Though I hate the expression ‘real women’ (all women are real, size has nothing to do with their materiality, etc etc…), Busts 4 Justice celebrates anything that makes beauty and fashion more inclusive and less about conforming to a prescribed and mostly unattainable ideal.

But while curvier silhouettes are becoming more familiar in lingerie marketing, one demographic still missing is older women.  Which is absurd, not only because older women wear lingerie, but because it means young women have been used to model lingerie clearly designed for more mature women.  This makes the product look disproportionately frumpy, and must also alienate the very market it is supposed to be targeting.

At 51 Ruth Langsford isn’t particularly old, but her appointment as ambassador and model for Playtex indicates that at least one company has realised that their core ‘older’ customers deserve more than to be invisible.  It’s a small step, but one in the right direction against a popular culture that pushes swathes of women out once they reach middle age.

It might not be a brand I would choose (nor would they expect me to…), but Playtex deserve top marks for making mature women visible in lingerie marketing.  I only hope more brands take notice, and follow.