Supermodel Christy Brinkley became famous beginning in the late 1970s when she appeared on three consecutive covers for Sports Illustrated. At the time she hit the spotlight, few would have predicted that 35 years later, at age 60, she would be sporting a bathing suit for another cover: People Magazine.

The 60-year-old certainly doesn’t look her age, and that’s a sign of the times. With proper lifestyle habits and a bit of luck, staying healthy and beautiful is easier now than at any other time in human history. “I'm actually excited about turning 60,” Brinkley told People Magazine. “I feel on top of my game.” And she’s not alone.  There’s been an explosion of role models in the ranks of older women in terms of both beauty and fashion.

56-year-old Ellen DeGeneres is one of the faces for Covergirl cosmetics while 68-year-old Diane Keaton is a spokeswoman for L’Oreal. It didn’t used to be this way.  Beauty used to be synonymous with youth, but now that baby boomers are getting older, their influence is helping to drive a less homogenous view of both beauty and style.

Donny Deutsch of the Advertising agency Deutsch Inc. explained to Today Show viewers that retailers are interested in showcasing older models because they are simply “following the money” that boomers are willing to spend. And it’s not just happening in the United States. 

In the UK, the publicly-owned, but commercially-funded, broadcaster Channel 4 aired a documentary titled Fabulous Fashionistas which follows six fashion-forward women with an average age of 80 as they discuss “how staying young and dressing with style is about more than following the latest trends; it's about an attitude to life itself.” 

“I think I would say I’m a bit unusual for my age,” says one of the Fashionista women. While most people might put these British style mavens in the category of ‘old,’ “not one of them feels like an 'old person.’” Indeed, it all depends upon one’s perspective.

When San Francisco Bay Area-based Gloria Eddie, 96, viewed footage of the British women talking about their fashion ideas she commented that, “well they’re still young, aren’t they?” Eddie works out with a trainer three times a week and is in amazing shape.  At 96, she doesn’t look much older than 70, and her sense of style is impeccable. Good genes play a role in her health (her parents both lived into their 90s), but she also emphasized that discipline is an important part of the equation.  She watches what she eats, she exercises, and she is engaged in life. “That’s the secret,” Eddy says, “never giving up.” Discipline, she says, is also important for fashion.

“If you want people to believe in what you want to accomplish, you ought to use a disciplined approach in dressing,” she says. The cover does sometimes say something about the book, and it’s true that people should dress for how they want to be received. This is perhaps another way of saying that fashion is about attitude, a sentiment expressed often and forcefully by style icon Iris Apfel.

In 2011, at 90 years old, Apfel was selected to be the new face of MAC Cosmetics.  “For MAC to use a 90-year old woman it says that we’re not afraid of saying that a woman at any age can be really, really, beautiful,” said James Gager, Creative Director of MAC cosmetics. And how well did that bet turn out? It was a winning idea – the company sold out of their Apfel-promoted line in a matter of days. 

So it seems that beauty no longer means ‘youth.’ It means health, confidence, and attitude. Iris Apfel, as all of the women mentioned in this article, has some seriously cool attitude. “What’s wrong with getting old?,” Apfel asks. “I think if you’re lucky enough to get old you should celebrate it.”