How? Be Sophia Loren.
The lady is 75 years old, and she’d be looking good even for fifty. Actually, she’d be looking good even for forty. There’s no super-taut, fake, worked-on look, either.
Here Loren was at last night’s Golden Globe Awards:
And here are a whole bunch more images, including closeups of her face. Take special note of her upraised arm; no flabby saggy triceps, even at 75? The mind boggles. Her skin must be made of different stuff than the normal human’s.
Of course, Loren began with a head start. In her youth, she looked like this:
And the rest of us didn’t.
[NOTE: Here's a previous post featuring Loren. And here I take note of the facial resemblance between Sarah Palin and Sophia.]
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Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
January 18th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Regarding top picture: Hubba-hubba.
Regarding bottom picture: Hubba-Hubba!
January 18th, 2010 at 10:32 am
As good as she looks at 75, if she updated her hair and ditched the 1980s glasses, she would really look hot!
January 18th, 2010 at 10:41 am
I don’t agree: she started like the second picture – and a lot of us did, too.
But we the rest of us didn’t spend zillions on [good] cosmetic surgeries and various accouterments. We either have no zillions or inclination or both.
Besides, I never liked her type. Vulgarity is not something to admire.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Lee Merrick: Perhaps that’s true, but those are her trademarks. She used to do ads for those eyeglasses. She’s got a look and she’s sticking with it—and it ain’t a bad one, that’s for sure.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Tatyana: A lot of us started like the second picture????
Young, yes. Attractive, yes. But not quite Sophia Lorens.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Tatyana,
I assure you that vulgarity even if it is there, which it is not, has nothing to do with it. Besides, when it comes to Sophia Loren 99.9999999999999999999999999% of the men in the world wouldn’t care if she swore like a sailor. Many would even, under certain circumstances, encourage it.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Another thought. Yesterday a friend introduced me to Maugham’ story “Jane”.
This photo of Loren reminded me of the characters.
Except Loren might be described, in the story terms, as painted old trollop who pretends to look like Jane.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:57 am
vanderleun,
-the word “vulgarity” has other meanings than “swearing”.
-you seem incredibly confident that you can correctly represent 99% of world’ male population. I have better opinion of men than you.
- if men were as you describe them, they would have sex with inflatable dolls and manikins. Oh, wait…
January 18th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Neo: I’m sure you had minuscule waist, long legs, mass of unruly curls and vitality not unlike the one presented on the second picture. Except you had (and continue to have) more class.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Call me vulgar if you like, but she definitely looks amazing at 75. But there was probably a fair amount of surgery and special treatments to be so well preserved.
My stream of consciousness goes to Roger Clemens. Who is not as good looking as Sophia Loren.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Tatyana: thanks for the compliments! But Sophia Loren I was not.
Now, Katy Jurado…that was a lot closer.
However, I’m a big Loren fan (as you’ll see if you follow the links in the “note” above), and I’ve never found her vulgar at all.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:31 am
I know, Neo, a lot of people (especially here in US) don’t.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Tatyana: earthy, but never vulgar.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:47 am
I use “vulgar” in original meaning, the one used at the time and circle of Stefan Zweig
January 18th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Even though Sophia Loren may look good for a woman of 75, her choice of dress is atrocious. No woman over (approximately) 60 should ever try to look like a young babe.
Imagine the difference between a fresh rose and a rose past its prime. Then paint up the old rose to imitate the fresh rose. It just doesn’t work. That’s why “mother-of-the-bride” clothes are so laughable. The mother should find a different look, not a bride-wannabee-look. Skin tone matters. It can’t be faked.
There are plenty of styles that look terrific on older women without making them look like silly imitations of young women.
January 18th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Promethea: it’s part of what I call “vulgar”.
January 18th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
She ain’t the patron saint of Uncyclopedia for nothin’.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sophia
(some salty devotional poetry)
Just don’t make her mad
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/You_have_angered_Sophia
(some naughtiness in the link including a couple naughty finger gestures by the goddess herself – and you deserve it you lowly worms! I told you not to make her mad.)
January 18th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I saw Raquel Welch in a Foster Grant commercial last year. I had similar thoughts about her.
She’ll be 70 this year, and she could pass for 40.
http://www.fashionwindows.net/2009/05/foster-grant-raquel-welch/
January 18th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Scott,
I never saw Sophia in person in her youth, but had a passing acquaintance with Racquel when she was 18 year old Racquel Tejada and doing ads for a San Diego gym. Muy delicioso! She has, as you say, aged quite gracefully . She used to work out at the San Diego gym – no doubt she has continued to take care of herself.
Since Ms Loren and I are of nearly the same age, I have watched her career and subsequent graceful aging with interest and envy. Some may find her vulgar for trying to emulate a younger version of herself. I say, more power to her. You have no idea what a boost to your morale it is at the 3/4 century mark for people to say you don’t look a day over 40. She has great genes, but she never smoked, and has had the good sense to take very good care of herself. In fact, she could probably write a best seller telling what she has done to stay as youthful looking as possible. And if it involves HGH, or other hormone treatments, or even surgery, it would be good to get that information out there. Many decry such treatments but, if they work, why not use them?
Thanks to neo for putting this up. Didn’t watch the Golden Globes. Had I known Sophia would appear I would have made it a point to watch.
January 18th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
JJ – she does use surgery, various cosmetic procedures, regular massages and diets. WHich she confirmed in numerous interviews – I’m sure you could find many after 5-minute googling.
She is a slave to her looks.
But that hobby is OK, for her; although it would be terrible waste of time and energy for someone with substance…
January 18th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
oops. I take it back. Now it seems she denies it.
Hmmm. I could’ve swore I read she admitted to have a neck lift, eye lid treatment and tightening up here and there 9personally, I think she’s missing pair of lower ribs) – but I can’t find it now.
Instead I’ll give you this quote:
“Add Sophia to the list of the women who denounce plastic surgery and then probably have surgery themselves.”
January 18th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Yes she’s amazing but so is that dress! What a beautiful design. It’s as exquisite as she is!
January 18th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Cher Taty,
I am only confident that I can represent 99.999999999999% of the men in the world because I happen to hold each and every one of their votes of confidence, in writing and signed, in my secret money and marker bin. That those men whom you know insist on sex with manikins is something you must stage an intervention for so that peace will again reign supreme on Tatyana World.
I am, myself, using “vulgar” in its 4th century form so that we may understand how the coming of Sophia Loren to the world of men was similar to the advent of the Vulgate Bible; something which made the heavenly accessible to all.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I also hereby volunteer to personally frisk Sophia Lauren to a fare-thee-well in search of those lost ribs. Many Shuvs and Zuuls will know what it is to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!
January 18th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
As a youth I fell in love with Sofia’s proboscis, and have measured every other woman in my life by that quality.
I wonder if that means I’m nosey
January 18th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Dear vanderleun:
don’t be so familiar. It’s unbecoming for your age.
January 18th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
“And the rest of us didn’t.”
Neo, I second Tatyana’s sentiment. I’m guessing there’s something hot behind the apple.
This post’s comments reminded me of a conversation I once had with an old Italian man. I’d just moved to a small town south of Rome, and we met on a small path at the edge of town. My kids were feeding some baby goats when the gentleman walked past.
We exchanged greetings, and he recognized us for Americans, stopping to talk. Movies came up and favorite stars of days gone by. Out of cultural politeness I mentioned how much we enjoyed watching Sophia Lauren.
“Paahhh,” he answered. And with a thick accent told me that “Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and John Wayne–real stars! Not her.”
January 18th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
LAG – talking about real stars…for me a quintessential Italian star was Anna Magnani (who, btw, had a great figure in her youth, too, but was so much more that that)
And talking of ideals of femininity in film – mine are Catherine Deneuve, Audrey Hepburn, Lyv Tyler. Yours?
January 18th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Tatyana,
Have you ever considered that some people, ceratinly movie stars and models, trade on the way they look? The longer they look good the more secure their income. If life was fair, it wouldn’t be that way. But it is. So, though it seems vain, it makes good economic sense. That’s why I don’t criticise such activity.
As an airline pilot I was in a business that required an attention not to one’s looks, but to one’s health. The better our health, the more likely we could keep passing our physicals until retirement. One reason I acquired the habit of working out and eating sensibly. It just made good economic sense.
Taking good care of yourself may be seen as narcissistic or self-centered, but when you look at it in terms of dollars and cents, it turns it into enlightened self interest.
January 18th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
LAG: Ah, but that’s what the apple’s there for! The imagined is so often better than the real.
Not that I was/am any slouch. But Sophia Loren I ain’t.
I think Loren is a very fine actress, too (“Two Women,” “Marriage Italian Style”). But for my favorite movie stars, here’s my list from May, 2005. And—surprise!—Loren is on it.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Nice list, neo. I really enjoyed Cary Grant and Loren in “Houseboat.” Silly little romantic comedy, but it showcased them and their talents very well. It also required real acting because Grant and Loren were ending an affair and were not exactly enamored of each other during filming.
I’m surprised that Danny Kaye wasn’t on your list. You obviously enjoyed some of his work. IMO, a master of comedy and a very nice man as well.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Neo said:
“the imagined is so often better than the real”
Too true! Especially when looking at Mrs. Ponti’s decolletage.
J.J.: agree, with clarification: for active actors. Few roles that Loren played after her 50′s went completely unnoticed, for a reason. I don’t think she worked that much after 50, anyway- she didn’t have to, she’s a wealthy woman. Actually, I respect her for that. In acting profession it’s is important to know when to stop.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Neo, about your list: some crosses with mine, one in particular: Paul Newman.
And in one film in particular, “Cat &&&”. I was smitten.
Oh, what am I saying. I still am.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Tatyana, I like your choices. I must say it’s the full fictional woman who appeals to me. As Neo notes (very accurately) “that’s what the apple’s there for!” The romantic in me, I suppose.
Particular ladies in particular roles are very attractive to me — Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday; Grace Kelly in Rear Window; Veronica Lake in Sullivan’s Travels; Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night; Loretta Young Photo: 1930s actress Loretta Young in The Bishop’s Wife; Myrna Loy in The Thin Man; etc.
These are all very attractive women physically, but these roles and their ability to bring them to life seem to me to represent the very best work in the profession of creating beautiful fictions.
And, Neo, I think you’re being modest. I like to see Sophia hold her own in a blog as eclectic as this.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
“Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti,” she once said.
Pasta. Is there anything it can’t do?
January 18th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
I didn’t recognize the name Katy Jurado, so I had to look her up.
Well! It seems she was in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. I’ll have to take another look at that movie.
From reading the IMDB site, it appears that she was the sheriff’s wife, who tended him after he was mortally wounded in a gunfight, while “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” played in the background.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Loren is the quintessential timeless beauty. A one in a million in the classic sense and on top of it she had the sense to keep those features unmarred by temptations to overeat, smoke, drink etc. She has superb genetics and has made the effort to capitalize on them and ride them through a long excellent career.
Cheers to women such as Loren!
January 19th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Can’t remember the name of the movie, it featured her and Clark Gable in Italy. Saw it when I was a kid, and I haven’t been right since.
She’s fabulous.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I always admired Maureen O’Hara. She could be modestly dressed and still a knock-out.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:38 am
The difference between gracious and everything else. Living well redefined.