69.50; Black calfskin tassel loafer $398; Grey wool tropical weight flat front trouser $178 Wardrobe and all other fashion accessories provided by Brooks Brothers. Photo by Cassandra Tomei
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It’s just after lunch at the Biltmore Fashion Park and Eddie Cuervo and Mario Romero are at the Brooks Brothers store preparing to be photographed.
The store’s second floor is bustling. A photo team busily sets up lights and reflectors. As Romero reclines in a leather chair, two Perry Monge Salon & Spa associates dab a bit of powder on his face and give his hair a little perk.
Meanwhile, Cuervo and a Brooks Brothers fashion consultant comb through $1,000 suits and silk ties, searching for the perfect look for the upcoming fall season.
An out-of-state shopper can’t help but stop and ask: “Are they movie stars?”
Hardly. Cuervo and Romero are average 50-year-old guys. Then again, this is not your father’s 50. There was a time when 50 meant you were over the hill and sliding fast. In 1935, when Social Security was initiated, the average life expectancy was 63. Fifty was just a decade away from the grave.
Not anymore. Men – the focus of this article – are living longer and more active lives. Today’s 50-year-old men have style, attitude and second careers. A lot of them are just plain sexy. Think Jimmy Smits, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
What does all of this mean? As deliberately trite as it may sound, 50 is the new 40.
Sure, they’re still eligible for AARP discounts, but treating 50-year-olds as senior citizens is almost ludicrous. The life expectancy is fast-approaching 80. What’s more, writes Dr. Ronald Klatz, President of the Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, in a recent article in Discovery Health, advances in biomedicine could help people “live very well to age 100 and beyond.”
In other words, 50 has never looked so good.
Attitude is everything
Romero, 54, hardly has a wrinkle on his face and Cuervo, 52, still has the physique of his pro-baseball playing days. When asked about the secret for their youthful looks, Romero, a realtor, bluntly declares: “Attitude.”
He’s not far off base. According to the landmark study “Successful Aging,” sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, researchers found that our genes determine just 30 percent of aging. The remaining 70 percent is lifestyle driven. And, yes, that includes attitude.
When Oprah Winfrey turned 50, she summed it up for all the men and women hitting that benchmark. She said in our 20’s, we have no clue what we are doing and that barely improves during our 30’s. By the time we are 40, she says we are getting our act together and only in our 50’s do we finally hit our stride. OK, that stride’s a little slower, but it has grace.
Too many times, however, men in their 50’s commit fashion faux pas that pile on the years. Two of the biggest culprits are hair style and clothing. Most men know that sporting a mullet and wearing parachute pants is unfashionably fatal. (Just ask Joey Buttafuoco).
“Nothing makes you look older than having outdated styles,” says Patricia Minero, director of the Perry Monge Salon & Spa. “You have to be open to change. You want to have a current, more contemporary look. But not something that is outrageously young.”
Perry Monge associate Brittany Guzman adds: “If you want to cut your hair in a mullet, the key is to give it an up-to-date twist.”
Minero points to Cuervo, who is a U.S Airways flight attendant. Coming in on his day off from work, Cuervo sports a golf shirt with simple khaki shorts. His hair is George Clooney short.
“Doesn’t he look great?” Minero asks, adding that he isn’t wearing clothes from another era.
Cuervo provides this fashion tip: “If you stay fit, clothes will look better on you. Diet and exercise are the key.”
