Grey and proud of it!

AOL did one of their Top 10 lists last week...this time on celebrities who were happy (or not) to be grey. Inevitably George Clooney was listed as the champion "grey." And of course Sir Tom Jones was there.  It was great when he simply said that he "got fed up dying it!"
And it prompts me to go on again about the theme of my last blog -staying young and trendy. Because when it comes to hair I've had my challenges.
I had to deal with thinning hair when only 19! But fashion was kind. It was the "mod" era and with my Perry Como crew cut I was right at the edge of that trend.
70's fashions were not so kind. Keeping abreast of the longer hair look with an ever widening centre parting made me look like Huckleberry Hound.  But I had to be "with it" ...and I loved the wonderfully smelling Cossack hair spray!  Can you have an iconic smell? Guess not!.
Then career progression and conforming with the "corporate executive look" intervened...and the ridiculous spaniels ears morphed into a "Tom Selleck" style moustache. This was good because facial hair was thought to divert attention from baldness. Not that I needed to worry because attention to my baldness was unselfishly diverted by the numerous Bobby Charlton look-alikes. These were the guys who parted their hair one inch above the ear and carefully laid a one-piece mat of lacquered hair across to the other ear.
But the onset of greying was difficult for me. And at the time...as a prematurely ageing member of a young man's world the Tom Selleck moustache had to quickly go. And yes...I experimented with substances as greying men do....I tried the Grecian 2000! But with concerns. Did it really look natural? And was I smelling to others as bad as the Grecian 2000 smelt to me? I gave up on it pretty quickly and decided that "premature greying...resulting from on-going chronic slipped disc pain" was how I was going to deal with it among my peers.
Then I had something of an "epiphany" when meeting a German couple on holiday. With shared interest on the subject Thomas told me "in Germany we have a saying...that you can trust the man with white hair!"
So having anguished about my hair....and succumbed to ageism... and  the admitted substance experimentation...I was shown the light (or the white??)
Now my attitude is.... Refuse to be embarrassed about your age. Be totally honest with yourself...because others probably see and respect that honesty.
Ok if you're a celeb' and need to de-age for a part that's fine.  But wacking on the black to look young just isn't cool. So cheers Sir Tom for championing "proud to be grey!" ....oh and I'd get rid of the beard too if I was you.
By the way.... has anybody noticed that very few leading politicians have white hair??