Vanity and aging
The February 2026 episode of Bella Freud's "Fashion Neurosis" (Apple Podcasts) in which she interviews Esther Perel is especially compelling because Esther responds with perspicacious remarks about clothing, and mentions the merits of vanity which reframes the abnegation the quality draws. Bella notes that Esther wrote that "vanity with a good dose of humour is wonderful", and Esther says, "Somebody once said people with vanity age much better; they're taking care of themselves" and develops that idea: “(They) can age less better because they are upset at the fact that they have lost their youth, but they can age better because they're actually taking care of themselves.... And it's not just clothes, and it's not just makeup, and it's not just a particular hat. And it's a lot of things combined, but you know that they're still looking at themselves....in a society where often people have stopped looking at them." Gra...
