In a world where popular narratives often perpetuate stereotypes and unrealistic beauty standards, Heidi Clements has emerged as a refreshing voice that challenges the norm.
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Clements, who was an executive producer and writer on the ABC sitcom Baby Daddy, has been attracting hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok.
The woman who believes that getting old is a privilege mainly does this through her #justdetdressed videos that not only offer a style guide but also promote enduring self-confidence and genuine connections.
Meet Heidi Clements, a 62-year-old story teller, writer, and clothing enthusiast
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Heidi has been going viral for her ‘Get Dressed With Me’ videos, in which she shares her thoughts on various aspects of life as she chooses her outfit for the day
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Heidi's content stands out for her focus on emotional honesty instead of things like expensive production gear or flashy editing
And scrolling through the comments, you can tell that people really respect her approach
Image credits: welcometoheidi
In fact, countless women have said she's become their idol
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
As someone who has spent a lot of time in the industry, Clements is aware of both mainstream and social media's impact on women's mental health, particularly their body image and self-confidence.
She revealed that she's struggled with body dysmorphia herself, and it was heavily influenced by "pictures and photographs of women that were that were white and blonde and super skinny."
"It is 100 percent the media's fault. And I am part of that media," told Advocate Now. "And I, as a woman, was part of that problem in working in television for years and upholding someone else's standards for beauty and what's pretty."
The academics agree. According to Susan Douglas, a communications & media professor at the University of Michigan and author of In Our Prime: How Older Women are Reinventing the Road Ahead, it was around the 1960s when media and marketing industries went all in with their promotion of youthfulness and ageist messages became prolific.
During that period, Baby Boomers started emerging as a new and large consumer base, and companies started beckoning to them, saying they were “cooler” and superior to their old folks.
"I'm not really sure why I've always been confident about style and fashion," Heidi told Bored Panda
Professor Douglas said that the 'old' and 'young' were pinned against one another. Negative messages about older generations, specifically the women in those generations, were cemented into American culture through television and other public platforms.
Take Disney for example, which often portrayed elderly female characters as crazy grandmothers, hideous witches and evil mothers. Snow White's stepmother, the Evil Queen, even disguised herself as an old woman in order to trick the princess into eating a poison apple, all because she was jealous of the princess's beauty.
Characters like her were juxtaposed with young females, often princesses, who represented beauty, kindness, happiness and desirability. By reinforcing this binary in popular culture, the media capitalizes on the association that old women are ‘bad’ and young women are ‘good.’
"They tell us we can't be happy with wrinkles and eyebags. And they engrain those beauty standards in the minds of young people early on," Douglas explained. "The job of the entire anti-aging industrial complex is to make everybody phobic about getting older. It's a great strategy, because everybody is always getting older, and nobody can escape it — creating a constantly renewing and endless market."
"I wish I had the ability to wear something new every day because I feel like a blank canvas creating a piece of art," she added. "Even when its a simple outfit"
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
But Clements believes that in recent years, things have been changing for the better. "Right now, I am thrilled to say that young women actually want to hear from older women," she said.
"I don't know that that was always the case. I think that society has done a great job of convincing us we need to hate each other ... But I feel like Gen Z has realized that women, we all need to stick together."
"I think everything changed for me the second I turned 60 and fully stopped caring what others think," Heidi told us
"It's such a waste of time to let other people decide how you live your life"
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
Image credits: welcometoheidi
It's virtually impossible to imagine someone having a negative reaction to Heidi's videos, but online attention can bring a diverse audience. "I do not handle criticism well," she said. "I wish I could brush it off because I believe the person being mean is the one having hardship in their life, but it really affects me."
However, the dislikes under her uploads drown in the sea of positivity. "Thankfully, I can count the mean comments on one hand. My account literally feels like a hug from thousands of strangers and I'm honestly blown away by the compliments," Heidi explained. "I am not someone who grew up being told I was beautiful and so it makes me want to cry!"
"My account literally feels like a hug from thousands of strangers and I'm honestly blown away by the compliments"
