At 76, Candace Cima is redefining what it means to age with style. A fashion influencer and grandmother of 11, she recently shared a photo of herself wearing a sleeveless midi dress, which drew both praise and criticism. While many admired her bold choice, others questioned whether her outfit was “appropriate” for someone her age.
Cima, however, wasn’t fazed by the negative comments. “We need to shift the way we think about age,” she said in an interview with *TODAY*. “We don’t need to stick to these old ideas in a modern world.” Growing up in a time when women were often told to cover up as they got older, Cima wants to challenge those outdated notions. In the photo that sparked the controversy, she wore a brown knit sleeveless dress paired with a sweater. While some social media users loved the look, others took issue with it. One person commented, “From the side and back, this dress does nothing for you. Form-fitting below the waist is not your friend.” Another wrote, “Too old to be showing all that skin.”
But Cima, confident as ever, shrugged off the criticism. “It’s perfectly appropriate to have wrinkled skin at 76, and I’m not ashamed of it,” she 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 the lack of representation for older women in the industry. She wanted to show that women don’t need to hide their bodies just because they’ve reached a certain age. “Women have been conditioned to think they need to cover up because that’s what their mothers and grandmothers did,” she explained. Her goal is to help other women break free from those limiting beliefs. Rather than focus on the negativity, Cima uses her platform to spread a positive message. She encourages her followers to embrace aging, seeing it as a time to celebrate their wisdom and experiences. “Aging is great,” she said. “Everything you’ve learned your entire life is now there for you. You’re the wisest you’ve ever been. Embrace it, and be proud.”
Candace Cima’s story is a powerful reminder that age doesn’t define beauty or style. She’s inspiring women everywhere to embrace who they are, wrinkles and all, and to live boldly at any stage of life.
