She hasn’t missed a beat!
Bethann Hardison is a pioneering fashion model who broke barriers in the 1960s as one of few Black runway models to reach the highest heights of the industry. Eventually, she opened her own agency, paying it forward to others and writing her own rules as a model, activist, actress and revolutionary in her own right. In 2023, she was named one of PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World!, and at 80-years-young…we think…she has returned to her heyday, appearing in Gucci’s lookbook, Italian Vogue, and recently posing for Victoria’s Secret, still not confirming her birth age for fans.
“I seem to make a lot of people feel like, ‘I wish I could be you when I grow up. You have such a great life, or, I love the way you just move around and you do things.’ And I have a good amount of doctors, too, that are always so impressed and they think, ‘Oh my goodness, we need to clone you. You don’t even take medication.’ I approach things in a very different way,” Hardison told reporters.
Feeling the need to shed a little light on how she makes it all work eight decades later, Hardison sat down with PEOPLE to share her 7 tips for aging gracefully. Take notes!
Travel…alone.
“I always say to young women, ‘Take a trip by yourself.’ Stop telling yourself you have to be with others. Some people, they just don’t feel good if they don’t have somebody sitting next to them that they know. But I think you always do better when you travel alone. You get to know more interesting things and more interesting people. People approach single people traveling alone more quickly than if they were sitting with other people.”
Keep beauty routines simple and “as natural as possible.”
“I never wash my face twice a day. Only once. I spritz my face every day with rosemary glycerin and use a CBD face oil. It’s really nice.
I don’t wear makeup all the time, just usually when I go out to an event, and then as natural as possible. I used to always, always, always use mascara no matter what — I don’t do that anymore. I don’t even think twice about it.”
Take time off for yourself.
“Make sure you take days off when you go and you sit. I have the pleasure of going to Korea Town and sitting in saunas and getting scrubbed and having those moments to myself.
I love going to the movies alone. I’m always around a lot of people, but I do like being alone. It’s a wonderful thing, and it’s wonderful when you know it.”
Be a little selfish.
“A certain selfishness is very important to have. When I was a kid, my father, who I admired greatly, called me selfish once, and I was so hurt. But when he saw that I was so bummed out, he had to come to me and explain what selfishness could be without it being negative. You do have to do that and have that attitude with yourself and care a lot more for yourself.”
Meditate.
“The average person knows what meditation can bring to you: Taking care of your body and having times with yourself where you can feel stronger during really hard times, when things are really going rough for you. It’s a really great thing.
Stretch.
“I stretch all the time. I’m getting ready to have a knee replacement coming up, and I’m doing prehab exercises for that. But I do stretch. I’m on the bike a lot.”
Stay Curious.
“Our bodies are the shell that sort of supports everything we have … If the Grim Reaper is going to get you, it’s going to get you. …The most basic [thing you can do to stay young] is be happy, eat well, exercise. [But also], what is it that you like that you would be interested to know? What is it that you’re curious about or you think someone probably has or you admire or you look at?
People still want your advice and they want your guidance and it’s nice to be able to have that. You still desire it.”
Cover photo: 81-Year-Old Legendary Fashion Model Bethann Hardison Shares Her 10 Tips for Aging Gracefully/Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images