What’s your best body part, is the big question of the day. Maybe, like Victoria Beckham, you recently celebrated your birthday, and your partner did as David did and posted a picture of your rear view, in exercise wear, doing pigeon pose on a yoga mat, with an appreciative peach emoji? (You may recall Posh did something similar for David when she shared a picture of him floating face down, trunks pulled down and bum cheeks bared, at the edge of a swimming pool? At the time, she captioned it “Happy Sunday! You’re Welcome.”)
This mutual bottom appreciation may seem like something out of a David Attenborough documentary, and a bit unsavoury; but what can we say? It has become normal practice (sort of, in certain circles) to nominate your Best Body Part (BBP) and then get busy showing it off to everyone in the spirit of “Why Would I Keep This Under Wraps? Here You Go People… Enjoy!” That may have been what Macron was thinking when he undid the extra button, or more or less what you felt when you were barbecuing in your bra at the weekend.
Of course, the BBP reveal is not new but it does appear to have become more focused (back in the day we ogled Daniel Craig emerging from the sea and didn’t feel the need to zero in on any one area) and there’s no doubt the competition is heating up. The current fashion for cropped tops and low-slung minis has put the focus on toned abs and legs if you are part of the Emma Corrin generation – but if you’re a midlifer your options are more limited. Also – in keeping with these gender-fluid times – what once worked for women now often works better for men, and vice versa.
Here’s how to maximise your BBP in midlife
Take a look at my chest
First thing to note is that, generally, you are now saying this if you are a man. In recent days, as no one can have missed, we have seen Macron inviting us to admire his hairy chest, but the thing about wearing a mostly unbuttoned white shirt and trousers, sitting on a leather sofa, apparently between meetings, is that you look like a porn star waiting for his set-up. Or, alternatively, someone who had a boozy business meeting and is now well on the way to getting messy in a Prince-Harry-plays-naked-pool-in-Vegas kind of way.
Everyone knows you can only get away with this kind of extreme chest reveal on a sun lounger/balcony/poolside or you will end up looking seedy. So, nil points for Maccers. (David Beckham has done better this week in the chest advertising department because he is in Miami where wandering about in nothing but trunks is normal). What is becoming obvious is that the less defined chest is starting to look a bit Keep Your Top On. Meanwhile, women of a similar profile are more likely to be fairly covered up front (notable exceptions are Salma Hayek and Liz Hurley, who has always had a public spirited, entertain-the-troops attitude to her breasts). By far the deepest cleavage at the Oscars was Timothée Chalamet’s who wore a tuxedo with nothing underneath.
Take a look at my behind
Even practised bum flashers have a lot of work to do to catch up with Kim Kardashian and J-Lo. The rule now seems to be – if your bum is your BBP – cover it in a fabric like vinyl or Lycra or just tape and then… off you go. Midlifers now have more options what with exercise leggings/cycling shorts being acceptable almost everywhere. Younger people will just get their bottoms out in tiny bikinis, or let them poke out from their shorts (under bum).
