This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. Andrews chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Invisible Woman Syndrome

As women get older, they can start to feel unseen or feel invisible to others; this is a phenomenon called “invisible woman syndrome”. This concept comes from the fact that, as young women, we are judged so heavily on our appearance, style, and our youthfulness, so when we age, we feel we have no value left and are often overlooked, leaving us invisible. As a result, there are a whole host of women worldwide fighting against invisibility, expressing this through their clothing.

Vivthecarer is a prime example of this: as she gets older, her clothes grow louder, bolder, and more expressive, calling out to be seen and inspiring others. Her prime influencing audience is women who want to feel inspired, joyful, and authentic.

I am not a girl who enjoys watching your typical influencer; the thousands of women flashing across my For You page with Amazon links in their bios and #ad in all their captions just don’t do it for me. In fact, before I came across Vivienne Truran (aka Vivthecarer), I didn’t believe an influencer could ever hold my heart, and I had even almost broken free of the hold social media had on me, until her bright glasses and joyful voice crossed my screen.

In the first video I saw of Viv, she announced to the world: “For those of you who don’t know, I’m 81, and I don’t dress to impress, I dress for me”. From there, she proceeded to undo everything I knew about 81-year-olds, and before I knew it, I was hooked. Since that fateful moment, Viv has continued to be the only thing that gets me signed into Instagram every day, waiting for another fabulous outfit to inspire me to start my day. She is the only 81-year-old woman I know whom I look to for youthful, vivacious fashion inspiration.

Lessons from Vivthecarer

Lesson 1: Dressing for comfort, not flattery

I don’t just look to her for a fun video to scroll through; the themes of her videos have taught me so much about my overarching style. One of my favorite videos is of Viv wearing a jumper with a skirt, which she calls “unflattering,” but she simply doesn’t care! This is my first Viv-lesson: Not dressing to flatter your body for others, but instead, wearing elasticated trousers and a baggy jumper, because your friends, and you will love yourself more when you feel comfortable and joyful.

Lesson 2: Accessorize with color

Another favorite of mine is to always bedazzle yourself with accessories. This wonderful lady can turn a black-on-black outfit into something special with a bright pair of glasses, matching trainers, and a handy band (her lovely, endless collection of neckerchiefs she decks out with each day). According to Viv, you should always pull the colors from your outfit into your accessories to achieve maximum put-together-ness and to express yourself.

Lesson 3: Never dress your age

My favorite lesson from Viv is absolutely never dressing your age: I come from a family of women afraid to wear a short dress for fear of looking too young, or unwilling to wear a cardigan for fear of looking old; Viv is never afraid. In one video, she told a story about going up to a young woman in a shop, telling her she liked her skirt, buying her own, and wearing it in her next video. She didn’t even acknowledge the age factor; the young woman liked the skirt, Viv liked the skirt, and they both were the perfect age to wear it. I learned never to let people trick you into dressing for others’ expectations of you. There is no such thing as age-appropriate clothing, as clothes are designed to express oneself.

Lesson 4: Strike a pose (even if it’s just for you)

And most importantly, whenever you get dressed, you must post in the mirror to your favorite song of the day. Every outfit video Viv posts turns into a montage of posing and smiling to the song of the day at the end of her video, not for her followers, just an 81-year-old woman showing off her fabulous taste for herself. Whether you are posing for a friend or for yourself, you cannot let that outfit go to waste, even if it means a runway walk down a grocery aisle.

Celebrating style for what it is

The best thing about Vivthecarer is that she doesn’t set out to teach us the next big thing in style. She’s teaching us to love and celebrate ourselves for who we are. Her lessons exist to remind us that style is for authenticity and wearing who we are on the outside, not for wearing what others expect us to.

Vivthecarer is my favorite influencer for one reason: because she doesn’t influence me to dress more like her, she influences me to dress more like me, and for that, I am absolutely influenced.

Vivthecarer: Style Tips From My Favorite 81-Year-Old Influencer